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saiilorstars · 1 year

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Ch.10: The Solar Hybrid

Story Masterlist ◦ Anais’ Masterlist ◦

Also on: Fanfic • Ao3

Pairing: Winn Schott x OFC

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

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

It was late at night when Anais got word that their unconscious man was not so conscious anymore. The man had woken up and attacked Kara and about half a dozen other DEO agents before making his escape into the city. When Anais sped into the place, things had already been done.

"Are you guys okay?" She rushed up to Kara and Alex.

Kara seemed relatively unharmed. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, just a little shaken. Where is he?"

"He disappeared into the city," Alex said, having watched it with her own eyes.

"Which is just what I don't need," J'onn stopped beside the three, "A rogue Kryptonian on the loose just as the President is due for a visit."

"We haven't proved that he's a Kryptonian," Anais reminded them. "And — wait," she paused, "Did you just say that the President is coming here? Like, here, here?"

Even Kara was surprised at the news.

"Yeah," J'onn nodded, "she wants to tour the DEO while she's in National City to sign the Alien Amnesty Act."

"The Alien Amnesty act?" Anais felt way behind on the news. To be fair, she had not watched the news in a while.

Kara was very much up to speed on the matter. Her entire face lit up. "It's amazing, an executive order allowing aliens on Earth to come out of the shadows and live as full citizens. She's making history!"

"Not in my book, I think she's making a big mistake," J'onn's words pulled Kara down from her happy state.

Anais looked at the Martian curiously. "You don't think it's a good idea?"

J'onn shook his head. "It's been my hard experience that humans and aliens don't mix."

"What about us?" Kara made a gesture at all three of them, apart from Alex.

"What about us? We can look like them, we blend in, a lot of aliens can't. And people in this world don't have much tolerance for others who look different. I say that as an alien and as someone who's worn the face of a black man for 15 years."

"He's making some good points," Anais mumbled, earning a dumbfounded look from Kara. It didn't help when Alex joined in as well.

"J'onn's right. I can count the number of good aliens I know on one hand, with two fingers to spare."

Kara couldn't believe her ears. "Well, I'm just glad the President doesn't see things the way you three do."

"Hey, I haven't made my opinion up yet," Anais pointed out. "I see both sides and their validity. I had to hide, Kara, and the humans did kill my mother…because of my own human father."

Kara was smart enough not to argue with that detail.

"Well, you two better be on your best behaviors when you meet her," J'onn said, drawing both their attention.

"What?" They simultaneously blinked.

"She expects National City's highest-profiling aliens to greet her on the tarmac."

"I'm meeting the President?" Kara pointed at herself.

"No fucking way," Anais mumbled under her breath.

"Unless you're too nervous to do so," Alex teased the pair.

"Nervous? No!" Kara laughed, absolutely nervously.

"Yes!" Anais wasn't afraid to admit it. "This is the woman who signed my freedom! I-I get to meet her!?"

"You two will be representing this entire organization," J'onn continued sternly, "I expect you'll be professional."

"Yes!" Kara and Anais exclaimed dutifully, but still both giggling nervously.

"And for the record, she's the one who's lucky to meet you two," J'onn said with a wink.

"Should I get a blow out?" Kara suddenly asked, picking up a strand of her hair for a better look.

J'onn's pride waned at that moment. "Oh, dear God."

"Maybe I should cut my hair," Anais started debating. It started a whole discussion between her and Kara about their appearance for that day.

~0~

To start the day off at CatCo., James called an editorial meeting with everyone about the President's arrival and Amnesty Act. He leaned back on his desk, facing the crowd of employees around him, including Kara and Anais.

"Welcome, guys, to an editorial meeting for the history books," he smiled, "I truly believe, one day we'll stand in front of our kids and tell them where we were when the President stood up for all individuals' rights. Regardless of birth planet. So, we need a banner headline. Thoughts?"

"We're going to stand here and pitch headlines?" Snapper cut in, looking unsurprisingly grim.

"Well, that's kind of how it goes around here, Snapper," James replied.

"You don't come up with a headline first, Olsen. You go on the street first, find the news peg. The headline comes second."

"Well, Cat Grant—"

"Puff princess did it this way. Put the cart before the horse. You said that already. Are you gonna be a pale carbon copy of your former boss or are you gonna be a hard news man? Make your own mark."

James had not expected to be called out, and neither did Kara or Anais for that matter. Both blondes looked between the men anxiously. James had a lot to say but he felt saying them in front of the entire company wasn't his best move.

"Okay, um...let's take a pause on the headline then," he ultimately said, ignoring the smug look on Snapper's face. "Our first priority is to get an exclusive with the President. Everything else today is icing."

"I say everything else is bread and butter," Snapper once again cut in and practically tool over the meeting as he started handing out assignments, "Scope, call the AFL for a response to the bill. Do the unions fear legal aliens are gonna flood the labor market, lower wages? How does the American worker feel about competing for jobs with aliens?"

James would let it be in favor of keeping the atmosphere light. "Fine, great. So next meeting—"

"Addison, on the CDC. What bacteria and diseases are these aliens bringing from other planets? What medical protocols are in place? Morris, you do the human-interest piece. "Inter-planetary marriage." Get quotes from priests, rabbis, Mormons, Unitarians. As for the POTUS interview—"

"Danvers is on that," James managed to cut in.

"Danvers is a rookie," Snapper remarked, "We need someone hard-hitting."

"Believe me, she's hard-hitting."

Kara nodded fervently. "Trust me, I can pack a punch like you would not believe. Plus I may or may not be running into the President later."

Snapper didn't seem to have heard Kara when he handed out her assignment to someone else. "Parker, you get POTUS. Danvers, you get Lena Luthor. Her brother is infamous for his anti-alien sentiments. The desk needs all your copy by noon, and if you want to keep your credentials, it better be clean."

Anais glared after the man as he declared the meeting over and led the others out. "I really hate that guy," she bluntly said afterwards. "James, I can't do your job. I would've fired him already. Literally. I'm saying like into the sun." She has heard things about him from Kara but seeing it up close was another thing.

James only smiled at her. "It's fine."

No, it was not fine. Not at all.

~0~

Supergirl and Solar arrived at the scene on the airport track just as the President was supposed to emerge from her plane. There was already a huge crowd waiting for her. The two aliens landed in front of the crowd, beside a young girl holding out a sign for the president.

"It's pretty awesome, right?" Supergirl asked the little girl. It was hard to tell who the girl was more awed by: the President or Supergirl?

"Do you know her?" The girl asked.

"No, no, not yet, but...I'm pretty sure we'll be cool. You know? Right?"

Solar snorted and chuckled. "Here she comes!"

The crowd started cheering when the President finally stepped out of the plane. She waved at the crowd as her security guided her down the steps.

Out of nowhere, a fireball slammed into one of the security, engulfing him in flames.

"Oh, my God!" Someone cried in the crowd and the poor security man rolled down the stairs, burning alive.

Another fireball came striking down and hit another of the security.

"Go! Go! Go!" Solar yelled at the crowd, ushering them away from the sight.

Supergirl flew into the sky to scope out the flaming enemy. Solar zipped around the area getting those lingering civilians out of the way. More flames came directly for the President. One almost hit her as her security tried getting her into her car.

Solar had taken the security to the proper medics and returned in time to see another fireball coming straight to the President. She waved her arms in front of her like a windmill, creating enough air to blow it out.

Supergirl landed next to the President, ensuring she was okay. She met Solar's eye once the latter turned around — neither one had seen who was behind the attack.

~0~

In the aftermath of the attack, the DEO showed up to clear the area of civilians and start examining their crime scene. Alex came to speak with Sueprgirl and Solar and to share what they had found so far.

"So, where's the President now?" Anais asked as the three walked a bit away from the scene.

"They're taking her back to the DEO," Alex said, eyeing her sister curiously. Despite the situation, Kara had not stopped grinning.

"She was...she was so nice!" Kara giggled girlishly. "And grateful, and she called me Supergirl. And Solar!"

Alex raised an eyebrow at Kara then looked at Anais. The latter just shrugged — Alex was grateful that at least one of their superheroes wasn't completely sidetracked.

"That is your name," Alex soon reminded Kara.

"Yeah, I know that but…" Kara crossed and uncrossed her arms, still giggling, "When she says it, it just sounds better. 'Supergirl'! How did anyone even vote for that other guy?"

Alex grew tired and cut through Kara's excitement. "When you're done fawning over your new best friend...the burn pattern is consistent with a heat-vision signature.

Kara immediately frowned. "Our escaped Kryptonian's been awake six hours and the first thing he does is try and kill the President?"

"Woah, now wait a minute," Anais raised her hands in front of her, "We need to stop assuming things. Kryptonians are not the only ones with heat-vision. I have heat vision, so does Arun. So do a dozen other aliens."

Kara heard Anais and made a gesture that she was acknowledging Anais' opinions, but Anais knew better. Kara had already placed the blame on their guy.

"Winn's working on tracking him," Alex said, "In the meantime, let's gather whatever evidence we can find."

"I think I'll go back to the DEO," Anais said, "Make sure that everyone is being vetted the way they should be." She flashed Kara a knowing smile and sped off.

~ 0 ~

Anais had called in Arun to discuss the matters of the attack. While she had no suspicions about Arun, she wanted to check out his connections. Arun almost laughed in her face when she revealed her intentions.

"I don't have any other alien friends, Anais," Arun said, taking a seat at an empty desk chair.

"Like, nothing?" Anais brought her hands down on her hips. "You expect me to believe there isn't one single alien friend you know of? Acquaintance?"

"When I said I 'lay low', I fully mean it," Arun said, "I keep to myself. It's how I survive."

Anais curiously looked at Arun for a while, and he completely let her. From a distance, she saw the President walking into the bullpen with J'onn and Supergirl. "What do you think about the Amnesty Act?"

Arun looked at her like he was about to laugh. "Seriously? That's what you want to talk about? Not 'hey, when are we finally going to start training?'"

"I'm serious," Anais shrugged, "I've heard plenty of different opinions but…what do you think? You've lived as a human and this new law will allow you to come out to the world as who you really are."

Arun sized Anais for a moment then turned the tables on her by asking what she thought about the Act. Anais didn't have an answer, at least that's what she kept claiming.

"You want my opinion?" Arun asked, bringing his hands together on his lap and crossing his legs.

"Yeah," nodded Anais.

"I think it's a useless law," Arun said bluntly. "The world is not sunshine and rainbows. There are plenty of humans who fear people like us. Hell, even your own friends will fear you."

"What?" Anais scoffed. "My friends do not fear me."

"They might not know it," Arun said, shrugging, "But deep down, they always have a little fear. I mean, take your computer friend over there," he made a nod towards Winn working hard at his desk tracking their missing alleged Kryptonian, "You don't think if you went full-on Solista on him, he wouldn't be afraid of you?"

"That's completely irrelevant," Anais said, crossing her arms. "I would never do that to Winn or anyone else for that matter."

"Never say never," Arun wagged a finger at her. "I'm just saying that this Act won't benefit anyone. Sure, there are some humans who will accept us but for the most part, I don't see the humans respecting the new law."

"So…you wouldn't reveal yourself?" Anais asked.

Arun shook his head. "Not in this lifetime, no."

Anais lowered her head pensively. It didn't take long for Arun to ask her about her opinion again. "I'm not sure," she confessed. "My own father had my mother killed because she was an alien. If the DEO hadn't rescued me, he might have done away with me too."

"So it's fair to say that you have some resentment towards humans," Arun said.

Anais' eyes widened. "No! I…I know that not everyone's the same. I guess I could say that…I'm wary of the Act. I don't know what's going to happen, and I definitely don't know if I'll be revealing myself."

"Fair enough," Arun smiled at her.

Anais let out a sigh and looked towards the President and J'onn.

~ 0 ~

Kara was fuming again when she returned home from her interview with Lena Luthor. Anais was on the couch eating some strawberry shortcake ice cream from a bucket.

"Woah, what's got you all…like that?" Anais waved her spoon at Kara.

"Lena Luthor is completely xenophobic!" Kara dropped her bag on the kitchen aisle. "I mean, so much for wanting to change the perspective on the Luthors!"

"Woah, woah, woah, let's back it up and put some context into this, shall we?" Anais fixed her position on the couch to sit cross-legged. "Can we start from the beginning?"

Kara nodded but as she explained her interview with Lena, she paced back and forth just a tad strong enough to create a draft in the living room. "She's created this-this alien identifier!" She went on to explain how the device would work once it hit the market. "Isn't this horrific!?"

Anais' eyebrows raised as she considered the future with such a product on the shelves. "I mean…I think the world is very troubled, Kara. Yeah, maybe this device might actually do some harm but…if you're telling me the details correctly, wouldn't it only work on people who choose to stick their finger into that thing?"

Kara stopped pacing and flashed an incredulous glare at the Solista. "You support this thing!?"

"I did not say that," Anais said, "But you didn't answer my question either."

Kara groaned. "Okay, yeah! I suppose people would have to choose whether or not they want to stick their finger in but—" she raised a finger at Anais— "who's to say that restaurants or-or bars wouldn't have these posted on the entrances as requirements for customers to be able to go inside?"

"That's a good point," Anais acknowledged the new point, "So, yeah, it would be bad."

Kara groaned again. "Anais, just make up your mind already! Are you for or against this!?"

"I honestly don't know," Anais continued to answer calmly and perhaps that's what irritated Kara even more. Why was she so calm in a situation like this? "I think about it from every angle that I hear, being completely unbiased but…it's hard to make up my mind when I'm so divided. I mean, I'm even biologically divided in this matter. Half alien, half human."

To Kara, she had not heard anything useful. She declared she would go write her article about Lena to turn it in the next morning to Snapper. Anais wouldn't deter her.

~ 0 ~

Anais wasn't remotely surprised when, late in the afternoon, Kara had come to the DEO angrier than ever because Snapper had rejected her article. Anais did, however, know to keep her mouth shut and not future agitate Kara.

Perhaps it was a good thing that Alex came with the news that she had an idea where their missing Kryptonian had gone to hide in.

"How'd you figure it out?" Kara asked while the three women watched Winn pinpoint the location on his computer.

"Never mind that right now," Alex said quickly, "Winn?"

"Check it!" He exclaimed. "Deep space signal. Loud and clear."

"Where is it broadcasting from?"

"The Mount Pride Observatory. And that's where we'll find our alien John Doe."

"He must be trying to contact Krypton," Kara said. "He doesn't know it was destroyed."

"Actually, no. He did not dial Krypton," Winn said the more he looked into the scan.

"Where is the signal going to then?"

"Well, according to these very cool DEO star charts, he beamed a signal directly at a planet called...uh, Dac... Daxam?"

Kara's expression immediately dropped and was quickly replaced with disdain. She took off without saying a word to anyone.

"Um, is that supposed to be significant?" Anais said, completely lost. "Alex, what's the info on Daxam?"

"I-I don't know!" Alex exclaimed, just as confused about Kara's behavior.

Anais sighed and fled the room to catch up with Kara. Even with her speed, she still joined Kara in the observatory a tad late as the Kryptonian and their missing alien fought hand-in-hand.

"Supergirl — stop!" Solar called, but Kara kept going with an unusual aggressiveness in her punch.

"Stay down, Daxamite!" Kara said with an equal disdain in her voice after slamming the man on a table.

"You know where I'm from?" The man looked up at her, groggy yet still lucid enough to be confused.

"Yup!" Supergirl nodded. "And you should have stayed there." She went to grab him again when Solar swept across the room, ramming Supergirl down.

"ENOUGH!" Solar yelled at her and then quickly got up, speeding back beside the man, shooting Supergirl a daring look for her to try fighting again. She grabbed the man's hand and pulled him up, surprising him in the process with her strength and speed. "You, you have a lot of explaining to do," she warned him.

~ 0 ~

The DEO had locked the Daximite in a holding cell and were watching him from the security feed. Kara was absolutely livid with the mere presence of the man, and she was no less angry with Anais as well.

"So…our mystery alien is from Daxam…" J'onn curiously glanced at Kara. He, like everyone else, were trying to decide whether or not this was her most angriest moment.

"I've never heard of Daxam," Winn said, expecting to now hear a lot about it.

"It's a sister world to Krypton," J'onn explained, "Both capable of sustaining life, both orbiting the same sun."

Alex looked over at Kara. "You've never mentioned it before."

"Do the Hatfield's mention the McCoy's?" Kara retorted.

"I take it your planets didn't get along," Alex nodded.

"You don't say?" Anais sarcastically mumbled and ignored Kara's look.

Kara was happy to explain the situation for their understanding. "Hundreds of years ago, Krypton and Daxam fought a bloody war to a stalemate. Thousands of lives were lost on both sides because of a pointless war Daxam started."

"What were they fighting about?" asked Alex.

"Krypton was a democracy. A world of explorers, philosophers, scientists, and Daxam, was a monarchy. With kings and queens who ruled a population of hoodlums. We had a saying on Krypton for Daxamites, "May tex kolar Daxam.""

"And that means…?" Winn asked.

"Nothing I can repeat in English."

Winn wouldn't ask again. "So, if Daxamites are as bad as you just apparently said they were, then it's no wonder this guy is trying to kill the President, right?"

"We don't know that," Anais said again, "Because we haven't really looked into it. Other aliens have heat vision, guys."

"She may have a point," J'onn said, "His reasons for trying to kill the President are unclear."

"I'll ask him why," Kara said, taking off towards the holding cell.

"Uh, are we sure we want to let her do this?" Anais turned to the others, crossing her arms. "She hates the guy and we don't even know him."

"We don't know that he didn't do it," Alex reminded.

"We don't know that he did," Anais countered. "It's biased which, coincidentally, has been Kara's problem these past days." She turned back to the screen and watched as Kara walked into the holding cell. "Let me go in there, J'onn," she said a moment later, "I don't know a single thing about Daxam which means I'll think clearly."

J'onn wouldn't argue with that statement because, had it been another situation, he would have gladly let Anais go instead of Kara. "Let's wait to see how this pans out."

Anais rolled her eyes. She knew exactly how it was going to pan out. And when Kara stormed out of the holding cell, she looked at J'onn again. "I know I'm technically the youngest around here, but I do know my stuff sometimes."

She sped down the hall to the holding cell and then walked right in. The man was lying down on the long bench and didn't bother looking at her when she approached his cell.

"What, are you coming to yell at me too?"

"I don't know, should I?" Anais crossed her arms.

The man gave a sour smile and glanced in her direction. "Thanks for helping out back there. I take it you're not a Kryptonian."

"Careful what you say," Anais warned him, bringing her hands behind her back. "No, I'm not a Kryptonian and while my friend is very upset with me right now, I won't tolerate any slander against her."

The man chuckled lightly and pulled himself up to a sitting position. "She's already blamed me for this attack on a pres-pres — whatever that thing was called. What are you in here for? Proper arrest or something?"

"I'll let you know in a bit," Anais said, "Why don't we start with the basics. What's your name?"

The man tilted his head at her, his dark eyes squinting at her.

"Okay," Anais nodded, "I'll go first then. My name is Solar. I am from Solaris, if you happen to know about it."

The man seemed to recognize the name and even stood up. He looked at her from head to toe at least twice before he spoke. "I've never been to Solaris but we had trade with them. It's supposed to be a beautiful planet with beautiful people to match. The golden hair is a trademark of exquisite beauty."

"Thanks…" Anais said slowly, "But I'm not here to talk about beauty. "What's your name?"

The man smiled lightly. "Mon-El."

"Getting somewhere now," Anais smiled back, "So, Mon-El, you want to tell me why you attacked one of the human's most powerful, if not the most powerful, figure of authority on this planet?"

"I didn't," Mon-El said, "I mean…no offence but that guy didn't exactly seem like an all powerful authority figure. He seemed like a kid."

"Wait, are you talking about the guy from the observatory?"

Mon-El shrugged. "It's the only human I've come across and made contact with."

Anais looked back at the security camera up in the corner of the room. Bingo. He's not our guy. "Um, Mon-El, what…what exactly is it that you want to do now?"

"Well, clearly, it's to get home," Mon-El said, "I don't belong here."

Kara didn't tell him about Daxamite. "Um…"

"You seem to be more kind and, not angry at me," Mon-El said, "Do you think maybe you could talk to whoever is in charge of this place and get them to help me? All I want is to go home, I swear."

Anais let out a heavy sigh. "Let me…see what I can do. Just stay put."

Mon-El opened his arms to remind her of his current place. "I don't think I have much of a choice there."

Anais smiled lightly. She zipped out of the room afterwards.

~ 0 ~

"You're here late," Winn remarked as Anais dropped into the empty chair at the desk next over.

"So are you," she countered.

"I work here. And I'm keeping an eye on our Daxamite."

Anais rolled her eyes. "Yeah, okay, I'm avoiding Kara right now. She's not very happy that I interviewed Mon-El after her."

"Yeah, you do seem at opposing odds these days."

"I can't help it. I see things differently," Anais shrugged. "Is that wrong?"

"No," Winn shook his head, "But I think we also need to take into account everything Kara's been through lately. It must have been hard seeing a Daxamite here knowing their relationship from the past."

"I hear you," Anais said, "But then what am I supposed to do over here? I see things from a different perspective because I'm neither Kryptonian nor a Daxamite. I'm telling you, Winn, I don't feel like this is our guy. He didn't even know what a President is. And given what we know about Daxam and their monarchy, I'm sure this guy has zero clue what a democracy looks like."

"I hear you too," Winn assured her, "So how about we do this: let's let Kara cool down for the night and you and I can stay here and look through some aliens in our database with heat vision powers?"

A smile spread across Anais' face. "You are such a good friend, Winn." She sped her chair next to his, startling him, and very excitedly pushed her hair back. "Let's get started!"

~ 0 ~

The next morning, Anais and Winn had compiled a decent list to bring up to J'onn and Kara. While J'onn was willing to go through it, Kara resisted.

'It's him, guys,' she had reiterated. She was kind about it at least, giving the impression she had cooled down somewhat but not enough to truly listen to them.

Since the President was going to be signing the Amnesty Act that afternoon, both Solar and Supergirl needed to be present and totally not arguing with one another. One took the sky to patrol and the other the ground to speed around. Alex also helped to scope out the crowd gathering together.

"Does it all look okay?" She asked the two superheroes while still keeping her eyes peeled.

"All clear," Supergirl was happy to report. "With our wayward Daxamite locked up, I don't think we'll have any problems."

Solar walked through the crowd, unable to stop herself from rolling her eyes. "Even though it's not him?"

"It is," Supergirl said sternly. Solar said nothing else about it.

Shortly after, the President made her appearance on stage. "My fellow Americans. Over a century ago, this nation erected a monument in New York Harbor. A Statue of Liberty. That Statue looked down upon Ellis Island, where thousands of immigrants came to seek refuge, from a home country that didn't want them, that wouldn't have them. But America took them is our story. The American people today, stand as one with history. No longer will our alien visitors be strangers, committed to the shadows, forced to the fringes of a hostile and unwelcoming world. They will be granted the full rights and privileges of American citizens. The Statue of Liberty will stand for aliens, too. And now, if uh... if someone would just hand me a pen…"

The crowd, along with the President herself, shared a laugh together. One of her colleagues handed her a pen so she could sign.

"Here we go. History." Just as the President was about to sign, a fireball struck the Amnesty Act itself and turned it into flames.

Supergirl immediately looked down from the sky to see the culprit. Solar dashed towards the President, getting her off the stage in a snap.

"Madam President, are you alright?" She asked the woman.

"Yes, thank you," the President nodded shakily.

Solar took the President straight into her car, leaving her in the hands of the Secret Service, and returned to the scene of the fight. A woman in a leather black jacket and bright red hair was throwing constant flames everywhere.

Supergirl landed in front of the woman, warning her to stand down. "Put 'em out or I'll put you out."

The woman didn't listen and continued throwing flames. Supergirl landed a lunch before the woman grabbed her in a chokehold and burned the farmer's hand.

Anais zipped by and threw the woman across. "My turn." Her eyes flashed a bright gold. "And fair warning, we're samesies." Her hands lit up with golden energy and she started to throw one after the other towards the woman.

The woman growled angrily and enveloped herself in flames. Solar smirked with Supergirl, both knowing exactly what to do. Supergitl flew over the woman and started going in circles. Solar ran around the woman in circles as well until they eventually sucked out the oxygen.

The woman fell to her knees, her red curls hanging over her face. Just as Solar and Supergirl approached her, she burst into flames and threw them both back. She made a run for it and crashed into Alex and another woman. She threw Alex into the water fountain with a firey hand and grabbed the second woman in a chokehold. Flames circled around them until they were both gone.

Supergirl hurried to the fountain to pick Alex up and brought her safely to the ground. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," nodded Alex, her eyes sweeping over the leftover scene, "But where's Maggie?"

~0~

Kara couldn't be more miserable. She sunk down in a chair at the DEO, listening to J'onn confirm that Mon-El was not their culprit.

"We should probably let Mon-El go now," Anais said, hearing Kara's questioning 'hmm?' on the side. She looked at Kara with bemusement. "That's his name — Mon-El."

Kara's brows furrowed. "When did you learn his name?"

"When I asked him." At the answer, Kara grew even more confused so Anais explained. "I went in to interrogate him after you left. I found out his name and that he's just trying to get home."

Kara let out a frustrated noise and rubbed her face. "I'm awful. I am completely awful. If I hadn't been so blinded by how I felt about Daxam, we could have been out there searching for the real assassin. And then Detective Sawyer wouldn't be missing.

"Kara, everything will be fine," Anais said, "The important thing is that you saw the light and now we're getting back on track."

"I should have listened to you," Kara said, sinking further down in her chair. Her legs dangled out a great deal. "I'm supposed to be your mentor and you caught this before I did."

"Just because you're my mentor doesn't mean you have to get everything at all times," Anais said, "That would make you God."

"Thanks for not rubbing it in my face," Kara said, sighing.

"That's not what friends are for," Anais said, "So don't even worry about it. Let's just focus on catching this person."

"Alex said she may have a lead," Kara said, straightening up in her seat. "Let's give her a call."

Anais completely agreed.

~0~

Scorcher was their target's name and according to Alex, she had a preferred hideout — a hideous foundry. She had Maggie Sawyer chained up with her arms above her head when they arrived.

Solar decided to go first. She sped down the place, unhooking Maggie and returning her to safety. "Mind if we pick up where we left off?" She then asked Scorcher.

"If it's where I was winning then sure!" Scorcher threw a flame ball at her. Anais easily zipped to the other side, forcing Scorcher to spin around after her.

"From where I stood, it looked like you ran away," Solar remarked with a smirk. "Gonna do that again?"

Scorcher growled and drew her arms back to literally fore again when Supergirl flew down and slammed her foot on Scorcher's back.

"Well," Scorcher coughed and groaned from the ache on her back, "Why am I not surprised that the President's little pets came to her defense? You're both traitors to your people."

Supergirl landed a few feet beside Solar and looked at Scorcher. "It's not us against them."

Scorcher pulled herself up. "Not yet. But I've been to half a dozen planets just like this one. You want to know what they all have in common? The locals lock away anything that they think is different. Out of prejudice, out of fear. There's a reason that you two hide your identities. And it's because the humans can't be trusted."

"No," Supergirl scrunched her face, "It's because criminals like you can't be trusted."

"I mean, let's be honest, this right here—" Solar motioned to the current predicament— "doesn't exactly speak well of you."

Scorcher looked at them with a strange smile. "I think highly of myself."

No one was surprised about that.

Scorcher acted fast and threw a series of flames towards the other women. Solar brought caught each of the flames in her hands, skidding back on her feet, and threw them back at Scorcher. Supergirl flew towards Scorcher then, punching her to the ground.

Scorcher grabbed Supergirl's arm and flipped her over, landing the Kryptonian behind her. Just as Scorcher got up to her feet, two familiar flame balls hit her square in the back, sending her toppling over a table. When she lifted her head, someone hit her with a broken pipeline across the back of the head, finally knocking her unconscious.

Maggie Sawyer kept the pipe piece drop on the ground and looked over at them, completely grinning from side to side. "You guys are fun."

~ 0 ~

The next day, CatCo. was buzzing with news for their readers. So many things had happened in the span of a few days that James had to call for another, almost emergency, editorial meeting. He had most of the reporters in his office, including Kara and Anais, taking notes.

James stood behind his desk, addressing the reporters with the final details of their upcoming issues. "Our banner will read, 'Supergirl and Solar defeat extremist alien, saving the day'," he said proudly.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Snapper came stalking into the office, ignoring the looks of the other employees.

James more or less expected that kind of entrance and went along with it. "Dictating the headline after we went out and got the news peg. You got a problem with that?"

"Not that," Snapper slammed an article down on James' desk, "Did you tell someone to kill the first graph on my story?"

"No, I didn't tell someone to do that. I rewrote the piece myself."

Somehow, that seemed even worse to Snapper's ears. "What? You can't just rewrite my piece."

"Actually, Snapper, I can," James was happy to clarify the situation. "'Cause I'm your boss. Doesn't feel good to have somebody encroach on your job, does it?"

"This is outrageous," Snapper said, his voice deadly quiet, "I have complete control of editorial content."

"No. No, you don't. I do."

"Then I'll walk."

With what was one would describe a smug smile, James leaned forward on his desk, looking Snapper in the eyes. "Get to walking."

Anais and Kara exchanged glances with each other. Neither one knew how the other was keeping in their snickers.

Snapper stepped back from James' desk. "All right, Olsen. What do you want?"

"What I want, is a newsroom governed by respect. You stay out of my lane, I'll stay out of yours."

"Fair enough," Snapper muttered, turning away and walking out of the office altogether.

After that, James saw fit to end the meeting as well and sent the rest of the reporters out.

"Nicely done, boss!" Kara cheered for him.

"Yeah," Anais nodded, "That must have felt really good, huh?"

James wouldn't deny that it had.

"Um, okay, I gotta go," Kara started backtracking out of the office, "I have to go talk to the Daxamite — I mean—" she had winced at her own tone— "Mon-El."

Anais smiled at her. "Can't wait to hear how it goes."

"Anais, I'd like to show you something," James said before the Solista even thought about leaving too.

"Okay, yeah," Anais nodded and followed James out of the office. "Can I have a clue?"

James chuckled and led her through the bullpen down the hallway leading to the separate offices. "It's nothing new, really. I officially processed your promotion and so that means…" He stopped beside his old office and opened the door for them, "This is now your office."

Anais' eyes widened. "My office?"

"Yeah!"

"Like…my office?" Anais pointed a finger at herself.

James laughed again. "Yeah, come on in." He opened the door wider for them and motioned Anais to go inside first.

She stepped in and looked around. James had already taken down his personal things and left it bare and neutral for whoever would take it next. "I'm sorry, this just feels so surreal to me."

"Soak it in because the real work starts now," James said, "You can redecorate, of course."

"Ha…redecorate…" Anais felt her mind racing already.

"I'll let you get started…" James walked out of the office, closing the door behind him.

For a speedster, Anais sure felt like time was running slow around her because there were about a dozen things she thought of doing to the office but not enough time to actually do them by tonight.

It was only exactly one hour later when she got her first official visitor in her new office.

"Come in!" She giggled. That would take some getting used to. It helped when she saw just Winn coming in, carrying a laptop in his arms. "Hey! Can you believe it? I got my own office!"

Winn didn't look all that excited. In fact, he seemed kind of grim. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

Anais watched him lock the door curiously. "Uuh, yeah…"

Winn hurried over to her new desk and set down his laptop. "I need to show you something."

"DEO related?" Anais asked, presuming it had to be given the privacy of the room.

"Technically," Winn nodded. "I intercepted a message for you."

"For me? I get mail at the DEO?"

"...something like that." Winn reached over to his laptop and brought up an audio file.

'For the girl who is neither nor, the Solar hybrid, we will ensure that you are only from one side, the right one. Cadmus will free and gift humans strong enough with power from you. You, Solar, will fuel the army that will wipe out the intruders on this world. Joining is not an option.'

The audio finished then, leaving a moment of silence as the message settled.

"This is…ridiculous!" Anais exclaimed. "Of course they can't do that! They can't — what? — give people my speed? My powers?" She expected to hear Winn agree with her but when she looked at him, it seemed like he was considering the factors. "Winn!"

"They gave Corben Kryptonite powers," Winn said, to his credit very calmly, "I'm sure CADMUS is not short of advanced technology."

"So? They can't just steal my powers."

"Anna, you're still new at this whole superhero thing. I have seen Supergirl fall sometimes — we both have. I can't imagine what would happen if someone got ahold of your powers. Faster than the speed of light. We have to do something. We have to tell—"

"We don't tell anyone!" Anais snapped. "I'm thankful you only showed this to me. Now do me the solid of keeping it to yourself.

"Anna—"

"Please?"

Winn recognized her puppy-eyed face and also knew that he was not strong enough to say no, however…

"Okay, I won't tell anyone," he said first, giving her a false hope.

"Oh, thanks—"

"But I will be modifying your suit and who knows how long that can take," he finished with a wide smirk.

Anais' eyes were wide in alarm. "What!? But you just finished modifying it!"

"It's my tinkering head," Winn said, grabbing his laptop off the desk. "It never stops working. Even when I'm asleep, it's still coming up with new ideas!" He side stepped Anais and headed to the door. "And these new ideas may take a while to add to the suit so you probably won't be going out for a while!"

"What — Winn!" Anais turned after him. "You can't bench me!"

"Bench?" Winn scoffed. "I'm not benching you. You're just waiting until I finish modifying the suit, that's all. And hey, if it keeps you safe, then it's a win-win. Ha, get it?" He laughed at his own joke and left the office, leaving behind a stunned Anais.

It took her several minutes for it to sink in and the implications it would mean for her future. "Winn!" She sped after him. This could not be.

#ocappreciation #fyeahsuperverseocs #ocsnetwork #fd: supergirl #supergirl #winn schott #winn schott fics #winn schott imagines #winn schott x oc #supergirl fics #supergirl imagines #dc ocs #dc fics #dc imagines #oc: Anais Mjorkland #oc: solar #fic: sweet ambitions

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saiilorstars · 1 year

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Ch.8: Lena Luthor

Story Masterlist // Anais’ Masterlist

Pairing: Winn Schott x OFC

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

[If you’d like to be added to this specific OC’s stories/edits, send me a message!]

"So your parents were sent off well?" Kara asked just as she and Anais landed in front of a expensive-looking building J'onn had requested their appearance at.

"Yeah," Anais gave a light shrug of her shoulders. "I told them the man from the pod was another Kryptonian so there was nothing to worry about. They and my godparents are leaving to get some well needed rest."

"You believe that?"

Anais snorted. "They're all science geeks. Anyways, where the hell are we?" The two made it into the building and found the familiar DEO employees going about their usual tasks. "Where are we?" Anais repeated her question and hoped someone would finally answer them.

"The Department of Extra-Normal Operations, where else?" J'onn stopped by them, wondering why they were acting so clueless.

Both women exchanged exact, incredulous glances.

"Wait! Wait, wait, wait!" Kara followed J'onn first. "This has always been here? With the glass and the views and...and you made me fly to that cave every day!"

"DEO has several facilities, Kara."

"A bat bit me in the last one!”

"Whiner," J'onn calmly said, eliciting a snicker from Anais but a rather offended look from Kara.

"Hey, sis," Alex greeted when the trio entered the medbay room.

"You knew about this place, too?" Anais raised an eyebrow. She was beginning to feel rather offended herself for not being in the loop.

"Yeah, it's like a block from my apartment. It's kind of like the old place. Maybe better."

Kara decided to put that behind them or else they would never get to the news of the moment. She gazed at the unconscious man in Alex's care. "He has to be from Krypton. He must have escaped before the planet exploded, like Clark and I did."

"He's comatose. His vitals are stable. Breathing is normal. There's nothing else we can really learn from him because…" Alex had tried to stick a needle in the man's arm but the needle broke instead.

"That proves he's from Krypton!"

"I think it just proves he's not human," Anais chimed in her opinion. Kara looked at her seeming rather offended. "There's a lot of aliens that have freaky strength, myself included."

"Which means he could be dangerous," J'onn said what everyone else had already assumed.

"Sir, I would request that Winn help with the investigation," Alex said once she saw Winn coming into the room. "We need someone to analyze the pod's telemetry, and Winn does read Kryptonian."

At the questioning looks from Kara and J'onn, he meekly explained, "I got bored. I thought I'd pick up a new language. Space talk!"

"You want to prove your worth, Mr. Schott? Find out something my team of highly trained alien experts can't," J'onn said, meaning it as a kind way of letting Winn know his time probably wasn't going to be of much use.

Winn took that as the exact opposite. "Challenge accepted."

Anais laughed quietly. J'onn nodded Winn to follow him out but stopped under the threshold for a moment. "Oh, Solar, your friend is being released in twenty minutes."

Anais eagerly nodded and thanked him again. She turned to meet the smiling faces of Kara and Alex. "What?"

"Arun is getting released today?" Kara asked even though they already knew the answer.

"Yes, he was officially declared nonthreatening," Anais rolled her eyes. "That's still rude but... it's behind us. We're going to watch the Venture space launch tonight after he shows me his art shop."

"Oh, going on a date already…?" Alex purposely teased and Kara really did try to suppress her laughter.

"It's not a date, Alex. He's showing me his life and I'm going to show him mine," Anais smiled brightly at the thought of finally meeting someone like her. "And don't worry Kara, I'll stay clear of the apartment so you and James can have some alone time."

"Oh, so you're the one going on a date?" Alex shifted her teasing glance to Kara instead.

"Yup," Kara answered fast. "It's gonna be great. We are finally both free and clear to just hang out. No aliens trying to destroy the Earth. Just him and me, together like normal people, doing what people do on dates." She had to stop though when she noticed Alex's intense look. "What?"

Alex cleared her throat and purposely moved away from her sister. She went to put down the needle she'd tried using on the mysterious man. "You're just kind of doing that thing where you are super overeager, which means that you really aren't, but you're trying to convince yourself that you are."

"You got all of that from that one response?" Anais blinked in genuine surprise. She wondered if this was what it was like to have a sibling. Sure her parents knew her emotions well but a sibling, she imagined, knew more things about you that the parents wouldn't.

"She does that a lot, you'll see," Alex moved on out of the room but of course Kara went after her, protesting what had been assumed about her.

"I'm excited! I am so excited!"

Anais didn't say anything but she was pretty sure someone who was genuinely excited about something wouldn't go so hard trying to convince someone that they indeed were really excited. Thankfully, things didn't enter into an actual argument since Kara was called away by Cat. Though when she did go, she didn't do it before uttering one more time that she was "super uber excited" which really just proved Alex right.

"Every day I get to know something new about your sister," Anais chuckled as now she and Alex headed towards the main room.

"That's going to happen. I'm really just looking out for her," Alex felt the need to clarify. She didn't want to sabotage Kara's long awaited date but she just knew that Kara wasn't truly happy at the moment. "And I'll be looking out for you too, just so we're clear."

Anais blinked. "What? What did I do?"

Alex playfully rolled her eyes. "Your parents asked me to keep an eye on you."

"Oh great-"

"And keeping my word…" Alex came to a stop suddenly, making Anais dread what was coming, "I want you to be extra careful when you're around Arun."

"Alex, I already told you he wasn't dangerous-"

"You don't know someone's intentions, alright? Now Arun has been living on Earth for a long time. You know who is biologically, but you don't know what kind of person he is in reality," Alex was very serious in this matter. She would be repeating this to Anais every time she deemed it necessary. "So today, while you're out with him, watch yourself. Don't go to his apartment yet."

"Alex, c'mon," Anais laughed at the absurdity of her words. "I'm not a little kid. And I certainly have the means to protect myself."

"I know you do, but I still want you to be alert," Alex smiled and hoped Anais would understand she was just looking out for her too. She left Anais in the central room afterwards but even as Anais tried pushing Alex's words away it was impossible.

Alright, so maybe she couldn't fully trust Arun yet but it didn't mean she had to view him as a villain.

"You alright?"

Anais flinched when Winn touched her shoulder. She snapped out of her thoughts and waved him off. "Yeah, don't worry about it. Alex is trying to be my big sister."

"And that's...bad…?" Winn wasn't sure due to her straight face. "I mean, I know Alex can be scary but, she's fine. She's cool."

Anais chuckled and playfully rolled her eyes. "She is but she just had this idea that I shouldn't be so trusting in Arun."

"He was cleared of any threats, right?"

"Yes!"

"Well, I mean...it wouldn't hurt to be cautious," Winn flashed her a nervous smile when he noticed she was close to glaring at him. "Or not... not works too. Do whatever you feel is right."

She ultimately smiled. "Way to stand your ground. You know, if you're going to be working here, you'll need to learn how to do that."

"Me work here?" Winn's eyes went wide at the idea. "At the DEO?" His laughter wasn't received well since Anais had been dead serious.

"C'mon, Winn. You're more than qualified to be here. Plus, it's pretty obvious you want to be here too," Anais nudged him on the side.

"Yeah…" Winn wasn't going to outright admit the D.E.O. would be a working dream for him. Whether he admitted it or not, it was obvious for Anais.

~ 0 ~

When Arun was finally released, he made a direct demand to go out and eat. Apparently, what the D.E.O. served wasn't as great as one would think. Anais laughed but didn't protest to some tasty lunch.

"We can do whatever you want but I just can't get home until eleven," Anais warned Arun after they walked into the restaurant Arun chose. He apparently had a taste for Italian. "My roommate Kara has a hot date tonight."

"You and Supergirl room together?" Arun was immediately shushed by Anais, even though no one actually heard his question. He raised an eyebrow at her, clearly confused on her rudeness. "What?"

"You can't just say stuff like that out in the open."

"Why? It's not like any of the humans can actually hear us."

"Doesn't matter," Anais frowned.

Arun left it at that and picked up the menu. "What do you feel like having? It's on me, by the way."

"I really love pasta so a chicken alfredo would be delicious," Anais then lowered the menu, revealing a smile on her face. "And thanks for the invite. Next time it's on me."

Arun smiled back. "Don't worry about it. On Solaris, it's customary for the men to pay for the meals."

"Ah, chivalry and tradition - that's not new," Anais playfully rolled her eyes.

"Oh no, Solaris is nothing like...Earth," Arun's brief condescension didn't go unnoticed by the blonde. "Solaris was beautiful in its time. It was always bright and sunny. People were always elegant and there was order."

"Order?"

"Yes, you know, classes? We didn't have to mingle with anyone outside our social class."

"Aha," Anais scrunched her face behind her menu. "Kinda sounds boring."

"What?" Arun sounded offended but Anais wasn't going to keep her opinions to herself just for fear of upsetting him.

"Well, it sounds like a boring, rich place. Don't get me wrong, being rich is probably fun but all the snootiness that comes with it?"

Arun was frowning when Anais put down her menu. "You don't understand. When we can, I'll show you images of Solaris. You'll change your mind in a snap."

"Okay," Anais chuckled.

A young waitress stopped by their table to get their order. Arun ended up ordering on behalf of Anais - which she was a bit surprised with since she was very capable of doing that on her own - then ordered for him afterwards. While they waited for their meals, Arun talked about himself - and a bit of Solaris - for Anais.

As it turned out, Arun was more traditional in that he didn't really mingle with humans except for when he worked. Survival, basically. He viewed humans as a necessity to survive so he kept his interactions civil and short. Anais thought it weird that after living on Earth for ten years, he still kept that type of mentality.

"On Solaris, I was part of a high class so I was just raised with different perspectives," he said with a careless shrug. "Your family was one of them, by the way. The Mjorklands were known for their fine weaving skills. They made the finest clothing on the planet."

"So we were fashion designers?" Anais' joke was met with another frown. She ultimately stopped laughing when he wouldn't lighten up. "My mother never mentioned it."

"Irais should have told you about your history," Arun said quietly, though Anais swore he seemed more upset than she was about the matter.

"She just answered what I would ask. And most of that time was spent in hiding and being absolutely quiet."

"Sorry," Arun apologized. As the waitress came back with their meals, Anais took her turn to talk more about her background.

"My mother was murdered by humans - my father's family, actually - and after the DEO found me, two of the government's employees adopted me," Anais smiled at the thought of her adoptive parents. "They're good people. I love them."

"I'm sorry about Irais," Arun honestly meant it. "But...what was she thinking mingling with humans? Procreating was already a…"

Anais raised an eyebrow, an expression of incredulity flashing across her face. "I'd be careful how you finish that sentence since it's pertaining to me."

"No - I didn't mean it like that!" Arun went wide-eyed once he realized she was right. "It's just...Solaris had a strict rule about procreating with another species. We had these other species sometimes tour on our planet and...well, sometimes they got our people to give them a second look. It's just not right. I mean, look at the consequences you have. Your father never accepted you and his family killed your mother. You yourself only have half of a Solista's abilities."

"And I'm fine with the abilities I have," Anais said calmly despite feeling insulted in about ten different ways.

"I...I just wish that you could have everything you were supposed to have," Arun said, sighing.

Anais grabbed her fork and practically stabbed her pasta with it. She understood what Arun was trying to say and maybe in a way he was right. There were powers that she would never get to experience.

'Hang on, we're hearing of a possible explosion aboard the Venture…'

Anais looked up to the television hanging against the wall. "The Venture…"

"Yeah, humans wanting to reach space," Arun laughed to himself, missing Anais roll her eyes at him.

'Here's all we know at this time. There are over 200 people aboard the craft and the ship itself seems to be propelling down to Earth…'

"Oh my God," Anais dropped her fork on her plate.

'There are no further details, but keep it right here, and we'll continue to bring you the very latest. We can only hope wherever Supergirl and Solar are, we pray they're watching this.'

"I have to go!"

"What? Where!?" Arun scowled as Anais jumped up from her chair. "They'll take care of it!"

Anais was already out the door when he said that. She took off in her speedy run down the streets, picking up her suit on the way, then took off into the sky. She already saw the red cape of her partner and smiled in relief. Supergirl felt the weight of the craft lessen and glanced to see Solar right beside her pushing against the craft's front.

"Good timing!" Supergirl exclaimed.

"What the heck happened!?" Solar groaned as the ship continued to push against their collective force.

Suddenly, they felt a third force join theirs. Supergirl recognized the similar red cape of her cousin and beamed.

"...no frikin way!" Solar was the first to exclaim after seeing Superman smile at them from behind the ship. He breathed an icy air into the engines to force a shut down of its energy.

Between the three aliens, they were able to safely bring the craft into a landing just outside the city.

"That was awesome!" Supergirl laughed when she got to hug her cousin.

Solar practically ripped her away from Superman to have her turn. "Hi! I'm Solar! I love your work!"

Superman laughed at the two women. "Nice to meet you, Solar. I'm a fan of your debut."

Solar screeched and turned to Supergirl. "I really like him!"

"Way to go!" they heard a little girl's voice not too far. The three aliens turned to see a family biking down the road.

The boy next to her pointed at the aliens. "Look, it's Superman!"

"I used to change his diapers," Supergirl felt the need to reveal, making Superman throw her a sharp glance while the boy nearly lost it.

"Uh, not exactly sure you have to tell them that," he whispered but Kara giggled.

"No, I think I really do."

"I think she did," Solar agreed with her own laugh.

~ 0 ~

When Supergirl and Solar brought Superman back to the DEO, there was a whole crowd awaiting to see the Man of Steel. Of course, the man had to stop and greet every employee in the room.

Alex noticed J'onn's grim face as Superman made his way down the crowd. "You okay?"

"Yeah."

"Is...is Superman's appearance a problem?"

"...no."

Alex raised an eyebrow at J'onn but he didn't say anything afterwards. Instead, she heard Winn's squeak beside her.

"Oh. He's coming toward me…" he tried to straighten himself out just as Superman walked up to him.

"Winn, this is my cousin, Superman," Kara almost laughed at his wide-eyed face.

"Hi. I have a million questions," Winn's words were tumbling out of his mouth before he could realize what he was even saying. "When Lex Luthor set off the earthquake in California, did you gauge the focal depth with your X-ray vision?"

"Winn, please breathe," Anais honestly pleaded for him to take a break. He seemed purple around the edges of his face.

"Alex. It's good to see you," Superman hugged Alex next. So far, she seemed like the only one not completely awed by his appearance.

"You, too."

"Kara told me Jeremiah may be alive. And you know your father means a lot to me, so...if there's anything I can do…"

"Thank you, Clark," Alex took his request to heart.

Superman finally met J'onn's hard look and matched expressions with him. "J'onn." Even his tone had flattened.

"Superman. Nice to see you again."

"Oh, don't worry. I won't be staying long."

"Uh, I just invited Superman to visit our mystery guest," Kara jumped into the conversation - if it even qualified as a conversation - before they argued or something along those lines. "Solar, how about you lead the way?"

Anais saw Kara's intentions and of course helped in what she could. "Right this way." And on the way, she grabbed Winn so he could finish asking those questions she knew he was just dying to ask.

~0~

The unconscious man remained just that: unconscious. There didn't seem to be any progress in his state, nor a decrease, but it was difficult to track when they couldn't get any vitals. His hard skin made it far more challenging to do the simplest of things.

"He landed on Earth last night in a Kryptonian pod. We don't know who he is," Anais explained after leading Superman into the room.

"Did you try using a Quantum scan to determine his age?"

"First thing we did," Winn answered since Anais had gotten lost on the point.

"And Kara X-ray-visioned him for foreign objects, like a cybernetic data core?"

There, both Anais and Winn matched in nervous smiles. "She was just going to do that today…" Anais laughed and thanked God that Kara was coming in at that moment. "Kara, remember how you said you were going to use your x-ray vision to see if this guy had any foreign objects?"

Kara's eyebrows raised together, knowing exactly where that came from "Of course I was!" she released a small laugh. "What kind of person would I be if I forgot to do that…"

Superman entertained the show for another minute before very calmly advising, "You should probably go and do that."

"Yeah, okay," Kara x-ray visioned the stranger but saw nothing out of the ordinary. "No, nothing."

There was a ping on the tablet Winn had carried in with him. "Oh, hey, my handy translator just finished decrypting the pod's data log. Now, it seems sleeping beauty on his journey from Krypton passed through something called the Segara Beyal." He showcased his tablet for the three to see an image of a constellation.

"The Well of Stars," Kara recognized first. "My father took me there once. Time doesn't pass there."

"So that's why he's still so young?" Anais gazed down at the unconscious man and wondered what his story was.

"Oh, hey, speaking of age, I've been meaning to ask…" Winn lowered his tablet and garnered a wide, nervous smile. "Superman, you're 12 years older than Kara, right? 'Cause you do not look it."

Superman smiled. "Kryptonians age at a much slower rate here on Earth."

"You look fantastic…"

"When you're finished, we have something more important to talk about," Alex's appearance made the group divert their attention to her.

"Like what?" asked Kara.

"The Venture. The company behind the Venture said there was an explosion when the ship reached low orbit insertion."

"So?"

"Well, if something like that was gonna go wrong it would've happened earlier in the flight."

"The Venture was built here in National City, right?" Anais waited for the others to confirm her question. "Well, then somebody has to know something. That would include on who would gain the most if this craft had actually burned up." The others started agreeing with her and so she added, "And, I don't know, maybe a mild-mannered reporter could make some inquiries while he's here in National City. Perfect cover up."

"The DEO is going to take a very interested look too," Alex promised the man in question.

"Great," Kara clapped a hand on her cousin's shoulder. "You can work out of Catco. Just steer clear of Ms. Grant. She's been in a mood."

"Don't worry, I've got some sway with Cat Grant," Superman promised in a strangely certain way.

~ 0 ~

While Kara returned to CatCo. with her cousin, Clark, Anais decided to stay back at the DEO. She couldn't really see herself returning to Arun just yet. In fact, while she was staying clear of him, she wasn't exactly staying away from him.

"Anais, what are you doing?" Winn's voice startled her into almost dropping the tablet she'd swiped from some poor clueless employee. She was still in the room where the unconscious man remained, making her presence even more suspicious.

"Just...playing Candy Crush?" Her convincing face wasn't really convincing.

Winn raised an eyebrow at her as he further walked into the room. "Really? Cos it seems-" as he moved, Anais purposely slipped the tablet behind her back, "-like you're trying to hide something." And when he tried reaching for the tablet behind her, she jerked to the side with the biggest smile on her face. "Anna?"

Winn stepped back with his arms crossed over his chest. "I could try to take that tablet-"

"But you would fail since I am a speedster."

"Or I could call J'onn?"

Anais' face dropped at the threat. "You wouldn't…"

"I would."

Anais groaned and slowly pulled the tablet to her front. "I liked you a lot before this moment, Winn."

"Yeah, most women don't like me anyways so I'm okay with this."

"I wasn't doing anything bad, I was just...researching."

"About what?"

"Arun…"

Winn paused for a second and looked at her curiously. "Why would you do that? I thought you were going to get to know him today."

"I did, and...while I only heard a little about him, it's...not the best." Anais hated to admit that someone she'd been so excited for was letting her down in the worst way.

"Why? Did he do something? Does the DEO need to go pick him up?" Winn was already turning to leave when Anais grabbed onto his arm.

"No! It's nothing like that," she sighed. "He just kind of sounded...smug, you know? It sounded like he thought he was better than the humans."

"Well," Winn swayed his head, "He is super strong, can fly, has telepathic abilities, has solar powers, is a speedster...yeah, I think he has the makings of someone superior to us."

"Having super powers doesn't make you better than anyone else, Winn," Anais said softly. "Arun can have all that but if he has an ugly personality, then he's the worst of the worst."

"C'mon, Anais, you met him for like what? An hour? You can't know everything about someone in one hour."

"I know, that's why I was just looking him up," Anais raised the tablet. "I wanted to know what Arun did in the community."

"And what came up?"

"Um, just what he said he did. He runs an art shop, does paintings every now and then. He seems like a good man-"

"Then why don't you give him the benefit of the doubt and just get to know him a little more? Maybe there's some qualities that make him a good friend. And listen, if he does turn out to be the worst then by all means kick his ass and bring him back to the DEO."

Anais laughed. "I will."

"Hey," Alex stopped by and poked her head into the room. "We might have found something about the Venture accident."

Both Anais and Winn followed Alex into the main room where they had several photos on the screen.

"Ooh, that's Lex Luthor!" Winn immediately recognized the well known criminal of Metropolis.

"Is it?" Anais knew of Lex, but not what he looked like.

"So we did digging and it turns out that there was one passenger who had a seat booked on the Venture but mysteriously didn't show up last-minute," Alex indicated one of the employees to zoom in on the picture of the trio. "Lena Luthor."

The woman in question was a black haired woman with stark blue eyes. She was smiling at the viewer while Lex and an older woman - their mother - was more or less straight faced.

"Lex's sister," Winn realized. "But Lex can't be involved in this. He's in prison thanks to Superman."

"So we're thinking this time it's Lena," Alex said the obvious but Anais shook her head in disagreement.

"Wait a minute, we're going to assume she concocted this whole thing just because she's Lex Luthor's sister?" Both Alex and Winn stared at Anais with faces screaming 'duh!' at her. Anais set her hands on her hips, extremely disappointed in them. "Guys! That's just wrong!"

"You know what's wrong? All the trouble the Luthors have caused," J'onn joined them and, by the looks of it, to help Alex and Winn.

"Lex Luthor," Anais thought she was correcting them. "Superman fought Lex Luthor, not Lena Luthor. It's prejudicial."

"Look, Anna-"

Anais pointed her index finger at Winn. "If you're going to use that nickname it will not be for prejudicial stuff like this."

"Lena Luthor is Lex Luthor's sister. The entire family is rotten to the core," J'onn said but Anais still wasn't buying it.

"Are there any records of Lena ever being involved in her brother's schemes?" Judging by the silence from the trio, Anais assumed the answer was a big fat no. "Then how can you be sure Lena did this?"

"Kara and Clark are going to visit her right now to get some answers. She just moved to National City so it'll be fast," Alex thought that would help Anais but it just did the opposite.

"You mean send the man who probably already assumes Lena is guilty?" Anais was sure that Clark would just see Lena as another Lex copy. Kara was always more open minded and could probably see more than Lex. Still, Anais felt like she needed to be the unbiased party for Lena's sake. "I'm going to join them."

"What for?" Winn asked.

"To make sure we all stay in line," she turned to leave.

~ 0 ~

Lena Luthor may have a reputation thanks to her older brother, Lex Luthor, but as she led Anais, Kara and Clark into her office she showed nothing but politeness and openness.

"There's a perfectly reasonable explanation for why I wasn't aboard the Venture yesterday." Lena dropped her bag over her desk and sat down to face the three visitors. "There was an emergency regarding the planning for a ceremony I'm holding tomorrow. I'm renaming my family's company, and I had to cancel."

"Ah, lucky," Clark's tone was laced with disbelief, but even that didn't make Lena falter.

Lena, in fact, chuckled. "Lucky is Superman saving the day." Her smile widened when she saw Clark blink in surprise. "Not something one expects a Luthor to say, right?"

"And Supergirl was there, too," Kara said just before clearing her throat to add in an aura of innocence. "Along with Solar."

Lena then turned her attention to her and Anais. She looked them over but didn't necessarily see any familiar features she recognized from the Daily Planet. "And who are you exactly?"

"Um... I'm Kara Danvers," Kara answered with a nervous, tight-lipped smile.

"Anais Allen," went the second blonde in a much more carefree manner. "We're from CatCo magazine."

Lena raised an eyebrow at the two women as a smile spread across her face. "It's a publication not known for its hard-hitting journalism. More like 'high-waisted jeans: yes or no?'"

Kara and Anais exchanged glances with each other before Kara replied, "We're just tagging along today."

"Right. Can we just speed this interview along?" Lena gazed at the three of them with a resignation they didn't understand until she spoke again. "Just ask me what you want to ask, Mr. Kent. Did I have anything to do with the Venture explosion?"

"Did you?" Clark bluntly asked.

Anais sent him a disapproving glance but Lena had been the one to ask in the first place. Even then, Lena just smiled again. "You wouldn't be asking me if my last name was Smith." Her polite sarcasm was surprisingly restrained. Not everyone could remain so put together when being accused with attempted homicide.

"Ah, but it's not," Clark went on like nothing. "It's Luthor."

"Some steel under that Kansas wheat," Lena took in a breath and sighed. "It wasn't always. I was adopted when I was four. And the person who made me feel most welcome in the family was Lex. He made me proud to be a Luthor. And then he went on his reign of terror in Metropolis." She paused and looked away from the three, growing distant the more she recollected the path her brother took on. "Declared war on Superman. Committed unspeakable crimes. When Superman put Lex in jail, I vowed to take back my family's company. To rename it L-Corp." The mention of her company's new name was enough to pull her back to the present. "Make it a force for good. I'm just a woman trying to make a name for herself outside of her family. Can you understand that?"

"Yes, we can," Anais was the one to answer her. "We can really understand that, Miss Luthor." She understood perfectly what Lena was trying to do because she herself was attempting to do the same thing. Sure, her family wasn't evil but the Allens were still a high class family surrounded by governmental science and laboratories. Anais moved to National City in order to make something out of herself on her own. She felt a terrible churn of her stomach due to the guilt of coming for Lena Luthor just for trying to do something good.

"I know why you're here," Lena raised her hands to show she was still acting in good faith. "Because a subsidiary of my company made the part that exploded on the Venture." She got up from her chair and went to a set of drawers on the side of the room, missing when both Kara and Clark x-rayed her entire office. Anais inwardly sighed but knew it was standard procedure. When Lena turned back, she held a USB in hand. "This drive contains all the information we have on the oscillator. I hope it helps you in your investigation." She promptly handed the USB to Clark. "Thank you. Give me a chance, Mr. Kent. I'm here for a fresh start. Let me have one."

"We will," Anais reassured her and was the first to move towards the door.

Once out in the safety of the streets, the three discussed their brief visit.

"I didn't see anything when I X-ray-visioned the room," Clark said as he safely tucked away the USB into his pocket.

"Yeah, me neither," Kara agreed. "What do you think?"

"I've learned through hard experience not to believe anything a Luthor says."

"Yeah, that right there is nothing but prejudicial," Anais turned on both of them, forcing them to stop walking.

"You clearly are new to this life but trust me when I tell you that I know all about Luthors," Clark said, believing to have Kara on her side so he was mighty surprised when Kara sighed beside him.

"Yeah, I know I'm not a reporter or anything, but I kinda believed her."

"And until we find evidence that says otherwise, there's no reason why we shouldn't," Anais grinned at Kara for the support she unintentionally gave for their side. "And, just to cater to both sides, I'll personally keep an eye on Lena from afar."

Clark didn't seem so on board with that but his cellphone rang. "It's Lois," he told Kara and stepped a bit away to answer.

"Shouldn't you be getting back to Arun?" Kara quietly asked Anais once they were alone. "Winn mentioned you seemed a little bit down after your lunch. Was it because you left to help Clark and I with the Venture?"

"No, actually...it was...just some things he said during our lunch," Anais shook her head. She didn't want to keep dwelling on something she couldn't really judge Arun on yet. "I do have to talk to him so, you know, I can get to know him better. Maybe I'm just overreacting, I don't know. What about you and James, though? He couldn't have been too happy about your date being interrupted?"

"Uum…" Kara gave a tilt of her head, "It feels…"

"Kara?"

Kara released a big sigh. "Honestly, it feels like it's a lot more difficult than it should be. I'm trying to juggle being Supergirl and this new job Cat is offering and then when I think about James and dating, I…" she shook her head, making a hand gesture that even she didn't know what she meant. "The spark that I felt before...it's not there anymore."

Anais thought about something but she decided that she wouldn't burden Kara with a thought like that, at least not until Kara gave signs that she was already thinking about it. "Maybe you need to take one thing at a time," she offered instead. "That job offer Cat gave you...that's time delicate so you might want to start with that."

Kara chuckled. "Yeah, maybe so."

"Listen, um, I hadn't mentioned it before but I'm going to talk to Cat as Solar. I feel like it's time," Anais nodded with certainty. She delayed it enough and poor James got all the wrap for it.

"You sure that's what you want to do?"

"Yes, absolutely. It's time she got off James' back for that and it's time for me to start sharing with the city," Anais smiled. She noticed Clark coming back to them and decided to take her leave so the two cousins could spend more time together. "I'll be on the lookout for Lena like I promised."

"Be careful," Clark honestly warned her.

"I'm not bulletproof but I am literally faster than the speed of light," Anais smirked proudly and turned to leave.

~ 0 ~

Alex gripped the folder between her fingers as she walked into the room J'onn was in. "I know why you and Superman aren't the best of friends," she just came out with it. She was sure if she thought about it she would turn around and leave. This wasn't something that could be ignored. "Operation Emerald." She let the file drop on the table beside them and waited to see J'onn's reaction.

The man was stoic but ultimately he did have to wonder. "How did you find out about that?"

"I cross-referenced your personnel file with Superman," Alex crossed her arms and hoped that this would be enough to elicit some type of explanation directly from him instead of getting it all from paper.

It seemed like she was on the right track.

"Back when I first took over the DEO, we got a report about a meteorite coming down in the desert. Superman would work with us back then, so we both headed out to investigate. We got there, it was dark and but I could see something down in the crater. Green, glowing like an emerald. It didn't affect me, but Superman got down there, he started heaving. Passed out."

Alex nodded with understanding. "It was Kryptonite."

"I named it that," J'onn admitted. "Superman wanted to destroy it all."

"But you kept it," Alex didn't mean that as an accusation of some horrible secret he harbored but even she was reluctant to keep such a dangerous object around.

"He was not the only Kryptonian out there, Alex. Their powers are limitless. Now we have a way to protect ourselves from them."

"Except "them" now includes my sister."

"Guys, we may have a problem," Winn made an quick stride into the room, nonethewiser of the tersed conversation just had. "I've been going over the data from Luthor Corp. Now, the oscillator that exploded on the Venture, it was located underneath the main passenger cabin, right?" He wasn't necessarily waiting for either Alex nor J'onn to answer. He just kept going. "In fact, it was housed under seat 23B. And according to the manifest, guess who was supposed to be sitting in seat 23B?" He used his tablet to show them the visual of venture's seating arrangement. "Lena Luthor."

"Lena Luthor wasn't behind the explosion. She was the target," J'onn realized along with Alex. It meant they were dealing with the worst of the Luthors.

~ 0 ~

If the DEO wanted a confirmation that Lex Luthor was trying to murder his baby sister, they got it only one hour after making the first realization. Lena had been almost killed while attempting to fly in a helicopter, but thanks to Solar, Supergirl and Superman she lived to see another day.

Now at the DEO, the team was attempting to analyze a piece of the drone they'd managed to salvage. Winn was the closest, and the most eager, to see just what it was made up.

"This thing is like state-of-the-state-of-the-art! Kind of looks like something my dad might have built in one of his more murdery moments!"

"His what now?" Anais repeated in confusion.

"Nothing," Winn said without thinking. Yes, the world already knew just who his father was but if he could save one mind from knowing a terrible truth, then he was glad it could be Anais.

"We've acquired a partial print from the wreckage," Alex called from the controls. She had Agent Velasquez pulling up a mugshot of the man Anais, Kara and Clark fought earlier. "John Corben. International assassin for hire. He's been linked to Intergang, Kasnian terrorists, and the genocide in Corto Maltese. If you want somebody high-profile killed, this is the guy to hire. But who would want Lena Luthor dead?"

"Hey, where's Kara?" Winn asked after realizing they were short one blonde in the room.

"She, uh, is talking to James," Anais answered, sharing a knowing look with Alex. They wondered when poor Kara would get her thoughts straight. "And where's J'onn exactly? And Clark?"

"Also...talking," Alex knew the irony of the situation.

"Is everyone suddenly talking?" Winn paused just to wonder if he had anyone to talk to. Nope. He was lonely. Anais laughed at his expression, pulling him out of his momentary pensive state. "I have people to talk to," the man argued weakly.

"Didn't your girlfriend turn evil?" Alex raised an eyebrow at him. Winn was frankly offended they would throw that back at him.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure me, Kara and my young adoptive dad kicked her ass," Anais joining in didn't make him feel any better.

Winn opened his mouth but no words came to mind. Still, as he pointed between them something eventually came out. "You both...are mean."

Alex formed a small 'o' with her mouth. "Great comeback. You're almost as good as Kara."

"Well, while this is lovely, I'm going to see if I can convince Miss Luthor to postpone that renaming ceremony." Anais figured it was the best thing Lena could do but she had to see if Lena would be willing to even do it. She seemed really set on the ceremony when they visited her at L-Corp.

~0~

Lena was an exceptionally stubborn woman, Anais came to discover. While Lena went around the public event checking for any last minute changes or mending, Anais trailed after her giving her all the reasons why it would be better to postpone the event.

"I'm sorry, Miss…?" Lena briefly stopped her fast paced walking to look at Anais.

"It's just Anais," the blonde waved off with her free hand. The other hand rested over her camera that was slung around her neck. "And I just really think it's a big risk you're taking continuing on with this event when your brother is...well…"

"Trying to kill me?" Lena finished with no apparent hesitation. It almost made Anais feel sorry for the woman. It seemed like Lena was quite accustomed to aggressive family problems.

"Yeah…"

Lena seemed ready to talk but suddenly looked out to the park. She pursed her red lips together and nodded up ahead. "Do you see how many people showed up?"

Anais didn't understand but she looked over and shrugged. "Well, to be honest, not a lot." Lena laughed softly, knowing that Anais was trying to be polite in her answer.

"My brother's serving 32 consecutive life sentences for some awful things, and now when people think of me or the company...all they see is Lex's madness," she sighed and brought a hand to her forehead, gently rubbing her fingers over her skin. "I'm trying to make a life of my own and that includes this company that I know can be something good to the public."

"I know that, believe me," Anais was quick to say. "I've lived with my parents up until last month. This is the first time I'm on my own, in a new city...with my first job ever." She raised her camera a bit, making Lena smile.

"Then you should understand why I have to do this," Lena started walking towards the platform. "I can't start my life if I succumb to my brother's threats."

Anais had stopped following when Lena reached the platform and decided to mingle instead nearby. She was under the guise of a job - which would end up working to her benefit later when she showed Cat the pictures of the ceremony - but was still going to keep a close eye on Lena. And she knew Alex was nearby as well, keeping an eye on any strangers coming by.

When Lena began to address the crowd, Anais started snapping pictures. She had to admit Lena Luthor had no bad angles because every shot Anais took of her seemed to be perfect.

However, midway through Lena's speech, a laser shot right over Lena and hit a statue instead. It was enough to cause panic amongst the crowd. A couple more lasers shot through and struck a nearby building. Anais forgone her camera - in a safe spot of course - then returned as Solar. She was about to go towards the building when she got word of Supergirl and her cousin.

They would take care of the building so Solar could get the people around them to safety. One by one, she sped the people away but when it came to find the actual target, Solar had to actually fly into the air. She could hear Alex calling out the assassin and flew downwards.

Her eyes glowed gold as she fired her laser and caught the man's back. He screamed in pain when he felt the burn on his skin, but the man didn't catch a break because in the next moment Lena Luthor had made her mark with a bullet. It caught him near the clavicle and set him down.

"Badass," Solar said in utter awe.

"If you're done crushing, Miss Solar, we request that you bring the man back to the DEO," she heard Winn's voice over the comms.

Solar playfully rolled her eyes but did as told and super sped the assassin back to the DEO before he could even process.

~ 0 ~

"You did what now?" Alex gaped at both Anais and Winn the next day. Her dark eyes flickered between the two like a mother who was getting ready to scold her children.

"I asked him to," Anais raised a hand, making sure that everyone who knew would understand that she'd made the call. "I mean, I had some good shots of Lena at her ceremony but I thought the one where she took Corben down would be an extra help in her endeavor to show people she was different from her brothers-"

Alex raised a hand to stop the alien. "You hacked into a public street camera for a picture of Lena?"

"I asked Winn and he was really nice enough to do it-" Anais quickly looked at Winn with a big smile, "-and I have to say thanks again."

"It was nothing," Winn said before realizing Alex was now glaring his way. "O-or was it?" he made a face. "Does this at all jeopardize my new job at the DEO?"

Anais gasped, clapping one hand over her mouth. "Oh my God, does it? I-I didn't mean to - I just wanted to help Lena out. I sympathize with her, that's all."

Because Alex knew Anais was telling the truth, she decided to go easy and avoid them the trouble of being confronted by J'onn. "Our system is not meant to take pictures of people for magazine articles. Don't do that again, either of you." Her moving pointing finger was warning enough for the two in question.

"Got it!" the two chorused.

They waited until Alex left to be able to breath with relief.

"Winn, I am so sorry for that," Anais turned to the man afterwards. "I didn't even consider what would happen...I just thought it would help Lena."

"And it did," Winn said. They had both seen the article Clark had written about Lena that used some of Anais' pictures - which Cat would never know that she had given to the Daily Planet - and thought it was nice that Lena was getting a fair chance to start over.

"Congrats about your new job, by the way," Anais said once things cooled down. They headed for the hallway, intending on returning to the main room. "Sure it's gonna be more fun than working at CatCo."

"Definitely," Winn practically beamed at the thought of all the 'cool aliens' he'd get to see now that he was officially part of the DEO team. "Oh hey, did you ever get back to Arun?"

"No," Anais shook her head, feeling a little guilty she was purposely avoiding that subject.

"Don't you think you should do that?"

"Um, tomorrow," Anais said, though was only half sure of it. "Today I have something else planned."

"Like what?"

"...I've got a date with Cat Grant."

~ 0 ~

Cat was more than prepared for the interview James Olsen had finally set up for (in her mind) her and Solar. It was about damn time, she thought. This was the last thing she needed in her 'bucket list' to feel like she could...move on.

Overlooking the balcony, Cat saw the familiar gold streak zipping down the street. She stepped back when the streak started running up the building. With Solar's arrival, the media queen stumbled back from the force of wind.

"Miss Grant," Solar smiled widely. She had to admit she was fairly excited to do this interview. Kara had warned her that Cat was no joke when it came to interviews but it didn't scare Solar. She just wanted people to finally get an idea of who she was.

Cat got over her initial surprise fairly fast. She grabbed the recorder she left on the table and made a gesture that she wanted to turn it on. Solar gave her the nod to go for it.

"Curious, do you prefer running or flying?" Cat pointed out the balcony. "Because we've seen you do both…"

"Because I'm a speedster, I go about the same speed whether it's running or flying...but I like to run. It gives me some exercise," Solar made the motion of someone jogging.

"So, you're not of the same place as Supergirl nor Superman?"

"Nope," Solar popped the 'p' in that word. "I'm actually a unique case for my people. I am half human and half alien. A hybrid, if you will."

"Your half human?" Cat blinked in surprise. Solar nodded and allowed Cat to say her assumptions out loud. "One of your parents is human then...amazing…"

"They're both gone," Solar said before Cat started on a crusade to fish out the two. "It's just me and, um, that man that you saw the last time?"

"Name?"

"He hasn't picked one. Actually, I don't know if he's joining us, but he's not a danger to the public."

"So where are you from, then? I mean the alien part of you, anyways."

Solar smiled for a moment. "I'm from a planet called Solaris. My people are natural speedsters and can wield the sun's powers."

"Do you know if there are any more of them on this planet?"

"No, not really."

"And you…" Cat moved forwards, startling Solar for a second. Cat's eyes were scrutinizing the alien up and down. At one point, she started to circle Solar. "Where did you come from? I mean, you showed up only a bit after Supergirl. Where've you been?"

"Training," Solar could honestly say. "Because I'm half human, I developed my powers a lot later than my people typically do."

"And is that why you showed up, now? Because you were done training?"

"Yes, and no," Solar sighed. "Look, I'm not here to be painted as a hero with a tragic backstory, nor a wannabe Supergirl. I'm here because of who I am. I am Solar, half human and half alien. I was born on this planet," she pointed her index finger down, "So this is my home. You are my people too and I want to help. I want to do my part in the community."

"A bit cliche…" Cat's lips twitched into a smirk.

"But it's the truth and there's nothing to be ashamed of," Solar shrugged. "That's why I came to you, to tell you and your readers that I am here whenever I am needed and wanted." She tilted her head when another idea popped into her head. "Oh, right, and for you to lay off James. Don't threaten his job to get more interviews, please."

Cat's smirk fully developed. "Got your attention, didn't it?"

Solar playfully shook her head. "This interview is now over. Have a good night, Miss Grant." She gave a mock salute with her two fingers before rising into the air. She would definitely be looking forwards to reading Cat's article.

#ocappreciation #arrowverseocs #fd: supergirl #supergirl #winn schott #winn schott fics #winn schott imagines #supergirl fics #supergirl imagines #winn schott x oc #oc: Anais Mjorkland #oc: anais allen-mjorkland #fic: sweet ambitions

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saiilorstars · 1 year

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Ch. 8: Dear Doppelganger

Pairing: Barry Allen x OFC // Fandom: The Flash

Story Masterlist • Previous Stories: Rise Up • It Had To Be You

Belén’s Masterlist • Fanfic • Ao3

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

"Coffee is actually very delicious," Anais happily sipped her cappuccino in her hands.

The others chuckled at her but ultimately Iris lowered the coffee cup from Anais' lips for fear of it burning her. "You should take it easy."

Anais' smile turned confused. "Yeah, I know humans have this obsession with 'watch what you eat' but my metabolism doesn't work the same way."

"I remember that," Barry smiled at the memory of when Earth 31's Anais took him to a coffee shop where she proceeded to eat a stack of pancakes, cupcakes and then his own meal. "You basically eat without worry."

Anais nodded and returned to her coffee and walked behind Caitlin who worked at the computers. "I don't have to run anymore, do I?" Anais eyed the speed lab with weariness. As part of her condition to remain on this Earth, the group wanted to study her - not prod - but simply get a better idea of who she was.

"No," Caitlin softly smiled at her. "You're all done for today."

"Thank you," Anais' face said all the annoyance she was hiding out of sheer politeness for their consideration. "So can I leave, then?"

"You still want to leave the city?" Barry asked, not doing a good job of hiding his disappointment.

Anais had expressed her desire to leave the moment she felt she had herself collected from her trauma. "I just...I had a team, and I don't think I'm ready for another one."

"Especially one that has the faces of two dead people…" Cisco could be heard mumbling behind them. When everyone turned to give him sharp looks, he meekly smiled.

"I swear I will never harm anyone - I just wanted asylum," Anais sighed. "And I will do every test you want but at the end of the day...will I be free to go?"

Barry looked at the others but of course none of them really knew what to say. He, on the other hand, would've liked for Anais to stay and fight with them. He never did learn if this earth had a version of Anais…

"You...of course are free," he ultimately said.

"Thank you," Anais gave him a small nod. She sipped her coffee until it gave its last drop. She shook the cup with a frown and groaned. "Iris, can we go back to Jitters again?"

With an amused smile, Iris nodded. "Sure. My treat." Anais beamed and followed her out.

"So...that's nice," Cisco remarked the trio was left in the lab. "Homegirl gives us the scare of our lives, lives in Caitlin's place for free and…"

"Cisco," Caitlin settled a look on him.

"I don't trust her," Cisco came out with it, earning himself a suspicious Barry on his side. "Look, I know that she stole my meta-dampener cuffs, alright? I know it's her." He just had no evidence.

Caitlin gulped and busied herself on the monitor, while also pulling her sleeves down.

"Cisco, why would she take those cuffs? It makes no sense," Barry tried to be reasonable with Cisco, something he wished Cisco would try. "She's an alien. Her powers didn't come from any dark matter."

"I don't know how aliens think!" Cisco threw his arms in the air. "All I know is that she pops up and a couple days later my devices are gone."

"Cisco—"

"I'll get her for it, don't worry," Cisco warned them as he backtracked out of the room. "I'll get her in the act!"

Barry sighed and glanced at Caitlin, but the woman had taken it serious to pretend to do her work. "Cait, you okay?"

"Hm?" the brunette blinked up from her screen. "Oh yeah, definitely."

"You sure you don't mind Anais staying with you? I know it's a little weird, but...she doesn't exactly want to be with her two dead friends' doppelgangers."

Caitlin smiled and shook her head. "It's fine. She's actually a very neat person. She doesn't speak too much, though. I think she's still trying to process the fact she's never going home."

"Yeah, well...I wish she'd let us help…"

"Sometimes, a person just needs to figure things out on their own," Caitlin offered a word of advice, but it just got Barry on another matter.

"Now I know you and Bells have been talking," his playful suspicious stare was still enough to put Caitlin on red alert. "She said she'd talk about whatever was bugging her by the end of the week - that was last week," and there Barry didn't attempt to hide his irritation. "Now this morning she woke up with the sudden idea to go somewhere because she needed to do things on her own. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

"No…" Caitlin buried her attention on her computer again. The guilt was probably radiating off her by this point, especially since it had been because of her that Belén suddenly traveled in secret.

Barry would've pressed further if his cellphone hadn't gone off. "It's Joe. I'll see you later, okay?" Caitlin nodded him and thanked God he left without another question.

She pulled up her wrists and stared at the glowing dampeners around her wrists. Killer Frost was making her presence known and it was making her even more desperate. She didn't want her powers, she needed them to go away. She needed them siphoned.

And there was only one siphoner in this world…

~ 0 ~

A diner was the stop Belén was forced to make courtesy of one annoying woman who knew how to pick her battles. She sipped on a milkshake at the counter while she was waited for the rude tardy woman.

"Sam, can I get the usual?" A woman spoke from behind.

Belén stopped biting on her straw and gave the dark brunette woman all her attention. It wasn't for a good reason. She swallowed hard, unable to control her immediate reaction of seeing her own face reflected back. Every time she was face to face with her doppelganger Datura, it was to fight. Now here they were, sitting side by side at a local diner.

Datura did indeed have the same face as Belén, but there were a couple differences between the two. Where Belén styled ombre-blonde tips, Datura's hard was a darker brown with red tips. She dressed in darker clothes and the biggest difference? Her voice. She was always more authoritative than Belén, confident (for better or for worse).

"And here I thought I'd have to hunt you down," Belén muttered, taking a big sip of her milkshake. She instantly regretted it when a brain freeze came over her.

Datura snorted. "Can't believe you ever beat me."

"Believe it because that's why I have your powers and you have nothing."

Datura wagged her finger at her doppelganger. She turned her stool to face Belén, planting an elbow on the counter then her cheek on her palm. "Don't be fooled, Belén. I can still kick your ass."

"Okay, let's just skip all this," Belén snapped, turning her stool to face Datura. "You gave me your location." She was up and ready to hunt down Datura, just like she promised, but last night she got a text message from Datura herself asking to meet. "What's stopping me from taking you into the pipeline right now?"

Datura smirked. God, Belén hated that smirk. "Common interests," Datura answered. She snapped her fingers at the employee — Sam. The teenager handed her a vanilla milkshake. "You won't stuff me in the pipeline."

"You really think you don't deserve to be there right now? Along with your Poison Ivy partner?" Belén shook her head.

Datura took a small sip of her milkshake then set it down on the counter. "Oh, I deserved a lot better but I was screwed from the moment Harrison Wells turned on his stupid Particle Accelerator"

There, Belén hated the doppelganger was right. Datura was bestowed by an uncontrollable siphoning power that made her involuntarily kill Mrs. Andrews of Earth 2. It set her to run away and fake her death to her husband and her family. But Belén would never condone what she did on behalf of Zoom.

"He may have turned on the Accelerator, but you did the rest," Belén pointed out.

Datura scowled. "Things didn't work the way they did here after the Accelerator went off. I didn't get offered the help that this Wells did."

"You mean the speedster who murdered my father and Barry's mother? Yeah, because that offer was so much better."

Datura glared at Belén. "Look where you are right now, okay? Look at where I am. I can't go back to my Earth because I'll be arrested, so I can never see my Barry again. I can't see Poison Ivy here either. I have to hide for the rest of my days, especially because you and I share the same face. But you? You get to go home tonight."

~0~

Barry had come to the unfortunate news that Alchemy was once again striking the city, but very close to home this time.

"So I did have powers? I was Kid Flash?" Wally breathed a sigh of awe once he got confirmation. He knew those dreams didn't feel like dreams. He had actually been a hero. "I knew that this was happening. Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Wally, it, look... in that timeline, you were fighting The Rival," Barry wanted to word hid ending very carefully. "You couldn't stop him. There was no S.T.A.R. Labs. There was no team to help you. It was just you and Iris. The two of you were a brother-sister superhero crime-fighting team."

Hearing her name mentioned got Iris scowling. "Why didn't you tell us this before?"

Now there Barry knew he was not at fault. He'd be given then all the opportunity to know what their lives had been in Flashpoint and they refused. "You didn't want to know about your Flashpoint lives. But look," he looked at Wally again, "Listen to me, you got hurt, all right? You got hurt bad."

"So what?" Wally shrugged. "That's that me, it's not this me. And I want to be a speedster. I... I want to be a flash."

"No, no, no, you don't—"

"Yes, I do—"

"You're not hearing what he's saying. He's telling us it's not safe," Joe spoke up with the air of a parent, not that it mattered for Wally.

"Who cares what Barry's saying? How do we even know he's telling the truth?"

"Wally, come on, this isn't because of the particle accelerator, it's because of Dr. Alchemy," Iris wanted to keep the peace at least for a while. "It's the same thing that happened to Frankie Kane."

"You don't know that!"

"Yes, we do. And we need to try to keep it from happening," Joe waited for Barry to give a solution for this.

"Why don't we just say what this is really about?" Wally began, the anger seeping through his teeth. "You're okay with Barry having powers; you're okay with Barry running into danger, fighting all these metas. He can screw up over and over again You're okay with all of it because he's Barry. But you won't give me the same amount of leeway because at the end of the day, you just don't trust me."

"You know that's not true, Wally," Barry tried to say but was shutdown.

"I don't need you fighting my dad's battles for him," Wally crossed his arms and waited for his father to speak. "Say it, Joe. You don't trust me, do you?"

Joe hated that everyone was staring at him. Hid mouth opened and closed several times. "Wally…"

"That's what I thought," Wally snapped and stormed out of the house.

~0~

Datura had herself an actual, thorough laugh when Belén told her of the situation the team was going through. "I warned you that Barry would do something like this." Belén glared deeply at the woman. "But anyways, now you've got Alchemy to deal with and metas from another world. That's more interesting, I'll be honest."

"Do you know who Alchemy is?" Belén tried her luck getting some honest information out of her doppelganger, but had very little hope it would succeed.

"No. But one thing I know is that he didn't exist in the other timeline. This is yet another consequence of changing the timelines."

"Here's the situation now," Belén dug inside her bag and pulled out a folder, to which Datura comically stared at, "Caitlin and I both acquired some of your powers and they are manifesting in ways we do not like."

"Hm, I bet," Datura's grin didn't exactly portray concern. "Are you hearing the voices?"

"Yeah, I heard them first," Belén answered just as she opened up the folder. Inside was a neat stack of papers she'd taken from her research and Harry's help. "I've narrowed down the victims that are now speaking to me, ordering me to do things." She spread about four different profile pictures of Earth 2 metahumans. "Terra—" she tapped the picture of a blonde woman, "—who controls earth elements. I broke someone's noise a couple days ago because she controlled me."

Datura laughed, slapping a hand to her forehead while Belén glared directly at her. "Terra was a clumsy idiot who I got from behind."

"Eclipsa," Belén then gestured to the silver-haired woman in the next photograph.

With her, Datura grew nostalgic and a bit frustrated. "I remember her. She's an interesting one considering she only came out at night, like a bat." She picked up the photograph and stared at it with contemplation. "Now she thought she could get away with stealing in Zoom's area so I had to end that. My only regret is that I never unlocked her full powers."

"Well, she's a quieter one," Belén remarked.

"She hardly spoke," Datura agreed and set down the photograph. "Made it a little harder to track her down."

"What about Flicker?" Belén picked up the brunette's profile picture. "She's the one I hear most."

"Yeah, I bet you do," Datura snickered. "She was a cocky one. She thought she could stop Zoom but Poison Ivy and I had something different to say."

"So, she was a good person?" Belén found it hard to believe considering all Flicker had done so far was push her to be impulsive.

"Oh yeah, she and Terra were good. I managed to get them both down," Datura said with the utmost pride. "But I bet after twisting and writhing in the back of the minds, they're not as happy as they once were."

"They are pushing me and making me lose control," Belén said. "I want to control them but I don't know how."

"There's no manual for this. Be glad you only got four of these people - I had dozens in my mind before Caitlin zapped me with her device."

"Three," Belén corrected, momentarily confusing Datura. "I only have three powers of yours. Caitlin has…" her eyes flickered to Killer Frost's profile, and when Datura followed she let out a long whistle.

"Well how's about that…" she grabbed Killer Frost's profile and turned it over to Belén. "The meta whose powers I wanted most. Now you gotta be careful with her. She's a sneaky one and probably the only one who can hurt a speedster."

"Caitlin isn't like me, she doesn't want to keep the powers. She wants to get rid of them. Do you...happen to know a way to do that?"

Datura raised an eyebrow, her lips forming a big smug smile when she finally realized the reason Belén made the unexpected visit. "You want me to siphon the power back."

"Caitlin does."

"Well, you're out of luck, sweetheart," Datura clicked her tongue. "Because as much as I would love to have that power back, I don't have the siphoning ability anymore. You can thank Caitlin for that," she ended with a bitter tone.

"What do you mean?" Belén blinked, now actually a little concerned.

"Caitlin's siphoning device shut away all the voices in my head, but at the same time it erased most of my powers - leaving me with only five plus my original power. I can't siphon anyone anymore."

Belén stared long at Datura, genuinely shocked to hear the news. "How long have you known…?"

"About a week after, I tried siphoning a teleporter," Datura smirked when Belén shot her an incredulous glare, "I thought maybe I could, at the very least, retire to Cabo or something. Turns out I couldn't."

"So…" Belén put a hand on her head, "...you don't siphon anymore and...you don't have most of your powers."

"All thanks to Dr. Caitlin Snow, feel free to pass that message on. Oh, and send her my regards about her situation," Datura laughed to herself and made to get up from her stool when Belén latched a hand onto Datura's wrist.

"You are going to stay right here and at the very least - since you can't help - you'll tell us how to control the powers!" Datura blinked in genuine surprise because Belén had made that order not alone, but joined by Flicker. "And if you don't then I'll just throw you inside the pipeline right now."

Belén gasped and released a shaky breath once she returned to normal. The fear on her face made Datura want to laugh probably for an hour straight. It was the revenge she didn't plan but would enjoy every second of the ride.

She sat back down and picked up a file to read

~ 0 ~

"I didn't take anything!" Anais' shout could be heard even before she entered the cortex. Her long blonde hair bounced with each hard step she took. "Stop accusing me without evidence!"

Caitlin, who sat at the desk, closed her eyes with guilt.

Cisco stormed in after Anais, fully intending on getting his devices back. "My evidence is that you have only been here a couple days and none of my work had ever disappeared up until then!"

Anais groaned and spun around, bumping into Cisco in the process. "I don't even know what I'm being accused of stealing."

"Meta-dampner cuffs! The same ones we need for when Barry catches the metahumans!"

"What would I even want with those?" Anais' looked lost of all causes.

"I don't know, you tell me!"

Anais' eyes glowed with a fiery orange, making Cisco take a step back and even Caitlin to rise from her chair. "I don't know anything!" Anais shouted.

"So when you get angry your eyes do that trick?" Cisco was momentarily curious about that.

Anais sighed and rolled her eyes. "You are unbelievable."

That got Cisco back on track. His eyes narrowed on the woman. "Well you are a thief and you're-"

But he never finished his insult. Barry had zipped in with the news of a new metahuman terrorizing the city. He handed Caitlin the evidence the precinct had so far of the metahuman so they could all come up with ideas first.

"He was killed by a shadow?" Cisco stared in disbelief at the profile picture of the victim Barry had dealt with earlier. "That's a new one."

"Maybe that's what killed Edward Clariss," Caitlin remarked since no one had yet to figure out how Clariss was murdered inside his cell.

"Clariss was a meta-human. This victim doesn't appear to be," Barry informed them, though he was still just as stumped as they were.

"Do we know if this shadow meta is from the particle accelerator explosion or from Dr. Alchemy?" asked Cisco.

"Dr. Who now?" Anais repeated, her eyes bouncing from one to the next.

"Did you do that on purpose?" Cisco suspicously squinted his eyes on her, but the woman remained blank.

"Do what?"

Caitlin put a hand on Cisco's arm to keep him from arguing once again. "Why don't we look at the evidence, alright?"

"Yeah...we actually haven't found any evidence to process yet…" Barry made a face at them.

"It's fine, we can use the security cameras," Caitlin smiled in return. "If he was attacked by a big shot company then they had to have caught the incident. Where was the crime scene at?"

"Chubbuck, uh, Palmer and Racine around 11:00 last night."

In about a minute she had found the camera that caught the metahuman and the victim. There they saw a shadow rising from the ground just behind the victim. Said shadow grasped the man by the neck and practically strangled him to death.

"That's gonna give me night terrors," Cisco blinked the video images away.

"Shade," Anais whispered, attracting the attention of the trio.

"You know it?" Barry thought to ask.

"U-um…" Anais' entire demeanor changed to fearful. She rubbed an arm with her hand and glanced at the screen again. "Th-there was a metahuman like that in my world. He was on the opposing side of the metahumans. He called himself Shade."

"What did he do, throw his side-eye at his enemies?" Cisco mumbled and received a nudge from Caitlin to settle down.

"The name was bad but his powers were good," Anais admitted. "But what Shade could do was vibrate at such a high frequency he created the illusion that he was a shadow. At least that's what the others said."

"It's how I phase…" Barry remarked to the side, though thinking they could work with that information. "Do you think he's doing the same thing?"

Cisco had taken a better look at the crime scene reports and figured they were right. "Heat signature's fluctuating. Red shift is ridiculous. So, definitely a yes."

"He must be slowing down his molecules whenever he attacks," Caitlin agreed. "So we just have to figure out a way to keep them slowed down, and that should be enough to grab him."

"All right, can you get started?" Barry moved over to the desk with a hopefulness that wasn't exactly matched by Cisco.

"Okay, but, like, right this minute?" he flickered glances to Anais, warning her their earlier disagreement was still not settled. She air-strangled him in return.

Barry was nonethewiser. "Yeah, I'm sor... we just... we gotta stop this guy fast so we can focus on Alchemy. Wally has been having dreams about being a speedster, Alchemy dreams."

"He was a speedster in Flashpoint?" Cisco paused. "Anyone else gonna have powers we should know about?"

"No…." Barry hoped.

"All right. I'm gonna work on Shade," Cisco turned but then stopped to point at Anais."And you girl have until the end of the day to return my cuffs or I'll vibe you back to Earth 19!"

"But I didn't take anything!" Anais exclaimed with frustration.

"Don't worry about that," Barry told her and noted to have a serious talk with Cisco to get him to drop the ridiculous notion of Anais being a thief.

Caitlin had pretty much the same intention.

~0~

Caitlin lightly cleared her throat as she walked into Cisco's workroom. The man smiled at her and put down his water glass.

"Cisco, Anais didn't take your cuffs," she said meekly.

"Cait, you don't need to lie for her," Cisco turned from his computer. "I get that Barry just automatically trusts her because of the freaky adoptive daughter doppelganger complex but I know she's a thief."

"She's not," Caitlin sighed and pulled up her sleeves to reveal the cuffs. "Because I took your cuffs."

Cisco paused to show utter confusion. "What for?"

"Because I need them," Caitlin dropped the cuffs on his desk.

"Is... is this some sort of, um, bold fashion choice 'cause you're not a meta-hu... hu…" Cisco's eyes widened till they almost popped from his head when Caitlin's hands hid behind icy smoke, "...human."

She grabbed his glass of water of crystallized it with ease. "Surprise…"

Cisco's mouth could have fallen to the floor at this point. "H-how…?"

"The siphoning device I made for Datura transferred Killer Frost's powers to me. It changed my DNA," Caitlin felt almost like crying because this was the fact of her life now. It was a terrible, fear worthy fact. "I have tried everything to reverse it - I even went to my own mother - and there's nothing that anyone can do. At least here."

Cisco popped his mouth back shut. "Here? What—"

"Belén is visiting her doppelganger to see if she can siphon them back," Caitlin admitted.

"She's-she's with Datura? You know where she is!?"

"No, but Belén does right now. She went to ask Datura if she could take these powers back."

"Caitlin…" Cisco really had no words of comfort. He probably felt a similar fear of Caitlin's. Earth 2 Killer Frost was no joke. She was ruthless and...evil.

"I need a favor. I need you to vibe me in the future because I need to know if I become... her," Caitlin asked. "If Datura can't help then I need to know where these powers are going to lead me."

"You're not gonna become her," Cisco immediately refused the idea. "Okay, just because you have these powers doesn't mean you're gonna turn into Killer Frost."

"I hear her voice, Cisco, her actual voice inside my head," Caitlin shook her own. "She wants to come out and control me. Please? I need to know if I become evil because if I do, I have to leave and never come back."

Cisco looked at her hand waiting to be vibed. As much as he hated it, he followed and joined hands with her. He closed his eyes and focused on...Killer Frost.

The scene around him changed to that of a city - the city's square perhaps? An icicle shot directly past him, making him turn to see Caitlin...as Killer Frost, threatening to shoot another one. Familiar vibe energy surged past him, trying to get her. Very slowly, he turned back and saw himself being the one to fight her. Not just that, however, he noted an ongoing fight around them with familiar people…

The vibe image disappeared before him. Caitlin waited with pure hope. "And?"

Cisco knew he couldn't say what he saw. For the most part, he didn't even understand who was fighting nor why. Caitlin could not become evil, it just didn't go. "I didn't see anything." Caitlin released a relieved sigh. "You're fine."

Caitlin threw her arms around him for a hug. "Oh, thank you. Thank you!"

Cisco hugged her back, incredible guilt. He would have to speak with Belén when she returned. The future could not be that.

Caitlin pulled away from Cisco and happily sighed. "Please, um, don't tell anyone about this yet, okay?"

"Of course," Cisco nodded and gulped when she wasn't looking.

~ 0 ~

Belén was led into a clean apartment belonging to Datura and sniffed her nose when the scent of a familiar poison hit her. "Daturas?"

There were bouquets of daturas sitting around the living room and possibly the kitchen. "It's my trademark," Datura waved a hand at her doppelganger.

"How on earth did you get an apartment?" Belén was flabbergasted with the sight. "And how are you keeping it normal and not like a lair?"

"Did I mention my psychic abilities are reaching to astral projections?" Datura gave a brief smirk. "Illusions. Now say you're proud of me for being a diligent civilian of this city, not that you gave me much of a choice."

"Please, I didn't make you do all this," Belén moved over to the closed window and looked down at the busy city. "You tried to escape once and you haven't made another attempt? You could be out there again trying to kill people - me for starters - and yet you're here, living a clean apartment."

"Please skip the whole part about redemption, I don't need it," Datura rolled her eyes. "You, on the other hand, need all the help you can get. The voices - how far apart are they?"

"They're...they're coming usually when I'm fighting," Belén leaned her head against the window, eyes following people walking by the building. "Telling me to stop being pathetic and fight back."

"Because the more you fight, the more active your brain is looking for strategies to win the battle. All that action makes the brain more susceptible to be taken over by the other metas."

"How do I make them stop?"

Datura's short laugh irritated the hell out of Belén. "If I knew how to stop those voices, I wouldn't be here, would I?" she gestured to her current situation. "The voices is how it starts. They consume you until they get the power to come and go."

"I don't believe that, I'm not gonna let that happen!" Belén snapped and detached herself from the window. "Caitlin will—"

"Is already on the way to losing herself," Datura cut her off, shrugging her shoulders. "The only question here is who will lose it first: you or her?"

"If you firmly believed all this then you wouldn't have brought me here," Belén stalked towards her doppelganger, pointed finger at her. "So tell me what it is."

Datura pretended to play with one of her curls for a minute or so. "Well...I may have some resources…" Belén smacked her hand off her hair, once again close to losing it to another meta in her head. "What? I can make friends."

Belén scoffed. "I doubt it."

"I did," Datura assured, "And you'll like her because she can be useful. Her entire family has built a fortune on engineering things. You might have hard of them."

"Who is she?"

"Lena Luthor."

"Wait…" Belén backtracked a couple steps, her eyes flickering to the side in thought, "Is she related to that delirious Lex Luthor?"

"Oh yeah, but she's actually one of the good people in that family. Let me talk to her, ask her what can be done about this situation," Datura walked past Belén. "She's a smart cookie that one - knew I was a meta even before I thought to tell her."

"She knows about you and me…?"

"No," Datura stopped by one of her datura boquets. "To her I'm simply Belle. But here's the deal—" she turned sideways, "—that I'm going to make and you're going to follow. Caitlin's powers? I'll gladly take them back if and when we create a device to siphon the DNA. But in return, I also want the powers you stole from me."

"I didn't steal—" Belén was on her way to shout when Datura waved a hand for her to stop.

"I am the siphoner here, those were my powers—"

"That you murdered people for!" Belén exclaimed. "Did you forge that part!?"

"Either way they were mine!" Datura overspoke her doppelganger. "And that is what I want in return! My powers - the ones you have and the ones Caitlin have - I want them back!"

"And then what? You want to me break Poison Ivy out of her prison so you and her can continue on your crime sprees?"

Datura rolled her eyes. "I want my powers back. I won't return to my ways but I want to be the Siphoner again. That's my condition. Will you help your dear Caitlin?" she pretended to pout.

Belén crossed her arms, a part of her dead angry she would be forced to give up these new powers she would have liked to keep...but the other part knew Caitlin needed this. She wanted to get rid of the powers because she was afraid. Belén never wanted to stand in the way of that. "Fine," she spat. "But the moment I get word of a crime you make - no matter how small - I will come for you. "

Datura's lips stretched into a wide smirk. "I'll call Lena."

~ 0 ~

Wally wearily looked at Caitlin as she finally backed off from her medical exams and hoped they were finally finished. Iris was right beside him, giving him support as he explained to the others what caused him to collapse at the precinct.

"I was Kid Flash again, but this time it wasn't a good dream. I was fighting The Rival at some abandoned sawmill…" he scrunched his eyes shut as the memories flew back into his mind again. At least this time, they were painless.

"That's what happened in Flashpoint before you got hurt," Barry sighed. "They're not just dreams, they must be memories of that life. More and more people are getting powers."

"And that's because of this Alchemy guy?" Anais had taken a seat on the railing itself of the speed lab stairs. "That's his power?"

"Apparently so," Joe mumbled, none too happy this situation was actually reaching his son.

"Okay, so how do we stop this?" Iris wondered.

"I mean, is there any stopping it even?" Cisco said just a bit too quick, earning himself a glance from Caitlin. "If Alchemy could reach you at CCPD, he could probably reach you from anywhere, right?"

"Maybe not in the pipeline," Caitlin offered as an alternative.

"You want to lock him up?" Joe gave her a look.

"I'm just saying maybe the pipeline could be a safety net," Caitlin elaborated. "If Alchemy tries to get him to come to him…"

"In the pipeline he wouldn't be able to," Iris saw where she was going with and agreed.

"I think that's a good idea," Wally admitted.

"I'm gonna cancel this movie with Cecile," Joe had enough wit the situation and turned to go call Cecile.

"Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa, wait, wait, you've got a date with Cecile?" Iris' voice pulled him back to the group.

"Yeah, I was gonna bring her to the movie in the park tonight…"

"Well, don't not go. You've put your life on hold for us long enough!"

"Yeah, Dad, she's right, I mean, go be Joe West; you're always Dad," Wally gave him a smile.

"Yeah, we'll stay with Wally, and make sure nothing happens," Barry added on had the agreement of the others.

"I told her all of you were coming with me. Am I gonna be the only one that shows up?" Joe made a face.

"Uh, I would love to see a movie!" Cisco jumped in just a bit too fast. Caitlin knew now something was definitely up. Cisco hurried up to Joe, however. "What movie is this?"

"The Shining."

Cisco clapped his hands together, hiding the strain behind a smile. "The Shining, oh, I love that movie."

Barry shot him a look. "That movie freaks you out. You have never made it past the part with the Grady twins."

"That's... that's... that was... I was younger," Cisco hoped he would just shut up and let him leave.

Caitlin cleared her throat and slowly stepped towards him. "Why don't I go with you?"

Damn, so close. Cisco lowered his hands and looked at the others. "You sure you don't want stay…?"

Caitlin shook her head. "No, I want to be with you."

"Either way, the more the merrier," Joe shrugged. "Let's do it. Wally, keep me posted?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Wally assured him even though he wasn't quite...certain. "Just go have fun. That's great."

~ 0 ~

The sun was just beginning to set down at the park when the group trudged into the field. Joe had already left with Cecile and left the seating arrangement to Cisco. Caitlin watched him like a hawk as they set up their seats. Cisco was practically doing everything in his power not to touch nor look at Caitlin.

"Alright, Cisco," she finally stopped him when she had enough. "What's going on?"

"Hm?" Cisco blinked and rapidly tried looking for something else that needed to be set up.

"You've been on edge ever since you vibed me. Are you gonna tell me what you saw?"

"I told you...what I saw…"

"Yes, and that lasted all for but a minute until you started acting strange. I can tell when you're not being honest with me. Am I her?"

Cisco now knew there was no getting around the truth. He swallowed hard and gave a nod of his head. "Yeah, you're her. I... I saw the both of us fighting in the middle of this bigger fight. We were, like, full-on Vibe versus Killer Frost. It's like we're meta-frenemies."

Caitlin slowly looked down, particularly at her palms. "Well, have you ever vibed anything from the future that didn't come true?"

"Just Earth-2 being ripped to shreds. But that doesn't mean that can't happen again…." he walked up to her and got her gaze off her palms. "Caitlin, you have to tell them. You have to tell the team. We have to figure out what's going on—"

"No," Caitlin immediately refused. "No. It's too late. There's nothing you can do. And if Belén can't get Datura to help then...I'm leaving."

~ 0 ~

Anais felt someone walking into the cortex and looked away from Belén's and Barry's suits on display. She found only Barry coming in.

"Iris went to go check on Wally, but, uh...are you okay?" Barry knew that question was hardly going to be answered. Anais had been hearing it ever since she got there.

Anais gave a meek shrug. "I...it's difficult," she left it at that and turned back to the suits. "So you and her...you're heroes too, huh?"

"Uh, partners, but yeah," Barry came to stand beside her. "And then there's Nina."

"Back on my Earth, there was no Tempest," Anais admitted. "It was...just different."

"Well maybe, stick around and you can feel at home…"

Anais shook her head, giving him a sad smile. "That's just it, I can't. I can't ever feel like I'm at home because it's not. Because on this world, most of my friends are alive. Do you know how hard it is to look at you and Belén and not remember that...you're dead? You're plain dead. And that it was my fault."

Barry could somewhat understand that. He thought of his father and Jay Garrick - the first time he'd seen Jay's face...he nearly broke down. And it was a good part of the reason why he went back to change the timeline. He couldn't take it.

"I have nothing against you nor this team Barry, but asking me to stay...it's just incredibly painful," Anais crossed her arms and glanced at the suits. "I lost everyone back there...I need time to heal."

"You need time to yourself," Barry understood that. That had been his original plan too…

At least Anais was just going through it in a better way.

"Can you just do us one favor?"

Anais gave a nod. "Sure?"

"Don't disappear on us."

Anais smiled, thinking that wasn't too much to ask. "Okay."

"Wally is doing okay," Iris came into the cortex but not alone.

Belén had returned and was more or less confused by the fact Wally was in the pipeline. "What did I miss?"

Barry moved over to greet her with a hug. He didn't realize how much he missed her until then. She had been radio silent all day and that was unlike her. "Where have you been?"

"I told you, I just needed to do something," she smiled up at him.

But 'what' was the question Barry was itching to ask. He just didn't get the chance to ask because the alarms went off. They hurried back to the desk and Barry got the location off Cisco's metahuman alert.

"It's Shade! He's at Hofherr Park," he looked up.

"Shade? Who's Shade?" Belén blinked.

"No time, just stay here, okay?" Barry didn't necessarily give her the chance to think about it. He sped for his suit then left.

"Well, thank you for your consideration," Belén bitterly sat back down on a chair.

At the same time, they heard Wally through the pipeline security feed scream in pain. Iris quickly called to him but since he wouldn't respond, she dashed out of the cortex.

"What is going on!?" Belén was left to shout.

"It's that Alchemy guys you keep talking about," Anais hurried to the desk. Belén was not going to sit there cluelessly. She tried getting in contact with the others.

~ 0 ~

At the park, Cisco and Caitlin had already gotten into the STAR Labs van to help Barry outside. They received Belén's incoming demands to know what was going on and how she could help.

"Shadow man! Literally shadow man, Bells!" Cisco exclaimed. "He's going—" but he stopped when he and Caitlin witnessed Barry be thrown up and down like a ragdoll.

"Ouch," Caitlin said with eyes screwed shut.

"Attaching the security cameras was a more or less interesting idea," Cisco muttered. "Barry, we're in the van. Can you hear us?"

The speedster pulled himself back to his feet but stumbled around for a bit after the fall. "And I just got tossed on my ass like a rag doll…" he shook his head and tried to find the Shadow meta again. "Alright, guys, I cannot do anything if I can't see him. Can we light this place up?"

"Light's gonna slow down his molecular vibration so we can catch him," Cisco remembered.

"How are we gonna light this place up?" Caitlin asked since Shade had turned down nearly every street post lamp.

Belén, in the cortex, looked up from the computers to Anais. "We might have a way…"

"I…" Anais' widened eyes looked around, "...I'm not sure…"

"You're a hero, you've proved it to be since you got here. Just...do what you do best. Light things up, girl," Belén encouragingly smiled at her.

~ 0 ~

"What are you doing?" Cisco saw Caitlin pulling the dampener cuffs off her wrists.

"He's gonna need these," Caitlin said and hurriedly got out of the car.

In the park, Barry was unable to catch sight of Shade. "Just...I guess...wait for my mark…" he dreaded exactly what that meant and muttered, "And by mark, I do mean next time that I get punched." He heard a noise behind and whirled around only to get punched right across the face just like he predicted. "Mark…"

"Let's turn on the lights, shall we?" Anais swooped down from the sky, putting her hands together in the process. She raised them above her head and created a bowl of bright light which was then shot up. It illuminated the entire area and forced Shade to dissolve into his human form.

"Flash!" Caitlin came running into the scene. She tossed him the dampeners and he quickly got them on the meta.

Anais lowered herself to the ground, her orange cape slowly waving to a stop. "Are you okay?" she came running to Barry.

"Yeah, yeah, just fine," Barry sucked in a breath and turned to the two women. "We need to get him to Iron Heights."

"Guys?" they heard Belén, except Caitlin. "Wally's acting...Alchemy-possessed-like…"

~ 0 ~

Wally's body was transferred to one of the side rooms of the cortex after being put down by Iris and Belén.

"Wally wasn't himself. He was possessed," Iris explained to the others. "Alchemy was calling for him."

"I knew I shouldn't have left," Joe shook his head and put a hand down on Wally's shoulder.

"It's okay, Joe, nothing happened," Barry said, although they all knew that wasn't exactly the truth.

"He's not okay, Barry. This thing's coming after him, and... and there ain't a damn thing we can do?"

"Well, we stopped Shade. And now we can focus on Alchemy, all right?"

"Unless he sends another meta to Central City to attack. Then there'll be trouble," Anais blurted and received some worrisome looks. "Sorry. I just...The opposing side did that a lot on my Earth."

"You think Shade was a distraction?" Belén wondered out loud. It wouldn't be the first time they'd fallen for a trick like that.

"If that's true, that means Alchemy's gonna sending another one of his metas soon," Joe dreaded.

"We don't know that…"

"Barry, we found six husks. So besides Shade, Magenta, and Clariss, there's still three unaccounted for."

"Okay, well, if more come, then we'll stop them," Barry was just running on the short-presence time and it was failing. "But Alchemy can't get Wally if he stays in the cell."

"Barry, we can't just let Wally suffer in there. And besides, burying our head in the sand is not gonna make Alchemy go away."

"Ignoring the problem does not get rid of it," Cisco said, somewhat distant yet eyes on Caitlin. "You're gonna have to face it."

Caitlin could not believe he was actually intending on doing this. "Cisco…"

"What?" Barry looked between the two.

"Nothing," Caitlin waved him off but Cisco came towards her.

"Come on, Caitlin…"

"Not right now, Cisco!"

Belén blinked, her heart beating fast as she started to make assumptions. Had Caitlin…

"I... just... I can't just keep this in. You have to tell them!" Cisco exclaimed.

"Tell them what?" Barry watched Caitlin nearly go red in the face from anger.

The brunette snapped the dampener cuffs off her wrists. "That I have powers," she snapped.

"What kind of powers?" Iris asked.

Caitlin turned her palms over and allowed the ice to smoke over. "The cold kind."

Everyone gaped, but Barry let his head hang. Belén, on the other hand, was dreading what else Cisco knew.

Caitlin shook her head at Cisco. "Happy now?"

"So, what, we're just gonna keep secrets from each other?" Cisco wondered about it but not enough.

"Yeah, well, this wasn't your secret to tell, was it, Cisco?" Caitlin gritted her teeth together.

"I did that because I care about you," Cisco tried to explain but Caitlin waved her hand at him.

"If you cared about me, then you would have let me tell them all when I was ready. Because this is happening to me, not you!" Caitlin got more worked up the more she thought about. "I'm the one turning evil! I'm the one who's gonna have to leave soon!" she stormed out of there.

"Cisco...how did...how did you…?" Belén slowly, and very cautiously, moved to him.

"I vibed the two of us fighting each other in the future," Cisco revealed, the images still haunting him like a nightmare. "She was Killer Frost."

"No, she's...she's not going to be," Belén put a hand on his arm, but he shook it off and received a rather accusing look.

"And you knew!"

The woman pulled her hand back and let her eyes widened. "I—"

"You knew and you didn't make her tell us so that we could help her!"

"Bells, is that true?" Barry was stunned, possibly even more so. However, that began to make sense out of every strange thing happening between the two women.

"Even if it is, like Caitlin said - it wasn't my secret to tell," Belén snapped and sent Cisco an equally-charged glare. "No one has the right to disclose something that doesn't belong to them!"

Get angry, more angry!

A light gasp slipped through Belén's lips. "I gotta go!"

"No - Belén!" Barry called after her but she waved him off too and stormed out of the cortex.

~ 0 ~

Caitlin was in the middle of putting back the dampeners on her wrists when Barry walked into the room. "I didn't mean to pull Belén into this," Caitlin said, though she would probably have to tell that to Belén herself.

"Uh, yeah no she doesn't want to talk to Cisco, specifically," Barry cleared his throat and took a seat across Caitlin. "How long have you known?"

Caitlin bit her lip, putting one hand against her cheek. "I...it was just after we took down Zoom and Datura. The-the siphoning device I made, it...it accidentally transferred Killer Frost's powers."

"Cait...I'm sorry," Barry ran a hand through his hair. "I don't...I don't know if that was how it was supposed to be, I…I don't remember that happening in the other timeline."

Caitlin lowered her head. "We figured that, trust me."

"Caitlin, I'm so sorry." Barry didn't know what else he could say, much less do, to help Caitlin. This was truly his fault. "I've changed everyone's lives and brought in new dangers. Dr. Alchemy. Wally. You getting powers. Even Dante being dead in this timeline. It's all because I created Flashpoint."

"Hey," Iris poked her head into the room, "Wally's up."

The group regathered in the side room where Wally was now wide awake. Belén and Cisco stood across from each other, neither looking at each other.

"You have to use me," Wally was telling them. "Alchemy is calling me to him, so use me."

"Hell no," Joe wondered if being punched by Iris had put Wally into a different state.

"C'mon dad! Follow me wherever he is, and we can stop him!"

"But sorry for my interjection here—" Anais cleared her throat, "—because...do any of you know how to take down this guy?"

"We hardly ever do," Belén patted her arm down.

Wally yelped when he heard Alchemy's voice once again seething in his mind. It was as if someone scratched glass back and forth against another."He wants me! He's hurting me!" he writhed in pain.

Find me, Alchemy called.

Wally's entire body wriggled with no stop. Caitlin hurriedly ran to one of the desks. "Turn him on his side!"

Joe and Barry both moved Wally on his side just as she returned with a needle in hand. "This should help! It's a mild sedative," she told them just as she injected it into Wally.

"What is that?" Cisco asked her.

"Lorazepam. It works on seizures. Hopefully it'll work on whatever this is."

"These episodes keep happening more frequently," Iris remarked once she got to thinking about it.

"Yeah, and this is just a temporary fix. If we don't stop it too, he could suffer from permanent brain damage," Caitlin warned them. Keeping Wally in the pipeline would definitely not help in the long run.

"So then we don't have a choice. We have to do what Wally wanted; we have to use him to find Alchemy," Joe sighed.

"No, we're no... it's too dangerous," Barry wanted to argue more about it but there really wasn't another option.

"So is doing nothing," Joe countered.

"Need I remind everyone that Dr. Alchemy has a rock that shoots lasers, so who knows what he has up his sleeve?" Cisco cleared his throat, hoping that would be taken into consideration.

"Cisco's right. What if we're walking into a trap?" Iris thought that was logical.

"You guys aren't walking into anything. You guys are gonna stay here," Joe warned her along with the others. "If we're gonna do this, we're gonna do it right."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that if I'm gonna put Wally at risk, I'm gonna use everything in my power to protect him."

~ 0 ~

"You don't have to help," Belén came over to Anais, both dressed in their suits.

Anais shook her head. "I have dealt with possibly every metahuman on my Earth except for a Dr. Alchemy. I'm a little curious, honestly."

"Well then, thanks," Belén chuckled. The more backup they had, the better.

Both turned just as Barry came into the cortex, also dressed to go. "The police are ready."

"Well, which one of you is going to give me the lift?" Belén looked between the two speedsters curiously."

Anais apologetically smiled. "I don't do lifts...sorry…"

"It's not like I weigh much," Belén mumbled as she moved towards Barry instead.

Barry took the lead by hand and purposely pulled Belén a little quicker towards the elevator. "I talked to Cait…" He started, watching Belén's immediate reaction. She seemed nervous.

"Did she say something?" Belén swallowed hard.

"Uh, no, just...she's just very scared," Barry said, wondering when, oh when, would Belén get the courage to tell him the missing part of the story.

~ 0 ~

An old abandoned subway was where Wally ended up bringing the police and the three heroes. Wally entered first and soon spotted several cloaked men on their knees, surrounding one cloaked figure who stood on their feet. Wally gulped when the standing figure turned around and revealed a golden metal mask underneath the hood.

"Hello, Wally," Alchemy greeted but Wally's eyes flickered rapidly to one thing and the next, eventually landing on the white-glowing stone set on a rock pillar behind Alchemy.

"Are you him? Are you the voice I've been hearing inside my head?"

I am Alchemy."

"I've been having visions of another life. Where... where I have speed, where, I'm…" Wally slowly made his way around the figures, acting awed as he took in the cloaked followers. "The Flash."

"I can give you that back, should you desire it."

"I just want the pain to stop."

"It will, child. Whatever you desire, I will see it so. Now tell me, do you wish for the life that was taken from you to return?"

"What I wish for... is all of you gone," Wally's smirk said it all.

"It's a trap!" Alchemy shouted at his followers. The figures rose and tried to make an escape, one of them even pulling a knife and going towards Wally.

Both Anais and Barry sped into the room and began tying some of the followers up. Belén, on the other hand, swooped in as vines and rose in her figure. Vines shot out of each of her palms, smacking two followers against the walls. Anais easily grabbed one follower by the arm and turned him over like a pancake.

"Child's play," she smugly said then reached out for another to do the same.

Barry went straight for the Alchemy. A mere second before he reached Alchemy, the cloaked figure drew the stone on the rock pillar through telekinesis and immediately used its light beam against Barry.

"The boy has been chosen, Flash. And you will not stand before what must be...ever again!" Alchemy hadn't given Barry the opportunity to get up and fight back. Each beam of energy struck him and raged pain in his body.

A bullet shot and knocked the stone out of Alchemy's hand. Joe and his backup had gotten through and helped put the followers all on their knees.

"That was a grave mistake," Alchemy warned them despite their situation.

"You weren't kidding when you said it was a monk," Anais remarked to Belén when the two women circled the followers.

"What do you want?" Belén couldn't help but ask Alchemy straight up.

"I'm simply preparing the world."

"We had a premonition guy like that back on my Earth - spoilers, they lost," Anais smirked.

"It's over Alchemy," Barry came towards them, a little wobbly on his feet but he knew he would heal.

"Over? You have no idea what's about to begin," Alchemy's voice drawled with exceptional condescension. Right after, there was a rumble underneath everyone's feet, rocking them to the side.

For a second, Belén wondered if it was somehow her who was losing herself to the powers. But she didn't feel at a loss...nor did she hear the voices…

Suddenly, Alchemy and his followers dispersed around the room just as a white light struck. Barry saw it zigzag around the room, hitting one thing and causing another to fall and crash.

"Are you guys seeing that?" Barry followed it, whirling around as it cross over him.

"It's a...light…" Anais' own hands glowed with light energy ready to make an attack if need be. However, it appeared only she and Barry were able to see the light.

"What's going on?" Belén looked around cluelessly. All she saw were things crashing but nothing that would cause it. "What is it?"

The light made its way across the police-force Joe brought and started sweeping through them like ragdolls.

"Go!" Barry shouted at the others frantically. "Get the hell out of here!"

Joe cocked his gun to whatever the light was - not that he could see it - and pulled Wally towards the doors. "Wally, move towards the door! Stick with me!"

The three heroes tried to keep track of what exactly was going through them, but every time they blinked one new co-worker was taken down.

"What is that!?" Belén screamed, her hands reaching to her head. Attack. Attack them! Now! "Not now!" she scrunched her face. She already risked herself with Anais who thankfully hadn't taken notice of her powers switching from earth manipulation to botany but a second time was sure to raise some suspicions.

Barry yelled as he was suddenly swept off his feet and thrown across the room. Joe ran over to help him up.

'Wallace' Alchemy's voice rang inside Wally's head. 'Wallace West. Take your power.'

Anais began taking her shots at the light but with no success. This was far beyond what she dealt with on her Earth.

"Wally!" Joe spotted his son nearing the stone left behind on the floor.

"Wally, don't!" Barry groaned and tried getting up. "Azalea, stop him!"

Let them take it. Fight back! Belén couldn't hear anything but the swirl of voices in her head telling her to act against her own friends.

Wally walked right past her and grabbed the stone. As soon as he touched it, a cocoon encased him from top to bottom.

"NO!" Joe screamed.

Barry's body was swooped right beside him and pinned against the wall, high up by an invisible force in Joe's and Belén's perspective. For Barry and Anais, however, there stood a metallic suited (presumably) meta glowing blue.

"Who are you?" Barry could barely breathe the words out from the metallic hand clawing his neck tight.

"The God of Speed," the metallic figure raised its free armed hand to unsheathe blade.

#ocappreciation #arrowverseocs #fd: the flash #the flash #barry allen #barry allen fics #barry allen imagines #barry allen x oc #the flash fics #the flash imagines #the flash x oc #arrowverse ocs #arrowverse fics #arrowverse imagines #oc: Belén Palayta #oc: Belen Palayta #oc: Anais Mjorkland #fic: make you stay

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saiilorstars · 1 year

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Ch.9: The Girl Who is Neither Nor

Story Masterlist ◦ Anais’ Masterlist ◦

Also on: Fanfic • Ao3

Pairing: Winn Schott x OFC

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

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

Anais sat on the edge of Winn's desk holding the latest issue of CatCo. in her arms. She had been comfortable in her spot for way too long and yet it wasn't Winn who pointed out her curious affection of using his desk as a seat.

"Solar!" J'onn's voice that morning had an extra boom in it. Even Alex winced from where she stood. "Shouldn't you be out there with Supergirl and Superman today?"

Anais didn't bother looking up from her magazine when she answered. "And risk getting sandwiched between the Girl and Man of Steel? As if."

"Don't you have superspeed?" Alex stopped by Winn's desk and poked the side of Anais' head.

"Yeah. Besides, it's some family time for those two. I'm okay where I am. Did you see Cat wrote about me?"

"Yeah, we all read it," Winn mumbled from his seat. Anais had practically forced everyone to read the latest article Cat Grant had written about Solar, finally introducing her to the public. Anais was excited, to say the least.

"Again, you have super speed," Alex said, "So shouldn't you have been done reading that magazine ages ago?"

Anais lowered the magazine, revealing a furrowed brow. "And what if I wanted to reread it?"

"Again?" Winn pointed out.

Anais looked down at him. "Whose side are you on?"

"Solar," J'onn called again, drawing the trio's attention, "You wanted to work for the DEO. You should be out there! You and Supergirl! You and Supergirl!"

Anais' brows raised. He might as well have said 'Only you and Supergirl'. It was easy to tell that J'onn had a disdain for Superman and vice versa. "I can go out the next time," she said simply.

"You promised Kara that you'd be nicer when her cousin was around," Alex told J'onn.

"I said I would try," J'onn reminded his particular word choice.

"'Do or do not'," Winn recited, "'There is no try.'"

J'onn was neither amused nor interested in the quote. "Exactly how bad did you want this job, Mr. Schott?"

Winn ducked his head at the call. He heard Anais' quiet snicker.

"He'll be leaving town soon, I'm sure," Alex said, getting back to the point and hopefully dissuading J'onn from any potential firings. "So until then…"

"We continue reading!" Anais picked up her magazine again and happily went back to her favorite page, ignoring J'onn's disapproving look. Eventually, Alex took him away.

"Seriously, how many times can you read the same article?" Winn looked at her curiously. "I mean, as a speedster, don't you also get bored quicker than the rest of us?"

"Not really, no," Anais shook her head. "You think it would be self-absorbed if I framed this?"

"Sure, but I'm the dork around here."

"That's what Alex says."

Winn deadpanned her. "Off my desk." He made the motion for Anais to slide off already.

"Sheesh, alright!" Anais hopped off his desk and closed her magazine altogether. "Fault a girl for being excited about something." She tossed the magazine to Winn, laughing at how he scrambled to catch it and even when he was so close to her, he still managed to drop it. "I'll see you later."

"Where are you going now?" Winn asked once he finally had the magazine in his hands.

"Seeing Arun again," Anais said, and Winn noted the way she lost some of her cheeriness.

"Is he still not being nice to you?" He frowned. If there was one thing that he had come to like about Anais it was her unusual talent at being cheerful and positive all the time. How could someone be mean to someone like her? It made no sense.

Anais shook her head. "We've been discussing things and he's definitely apologized for coming off the wrong way. I think…I think it's just the age differences and the time periods. He lived on Solaria and I didn't. For him, it's been a very long time since he's gotten this close to home."

"I don't care — is he being nice?" Winn asked and sternly waited for a proper answer.

Anais playfully rolled her eyes. "Yes," she said clearly. "He's taking me out for ice cream. Can you believe he's never had ice cream before?"

"Oh, I can think of a few words," Winn said, sounding a tad sour, yet still smiling to be convincing. It was true what they said: first impressions were everything. Ever since Anais shared her troubled first meeting with Arun, Winn couldn't see Arun the right way anymore.

"I'll let you know how it goes," Anais said, "Keep my magazine safe?"

"Of course," Winn nodded, bringing a hand on the magazine on the desk.

Anais grinned. "I'll bring you an ice cream. What's your favorite flavor?"

"Chocolate mint!"

Anais pretended to gag. "Winn, that's disgusting!"

"What?" Winn said incredulously.

"I am not bringing you chocolate mint ice cream. You're going to have to do better."

"I cannot believe what my ears are hearing right now!" Winn turned in his chair, raising a hand at Anais, absolutely offended. "Go now. You've completely destroyed this friendship."

Anais laughed and sped away.

~ 0 ~

It was true that Arun was trying to do better by Anais. He was not a fan of the ice cream emporium she had talked about. It was too crowded and quite loud — and sticky. Anais loved it!

She had brought them two glass bowls of ice cream — strawberry shortcake for her and coffee for him. She sat down opposite of him and encouraged him to try it.

"You said you liked coffee," she reminded him, "And this is coffee ice cream. Starbucks, to be exact."

Arun picked up his spoon and dug into the ice cream. He took just a small bit into his mouth. Anais watched him like a hawk, super excited to see his reaction.

"Well," he swallowed what was left of it in his mouth, "Not bad."

"Yes!" Anais cheered with a fist in the air. "I knew you'd love it!"

"I didn't say I 'loved' it—"

"But you didn't say you didn't love it!"

Arun rolled his eyes. "Do you have to be cheery about everything all the time?"

Anais was already eating her ice cream and merely shrugged at the question. "I don't know."

"I've never met anyone who seems to be so positive about everything all the time."

"Sorry," Anais reached for a napkin from the dispenser, "After everything that's happened to me, I just try to be happy about what I have. And lately, things seem to be going well for me. Did I mention that Winn's adding a few things to my suit?"

"No, but I'm sure I'll be hearing about it for the next month," Arun said, noting the strange smile that spread across Anais' face. "What?"

"So, we'll be seeing each other for the whole month?"

Arun felt a laugh coming up and he couldn't control it. One thing he noted about Anais Mjorkland is that he ended up doing things he hardly did on his own. Laughing was one of them. "What?"

"I just have to be sure that you'll keep agreeing to see me!" Anais shrugged again. "You're kind of a grump, you know?"

"A grump?" Arun frowned. "Well, now that's mean."

"But not untrue."

"How about we discuss our future together?"

"Wh-at!?" Anais almost choked on her ice cream, and she didn't even know that was possible!

Arun lifted an eyebrow at her. "I mean as in how we should start training you and teaching you about Solaria."

"Oh," Anais brought a hand to her chest. She was a speedster with a natural racing heartbeat but this time, it truly felt like she could've had a heart attack. "Y-yeah! Right!"

"I was thinking the best place to train you would be at the DEO," Arun went on, idly eating from his ice cream. "They have proper rooms and open fields and proper tools in case something happens."

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Anais said. "I'll talk to J'onn about it. Things are still kind of hectic."

"Are you guys still dealing with that man from the pod?"

Anais nodded. "Mhm. He's been unconscious ever since we found him. Kara's convinced that he's another Kryptonian but I'm not so sure. I mean, Kara and I look the same but we're not from the same place."

"It's the pod that's making her think that, right?"

"It is pretty similar to the ones she and Superman were put into," Anais admitted. "But technology can be deceiving as well. The fact remains that we won't know who nor what he is until he wakes up. And until then, J'onn prefers to have him in a room."

"Is he rounding the poor guy?" Arun asked with a laugh, speaking directly from experience. "Your director is pretty mistrusting. I respect him for it but, you know, I don't like being locked away."

"Well, for your information, J'onn might actually dislike Superman more than he disliked you. And since Superman is still around…"

"Yeah, the news won't stop covering it," Arun nodded.

Anais chuckled. "Have you ever met him? Like, properly?"

"God no," Arun said quickly. "I have made it my life's mission to stay out of the media. By the way, I don't appreciate you mentioning me in that article that Cat Grant woman wrote."

Anais chuckled. "I didn't say anything about you except that you weren't a threat."

"Still, for future references, let's just keep my name out of that place."

"Hard to do when you're sort of popular amongst the higher class," Anais remarked, surprising Arun with that knowledge. "I do use the internet, Arun. Your artwork is pretty well known. And they're good pieces."

"Thank you," Arun said, genuinely smiling at her. "Most humans don't really understand the concept of my artwork."

"It's Solaria, isn't it?" Anais' presumption brought an even wider smile from Arun.

"How'd you know?"

"The stories my mother told me," Anais said, sighing, "The landscapes — golden fields and beautiful golden-orange suns? That's Solaria. Home. You paint home."

"I do," Arun said, "And like I told you before, I'd be more than happy to show you what it really looked like."

"I don't have telepathic powers, though," Anais reminded him.

"But I can still show you from my side," Arun said. "Not having telepathic abilities just means you can show me nor respond to what I show you. But you can still see what I show you. And trust me, you would love it."

"I would," Anais knew it too. "I really would." She felt her phone buzz in her back pocket and quickly pulled it out. It was an S.O.S. from Alex urging her to come back to the DEO. "Uh oh, gotta go! Emergency at the DEO."

Arun nodded at her to leave. "Call me later, okay? We really need to start training."

"Yea, yeah!" Anais said, picking up her bowl of ice cream. "I learned early on it's not a good idea to super speed eat ice cream! Mega brain freeze." She took off towards the entrance doors only to quickly go to the counter. "Can I get a to-go box?" She asked the young cashier. "Oh! And I can order three more scoops of strawberry shortcake please?"

"Do you want them in the same box?" The cashier asked.

"No, it's for someone else. I'm trying to prove a point."

~ 0 ~

When Anais got to the DEO, she dumped her ice cream in the nearest fridge and got into her suit. She met Alex and was quickly informed of the situation. Them, along with their DEO team, headed back to the control room to get going.

It was there that they crashed into Supergirl and Superman.

"Woah, hey!" Kara was taken aback by all the agents.

Alex let out a frustrated breath. "We haven't heard from you! We were just leaving to catch the Kigori!"

"Oh, we just dropped that little guy in containment," Superman said with an apologetic smile at the group.

"Oh, well," Anais crossed her arms. "Thanks for the heads up!"

Alex was nothing short of annoyed as well. "Stand down, guys," she ordered the team and dispersed them.

"I'm sorry," Kara chuckled. "Team Krypton was just having #toomuchfun. I mean, I've always loved being Supergirl. But today…"

"Next time it would be nice if you followed protocol and alerted us that an alien combative was no longer an active threat," J'onn said as he walked over to the group. "Your cousin may not work for the DEO, but you still do."

Kara nodded dutifully. "Sorry. We were... We were just having…"

"# toomuchfun. Yeah, we know," J'onn muttered.

Anais zipped in and out of the control room, returning with her civilian clothes on. "I was having the best ice cream ever," she spat at the Kryptonians. "Thanks for that."

"Sorry," Kara said again.

Suddenly, the power around them cut out. Winn quickly grabbed his tablet off his desk and rushed to the group. "Uh, energy drain coming from the holding area!"

Everyone knew exactly where to go. Their unconscious man from another world was still in bed with nodes attached to his bare chest.

"It happened last night too," Winn informed them when they reached the room, "All energy resources at the DEO suddenly diverted to him."

Superman didn't get any closer to the room. "You're exposing him to kryptonite?" He looked directly at J'onn. "He's a survivor, not a prisoner."

"It's a precaution," J'onn clarified. "We don't know anything about him."

The lights flickered back on and Winn reported they were back at 100% capacity. Alex moved to his side and took a look at the readings on his tablet.

"His vitals have jumped again. It's at the same rate as the power drain."

"He's repairing himself at a cellular level?" Superman said, soundign surprised.

"It's like photosynthesis," Alex remarked. "His cells are absorbing the electrical energy and converting them to chemical energy."

"You should test his levels again," Superman said to J'omn, "Now that he's—"

"We've got this, Superman," J'onn cut him off, his voice hard.

Superman smiled bitterly. "Sure you do."

The others felt the air grow even more terse as Superman left them.

Kara then turned towards J'onn, resting her hands on her hips. "I know you two aren't the best of friends but you promised you'd be nice to him while he's here."

"Yeah, actually he said he would try…" Winn chimed in, although Anais promptly shushed him.

"How...how is it hard to be nice to Superman?" Kara said incredulously. "He's Superman!"

"If it means so much to you, we will get along," J'onn muttered and walked away, leaving his word in jeopardy.

"We still on for sister night?" Alex gently brought Kara to her side. "Veep and Chinese?"

As upset as she was, Kara ended up smiling at her sister. "Yeah. Of course. Do you know it's Clark's favorite show, too?"

Alex's expression changed subtly even when she tried to hold onto her playfulness. "Is Clark is coming to sister night?"

"Yeah. I mean, he's in town…"

Anais made a face with Winn. What were the odds that the two Danvers sisters would notice if they backed away quietly? They tested the theory out by silently backtracking.

"You're not going to that sister night?" Winn asked once they were safely away.

Anais snorted. "God no! Did you see Alex's face? I am not getting in between that! No, I'll probably stick around here for the night. Gotta work on some of my pictures. Hey, you know what I bought for you?"

"What?"

"Strawberry shortcake ice cream."

Immediately, Winn's face scrunched. "I'm sorry — what? What the hell is strawberry shortcake ice cream? Isn't that a cartoon?"

Anais groaned and picked up her pace down the hallway, taking the lead. "You're so ignorant!"

"Ignorant?" Winn went after her. "You're misinformed!"

"How am I misinformed!?"

"Because you think chocolate mint is horrible!"

"It is!"

~0~

Later in the evening, the DEO had lost a few of its employees, leaving a quieter control room. Anais had brought up a chair beside Winn's desk and the ice cream she had bought earlier in the day. Both bowls were empty but the grudges were still there.

Winn had tried her flavor and while it was not the most horrible thing he thought it would be, it still didn't compare to chocolate mint ice cream. Anais ended up eating both bowls.

After that quarrel, they each went to work on their individual tasks. Anais had several pictures to look over because she did have a due date with James.

"Hey, check it out," Winn said suddenly, turning his computer screen towards Anais. There was a live newscast showing a potential jumper on the bridge.

"Oh God," Anais frowned. She looked over at Winn. "You think they'll handle it?"

"If it's sister night and a movie? I don't think so."

Anais agreed and zipped out the control room. When she returned in her suit, she stopped by the desk again and looked down at it. "I don't see these new notifications you're supposed to be adding."

"It's a work in progress!" Winn said.

"Hey!" J'onn strode over in a hurry. "We have a problem!"

"Yeah, a jumper, I know. I'm on it." Anais was about to leave when J'onn stopped her.

"It's Corben!"

"What?" Both Anais and Winn frowned.

"No, no, he's dead," Anais said, then looked back at the computer. She leaned closer and saw the jumper had turned out to be Corben, the man who was supposed to be dead.

"Oh, crap!" Anais exclaimed and took off without another moment to waste.

When she reached the bridge, there was already quite a sight. Corben seemed different, starting with the great big green stone lodged in the middle of his bare chest.

"Ah, and there she is," Corben said, spotting Anais across the bridge. "Come to see the Kryptonians final battle?"

Anais' eyes shifted between Supergirl and Superman on each side of the bridge, looking worse for wear. She noted the green lines running down their bodies.

"Is that — is that Kryptonite?" She brought her hand up to her ear comm. She hoped to receive an answer from the DEO. When no one answered her, she locked eyes with Corben. "Where the hell did you get Kryptonite?"

Corben laughed maliciously. "From the place that wants humans to prevail. You'll learn about it soon. They sent a message for the Golden Girl."

"Oh," Anais scoffed. "Color me surprised. Who's sending this message?"

Corben smiled at her. "'For the girl who's only half of each, don't you wish that there could be more of you?'"

Anais raised an eyebrow at him. "What—?"

"End of message," Corben said. "Now if you'll excuse me." He turned towards Kara.

Anais shook her head. He had to be kidding. She drew in a breath and charged straight for him. He had been about to shoot Kara with more Kryptonite when Anais rammed her body into his. He tumbled down the bridge.

Anais then spun around and saw Superman getting up, albeit wobbly. They exchanged glances and silently agreed on what to do next.

Anais looked back at Corben getting up. She started running towards him again, at the same time Superman rushed over to Kara and picked her up. Once Anais delivered a few punches to Corben, keeping him down, she flew into the air as well and headed back to the DEO.

~0~

"I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm just a little dizzy," Kara said as Superman helped her land in the DEO. There was still a significant wobble in her feet, not to mention the fact that Anais still had to help her stay on her feet when Superman let her go.

"You told me that only the DEO had access to kryptonite," Superman had gone directly up to J'onn. "So how would you like to explain what just happened out there? A kryptonite-charged cyborg almost killed Kara. Almost killed me. Start talking, J'onn!"

With the silence that fell in the room, J'onn had no choice but to respond. "A shipment went missing four months ago. We've done all we can to find it."

"Four months ago?" Kara had to gawk at the amount of time that'd passed by.

""Went missing"?" Superman repeated, not quite sounding convinced.

"Stolen," J'onn clarified. "We thought it was an inside job but everyone in the transport came up clean."

"So you have a mole," Superman said.

"We don't know that."

"If you'd gotten rid of it when I told you to—"

"We would have been helpless when Non and Astra launched Myriad! Or have you forgotten that there was a force even the Man of Steel couldn't defeat?"

"Superman and Martian Manhunter are gonna fight…" Winn couldn't help the words that tumbled out of his mouth when the tension grew even more. "This is terrible — this is awesome?" He wasn't sure but he needed to stop talking now.

"We have given our lives protecting the people of Earth," Superman argued. "If you cared about Kara at all—"

"Watch what you say!" J'onn snapped.

"Or what?"

A static noise cut through the argument. The screens around the control room — and everywhere else in the city — had gone out and produced an AI head that addressed the watchers.

'People of National City. The Earth has been stolen from us. And the enemy has come in the guise of heroes. They say they come in peace, to protect us from ourselves. But how long will it be before these gods decide to rule instead of serve? We are the antidote to their poison. We are the scientists who will show them what humans are capable of. Those who have sided with the invaders will not be spared. You cannot stop us. We are everywhere. We are Cadmus.'

In its trail, 'Cadmus' had shown pictures of Supergirl and Superman in their various fights. With that announcement, it shut down the screens and allowed everything to return to normal.

"Cadmus," Alex swallowed hard. "Announcing themselves to the world."

"Declaring open war," J'onn saw right away. "They want to kill us. All of us."

"Cadmus has my father…" Alex said quietly, "If they turned John Corben into Metallo, what do you think they've done with him?"

"We'll find him," Kara said determinedly, finally able to stand on her own. Anais still watched her carefully just in case. "And stop them."

"How?" Superman was stumped, a total first for the team. "Metallo isn't just flesh and blood anymore. Cadmus has given him a metal endoskeleton. Traces of the alloy had to end up on my hands when I hit him. I can analyze it at the Fortress of Solitude."

"Agent Schott, get Non and Astra's anti-kryptonite technology out of storage," J'onn directed, "See if you can improve upon it for our two friends here."

Winn was frozen for a few moments while the orders settled in his head. "I-I get to make Superman's new suit?"

"No pressure," Superman flashed him a smile.

There was certainly a considerable amount of pressure that Winn felt, but he didn't let it stop him. He rushed to get started on the job.

~0~

While the others got to work on their respective tasks, Anais received a text message from James who directed her to come to CatCo. Anais rushed into the busy bullpen, figuring the mess was to do with Cadmus' recent announcement. She saw Cat striding from one desk to another, although clearly upheaved from the mess she looked primp as always.

She went straight into James' office. " Hey James, you wanted to see me?" She stepped inside and closed the door, only noticing after how there were several boxes lying around the room. "Woah, what's going on? Re-decorating?" She sounded hopeful when she asked.

James chuckled and sat down at his desk. "Moving." Anais' eyes widened. "Don't worry. I'm just moving offices."

"Oh," Anais brought a hand on her chest. "Next time, lead with that!" She walked over to the desk and sat down.

"Sorry, I'm still trying to write my head around it too," James admitted. "But it is happening so I have to make sure all my affairs are in order and that is why I called you."

"Because I can move at the speed of light?" Anais said questionably.

"Listen, you're gonna find out about it soon because Cat will be making the announcement. She is taking a leave of absence from CatCo.—"

"What!?"

"—and so she's named me as the temporary acting director of CatCo."

"Woah!" Anais' eyes couldn't be any wider at this point. But James was still not done.

"As such, that means I have to now find a replacement for the position of the Art Director. Your name is on my list of possibilities."

Anais let out a breath, actually feeling like she was going to stop breathing at any moment. "James. Are you…are you serious? Are you serious right now?"

James shrugged lightly. "You have talent and I think you might make a good fit here."

"I am inexperienced," Anais corrected, "I mean…I've only been working here for a few months. Doesn't seniority come into play here?"

"Listen, Anais, the fact of the matter is i'm thinking of you as a replacement because of your perspectives." James leaned forward on the desk. "I know the whole ordeal with Lena Luthor and how it went down. You don't let yourself be influenced by what everyone thinks. I mean, even Kara got it wrong. The whole DEO got it wrong. You didn't. Your perspective on things gives the public a new light on our articles, our stories. I think with that mindset, you would nit-pick everything until you found the right pictures to tell the right stories."

Anais was baffled and speechless. No amount of time would let her come up with a decent response to everything that James had said.

James understood her completely. "You can definitely take some time to think about it."

"O-okay," Anais nodded slowly. "Can I…can I talk to Cat? A-about her leaving?"

"Yeah," nodded James, "just be discreet about it, okay?"

"Mhm," Anais promised and got up from her seat. She walked slowly to the door and stopped there for a moment. Her mind was racing. She eventually opened the door and walked out.

In her slow pace into the bullpen, she didn't see Kara fuming as she followed Cat herself into her office. It was only when she had already stepped inside the office that she noticed Kara's prescence.

"What is it now?" Cat looked at Anais expectantly. "And why does it look like your head full of air right now?"

Anais blinked a couple times in an attempt to get herself out of her thoughts. "Sorry, I, uh…" She looked back at the bullpen, "I just finished talking with James and—"

"Ah," Cat rested a hand on her hip, "You know as well."

Anais' eyes flickered to Kara who seemed quite distraught sitting on the couch, practically clutching a cushion. She knows too.

With that in mind, Anais went straight to the point. "Why are you leaving?"

Cat smiled dryly. "I should put myself on recording if everyone is going to ask the same question. As I explained to Kara already, I need to venture out into a new world. I've done everything I can for CatCo. and now I want to see what else I can do. It's only temporary."

"But…I mean…you want to leave!"

"Yes, I said that," Cat nodded, "And I plan on following through so make sure you play nice in your new position."

"New position?" Kara found her voice then and looked at Anais curiously. "What is she talking about?"

Anais drew in a breath, meeting Cat's eyes. "I don't know about it. Art director is a big leap from photojournalist. I don't have experience."

"Neither does Kara," Cat remarked, gesturing towards the woman, "But I'm going to let both of you in on a secret. Experience is great, yes, but talent is better. And another secret? Talent is not made by experience. You either have it or you don't. Now Allen," she snapped her fingers at Anais, "I've seen your work. I know talent when I see it. James does too. Don't be scaredy-cat and say no to something you'd excel at."

"Uh…thanks…" Anais felt like she would throw up under all the compliments from one Cat Grant.

"And as for you Kara," Cat's eyes shifted on Kara, "You need to go back to Carr and show him what you're made of. Now."

It was an order and no one would dare to defy Cat Grant's orders, not even Supergirl.

~0~

Anais admitted that she felt slightly more confident thinking about the offer that James made to her. She went home that evening with the intention of having a calmed night in her room to really think about things. She did not expect to overhear an argument between Kara and Alex, one that did strike her heart from both sides. When Alex stormed out of the apartment, Anais felt it safe to come out and see Kara.

Kara stood with her back to Anais, her hands pressed on the kitchen aisle.

"You want to move to Metropolis?" Anais was cautious as she approached Kara.

Kara wouldn't even pretend like she was surprised that Anais had overheard everything. She turned around instead, sighing heavily. "Doesn't it just make sense?"

"Permission to be honest?"

Kara nodded, motioning Anais to go ahead.

"It feels like you're running away," Anais said in one go. Ripping the bandaid, one would say. "You're afraid of Carr, you're afraid of being alone again. Don't get me wrong, I understand you have good intentions but I just don't think it's the right decision."

"Cadmus—"

"Would find a target regardless of your presence in the city," Anais said, "Just because they haven't mentioned me doesn't mean they won't. And I'm not going anywhere. I like this place."

Kara sighed and dragged a hand through her hair. "It's just that when I'm with Clark, I feel like I'm connected to somebody who actually understands what it's like to be me."

"I get that," Anais nodded. "I feel like that when I'm with Arun. But don't get me wrong, I also notice there's a couple discrepancies too. There are some things that nobody will ever understand about yourself. Like I said, I'll support you but…just really think about things first."

All Kara could do was nod and agree to the terms. With that, Anais bid her Goodnight and returned to her room.

~0~

Early in the morning, Anais and Kara got word that Corben was out again. He was near a freeway in the city's industrial district.

Superman reached the site first and found Metallo loading things into the back of a truck. "It's over, Metallo," he said as Supergirl and Solar arrived on the scene.

Metallo didn't seem threatened at all. "I am happy to give myself up for my cause. But it's not over. Not by any means."

"You make a move, we'll incinerate you," Supergirl warned him.

"Go ahead. But you'll still be here with me. And if you're here with me, then you're not in Metropolis with him."

Superman felt a dread in his stomach, figuring out the trap in a heartbeat. "It's a setup. We have to get to Metropolis."

"Go," Solar said without missing a beat. "Both of you. You don't have the anti-kryptonite gear anyways. Go."

Supergirl exchanged glances with her cousin then flew up with him.

Solar then took their position against Metallo, narrowing her eyes on him. "What is the point in all this? They're not the ones causing destruction. That's you — Cadmus."

"Don't be fooled by them," Metallo said, "You should open your eyes before you follow in their footsteps."

"What?" Anais frowned.

"The girl who is neither nor — Cadmus understands your condition and they see the future in you."

"Cadmus is a volatile project that should have never seen the light of day," Anais spat. "If it was twisted before, I can't imagine how it looks now."

"You misunderstand our mission," Metallo said, making slow rounds on her. "You yourself have been prodded with the intention of helping them. The aliens. But you're not like them. Cadmus sees that, knows it. Cadmus seeks out to recruit the gifted and what better recruit than the Solar hybrid?"

"Solar hybrid?" Anais actually hated it more than 'Golden Girl'. "I would never join you or Cadmus."

"Never say never. Cadmus always gets what they want, whether or not you like it."

Solar didn't want to listen anymore. She started vibrating in her spot, slowing time down around her. When she struck with a punch, the force was more than usual and threw Metallo across the place.

"I am never joining Cadmus!" She exclaimed, dashing towards Metallo.

The man got up in time and struck her with kryptonite from his chest. She flew back into the truck, crashing into the crates.

"Cadmus only wants to help!" Metallo said. "Rid our world of the infestation of aliens."

"I am an alien!" Solar flew straight for him. They entered into a combat fight where for a moment Anais gained an upper hand.

But he struck her with Kryptonite again, throwing her across the ground. She hit her head multiple times and with the grogginess, it slowed her down. Metallo reached her before she could stand and grabbed her by the neck. "Take this as a warning and a moment to think. Cadmus would like to welcome you whole but they are not against taking you in pieces. Your value is inside. We don't need you alive to study your insides." He dropped her on the ground and walked away.

~0~

Anais sat on a medical bed as a couple nurses helped clean her up from her battle. She was not concerned with herself nor her state, not when there were plenty of other things to be thinking about.

The city of Metropolis suffered a significant blow from a second Metallo. Superman and Sueprgirl were too late to stop the destruction.

Anais couldn't stop thinking about the conversation she had with Metallo either. Nothing made sense, not him, not his words nor his actions.

"Anais? Anais!" She heard the familiar voice but didn't quite match it until Arun rushed inside the room. "Oh my God, what happened to you!?" There were several cuts and bruises on her face and those were the ones he could see.

"Arun, how'd you find out?" Anais asked him, confused.

"Supergirl called me. What the hell happened?"

"The usual. Some psycho wants to get rid of aliens."

"It's that Cadmus thing, isn't it? The ones who ran the announcement yesterday?"

Anais nodded, and in doing so she felt an ache on the back of her head. "I'm fine."

"Mild concussion," one of the nurses informed the two. "You'll have to stay clear of the field until you're cleared. Even with your healing rate, it'll be a couple of hours."

"What?" Anais frowned at the news. "No, I have to go help Supergirl and—"

"You heard the nurse," Arun said sharply. "The Kryptonians can handle it."

"No, they literally can't." Anais hopped off the bed. "This guy's got Kryptonite as a power. It can kill them."

"They're going to have to figure it out because you're not going out there. Now more than ever, we need to continue training you."

Anais couldn't argue with that. She did have to train because she'd gotten her ass kicked so easily. That couldn't happen in the future, not if she was fighting Cadmus.

~0~

"I should be out there," Anais said, standing in-between Arun and Winn, overseeing the fight between Metallos and their team. Superman and Supergirl had backup in Alex and J'onn.

"No, you shouldn't be," both Winn and Arun said at the same time. At that, the two looked at each other curiously then back at the screens.

Anais was none the wiser. "I could help them."

"Not with a concussion, you can't" Arun said. "I've spoken to J'onn myself and he agreed to let us use the DEO as our training base. I'll be coordinating a schedule for us so it won't interfere with your duties here."

"Great, thanks." Anais couldn't find joy in anything right now. She was pretty bitter that she was benched and even more upset that Cadmus had won her this time.

What she did find peace in was watching their team defeat both Metallos. She was aware, however, that it didn't mean the Cadmus threat was over. That would just be ignorant thinking.

~0~

In the evening, after some coordination with Kara, Solar stopped by to bid goodbye to Cat Grant. She had to thank Cat for the wonderful article written about her. She may or may not have also promised to always refer to CatCo. for any future exclusives. She wouldn't be Cat Grant if she didn't ask.

Afterwards, Anais stopped by James' office — the old one — to talk about the offer. James was in the middle of packing when she knocked.

"Are you busy?" Anais slowly walked in.

"Nah, what's going on?" James motioned her to come over.

"I've been thinking about the offer," Anais said, and James immediately perked up. "I'll take it."

"Great! You'll see, you'll be fantastic!"

Anaís nodded. "I still want you to help me, though. I-I know you'll have like a gazillion other things to do but…but I could really use a mentor."

James chuckled. "No problem. I don't think you'll need a mentor for long."

Anais wanted to believe in his faith for her. She supposed it wouldn't hurt to try.

#ocappreciation #arrowverseocs #fd: supergirl #winn schott #supergirl fics #winn schott fics #winn schott imagines #winn schott x oc #supergirl imagines #supergirl ocs #oc: Anais Mjorkland #fic: sweet ambitions

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saiilorstars · 1 year

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Ch. 7: The Chase for the Unknown

Pairing: Barry Allen x OFC // Fandom: The Flash

Story Masterlist • Previous Stories: Rise Up • It Had To Be You • Belén’s Masterlist

• Can also be found on Fanfic and Ao3 •

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

Caitlin took in a deep breath before she entered a high-class building. Her heels clacked against the squeaky clean floor as she made herself steadily walk towards the reception desk where a brunette woman sat.

"I'm here to see to see Dr. Tannhauser," she informed the receptionist.

The receptionist was quite uninterested in the new visitor. She didn't look up from her computer. "Do you have an appointment?"

"No, but I'm pretty sure she'll see me. You can just tell her Caitlin Snow is here—"

"Dr. Tannhauser's a very busy woman. I'm sure you can understand—"

"I appreciate the diligence, Jackie, but Caitlin's always welcome here, even if I wish she'd call first," an older woman claimed both Caitlin's and the receptionist's attention. Dr. Tannhauser stood at a second level railing and was smiling curiously at Caitlin.

"Nice to see you too, Mom." Caitlin felt a shaky breath leave her. This wasn't exactly her best idea but she was getting desperate. It was only a couple days ago when her powers had truly manifested and nearly caused her entire hair to change into a while silver. Caitlin tried to forget the blue lips that were Killer Frost's trademarks. But the accidental icing of her shower, the white streaks in her hair and the blue lips weren't what scared Caitlin the most. The following morning, Caitlin had began to hear...her voice.

It's time to wake up…

Caitlin had dropped her favorite coffee mug on her kitchen tile floor. Killer Frost had spoken to her. It was only a brief sentence but it was all Caitlin needed to get scared for the rest of her life. If Killer Frost was "awakening" it meant Caitlin was one step closer to losing control like Belén already had on small occasions.

It was for that very reason that Caitlin decided to share her experience with Belén just before announcing her idea to visit her mother. Belén understood Caitlin completely and of course promised to cover for her at STAR Labs so the others wouldn't suspect a thing. She just wanted Caitlin to be at peace, even if she didn't agree with Caitlin's latest decisions of not using her powers.

Caitlin remembered her friends just as she walked into her mother's office. The warm family bond they had was something far better than what she and her mother would probably ever have.

Carla Tannhauser didn't seem to suspect a thing as she calmly took a seat at her desk and began to work on her computer like Caitlin was any other visitor. "So what brings you here? I didn't forget your birthday, did I? I'm pretty sure I sent a card."

Caitlin drummed her fingers on her crossed arms while she watched this carefree behavior. You'd think being her daughter she would pay just a little more attention. "You did...in April. Thank you. Look, I read your new paper on applications in cryo-medicine, and I think you might be able to help."

"I had no idea you kept up on the literature over at S.T.A.R. Labs. That's still what it's called, right?"

"Yes, and I have a patient who could use your help."

"Well, if you want to send over the file, I'll be happy to take a look when I have a chance, but right now, I have a shareholder meeting to prepare for and…"

Caitlin felt an anger — that didn't belong to her — rise up until it pushed her to slam her hand against the glass desk. "Mom!" her voice seemed to acquire a vibrate tinge. "I'm the patient!" Her hand involuntarily released a frost that spread across the desk.

Carla slowly removed her glasses, revealing widened eyes. She slowly leaned to her phone and put in a call to her assistant. "Cancel my appointments, and have Nigel meet me in the bio-lab."

Caitlin gulped as she pulled her hand off the desk. She turned her palm over and closed it into a fist as if more ice was about to shoot out from it.

That was fun. Killer Frost could practically be seen grinning.

~ 0 ~

Barry zipped into the cortex and left his suit in its display. He turned to the desk where Belén and Iris sat. "I couldn't find her again." The tired sigh he released was beyond him. Nights had been sleepless for days again.

"I performed the tracker of speed just like you said Flashpoint Caitlin did—" Cisco came out from a side room with a similar weary face as Barry, "—and nada. Girl's not coming up."

"Okay, well, Anais Mjorkland isn't your typical speedster," Barry pulled his hands behind his head, letting out another heavy sigh. He would kill to close his eyes for a full five minutes. "She's not a metahuman. She's an alien."

"Your alien adoptive daughter from Earth 38…?" Iris repeated in a one go just to make sure she'd gotten the backstory right. She turned her chair in Belén's direction, but the ombre-blonde knew just as much as Iris did.

"Yeah, run that by me again," Cisco spun his hand in a circle at Barry.

Barry dropped his hands to his side and resigned to telling the story again. He wasn't surprised that he had to repeat given its unique situation but he didn't really like the awkwardness of it at all.

"The Anais Mjorkland I originally met was on Earth 38 and she is Supergirl's partner. She's known as Solar to National City but her civilian name is Anais Allen." This is where the awkwardness came back. Barry bit on the inside of his cheek for a moment before continuing. "She's half alien, half human and she was adopted by my...doppelganger...and Belén's..." At the mention of her name, Belén's head ducked to hide her instant flush. "On that Earth, Belén and I are older. We're Anais' adoptive parents and she has our last name."

"You two are really just doing the most, huh?" Cisco looked between the pair in question. "Should I say mazel tov?"

"Shut up!" Belén snapped. "Barry?"

"Right, um..." Barry cleared his throat. "So, Earth 38 Anais is an alien speedster, basically."

"Okay, but this girl definitely did not come from that Earth," Iris said, thankfully taking it much more seriously than Cisco.

"Yeah," went Cisco sourly, "I specifically vibed for Earth 19 and that is where that girl jumped from."

"Her name is Anais," Barry said rather argumentatively. Belén sensed a protectiveness in her boyfriend that she hadn't really heard in another time. It was strange but if Anais was truly like a daughter then she supposed she could understand. She might even feel guilty that she didn't feel the same protectiveness but she tried to remind herself that she had no idea who this woman was. Anais was a stranger.

However, Belén didn't think that Iris nor Cisco would understand that feeling and it was proved a moment later.

"Barry, she stole someone else's passageway to this world," Iris reminded Barry and took the subjected glare. "Cisco vibed for a Wells. That girl had to have known—"

"Her name is Anais!" Barry snapped again.

Iris nodded, deciding to give him that for now. "Anais took that passage. How do we know she didn't hurt Earth 19's version of Wells?"

"I don't know, okay? But what I do know is that Anais looked very afraid when she came out of that breach," Barry spoke fast, "And that means she could've been running from something."

"Or it means she might have done something bad on the other side," Cisco shrugged.

"Cisco—"

"I'm just saying!" Cisco exclaimed. "She did look at you like she knew you, Barry."

"Maybe she knew my doppelganger from there! I don't know!"

"Okay!" Belén cut in before things got heated and that was the last thing they needed right now. She got up from her seat, hands in front of her to show that she was trying to be a neutral side. "Can I give my two cents now?"

"What, as the mother?" Cisco's comment wasn't appreciated in the least by said mother in question. "Sorry."

"I don't know Anais," Belén began, slowly lowering her hands, "I've only heard the stories that Barry told me about when he first went to Earth 38. I do think that she looked kind of scared coming out of the breach but you know what? None of our guesses matter until we actually find her. It's been five days since Anais came out of the breach and ran and until we find her, we can't assume anything. So, can I suggest that we all get back to work on that instead of arguing?"

"I'll just go continue running more scans, I guess," Cisco mumbled and started leaving.

"And don't touch Caitlin's pizza pockets!" Belén warned but Cisco waved her off. He might have been a little annoyed at her.

"Sorry," Iris felt the urge to say after a moment. Her eyes flickered between Belén and Barry. "I guess it's a little strange having this situation...given who she is."

"Don't look at me, I don't even know her," Belén gave a meek shrug of her shoulders. "But I do think we're better off just waiting until we can get her back here. Right, Barry?"

"Yeah," Barry said quietly.

"Well, I'll tell you what, this would go quicker if we had all hands on deck," Iris moved behind the computers, "Where's Caitlin?"

"She said she was taking care of some things," Belén said purposely carelessly. She'd worked on the simple excuse over and over in front of the mirror to say as perfectly as she had. "

"Alright," Iris nodded, "I guess we can keep running scans," she said to Belén. The latter agreed.

"We've been running all information we can on her," Belén told Barry, "Since you said she's originally from National City, Iris and I thought that was our best shot of finding her."

"But you didn't," Barry presumed and he sighed seeing the two women nodding.

"Nothing," Belén was sad to report. "We found a ton of stuff on the latest events over in that city."

"Yeah," Iris crossed her arms, "CatCo. says flared jeans are out. The Luthor family has had another spat — oh, did you hear?" Iris glanced at Belén. "Rumor has it one of them finally split. Left the city and all."

"No way," Belén snorted. "That family's beyond insane but I guess that's what happens when you're stupid rich."

"Yeah, that's why we don't get rich," Iris said, prompting a mutual laugh between the two reporters.

Barry rolled his eyes at the pair. "Okay, "I've got to get to work." He moved over to pick up his jacket left on Belén's chair. "Julian's been on my case for being late all this week and I just…"

"Please don't start," Belén gave him a hopeful glance for him to — for once — just keep a civil relationship with Julian.

"He does not make it easy, Belén! With you, he's all walking-on-sunshine but once you leave he's like a different person!"

Iris shook her head and discreetly turned away from the two. It was a sure way to start an argument...as it typically did.

"You guys clash, but...deep down you're the same. You're both nerdy, you're both funny—"

"He is not funny," Barry made that clear, perhaps with a bit too much jealousy.

"You're both passionate about your work—"

"He's stingy about his work—"

"—and you both just want to help people," Belén took Barry's hand and smiled encouragingly. She knew she was talking quicker than usual and not in the usual cute way Barry often said she did. "Why can't you just get along?"

"Because I am pretty sure he likes you—"

"Oh my God!" Belén pulled her hand out of Barry's as she laughed sourly. "No, he doesn't!"

Barry scowled. She was dismissing him...just like that. "I know from your perspective I've been saying this for a year—"

"Yeah, you have!"

"—but from where I stand, it's only been two weeks and it took me only two days to figure out that he does," Barry had spoken slowly to make his point.

Belén shook her head, smiling at nothing in particular but with obvious annoyance. "You want to start that again, I see..."

Barry rolled his eyes. Why was she being so naive about this? Was she just faking it to avoid problems? Whatever the answer was didn't matter because he was tired and upset from the whole Anais case that if he kept going, he would say something he shouldn't. "I am going to work," he decided, "I'll see you later."

Belén nodded silently and let him go. She rubbed her forehead but dropped her hand when she saw Iris watching her with a face that...wasn't exactly on her side. "What? You think he's right?"

Iris' shoulders pulled up but her answer wasn't definitive either. "Barry is not the jealous type. That, I know."

"Iris, c'mon..." Belén sighed. She pushed all her hair back from her face. "This is ridiculous!"

"It might be to you but it's important to Barry and given his recent mistakes, I think he might be a little insecure about...where you two stand..." Iris wished she could be anywhere but here right now.

"Well, he shouldn't be!" Belén exclaimed. "We already talked about it. We're good."

"Okay, but, that doesn't mean he's not insecure that you might change your mind."

"Iris—"

"Just clear things up with Julian and you're good," Iris suggested quickly and just as Belén went to say something, Iris cut her off, "You say you're close so it shouldn't be a big deal and hey, if you're right, then you can at least make Barry see it. And if not, then…"

"I would owe Barry the biggest apology of my life," Belén said bitterly.

~ 0 ~

Caitlin followed her mother's closest employee, Nigel, into a high tech lab. The first thing that got her attention was the cylindrical structure glowing brightly orange and yellow. She could feel its intense heat radiating towards them.

"What's this?"

"It's to test how your ability affects molecular motion," Carla moved around the structure. "That shaft is solid tungsten, and it's heated to over 2,000 degrees centigrade. I want you to cool it down, and when we determine how you can do that, we can figure out the best way to help you. Best we could do in such little time."

"So this is where you've been for the last hour," Caitlin bitterly said. She wouldn't hide her disappointment that even when she exhibited the full range of her problems, her mother still didn't make her a priority.

"I had to reschedule my day for this, Caitlin. A lot of things around here require my attention."

"I remember," Caitlin said curtly.

Carla and Nigel both stepped backwards to allow Caitlin some space. "Whenever you're ready," Carla nodded Caitlin to get a little closer.

Caitlin wiggled her fingers as she stepped forwards. Her heart beat wildly as she raised her hands towards the structure. This time she didn't even have to consider how much power she should put into it. The ice just came out.

Carla and Nigel both gawked as the cylinder became crystallized in ice.

The gulp Caitlin took afterwards was involuntarily and made of pure fear.

~ 0 ~

When the alarms started going off in the cortex, Belén thought they finally caught site of Anais...but they found something else just as interesting.

"Cameras are shutting off in a ten-block radius," Cisco said without a clue of its purpose as he read off the computers.

"So...even if I tried to get there…?"

"Forget it," Cisco waved her off, already dialing for Barry's number.

"And could this be Anais?"

"I would doubt that girl could cause this but then again since she is alien and unknown...ha," Cisco gave only a small sarcastic laugh to answer them.

"Alright, I'm here," they soon heard Barry's voice through the comms.

"Settle our differences and tell us who exactly is causing the commotion?" Cisco asked him.

"Uuh…" despite Barry being dead silent, the others could hear the rowdy noises from the street he was in.

"Barry? What is it?"

"It's...a monster…"

The two in the cortex looked at each other with the same confusion.

"Guys!? Did you hear me!?" Barry called them back to his attention. "There is a monster in Central City!" Because he was facing a gigantic, brown alien with claw-like arms and a tail. It was the screaming of it that caused most of the noise, that paired with the humans'.

"Are you...are you that scared?" Belén blinked. She wished they could see exactly what they were dealing with.

"No, I mean it's an actual monster!"

"Cisco, anyway to see it?" Belén watched the scientist quickly working on the computer.

"S.T.A.R. Labs satellite, show me something," he pleaded just before the computer up ahead on the wall showed them what Barry was staring at.

"Oh...kay," Belén rubbed her eyes just to make sure she wasn't being fooled.

~ 0 ~

Barry saw how multiple cars crashed, including a bus, along with several live wires just sparking out. He rushed to the bus that was threatening to tip over and came to the surprise of finding Iris already there, trying to open the stuck doors for the frantic people inside.

"Iris, what are you doing here!?"

Iris paid no attention to his overly shocked self as she kept trying to open the doors. "Working on a story, and last time I checked, you don't need super-speed and a red suit to help people!"

Perhaps she spoke too soon because the doors simply would not budge.

"Okay, step back," Barry was about to vibrate the doors off when a golden streak came forwards and easily yanked the double doors off. Barry barely had time to blink when he saw the familiar figure. "Anais…"

The woman behind the golden mask only inhaled and took a step backwards.

"Did you do this?" Iris went with the only logical presumption at the moment. Her demand startled Anais enough to make her backtrack more steps.

Anais' blue eyes flickered from her to Barry. The latter recognized the flash of fear in her eyes. Without saying a word, she sped off again.

"No, wait!" Barry made to move after her when Cisco called him to stop.

"Monster — priorities!

"Where'd it...go…?" Iris blinked when the monster disappeared before her very eyes.

"What?" Barry spun around to find the monster completely gone. He looked up at the sky to see if the thing managed to pull itself up and fly. "Cisco?"

"Got it! Hold on!" Cisco made a motion for everyone to just wait on him, despite the fact that only Belén could see him do it. "Cameras are still off but the car alarms make it easy to track the direction the monster's heading in. Head north three blocks!"

Barry followed the instruction.

"Cisco…" Belén was the one confused when the map on the computers also had the monsters disappear. "Did we just lose it?"

"Yeah — what the hell!?" Cisco dug his hands into his hair, completely outraged.

They weren't the only ones who lost the monster.

~ 0 ~

"It was...it was a frikin monster just...just rampaging through the streets and we-we lost it," Barry was in the same state of confusion as the others were. He honestly felt like he was explaining some video game.

"And Anais?" Belén couldn't help but be curious about the mysterious woman who'd gone and helped him out of the blue. All this time they've been searching for her and she just comes up to them instead.

"Gone," Barry shrugged, equally upset about that too. "I searched for her afterwards and she was just...gone."

"But she's still in the city," Iris expressed her trouble with that fact. "Now why would she do that? I mean, if she's scared then she would run and, I don't know, leave the city?"

"Maybe she wants to go home?" Cisco said, honestly not as interested in the mysterious woman at the moment. He wanted to get that monster!

"No, that's not right," Belén said. She leaned against the desk, her fingers drumming over the top. "If she had wanted to go home, then she would've come back already. If she wanted to leave the city, she would've done that too. She's staying here for a reason."

"She's hiding," Barry said as soon as he made the conclusion. Everyone, including Belén, looked at him. "If she had been our enemy, she would've attacked us from the start. If she wanted to leave, then she would've done it too, but she hasn't. She's here. And she helped. She's watching us."

"So why doesn't she come on over and say 'hi'," Cisco muttered but the others still heard him.

"She's scared," Barry said easily, "I saw it again in her eyes. She's afraid of something."

"Okay," Belén nodded to herself. She glanced over at Cisco who had taken a seat behind the computers. "Maybe we can keep an eye out on the breaches in case something else tries to get through. In the meantime, I think we should discuss this monster..."

"Also not a meta," Iris chimed in, "Are we looking at another alien?"

"I don't know," Barry shrugged, "But it just vanished.

"Well, maybe we shouldn't focus on the 'how' and instead look at the 'how to stop it'," Cisco fell back into his chair, hands getting together in thought.

"First of all, you need to find a way to keep that thing from hurting people," Belén said, beginning easy. "Like a field? You guys make those, right?"

"We could," Cisco gave in. "Maybe like...a rope...or...you know what, I will come up with a good name for it."

"There was something else that was weird, though," Barry admitted after more thinking on the event. I... I saw a transformer explode as this thing passed by it."

"What's weird about that?"

"Monster didn't even lay a finger on it. It exploded before it got to it."

"And we're sure it wasn't Ana—"

"It wasn't," Barry settled a sharp look on Iris, not forgetting the fact it was because of her that Anais fled the scene before he could ask her. "And maybe next time, we'll also take it a little easier on the accusations?"

Iris had nothing to say on that matter. She merely asked what was most obvious at that moment.

"Barry, is there anyway I could look at the transformer?" asked Cisco. "The beast had to emit some kind of electrical pulse."

Barry almost scoffed at the slim chance of that. "No. The whole place is a crime scene now with Julian in charge of it." He saw the face Belén was making at the desk and groaned. "I'm not saying anything!"

"I didn't say you were!"

"You didn't have to!" Barry stopped himself before he said anything else that could ensue an actual argument between them. "I'm just gonna go back to the lab and see...what there is…"

~ 0 ~

Barry walked into the lab where Julian was already packing away things for the latest case. Just seeing Julian put Barry into a worse state. He was causing yet another rift between him and Belén, and for what? For someone who was plain rude.

"Is there any point in me asking where you've been for the last hour?" Julian broke the silence try didn't even spare Barry a look. "Or should I just assume the rules still don't apply to you?"

Yup anger was there again. It killed Barry not being able to tell just what he was doing which was probably more helpful than whatever Julian was doing. He could just tell him off, tell him to mind his own business and that would be that. But then he thought about Belén, and how much he knew she wanted them to get along. He put herself in her shoes for a second and wondered what it would be like if she never got along with Iris. What would he want then? Well, definitely for the two to get along since he loved both of them.

Dammit, he thought.

"Look, hey, man, so I know that... you and I, we got off on the wrong foot. We never managed to find the right one, and I'll take that," he forced himself to say, knowing that half of it was true. "That's probably my fault, but I just... I don't want things to be like that anymore, you know? I... I'd... like it if things changed."

Julian's smile indicated something was amusing and that was definitely not the goal. "It's funny, 'cause I remember you saying something similar to that right before you stole the case from underneath me. Do you have idea what it's like to work side by side with someone with such little regard for the rules? You may very well be contaminating my work."

Barry had to actually bite his tongue for a moment or else he probably would have gone off. "That's exactly why I want to learn from you. I don't follow. I just... you know, whenever I read your reports, it's clear that your evidence collection techniques are far superior to mine."

Julian considered this line of compliment with curiosity. "Go on."

"I don't know; I mean, if I could just shadow you for a day, maybe ask a few questions, I think that you could really help bring my skills up to... snuff. What do you say?" Julian gave a shake of his head. "What if I gave up the lab? There's a storeroom downstairs that I could convert, so if you let me follow you on this case, lab's yours."

See, he should have just started with that.

"Deal," Julian grinned. "You can't slow me down, though."

"I would never," Barry raised his hands. He couldn't believe he'd actually done that.

~ 0 ~

Belén entered her last stop before returning to STAR Labs. She figured she should have started with Jitters and worked her way across the city, but trying to find Anais was harder to do considering she was an alien speedster. With Cisco's help, they'd managed to crop a picture of Anais' face from the breach room. It was a long job of going through placed asking if they'd seen the girl, but since they had no other plan as of yet it was their only option.

Plus, both Cisco and Belén figured that if Anais was a speedster she needed to eat something, somewhere. If they were lucky, she would've stopped by and paid with something and not just sped in and out like a crook.

"Have you seen this girl around?" Belén asked the barista after making it up the line. She brandished the picture of Anais and hoped for the best.

The barista narrowed her eyes on the photograph for a moment, trying to recall the customers she'd met with all day. "Yeah, I think I have. Yeah! She's the one that ordered a lot of food." She gave an apologetic smile at Belén. "I mean, I know I shouldn't be but...kinda jealous. She ordered like three course meals and it doesn't even look like she gains what she eats. I'd kill for a metabolism like that."

"Has she been here before?"

"I think so, yeah. I don't work in the mornings but I remember one of my co-workers saying something about this girl. Same thing - wishes she could have that weight luck."

"So, she's been here a lot, then?" Belén saw the chances of a pattern about to establish. The excitement was inevitable. "Co-workers had to see her!"

"Yeah, I guess so. Why are you looking for her? She's not a criminal is she?"

"No, she's just...a potential source for an article I'm writing," Belén waved it off. "Thank you so much." She figured now they could keep an eye on the place if Cisco hacked the security cameras from STAR Labs. She made to leave when she spotted a familiar blonde eating at one of the tables on his own.

She didn't know exactly what she was going to do but she sure hoped she figured it out on her way to Julian's table. "Eating all alone?"

Julian gave her a languid point of his fork. "Better than being badly accompanied."

"Swallow before you speak," Belén playfully pushed his fork back to his plate.

"Where's your little reporter friend?" he reached for a napkin to clean his mouth.

"Iris had to give a witness testimony for the earlier incident on the street so it's just me."

"No golden boy boyfriend either?"

Belén's face contorted to near annoyance, just like it would have if this had been Barry. She gave him a long look to which Julian merely continued eating. He was quite used to them.

"Julian, you know that I love you right? Like, you're one of my best friends kind of love?"

"Sure, why?" Julian spared her a strange look before he reached for his drink. "I don't need reassurances of anything, you know. I'm secure."

"Yeah, you always have been," Belén smiled softly. "You are incredibly strong despite your family and your losses."

Julian made a face at her out-of-place words. He put his fork down and cleared his throat. "Belén, what's this about?"

"Uum…" Belén felt her face warmed up with embarrassment. She was horrible at these talks, she knew. She could remember how terrible she was with Barry before they got together. "You remember when we were kids and...you stayed for the summer with Mrs. Andrews for the first time?"

"Ah yes, I believe that was the summer you told me I had to stop trying to show you bugs or you would throw me off a swing. You're lucky I didn't tell my grandmother."

Belén laughed at that memory. "You knew those bugs made my skin crawl! Mrs. Andrews would've sided with me anyways!"

Julian let Belén have it. "Anyways, I don't suppose you wanted to talk about old times, did you?"

"No, but that was funny," Belén admitted as she sobered up. "Anyways, it was also the summer that...well…"

"I told you, you were going to be my girlfriend," Julian remembered straight off the top and didn't look the least embarrassed by it. "Yeah."

Belén had long ago lost her surprise when it came to Julian's bluntness. "I know. You, um, you said you had a crush on me." If she ever told Barry that, he would completely lose his mind. "But...that was, like, ages ago. Nothing worth...talking...about..."

Julian's eyebrows rose and Belén didn't know whether to be relieved that he was smiling so easily or be concerned that he wasn't taking her seriously. "Are you concerned that I'm going to talk about those moments with Allen?"

"Umm..." Belén innocently looked around, "I mean, I wouldn't see any point to it. I certainly haven't mentioned it."

Julian rolled his eyes at her. "Yeah, well, seeing as I would have to actually to have a conversation with him, I don't think I'll be doing it either."

Belén swallowed hard. Do it now already. "Um, Julian, Barry and I are having a hard time right now—"

Julian snorted. "There's a surprise."

"Julian—"

"Allen lives to make things harder for others and then he has the audacity to pretend that he does nothing wrong."

"What?" Belén laughed. She took a seat across Julian, genuinely curious to hear this ridiculous idea out.

"I'm not joking, Belén!"

"Yeah, I got that," Belén assured Julian, "But I just want to know why on earth do you hate my boyfriend so much?"

"I don't think you'll like to hear it—"

"No, I need to hear it," Belén said adamantly, setting her finger down on the table, "Because Barry and I have argued about it way too much for me not to be aware that you are rude sometimes and I've no doubt that you've been like that with him. I, of course, try to defend you and hope that sometimes your rudeness is just your bluntness getting mixed up but you know what? I know Barry. He's not mean — he's literally incapable of being mean. Trust me, I have the full scoop from Iris."

"So then what?" Julian raised an eyebrow at Belén. "I'm the bad guy?"

"No, I..." Belén sighed, "I'm just going to be frank, alright? What you told me when we were kids...is that...does that have any standing today?"

"Are you kidding me!?" Julian scowled so deeply that Belén wondered if it would mark his face afterwards. "Look, Belén," Julian began in a stern voice, eyes hardening for a second, "Yes, it was true that I did like you as a child. But that, as I said, was during a time of childhood. It passed. I see you as a very close friend, the only friend that I entrusted my entire secrets to so forgive me if I feel like we're close."

"We are..." Belén said softly, now feeling terrible she even brought it up. But now you know, she told herself. Now she could argue with Barry knowing that he had no standing. "I'm sorry," Belén felt the need to say. "I-I didn't mean to. I thought maybe, it was, I don't know, a reason…"

"That I dislike Allen? Yes, well that would probably have been a first guess, I suppose," Julian leaned back on his chair, his eyes making Belén squirm in her seat. "But rest assured, it is not. You can ease his thoughts now."

"If that's not it, then...why do you hate him? Help me understand, Julian, because maybe I can help. Because I don't want to keep this cycle going. I love Barry and I don't want to have an argument every day because you and him can't get along." This time it was Belén who stared hard. "I don't want to ever have to pick, alright? So tell me something valid. Now."

"You want to know? Alright. But you'll probably end up defending him. He's late — always late — and he never has a reasonable excuse as to why. He lies and disappears. For someone who worked his way up to his position, it certainly doesn't seem like he cares."

"He does care," Belén corrected but left the defenses for the tardiness out. It was terrible, really, because it wasn't like Barry chose to be late for no reason. At least not anymore.

"Of course you would say that," Julian rolled his eyes.

"Because I've seen it ever since I met him. And if I recall correctly, you two are on the same team both wanting to help those victims. Now if that's the case, then why can't you just work civilly?"

Julian released a sigh and crossed his arms. "He did ask if he could shadow me in the case of this monster. Says he likes my work."

Belén's lips twitched into a smile. "He said that?"

"Yeah, course I also get the lab so…" Julian shrugged and Belén rolled her eyes. "It was a win, win."

"Okay, then, use this day to actually try to get along?" Belén asked as kindly as possible. "It would make me really happy…" Julian gave a small nod to her plead. It made her beam and feel confident enough to get going.

"But you also know a reason why I don't like him?" He stopped her just as she got up. "It is because of you…"

Belén blinked nervously. "Oh, really?"

"It's because if he's someone who has no regards for rules and other people, I wouldn't want you to end up with him. For your own good, Belén."

Belén softly smiled at him. "Believe me, if there's someone who cares a lot about people it's Barry. It's one of the reasons why I love him. That's how we met actually, officially." Her smile spread. "He helped me with my brother's case."

Julian shook his head. "He's hiding something, Belén. Behind all those tardiness and lies…"

"I will be just fine, Julian. Thank you," Belén offered one more smile as she got up from her seat to leave.

~0~

Barry walked into a pretty solitary side of a street - right on time this time - where Julian had called him to. It was the same street where the transformer had exploded due to the monster, or so they thought.

When Julian spotted him, he paused with a certain degree of confusion. "I said get here quick, but that was...quicker than I expected."

Barry cleared his throat and jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "Oh, no, yeah, it was a... crazy Uber driver."

Julian shrugged it off and returned his attention to the transformer in front of them. "Well, the blast pattern and the scoring on the insulation suggests that it was a power surge that blew it out."

"So it's a coincidence?"

"I highly doubt it. But I'll figure it out," Julian went around to get his briefcase from the ground, mumbling, "Someone in this city has to do something about these metas."

"What do you mean? We have a whole police force working to stop these metas," Barry's strange looks were missed.

"No, you have the Flash," Julian had no hesitation in showing his dislike. "And the Azalea, the Tempest...and so on…"

Barry's face went sour at the mention of his and his friends' names. "So it's not just bad metas you don't like. It's all the metas."

"I'm just saying that because of them, the police department has got lethargic. I mean, why do anything at all if these metas are gonna save the day every time?" Julian spared him a glance, but only to say, "It's a bit like you with rule breaking... a momentary fix, and now you're lazy, sloppy."

Barry purposely looked somewhere else because he was sure if he didn't the words would just tumble out of him. "I think the Flash, the Azalea and the Tempest are actually sources of inspiration for the city. I think they kind of provide hope."

"They're not even consistent with their appearances," Julian remarked, and didn't need to go further on what he meant.

The Tempest had stopped making an appearance nine months ago, and the Azalea was beginning to fall into the same tract. Once again, it was many of the things they could clear up if only Julian know the truth.

Barry put those thoughts away when he noticed Julian staring at a building behind him then to another one at the opposite end of the street. "What? You see something?" Barry turned the same ways in hopes of catching whatever Julian was seeing.

"A pattern," Julian mumbled while he thought. "The creature's movements, they seemed random at first, but they were contained to a prescribed area. You know, like the creature was stuck in an invisible fence."

Barry remembered their biggest problem at STAR Labs when the monster first showed up. "Traffic cameras were down, right? Maybe it was being watched or controlled by somebody that needed to keep it in visual range the entire time? Constricting the creature's movements to the line of sight."

Julian blinked at him. "That actually makes sense. Maybe there is a brain in there after all, Allen."

Barry playfully rolled his eyes. "Well—" some of the wires in the streets snapped all of a sudden, shooting sparks in different directions.

The cars parked blared their alarms as if they were being broken into. Both men turned to see the monster once again going down the intersecting street up ahead. Barry took a couple steps forwards while Julian called for backup. He looked around for a place to leave Julian by so he could deal with the monster. However, Julian grasped his collar and yanked him towards an alleyway.

"Hey, maybe we should split up…" Barry tugged his collar back into place now that they'd hidden behind a dumpster.

"That's a terrible idea," Julian reached for something on him.

"Yeah, but we got to do something, right? We - woah!" Barry blinked with wide eyes, stunned at the polished gun Julian had revealed.

"Don't worry, I have four years' training in the military," Julian said calmly as he stocked said gun.

"Uh, even still, since when does a CSI carry a gun?"

"Since there were monsters in our city!"

Before Barry could refute that statement, a force of wind hit them in passing. Barry recognized the golden light trail and immediately poked his head out into the street.

Anais, in her hero guise, had stopped at the end of the street and was gazing up at the monster. There she was again, just...trying to help. Barry didn't understand her movements.

"A new speedster in the city? Really?" Julian's sigh from behind pulled Barry back to the present, and just in time.

There was a small explosion right above them and caused an advertising sign board to drop down towards them. Anais whirled around but before she even thought about returning, Barry pulled out his quick thinking and pulled Julian into a sloppy jump backwards. The two rolled to a stop on the ground and just as Barry looked up to see Anais the blonde alien shot up into the air and disappeared.

That's right, she flew.

~ 0 ~

Caitlin finished putting on her blue blazer and grabbed her bag to leave when she bumped into her mother's assistant. "Sorry," she sheepishly smiled and went around him to the door.

"You're leaving us?" Nigel called after her, making her stop.

Caitlin sighed as she came to a slow stop. "Yeah," she turned sideways and gave a sad smile. "Things between my mother and me are... complicated." Truth be told, she expected her mother to show at least a little regard for her feelings about this situation and yet...nothing.

If Killer Frost was cold, what did that make her mother?

"We can help you," Nigel attempted his hand at persuasion, but Caitlin shook her head.

"I don't need your help with the science. I can do that on my own. I came here to get something from my mother that I realize now I'll never get."

Nigel sneaked his hand into his pocket where he held the controls of the doors. He activated them and locked the doors behind Caitlin. The woman heard the clicking of the locks and frowned at him.

"What are you doing?"

"Sorry, Frosty, but you're not going anywhere."

"Let me out of here. Open these doors!"

"I said no! I am sick of working day after day, night after night, only to have my work benefit your mother.. With the information I can get from you, I can finally get out of this place, so you're gonna stay here until I get everything that I need!" Nigel latched a hand onto Caitlin's bare arm and pulled her towards the desk.

Oh he is not getting away with that, Caitlin heard Killer Frost. Her fear easily allowed Killer Frost access to the controls of her body.

Caitlin's eyes flashed a silver white and moved her hand of the arm Nigel was grabbing so that she now held his arm. "You are not going to test me!" her voice reverberated with Killer Frost's.

Before Nigel knew it, Caitlin's hand emitted her deadly frost that spread to his forearm.

"Wait, let go! Let go!"

Caitlin's lips started twitching into a devil smirk. "What's the matter, Nigel?"

"Caitlin!" her mother came running into the room with her own door controller. "Don't do this! This isn't you!"

"You don't know anything about me, Mother," Caitlin said this time, her voice less of Killer Frost. This was the anger inside flourishing and joining everything Killer Frost once held.

"I... I know I wasn't much of a mother, and I know I have a lot to make up for, but I know I didn't raise a killer," Carla shakily reached to touch Caitlin.

Caitlin gasped and felt Killer Frost be pushed back behind that blue door where only she stayed. She blinked and looked around, immediately letting go of Nigel when she saw what she'd done.

"For whatever it's worth, I am so sorry," Carla's voice pulled Caitlin to her.

"It's worth a lot," Caitlin admitted.

"Now go," Carla nodded to the open door.

"What about…" Caitlin stared down at the man on the ground.

"I... I'll take care of him. No one will ever know about this. I promise!"

"Thank you," Caitlin backed away slowly, still horrified herself. She turned around and practically ran out of there.

~ 0 ~

"Every time there's been a sighting of the monster, multiple transformers have blown," Julian checked over the reporting of the monster incidents so far.

Barry leaned back against his desk, partially thinking about the incident and then to Anais. He'd left that for Cisco and Belén in the meanwhile. "Hmm, so it's definitely feeding off electricity."

"Mm-hmm, and see, I mapped out all the streets that it's been spotted around. Never leaves a ten-block radius," Julian shook his head at the computer and pushed his chair away for the moment. "You know, this is exactly what I was talking about. Some meta's been gifted this incredible power, and this is the very best thing they can do with it... terrorize a city. It's pathetic."

"Why exactly do you hate metas so much?" Barry now find the time to wonder.

"If you think I'm gonna break down now and tell you that one killed my parents and that's why I have to do this job, I'm not, okay?" Julian missed the once again sour face of Barry, and went on. "I don't need a deep, personal reason to hate metas, Allen. I just need to see person after person transformed, given these extraordinary abilities, and watch them be squandered. Robbing banks, hurting people, spreading fear. It's just... well, it's not just a crime. It's an absolute waste. I mean, can you imagine what it would be like to have those powers? I mean, I would be helping people! I would be improving the world!"

Barry couldn't help remember Belén's words that sounded almost exactly like Julian. Barry supposed there was, apparently, a nice side to the man…

"I guess I wasn't one of the chosen few, was I?"

Barry raised an eyebrow at Julian. "That's it? You're mad at them because you weren't chosen?" Julian shot him a suspicious glance. "Sorry, I mean, I'm just saying, it can't be easy being a meta-human, having your life... their lives change in ways that, you know, neither one of us could possibly imagine. It's got to take some adjusting."

"Right. So now you're defending them?"

"Well, no, I mean, I'm... I don't think that…" Barry could see he'd chosen the wrong words to say to him because Julian was now packing his things.

"This internship thing we're doing is completely over," Julian warned him to stay put as he walked out of the lab.

~ 0 ~

"All I'm saying is that she's going to eat - paying her dues - and she's attempting to help us? That doesn't sound like a criminal to me, Cisco," Belén followed the man around in the cortex. She was relaying to him everything she found out about Anais from the baristas at Jitters.

"Yeah? Then why doesn't she stay and explain herself to us?" Cisco made a passing gesture at her as he crossed the cortex to the computers. "And have we forgotten that she probably stole Harry's doppelganger's passage here?"

Belén rolled her eyes at him for that one since she knew he wasn't as upset as he portrayed to be about that matter. "Cisco, if you really wanted to bring over the doppelganger you would've vibed again."

Cisco opened his mouth to retort but then pointed at her instead, giving her the point. "Fine. I like Harry and I don't want someone else. What if we get an evil Wells again?"

"Nobody wants that," Belén leaned her hands on the back of the desk, peering over the computers to see what Cisco was doing. "But why'd you let Harry go on with the plan, then?"

"Because it looked like he wanted it—"

"Which he didn't."

"Yeah, we know that now."

"Okay, back to my point that I was making, we should really find Anais and bring her in."

"I've kept an eye on the Jitters cameras all day and there hasn't been any sign of her," Cisco gave a light shrug of his shoulders. "My best bet is that she'll show when the monster does."

"Yeah, and then she'll run off like she has the past two times."

"So we don't let her," Cisco said like it was the easiest thing. "We need to take her by surprise."

"You mean knock her out? That's original and clearly the best kind of welcoming," Belén smiled sarcastically at him.

"She came in unwelcomed! And she ran off!"

"Well—"

"You two arguing is never a good thing," Caitlin surprised them both with her presence. Belén especially gave her a scrutinizing stare, wondering how her visit to her mother's had gone.

"We were just disagreeing on how to best deal with our speedster-breacher," Cisco waved it off. "And where've you been?"

"Just...out," Caitlin shrugged then set her hands on her hips. "So how are we doing over here?"

"Well, we're no closer to getting the monster nor Anais—"

"What monster—?"

Cisco's meta app started ringing in all three of their phones. The creator immediately whipped out his phone and pinpointed the location. "Thank god for the app with GPS!"

"What's going on?" Caitlin asked.

"It's the monster," Belén headed for her suit and missed Caitlin's blinking eyes.

"What monster?"

"You've missed a lot," Cisco distractedly patted Caitlin's arm while he got in contact with Barry.

"Cisco, I'm gonna follow your plan - I think," Belén called. "But how exactly do I knock out a speedster? Not to mention a flying speedster?"

Cisco opened his mouth but soon shut it and swayed his head to Caitlin for a fresh idea. The brunette brought a hand up to her cheek and thought about it. She went through multiple scenarios and ultimately came up with something, just something that she wasn't quite sure of. It hadn't been tested properly.

"Moon," she said the one word and hoped Belén would understand.

Cisco did not. And he showed it by scrunching his face at Caitlin. "Moon? What does that—" But Barry sped in and out for his suit and stopped just beside Cisco, startling him back.

"Don't do that!" Cisco shouted in Barry's face.

"Rope! Did you get the rope!?" Barry motioned his hands.

While Cisco showed Barry to the rope, Caitlin took the opportunity and rushed up to Belén to better explain her idea. "It's wrong for me to put you in that situation but you have moon manipulation powers. With that you can maybe do some gravitational pull attack."

"I-I've never done that in my life," Belén blinked. "And I think Datura said she never figured out how to do that."

"Moon abilities also allow you to redirect a reflection - stunning! Light manipulations—"

"So I'm gonna have to stick a hand in my bag of siphoned powers and see what works," Belén released a big breath. "Oh boy."

~ 0 ~

With Barry's help, Belén arrived at the site with him and immediately set to search for Anais. The woman's golden suit would make her stand out in the night amongst civilians.

"Oh my God…" Belén was first taken aback by the monster's appearance. This was the first time she'd seen it in person. It was a lot bigger than what the cameras showed. She gaped and turned her head at Barry.

"I know," he could see his first reaction on her face. "Cisco? I'm here."

"Please tell me there was a plan to catch this monster…" Caitlin let her concern show.

"Alright, so we fashioned just a carbon fiber rope, but correct me if I'm wrong, we never actually discussed how he was gonna use that rope, did we?" Cisco slapped a hand at his face when he realized his error.

"Cisco…" Caitlin couldn't believe it.

"I know," the man groaned. "Okay, so we...so...um...oh!" he snapped his fingers, startling Caitlin with the motion. "Barry, we're gonna do 'Empire'. Just take it down like it was an AT-AT. Just like an AT-AT!"

"I've no idea what that means," Belén wasn't afraid to admit.

Barry smiled at her. "Let me handle this." Belén motioned it was all him. She, on the other hand, spotted a golden streak zigzagging at the other end of the street.

"And I see our alien," she told the others and rushed off.

While Barry tied the carbon rope around three distinct street poles to keep the monster restrained, Anais was busy getting people away from it.

"Run to safety! Go on!" She urged many of the civilians and was just about to speed off when she saw tendrils of vines swirling in front of her. "Aah…" she retracted a step and raised a hand to her face.

The vines disbanded to show Belén. "You have explaining to do, Anais."

Hearing her name made Anais gasp. She lowered her hands from her face, revealing wide blue eyes. "You know me?"

"I don't. But my boyfriend does," Belén pointed at the red speedster across from them.

Anais followed the pointed finger and gasped again. Her head flipped back at Belén. "You're — you and him — here too?"

Belén tried making sense of that chopped-up question but given the circumstances, she didn't have enough time to sort it all out. "You need to come with me right now."

Whatever Anais thought, it was hidden behind her golden mask. Still, her eyes blinked rapidly in confusion when she saw the monster across them walk through the rope the Flash had put around it. "It's...a hologram…"

"What?" Belén followed Anais' gaze.

"The city's not a threat, then," Anais said with relief, but Belén knew exactly what that meant.

"You can't leave again!"

Anais got smug and wiggled her fingers at Belén. "Watch me." She turned around and even stretched her arms upwards for show.

You going to let her be smug? Let her taunt you? Terra will not allow it. Belén shivered when that same voice's owner pushed through her mind.

Just as Anais started off, Belén extended a hand forwards and thrust up an actual chunk of road into a wall that Anais hit face-first. The alien speedster groaned in terrible pain, her hand flying to her broken nose.

"Belén? What happened?" Caitlin was thankful for the cameras being shut off. Her guess was that Belén was using the moon powers she was instructed to.

"Yo," Cisco also called in. "Barry's just gone to 2nd and Fulton to warn the police not to shoot! I'm trying to disrupt the signal for the monster but Belén you need to get over there!"

Anais detached herself from the road and angrily punched a fist at it, making it crumble down. Belén, not as her, pushed her hands upwards to rebuild the structure but instead Anais came directly for her. It was easy to throw Belén down with her incredible strength.

"I don't want to hurt anyone!" Anais exclaimed at the groggy woman on the ground. "Please! I-I can go!"

HitHerHitHerHitHerHitHer, the voice screamed in Belén's head. She scrunched her face and sat upright. "I am in control," she mumbled to herself and opened her eyes again. Anais was watching her with incredible fear.

Belén took in a deep breath and faced Anais. The blonde woman backtracked a step as Belén got back on her feet. Her hands wielded light beams in her hands in case Belén attacked again, but something different happened instead.

Belén's mask disbanded and revealed her face. "Please tell me you recognize me."

Anais' face said it all. The light around her hands disappeared. However, seconds later she burst into sobs.

~ 0 ~

After stopping the monster - and discovering the evil culprit was just a fifteen year old boy - it was time to call it a night. At least, that part was over…

Anais was given a pair of normal clothes courtesy of Caitlin - though Caitlin took notice of the way Anais stared at her as if she were afraid. In her golden suit, Anais sat on a stool in the middle of the cortex with her arms around herself and the clothes on her lap. Her blue eyes briefly flickered to the entire group staring at her like hawks, probably waiting for her start explaining herself.

It was hard.

"Could you just please start with your name?" Barry was the only one who took more of a hands-on approach with her. He couldn't help it. "You're still Anais, right?"

She gave him a small nod. "Anais Mjorkland. And you're still Barry, right?"

"Yeah. You knew me on your Earth?"

Anais nodded again, her eyes then flickering past him to Belén. "I knew her too."

"Were we...friends…?" Barry didn't want to ask if they were also adoptive parents on that Earth for fear of freaking Anais out.

"We were a team," Anais' voice was barely heard by the others. She sighed and let her head hang. "I am so sorry. I didn't mean to...to take that guy's place."

"Dr. Wells?" Cisco called from the desk.

The blonde nodded once again. "He runs STAR Labs - well, that's what he used to do before they discovered it was a farce."

"Ha, see, we would've gotten another liar Wells," Cisco nudged Caitlin who rolled her eyes in return. "I'm not vibing again."

"How did you steal his place?" Belén asked Anais.

"I-I...I lost people, okay?" Anais put her hands together in front of her face. "On my Earth, there was this war against metahumans - World War M - and there was a final battle...and a lot of people died." Her eyes filled with tears as she looked between Barry and Belén. "I tried my best, I really did, okay? But I lost them."

"We died…" It was easy for Barry to see that truth in Anais' face. She quickly looked back down at the clothes on her lap. Her long blonde hair draped in front of her like a curtain.

"Oh, that's…" Belén shook her head, unable to even complete that thought. It didn't make her feel any good.

"So you knew their doppelgangers—"

"When they discovered I was a speedster too, they helped me train. Them and all the metas who wanted peace, but then…people started discovering that I was neither meta nor human...and that's a big rule," Anais bit her lip. "Aliens are prodded and experimented on to enhance human life."

"Were you being hunted for that?" Caitlin gaped in horror.

"Yes, and people tried to protect me and instead it just got them killed…" Anais' eyes once again drifted to Barry and Belén, guilt riddened. "I am so sorry," she said to Barry who was closest. "I shouldn't have let him try, I shouldn't have but I was a coward and now he's dead and she…" she trailed off when she met Belén's horrified face. "I'm just sorry."

"Hey, it's okay," Barry rubbed Anais' back, not attempting to hug her since she barely wanted contact with them or anyone in the room. "If we chose to try and protect you it was because we were friends."

"Yeah," Belén came forwards. "It's what we would've done for our friends here."

"But they died in vain!" Anais exclaimed, sniffing loudly. "Because people still went after me! I had to escape so I took my chance with STAR Labs. I watched and I waited for a breach to open and I went right through! I can't go back there. It's against the law to do inter-dimensional travel. They'll kill me if I go back. I have to stay here."

"We're not sending you back," Barry reassured her and helped her stand on her feet. "You can stay here as much as you'd like."

"Do you want a cup of coffee?" Caitlin walked around the desk towards the trio.

"Coffee?" Anais blinked at her. "You still have coffee on this world?"

"Uh, yeah…"

"You don't?" Cisco asked, exchanging confusing glances with Caitlin.

"Humans' coffee supply was wiped out by blight. I don't know what coffee tastes like."

Caitlin offered a sweet smile at Anais. "You're going to love it. And, you can also stay with me if you'd like." She heard the story about Anais and she honestly couldn't see a reason to distrust the woman after hearing her awful story.

"Our place is also up for offer," Belén raised a finger, making Anais glance back at her and Barry.

"You two are…?" Anais pointed between them. "You're…married too?"

Barry cleared his throat and shook his head. "No." Although it was rather interesting hearing of another world where he and Belén were married. It's just too bad this particular Earth also killed them off.

"Oh…" Anais half smiled, "Sorry. I just assumed..."

"No problem," Belén said quickly, "Um, maybe you'd like to get changed?"

Anais nodded. "Yeah, it's been a while since I took my suit off." Caitlin offered to bring Anais to a more private room to change in, followed by the offer of coffee.

"Well, that was interesting," Cisco gave the Belén and Barry a pointed look. "Why is it always you two?"

"Shut up," Belén rolled her eyes at him.

"What exactly are we going to do with her, though? For real?" Cisco asked.

"She's too shaken up for any more questions," Barry said, still thinking about this other world Anais was from. "But she's not a bad person and that's what matters. Let's just give her a couple days to...process things."

"Alright, fine, but you two—" Cisco pointed a warning finger at them, "—get to explain to the others about this alien girl. Please let me be there when you tell Joe and Veronica."

"Whatever," Barry playfully rolled his eyes at him.

"Actually, I think I should see my Mom and forewarn her about questioning," Belén gave a hopeful look up at Barry. "Lift to the precinct wouldn't come by bad."

Barry smiled and gave a little salute to Cisco before speeding away with Belén. "You know if you could go ahead and let Joe know that would be great too…" He whispered as they walked into the elevator.

"Ha, ha, and you get Iris-the-reporter-full-of-questions all to yourself," Belén grinned.

"Now wait a minute—"

Belén stuck a hand out for him to stop talking. "Nope, too late. Oh, and you get Nina and Elliot too."

Barry knew a lost cause when he saw one. The elevator dinged open and allowed them into a rather quiet reception.

"You know, about Julian…" Belén stopped when she realized she had yet to tell Barry what she and Julian talked about earlier that day.

"He nearly shot a child, Bells," Barry revealed, leaving her mouth-open in shock. "The monster culprit? He hadn't realized it yet, but...give it a few more seconds and he would've done it."

"He's not...he's not bad," Belén tried to argue for his defense, but Barry didn't need it. As rude as Julian was, and annoying, he was no killer.

"I'll see you in a bit, okay? I'm gonna grab my things from the lab," he kissed her then hurried up the staircase.

Belén sighed and started for the offices where she could already see her mother and Joe working on no doubt the monster case.

~ 0 ~

Barry nearly jumped in his spot when he found Julian still in the lab, in the dark. Add creepy to the list, Barry made the mental note. He went straight to his desk and picked up a box he left beside it. Placing it on the desk, he started gathering his things to for the move out.

A promise was a promise after all.

Julian didn't even look at him. He was staring directly out the window, but he was disheveled like he'd been working all day. "I nearly killed a kid tonight. The monster we were chasing, it turns out it was just a hologram, operated by a 15-year-old boy. Flash came to save the day. And he saved me from doing something…" he shook his head, still unable to believe it.

Barry gave a small nod. "I heard."

"You know what's sad? That kid, he's just acting 'cause he's scared, you know? He wants everyone to be terrified and to run away from the monster so he can feel powerful. I know what that's like."

"How do you mean?"

"I come from a pretty wealthy family…" Julian rubbed his forehead, shaking his head as the words just came out. "Back in England. It's a long line of generations of old money, tradition... nonsense, really. And I was the heir. I was their firstborn son. I was supposed to inherit the lot. But I was the odd duck. Who would rather go in the garden and collect samples of insects...rather than learn how to tie a Windsor knot or which fork to use first at dinner." At the same time, Julian pulled off the tie around his neck that was already on its way to falling off. "Yeah. No, I wanted more. You know? I came here to do the one thing that they couldn't stop me from doing. Becoming a scientist... becoming a great scientist. And then just as I got to the top of my field, poof-" he snapped his fingers, "-the world changes overnight. Meta-humans. I don't know a single thing about meta-humans. I don't know how they talk. I don't know how they walk. I certainly don't know the first thing about stopping them, so... rendered useless. I suppose that's the monster that I'm running from now, just feeling powerless."

To say Barry was stunned was a rude understatement. This was the first time Julian ever spoke more than a sentence stringed together. It was the first time Julian looked like an actual person. "Yeah, I feel the same way some days, Julian. I lost my mom when I was a kid. Lost my dad recently. It's a scary world. People die. Trusts are betrayed. Things change. But change can be a good thing, you know? It can bring new experiences, new opportunities, people. You can treat 'em like a potential enemy or like a new friend. Just trust that everything's gonna be okay."

Julian gave a meek shrug of his shoulders. "Yeah, maybe you're right." It was then that he noticed Barry's push to get all his things cramped in the box. "You can stop. You can stay," he saw the surprise on Barry's face and sighed. "I was really wrong about the Flash, so I could be wrong about you too." Barry kept his hands hovering over the box, waiting for Julian to snap back and say it was a joke. But instead, Julian just grabbed his jacket and started heading out. "Good night, mate."

"Julian?" Barry suddenly called, not even sure what he was doing. "You want to get a drink?"

This time the shock was evident on Julian, but he decided to just let it flow. "Yeah. Yeah, I'd like that."

~ 0 ~

Belén's eyes flickered from Veronica to Joe in a manner that would make someone dizzy just watching. Veronica rubbed her temples, wearily, while Joe just stared at his screen.

"You mean to tell me this girl isn't your daughter—"

"Adoptive daughter, Mom," Belén clarified but received a harsh gesture to stay quiet.

"She's your friend from another Earth - an Earth where you and Barry died trying to protect her?"

"Uh, yes…" Belén gave a nod of her head.

"No, no matter how many times I think I've seen and heard it all...it never stops," Joe dropped his hands to his desk.

"I...I'm not…" Veronica pushed herself up out of her seat. "Goodnight Detective. Goodnight Belén."

Belén knew better than to argue with that smile. She chuckled to herself and waved goodbye to Joe as well. She started on her way out and saw both Julian and Barry coming down the staircase.

"Hey…" she greeted with caution. "Ready to go?"

"Actually...I…" Barry looked at Julian who shrugged with the same motion. "We were going to get some drinks…"

Belén blinked and quickly looked around. "Am I being punked?"

"You're so funny," Julian said flatly, making her smile.

"This is real?" she asked, her smile widening when the two nodded their heads. "Then go! Go! Don't let me interrupt!" she waved her hands she was leaving.

"You need a ride home—"

"Mom's on her way out," Belén cut Barry off. "Don't even worry about it! You just...you just go!" she beamed.

"Belén? Hold on," Julian quickly hurried up to her just as she pushed the button for the elevator. "You didn't happen to mention our conversation to him...did you?" he whispered.

"Uh, no. I was going to but I never got the chance. Why?" Belén blinked and looked at the confused Barry waiting for them.

"Just...wanted to know," Julian said, confirming this was not just because the other man had dissuaded his doubts.

Belén beamed. "Have fun!"

~ 0 ~

Late at night, Caitlin locked the door to her bedroom and went to open up her laptop with a blinking notification of a video message. She had waited until Anais was asleep in her guest room before opening the message of her mother.

"Caitlin," Carla's face soon appeared on the screen, "I've been going over the data we collected, and I found some disconcerting results. Your body's chemistry is changing in ways that I don't fully understand, but one thing is clear. These powers you have, the more you use them, the more difficult they're going to be to reverse. I'm sorry, honey, but listen to me. You must not use these powers under any circumstances."

Caitlin clicked the message to stop, but her frustration was already seeping through her skin. With silver-white eyes she gripped her laptop and froze it to an icicle before throwing it to the ground.

Just like that, she blinked away the silver and realized what she'd done. She crawled to the edge of her bed to see the crushed computer and...definitely feared for her sanity.

That was fun, Killer Frost echoed in her mind.

#ocappreciation #arrowverseocs #fd: the flash #the flash #barry allen #the flash fics #barry allen fics #the flash imagines #barry allen imagines #barry allen x oc #the flash x oc #arrowverse oc #arrowverse fics #arrowverse imagines #oc: Belén Palayta #oc: Belen Palayta #oc: Anais Mjorkland #fic: make you stay

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saiilorstars · 2 years

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.Anais Allen-Mjorkland - (Winn Schott x OC)

Brighter than the Sun - Colbie Caillat

Dandelions -- Ruth B

Girl on Fire -- Alicia Keys

Gold -- Britt Nicole

Pocketful of Sunshine -- Natasha Bedingfield

Peace -- Taylor Swift

Dandelion -- Gabbie Hanna

Sugar - Sofia Carson

War of Hearts - Ruelle

We’ll be the Stars - Sabrina Carpenter

Taglist: @arrthurpendragon @anotherunreadblog @maaaaarveeeeel @stareyedplanet @antonybridgertons @foxesandmagic

#ocappreciation #ocfairygodmother #arrowverseocs #fd: supergirl #supergirl #winn schott #supergirl fics #winn schott fics #winn schott imagines #supergirl imagines #arrowverse fics #arrowverse imagines #oc: Anais Mjorkland #oc: solar #fic: sweet ambitions

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saiilorstars · 2 years

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Ch.25: Anais

Pairings: Barry Allen x OFC

Current Masterlist | Previous Story ••• Sweet Ambitions’ Masterlist

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!

"Okay, you guys. I'm here. You got my location?" Barry leaned a hand against the Keystone city limit poster and waited for the others to get back to him.

"You're good? You don't need to, like, stretch or something?" Cisco soon replied over the comms.

"No, no, no, I'm good, I'm good," Barry prepared himself for the first testing of his new speed device. He was finally going to able to test-drive it after dozens and dozens of trials in STAR Labs.

"Let's take this tachyon enhancer out for a test drive!"

Barry strapped on the new tachyon device to his chest and did a couple hops in place as the device whirred alive. A blue glow emitted from its corners, and Barry soon felt a rush of energy. "Hoo, yeah. I feel that."

"That is the tachyon device powering up the Speed Force in your cells like a quick charge battery," Caitlin remarked. "How do you feel?"

"Different," Barry admitted, but a good different.

"Please don't disappear into nothing like Eliza," came Belén's precautionary voice a second later. She stood in a Central City street that Barry would stop at the end of his trial run. She was in her civilian form, not wanting to take the Azalea out for this run. She just wanted to be outside and closer to Barry during his 'big moment'. He hadn't stopped talking about it ever since Harry implied they were getting closer to taking the tachyon device out for a test.

Barry laughed for a moment. "Promise I won't do that. This is free energy after all."

"Yeah, created by Thawne let's not forget."

"And double checked by our not evil Harry," Cisco reminded. "But alright! Let's see how long it takes you to get back here. On my count. Three, two, one—"

"GO!" Belén cut in to finish it, laughing when Cisco yelled at her for cutting his moment short. "My boyfriend, my countdown," she said as her only argument.

Barry ran as fast as he normally would but after only a few seconds, he could feel the new speed energy coursing through his body, pushing his legs to go faster. Everything around him because blurry faster than previous times. He almost felt like a breeze.

"Is it working!?" Belén eagerly awaited for either Cisco or Caitlin to answer her with a 'yes'. She anxiously waited to see Barry arrive at the stopping point.

"Oh, it's working! It's got him cruising!" Cisco said in true awe.

"And his vitals are doing perfectly fine," Caitlin added to their triumphs.

"Guys, I can go faster," Barry communicated through. He was just entering Central City but he knew that the energy building up inside him wanted to push for more.

"Do it!" Belén encouraged him, anticipation behind those words.

"Your wish is my command!" he replied and heard her laughter. He fueled up and pushed for more speed.

Belén skidded to the very edge of the sidewalk. She could see the wind picking up from a good distance but just as he was supposed to stop where they planned, a bright blue portal swirled into existence. "Wait a minute!"

Barry didn't even notice the portal — he was going incredibly fast. He zipped right into it.

"Barry!" Belén called as the only trace of him left was the trail of wind that pushed her hair back.

"Belén? What happened?" Caitlin asked, concern filling her voice in seconds once they realized Barry had disappeared out of nowhere.

"He's just...there was a portal..." Belén's eyes had glued to the spot where the portal had been seconds ago. "Like the...like the one you used to get into Earth 2..."

"Where's Barry?" Cisco quickly asked.

"I don't know. He's just...gone..."

~ 0 ~

Barry never noticed he'd crossed worlds. All he knew was that he was in a street, about to stop where Belén was waiting for him, until he heard the shattering of glass and a woman falling down a 20 something story building. He charged on for the building and caught the woman in his arms then tried to stop himself altogether. With his new speed, he might have to go back to basics for a while.

As he sped away from the site, he missed an average height blonde woman hovering in the air just above the building. "Kara!" she scratched her head in utter confusion. "What?"

Barry was able to stop himself in the outskirts of the city and finally let go of the woman who was wide awake...and on fire. "Oh!" he went to help her when he remembered how that had ended with Felicity. He pulled his hands away and instead searched for some water to bring, but then he noticed that the woman, a blonde with glasses, was staring at their new environment. "You don't seem that bothered by the fact that you're on fire."

She looked down at herself and saw her shirt was billowing flames. She gave it a careless pat and turned to him, rather confused with his presence. "I didn't need you to save me." Even her words seemed distracted.

Barry didn't know how to react so instead a small chuckle escaped his lips. "You just fell from a skyscraper. So if I hadn't been there, you would have gone splat."

The woman wasn't quite listening. Her mind was somewhere else, at her job, where she was sure that other people were going crazy trying to find her body. It would definitely give the culprit of her fall the chance to escape. "I have to get back to the city." She literally jumped into the air, leaving behind her clothes.

Barry gawked as the woman flew into the air. Was she like Nina? Either way, he would find out. He sped after her, keeping up with her pace, and soon caught her eyes. She came to an abrupt stop in the air and slowly hovered down so that they were once again face to face.

"How did you do that?" Barry asked her slowly. He needed to be cautious with her until he knew she wasn't a threat. "You're a meta too?"

The blonde still looked lost as ever, though. "I'm Supergirl," she said in a manner that seemed like it should be enough explanation. It would have been if Barry was actually part of her world.

"You're who now?" Barry looked the woman over, still unsure of how she had changed from day clothes to a...costume? Now he was sure that he'd never seen her nor heard about her. He would remember - or at least Cisco would remember - her blue and red-skirt costume with the odd 'S' symbol on her chest.

"How did you save me?" Supergirl inquired.

"Well I... Y... You fell out a window and I... I caught you and... ran you... all the way out here-" Barry realized they were practically in the middle of nowhere, "-which I did not mean to do but I've been working on my speed and...guess I'm faster than I thought."

"Clearly," Supergirl admitted. "But who are you?" Like Barry, she was studying his suit and, just as he had, she concluded that she'd never seen him. But then her eyes widened and narrowed with anger that did make Barry take a precautionary step backwards. "Wait a second, are you the one who's been stalking Anais?"

Red alert. This time it was Barry's turn to say his name and think it was enough explanation. He did not stalk anybody! "I'm the Flash."

Supergirl did not blink. Apparently, his answer wasn't enough to ease her suspicions about him. "The who now?"

"Wait, do you not know who I am?"

"Should I?"

"What about the Azalea?"

Supergirl questioned it with a look and shrugged 'no'.

"Green Arrow?"

No winner.

"Black Canary? Black Orchid? The Tempest?" Barry was getting more and more distraught seeing none of those names were familiar to her. Nobody could fake that type of confusion. "Firestorm? Atom? Datura? Zoom?"

"Sorry," Supergirl sheepishly smiled.

Barry started making the conclusion that he was not in the right place, not in the right world! One moment, he was telling Belén and the others that he'd be running faster and now suddenly he was in a different world!? He'd truly become faster than what he expected. "Oh boy...not as sorry as I am." He removed his mask and released a big, weary sigh. Of course this would be happening to him. Things were going far too good to be true. "Hey, I'm Barry Allen. I'm the fastest man alive. Also I think I am on the wrong Earth...and I'm gonna need your help."

~0~

Getting back to Supergirl's - or Kara Danvers' - job was a breeze, literally, for two fast people. Luckily for Barry, Kara and her friends - who Barry had yet to meet - had a secret, small office in an abandoned floor of the building where she worked. Barry was quick to start searching for any familiar names he knew who could help get him back home. He didn't even want to think what his friends, and Belén, would be thinking at the moment. Had he been gone for a couple minutes? Days? Years? Barry shook those thoughts out of his head.

He was sure Belén would kill him if he was gone for years.

Kara, on the other hand, was oblivious to those thoughts. She had just learned there were other earths and that Barry was from another Earth. It all sounded too impossible. She paced behind Barry's chair, asking zillions of questions. "So what do you mean, you're from another Earth? What, how many other Earths are there other than this one?" Barry tried to answer her but she kept firing more questions. "You know, we're Earth."

The door of the room burst opened and in came a woman with long, slightly wavy, blonde hair and grey-blue eyes. She could have passed as Kara's sister had it not been for her brighter hair and stormy hair. She came to an abrupt stop when she saw Barry at the computers. Her eyes were wide to the point they might bulge out of her head.

"Anais!" Kara turned to her friend.

Anais' wide eyes were glued on Barry. "Kara…?"

Barry turned his chair around to meet the woman's gaze but found he was being scrutinized from head to toe. "Uuh...hi?" Her eyes seemed like they were permanently stuck being that wide. It was actually very concerning.

"Uh, Anais, let me explain," Kara cut in before things went further. She wasn't sure what Anais was thinking other than there was a strange man in their secret base. "Barry's the one who 'saved'-" she put quotation marks in the air, causing both women to momentarily laugh, "-me after Siobhan."

"I did," Barry made a face, but was not acknowledged.

"Also, he's from another world!"

"Universe," Barry corrected.

"Wait, wait," Anais pointed at him, her hair shaking with her as her head bobbed during her thought process. "You're...you're from another universe? Like...like that multiverse theory thing Winn talked about the other day?"

"Yes!" Kara exclaimed.

Anais took a moment to process this. She'd seen the lightning streak coming back into the city, and since Supergirl followed out of her own accord, Anais figured there was no danger. It allowed her to focus on finding the culprit of Kara's accident instead. Unfortunately, it hadn't been a very successful search. But she was seriously not expecting that man to show up, nor the news that other worlds existed.

Wait, a second...did he just say he was…?

"And so, from this other world you're...fast?"

Barry nodded his head. "Yeah."

"Oh!" Kara made the connection. "He's just like you!"

Anais had doubt on her face. She placed a hand on her hip and looked Barry up and down. "I'm probably faster."

Barry's face fell at the statement. He didn't know who this woman was but he knew she was wrong. "Hey! I don't know who you are but—"

"Thank God you don't," Anais said, just a tad wide-eyed. Oh my God she had to be dreaming but... this was too crazy even for her.

"Obviously," Barry mimicked her for a moment and elicited a small smile from her. "I'm from another universe. Literally. And I'm trying to find my friends from this world…" he trailed off and plopped down in front of the computers again to continue his search.

Anais cleared her throat, getting serious. So, this wasn't a dream. This was happening, this was real. "Hm, and let me guess? Not going so well?" she inquired.

He missed Anais' small smile.

"Hey!" a tall, dark-haired man came through the doors along with a taller, dark-skinned man. "Kara, are you alright?"

Kara nodded reassuringly at them. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. What happened to Siobhan?"

"Oh, well, after she went all Mariah Carey on you, she just split," the shorter brunette man replied.

"Yeah I tried looking for her on my own but I couldn't find her," Anais explained, pretty disappointed the woman had evaded them so easily. "Oh, and you-" she flashed a smirk at the dark-brunette man, "-owe me. I was so right about her. She's a banshee."

You really think this is a good time for that!?" the man exclaimed.

"Oh, so we both have Mariah Carey. That's something." Nobody paid attention to Barry's comment but it did make them realize he was there.

"Who are you?" The dark skinned man inquired suspiciously.

"Hey, sorry, I'm Barry Allen," Barry got up from his chair and went to shake hands with him.

"James Olsen. And this is Winn."

"I'm Anais!" the second blonde introduced herself with a strange excitement in her voice. "I just realized I didn't introduce myself to you. Anais A...Anais Mjorkland," she extended her hand to Barry. Barry shook her hand and missed Anais' friends exchanging mutual confused expressions behind them.

"Uh, you guys…" Kara laughed at the impossible thing she was about to repeat. "I'm not quite sure how to tell you this - well, I do know how to tell you, I just -"

James cleared his throat, hoping to get her to move on. "Kara?" Barry grinned because Kara sounded like she usually talked, or rambled, more than necessary. He missed Belén already.

"Yeah, right, sorry," Kara shook herself to get back on track. "Uh, Barry... ...is from another universe."

Winn appeared like he had just heard it was Christmas already. "Cool! So the, the theory of the multiverse, that's true?" Barry gave the confirming nod and flinched when Winn gave a loud "AHA!" at the others. "See!? I told you! Didn't I tell you?"

Anais rolled her eyes at him. "To be fair, half the science things you say sound kind of warped to me."

Winn didn't seem very amused by her comment, much less when James and Kara nodded in agreement. "You guys are bad friends."

Barry couldn't help but think of Cisco right at that moment. "It's true."

"That seems a bit tetchy," Anais crossed her arms but then shot Winn a squinted-eyed glance. "And I just refuse to believe that he gets everything right." Winn returned the favor with his own narrowed-eyed look, though a few seconds later he was smiling smugly.

"I still can't believe it. And I'm from another planet," Kara laughed.

Barry's head whipped in her direction almost instantly. "What?"

"Oh, yeah. She's an alien," Winn pointed at Kara like Barry was unable to see her. "And so is Anais."

"Thank you for that disclosure, Winn," Anais pursed her lips together and was subjected to a crazed look from Barry too.

"So, do you have, like, other aliens on this Earth?" Barry knew that would be tricky to wrap his head around. Metahumans, easy. But aliens? That was something else...considering both Kara and Anais looked completely human.

"What do you mean by 'this Earth'?" James asked.

"Uh... Ah, hold on," Barry looked around and found a white board with one marker below. He uncapped said marker and began to draw normal circles on the board. "All right, so, imagine there are multiple versions of Earth. Um, one where the Nazis won World War II. One where Kennedy was never assassinated…" he gestured to each circle meant to represent each different scenario.

"Ooo!" Winn once more pointed excitedly. "Oh, yeah. One where all of us are evil!"

Barry turned back, completely scowling. "Been there. Girlfriend is evil so...it sucks." That wouldn't even begin to cover what he felt for Earth 2 and its doppelgangers.

"That cannot be fun," Winn scrunched his face.

"You have a girlfriend?" Anais asked with eyebrows raised together like she was suspicious.

Barry wasn't sure what her problem was but he wasn't going to spend time dwelling on it. He continued on with his explanation. "So all of these Earths occupy the same place in space, but they vibrate at a different frequency so they can't see one another."

"So, theoretically speaking, or not so much in your case," Anais gestured to him, "If someone were to go...impossibly fast...it's possible to open, like, a breach, and then travel between worlds?"

"Yes."

"Interesting…" Anais pondered on the concept on her own. She'd have to try that in her training sessions. Though she was sure if she traveled through worlds without permission, her parents would kill her. "I'm a speedster too but none of my people - as far as I know since I didn't grow up on my home planet - have ever done that."

"There's alien speedsters too...cool," Barry felt like his head would be spinning soon if they kept dropping more alien facts about themselves.

"What about you, though? You're human," Anais leaned forwards with curiosity, "How did you get your powers? You weren't born with them, right?"

"Um, so, I was struck by lightning the same night a particle accelerator exploded. And I became a superhero," Barry explained and suddenly Anais laughed. Had he said something funny?

She stopped laughing when she noticed his serious face. "Oh, you were serious?"

"Kind of, yeah..."

"Sorry, aren't humans supposed to die if they get struck by lightning?" Anais looked to the others for some help.

"Livewire didn't do that," Winn reminded.

"Yeah, but that was different. Kara acted as an intermediate for that." James' explanation didn't help her either.

"Let's just call it a miracle," Barry shrugged.

"Still weird…" Anais tilted her head. "And so, you can just...pop back and forth between universes?"

"Uh, no actually. This happened by accident," Barry released a breath, still confused on how the hell he managed to do that. "I have traveled through time before by accident. I've never jumped parallel dimensions without meaning to. So until I can figure this out, I'm stuck here."

"Well, don't worry. Don't worry at all because we're gonna help you," Kara backtracked to her friends, everyone board save a weary James.

"First things first, food. I have to consume about 10,000 calories a day…" Barry began but Anais finished for him.

"Because you burn through your calories incredibly fast, right?"

"Yes…"

"Mhm," Anais smiled her first genuine smile. Now like that, she seemed like a friendly person. "Believe me, Kara and I know places. Well, I know them because Kara knows them. I just moved here."

Kara hummed as ideas started invading her mind. "Mr. Sherbets?"

Anais quickly agreed. "Mr. Sherbets."

Barry looked between them, frankly their 'idea faces' scared him a bit. "What's a Mr-"

"Do you like donuts?" Kara asked.

"Who doesn't like donuts?"

"That settles it!" Anais beamed. "James, I'm taking a personal day!"

"Wait, what-" James didn't get to finish because the woman had already led Barry and Kara out.

~0~

Kara was heading for her desk to pick up her purse when she crossed her boss' office and the blonde woman saw her.

"Ker-rah, you're alive," Cat Grant called from her desk, merely raising her stark blue eyes from her laptop for a second.

Kara had forgotten that everyone in the office had seen her crash through glass because of Siobhan. She hurried into Cat's office to explain. "Ms. Grant, don't worry, I was rescued…"

Anais, Barry, Winn and James followed Kara in just to back her up in case Cat asked too many questions.

"Stop stating the obvious. You're in the middle of breaking news and I want you to act like it," Cat spoke with a sharpness usual to her. "And yes, yes, another one of my ex-employees went all revengey. But... there's a new superhero in National City." She turned over her laptop to reveal a perfectly clear picture of a red blur going down a street. "Miss Allen, you are proving to be quite gifted." Cat was truly dazzled with the work Anais had given her so far.

Kara shot Anais a look but Anais innocently smiled back. There was no way in hell she was going to be fired anytime soon with these pictures.

Barry was staring at Anais in confusion. "Wait, your name…"

"This is huge. I thought it would be Golden Girl but the color scheme is off. So it has to be direct competition for Golden Girl and Supergirl" she waved a hand in the air, practically seeing the headlines now."

"He doesn't have to be because he's probably not," Anais chimed in. "He's not as fast...trust me."

"Um," Barry tilted his head in her way, offended. "I would think he is."

Anais remained with that innocent, yet tighter, smile. "I would think he's not. But I'm sure she's open to having a sidekick?"

Kara kept looking between the two since she was in the middle of them. Her mouth opened several times to make an interjection and hopefully stop them from actually arguing, however Barry reached his limit before she could so.

"Why a sidekick!? Why not an ally? Even a new partner, maybe!?" Barry erupted into a streak of alternatives so that they could both come out looking good in the eyes of this city. Cat loudly cleared her throat, making him stop. Her gaze was far too intense for him. "Speaking was the wrong choice, I see that now…"

Cat's eyebrow raised but it was still hard for him to decide what she was. Angry? Upset?

"All five of you standing there doing nothing, you look like the attractive yet non-threatening, racially diverse cast of a CW show." Cat then directed her gaze specifically on Barry. "Who are you?"

"Uh, he's my cousin," Anais quickly supplied and had the support of her friends. "Barry Allen. He's just visiting…"

Barry got the jist that the woman was waiting for the pair to do something she wanted. They naturally looked nervous. He would be too if that's who he worked with. Suddenly, Captain Singh was a dream!

Anais cleared her throat. "Consider...almost...done…?"

"And Ker-rah, there are a lot of people who wanna know what happened. Speak to no one. You're mine. I will let you know when you should reveal this exclusive information," Cat turned her laptop to continue working. "Now, I have to name this hero. I was thinking about 'The Whoosh' or 'The Red Streak' or 'The Blur.'"

How Barry missed Cisco at the moment. Cat didn't possess his ability to give good names. "What about The Flash?" he decided to help her. "I'm just saying, I think that's a pretty cool superhero name. Right?"

Cat looked to the side and tested the name out. "The Flash? Sounds like someone whose only superpower is jumping out of an alley in a trench coat." Anais and Kara covered their mouths to hide their laugh while Barry resisted the urge to snap back. "No, I want mystery, I want intrigue, I want the Blur. Boys, be gone. Girl-" she pointed a perfectly manicured finger at Kara, "-stay."

"I'm getting donuts," Anais warned Kara as they left her in the office. "And cookies, and brownies - oh, and cupcakes!"

"Anais, what about that picture Cat wants?" James stopped her on her way to her desk just outside his office. "And you still have that crime scene I told you to check out."

"Um, well," Anais turned around fast that Barry bumped into her, "If Barry's willing then I can snap that easy-peasy no problem."

"Ah, I, uh...I guess?" Barry couldn't find a problem with that. He hoped to be out of the city (and the world) before people actually got to recognizing him.

"There we go!" Anais clapped and glanced at James again. "I'll have it in tonight. I should get the hospital thing done in five minutes tops too."

"You just started working here, you can't take personal time," Winn had to point out but then he got to thinking himself and entered a state of doubt. "...can we?"

"Not unless you want Cat to go after you," James' warning was enough to make Winn backtrack for his desk. "Anais," his more stern look made the blonde in question shift. There was something else she wasn't telling him, but he doubted she would spill in the middle of the office.

"Please James, can I just go already?" she asked quieter. "I'll get the pictures, trust me."

In the end, James gave a small nod. He warned her to be careful, and that made Barry wonder if he should take offence or not.

~0~

Anais kept her word to take Barry to 'Mr. Sherbet's' that afternoon. As soon as she snapped the pictures James wanted from the crime scene, she led Barry into the cafe shop. Though she was still new to the city, the cafe shop had become her daily stop for snacks. The employees were already getting to know her.

She just got an unforeseen call on the way that she couldn't let pass. "Yeah, Mom, no it wasn't me. You read right. But I'll tell you more about it later. Talk to you later," Anais sheepishly hung up and put her phone away. "Sorry, my parents saw the picture Cat already published and they thought it was me."

"She already got that posted?" Barry got to wondering who was the real speedster, them or Cat Grant?

"Oh yeah," Anais took a seat at the counter and waved a hand to get the attention of an employee. "She's fast like that when it comes to superhero claimage."

"So she's done it to you, then?"

"Eh…" Anais swayed her head, "I haven't really let her. It's not quite up to me yet to reveal myself to the city. It's up to the government and I guess my parents…"

"O-okay," Barry wasn't sure how to respond to that, even if he did understand exactly what it meant. He chalked it off as alien related, which then prompted him to ask, "So, wait, when you said your parents, you meant…"

Anais caught on to what he meant and chuckled. "Adoptive parents. They adopted me when I was really young."

Unknowingly, she got Barry to sympathize with her in that one second. "What happened?" he found himself asking before he could think it through. He regretted it when she answered.

"She, um, was murdered...by some humans…"

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…"

Anais' warm smile only made him feel somewhat less guilty. He knew exactly what it felt like when people asked him what happened to his parents and now here he was doing the same thing to this girl.

"It's fine, Barry, really," she promised him. Since no employees had come by despite her initial gesture, she called to one of the men instead. "Miles? Can I get a dozen cupcakes? I honestly don't care what flavor they are. Oh, and donuts. Kara's basically gonna kill me if I don't come back with new donuts."

"You ate them already?" Miles blinked. "But she bought those last night. Between you and Kara you'll run us out of our stock!"

"Can you just..." Anais felt her face warm up with embarrassment. The fact he had said that not so quietly made it worse for her. It didn't help when Miles said something more.

"I gotta give you bravery points for being so open about your big appetite on a date," his glance at Barry sent the two speedsters into stammering states.

"We are not on a date!" Anais practically shouted. "No thank you!"

"Yeah, I have a girlfriend!" Barry added on, loud and clear. It was fairly comical for Miles to watch them both nod their heads at the same time.

"Honestly, Miles, I'm calling the manager!"

Miles laughed but did ultimately apologize for his assumption and promised them some sweet cinnamon rolls on the house.

Anais shook her head. "Sorry about that," she said after Miles left. "Does your world also have the, uh, 'women and men can't be just friends' thing too?"

"Yeah, unfortunately," Barry nodded. "Hey, about your name...you're not like related to me, right? Not a secret wife or anything? No offence, I mean, you're pretty and, yeah, but, I-I just…" he was stuttering and rambling now. Belén would have smacked him by now. God he really missed her. "I have a girlfriend."

"I'm not," Anais reassured. "Total coincidence. And yeah, I get that you have a girlfriend. By now I'm sure the entire shop knows that."

"Sorry," Barry flushed and cleared his throat. "I just...wanted to make that clear...for everyone."

"Mission accomplished," Anais rested her elbows on the counter then put her chin over her palms. "It's not easy being in a world different to your own, huh?"

Barry knew where she was coming from and sheepishly nodded his head. "Yeah. I-I still don't understand how it happened. I mean, I was just running and then-then…" he stopped talking when he noticed Anais' sudden movement out of her chair. Her head snapped to the entrance doors. "Are you alright?"

"He's doing it again," she whispered.

"He...?" Barry noticed her gaze was on the doors so he naturally shifted in his stool to see what was claiming her eyes. As far as he could tell, there was nothing significant going on. "Who's doing-"

Anais ran off, leaving him to call and chase after her. Barry didn't understand what had made her change like that but he wasn't a strange to it. He chased after her until she stopped at the end of the street.

"Anais, what are you looking at?" Barry could see the urgency in her eyes as she scanned the streets. He knew that all too well. "Who's out there?"

"I-I'm sorry, you should go back into the cafe shop," she said distractedly, taking a step forwards.

"Why? What's happening?"

Anais seemed to find what she was looking for, only this time the figure had started to run. Before she took a step forwards, the man sped past her and Barry, causing a familiar force of wind to push them back. Barry barely had time to process there was another speedster with them when Anais took off after this new speedster with her own speed.

"Maybe I haven't left Central City," Barry rubbed the back of his neck as he stared after the two speedsters. Was it really going to be that in every earth there'll always be two speedsters going at it? Whatever the answer was, he'd have to follow them. He had to help Anais however he could.

Anais was determined to catch this man who, for some reason, thought she was his personal plaything. She could feel his presence in her mind in the form of a tickle. The whispers were faint despite her close to him. She was just behind him and yet nothing about his back seemed special. He was just another civilian by appearance.

Barry watched the culprit go up a building and then Anais following a second later, but the blonde didn't seem to have a good hold of her balance. She screamed as she fell plummeted down. Barry charged on faster to catch her on his way up and safely brought her to the rooftop.

"Are you alright?" he set her down on her feet but despite their impromptu chase, her gaze was still searching for that mysterious man.

"Yeah, I'm - OW!" she felt an immense pain jab at her head. She fell to her knees, hands clutching her head with her eyes shut.

Barry wasn't sure what was going on but he assumed it was that man making her feel that pain. He looked up and saw the man in the air, but the sun's rays were shadowing his appearance.

"He's in-in m-my head!" Anais cried, shaking her head as if it would shake off the pain.

Barry glared at the man and decided to use his own Earth 1 tricks. He raced in a circle, charging up until he could produce enough electricity for lightning. Anais' eyes widened as Barry kept going in circles. The pain in her head had gradually subsided but she knew it was just because the man up in the air was probably coming up with something worse to hit her with.

Barry finally stopped when he had enough power and threw a lightning bolt at the man. He was mighty satisfied when it knocked the man backwards, electrifying him while he spun in the air.

"Oh my God..." Anais' voice made him turn around to see her slowly standing up. Her blonde hair was all over her face but she'd perfectly seen what he'd done. "How...how did you do that!?"

"Uuh..." Barry flushed at her awed face. "I...somebody taught me. Has no one taught you that?"

Anais shook her head fast. "No! I've only just started actually training! But nobody..." A laugh momentarily took her over as she hurried up to him with her gaze in the sky where the man used to be, "Nobody's taught me how to do that!"

"Well, if you'd like," Barry started, intending on offering himself as a brief teacher when suddenly she shot into the air. "Aaaand she can fly...cool..." She's an alien, flying is probably part of the package deal or something, he thought to himself.

Anais didn't waste a second and delivered a second attack at the man. Golden energy swirled around her hands and put together created a mass streak of energy that shot forwards. The man was hit again but when Anais fired heat vision from her eyes, the man did the same.

It was a struggle since it seemed like the two were matched in the heat vision department. Suddenly, the man ducked down, leaving Anais to fall forwards in the air. In that second-span, the man fired a jet of orange energy that threw Anais down to the rooftop. Even if Barry wanted to catch her, the fall had been too fast to process. Anais fell with a harsh thud. The ground cracked with her force.

The man watched her for a second from the air then flew away.

"Anais!" Barry quickly went to Anais' side and hoped she came with a fast healing ability too because that kind of fall would require immense medical attention. Anais landed on her side and despite the bits of cement stuck on her clothes and face, she seemed fine, if not a little groggy.

"I really hate that guy," she swallowed hard then made a face as she tasted cement on her tongue.

"Who was he?" Barry helped her stand up.

"...I have no frikin idea," she glared at the sky, the man no longer being in sight.

~ 0 ~

The D.E.O. turned out to be even better than STAR Labs. The moment Barry got there he sped all around the rooms he could just to check them out then finally stopped in the main control room to bask in it. "Yo, this place is amazing, all right?" he laughed, still too excited to calm down. Anais, Kara (as Supergirl) and Winn laughed at him.

"Wow, so...you're a dork too," Anais concluded with a shake of her head.

Barry stopped laughing momentarily to point and say, "You know, I get the feeling you and Belén would get along really well."

Anais smirked.

"Okay," Kara raised her hands to get their attention. "So here's the situation. There's a villain I foguht a while ago named Livewire. She escaped from our custody with the help of Siobhan-"

"-the banshee that threw Kara out CatCo.," Anais said for Barry's benefit. She then shot Winn an apologetic glance. He was taking Siobhan's new evil route a little hard.

"Yes," Kara continued on, "And now they're probably both about to have a vendetta against me and Cat. We're going to need a lot of help."

"Which is why I brought Barry over of course," Anais gestured to the speedster.

"And, actually, you said this place could help get me home," Barry pointed out and received a big, innocent smile in return.

"Yes, and while we put these two crazies back I can have my godparents look into it, yeah? They're scientists and they really know their stuff about molecular force and all that crap involving speed."

"Supergirl?" A petite, dark-haired woman in black, emerged from the side and was flanked by several employees. "Anais? Who is this masked man? Alien?"

"Metahuman," Barry waved a hand, a bit nervous of all the 'guards' probably just waiting orders to take aim on him.

"Well, we have protocol for visitors at the DEO, Supergirl," the woman said, still waiting for an explanation.

"Lucy, it's fine," Anais turned around, making a gesture for the guards to leave them. "He's here to help us find that Livewire woman."

Lucy turned her gaze into an even more authoritative one. "You were supposed to be in two hours ago for your training."

Anais opened her mouth as if to give a proper explanation for her tardiness, but at the end she closed it and smiled. "I was busy."

"I'll remember that next time you press to go out there," Lucy retorted with the same smile. She then looked over her to Barry. "I'm allowing it because we do need all the help we can get. So what do I call you? Speedy?"

Barry pulled his hood off and waved once more. "Barry Allen."

"Lucy Lane. I hope you're bringing more to the table than just quick reflexes."

"As it just so happens, catching criminals is both my night and day job," Barry smiled to himself but quickly added, for reference, "I'm a CSI," for everyone's benefit. "By the way, do you guys have a crime lab here?"

"Yeah. My sister's lab's right over there," Kara nodded and started leading the way.

"Wait, you have a sister?" Barry's voice did a high pitch much like a child would. "Where is she at?"

"I wish I knew," Kara admitted with a small sigh.

~ 0 ~

After getting introduced to the D.E.O's system, Barry got to work on helping Kara find her missing enemy. It turned out Winn was definitely Cisco's counterpart in this new world because the man was smart. God help him if the two men ever met each other.

"Guys," Anais's voice drew Barry, Kara and Winn in. She had just walked in with Lucy and James, the former looking very expectant.

Barry knew that look all too well and decided to present what they had so far. "So I wrote an algorithm to monitor variations in meter usage around the city, and it all leads to that warehouse," he pointed to the blinking dot on the screen behind him. "I see bad guys love their abandoned warehouses on your Earth, too, huh?"

"Isn't that kind of like, universal, for villains?" asked Anais with a faint trace of amusement. Barry nodded, smiling to himself.

"I'll authorize a drop team," Lucy turned to leave but Kara stopped her.

"No. No, no! She's too dangerous!" she stopped and motioned to Barry. "Let's go."

"What? Just like that?" frowned Anais. "You're not meant-"

"Barry!" Kara's voice went over Anais and anyone else who would speak up.

The speedster quickly got up from his chair and got ready to listen. "So, what's the plan?"

Kara had a plan alright. "Catch the bad girl, bring her back here so she can't hurt anyone. 85% chance of punching."

"Okay, that I get," Barry nodded. "But like, what's the plan? Maybe we can overload her somehow."

"Yeah," Winn remembered the last time they fought Livewire, "What about the Industrial Capacitor you were gonna trap her in last time?"

Kara quickly shot the idea down. "No, no. It went busto."

"Well, Dynamic Duo will build you a new one," Anais shrugged and clapped Winn on the shoulder, the man agreeing fairly fast.

Kara still disagreed. "No. If we wait, we lose her. If we lose her, God knows what kind of damage she could do, or who she could hurt! I defeated her once before. I can do it again. With your help…" she turned to Barry with hopeful looks.

"Kara…" Anais stepped forwards but the blonde Kryptonian suddenly pointed a warning finger at her to stay put.

"You're staying here!"

"But-"

"Barry, let's go!" Kara marched right out, leaving Anais with the words in her mouth. Barry awkwardly, and confusedly, followed after Kara.

"Lucy…" Anais turned to the woman in question pleadingly. "I can-"

But Lucy stopped her with a hand in front of Anais's face. "No, you're still in training." And with that, Lucy left her as well.

From the main control room, they monitored Kara's location and, therefore, Barry's. As it turned out, Livewire had chosen an old warehouse just across the city. And because it was abandoned, there were no security cameras to hack into to better monitor.

"What about the streets?" Anais planted herself on the chair next to Winn. "Can we see better from the streets?"

"Um…" Winn began to try and hack into the nearby camera streets but by that time, Livewire had already introduced her newest partner: Silver Banshee.

"Winn!" Anais went like it was his fault. "That's your psycho girlfriend!"

"It's not like I told her to become...weird...like that…" Winn couldn't even acknowledge the fact his girlfriend, or rather ex-girlfriend now, Siobhan, had turned evil.

"Banshees are evil in mythology," Anais reminded.

"Whatever she is, she needs to be taken in," Lucy's voice drew the two back to business.

It took about one second for the fight to actually begin, and unfortunately it was not going good for their side. Because Kara was unprepared, there was no strategy to use and Barry was out of his element. He had yet to meet a meta with a killer cry - Hartley's was technologically produced and could be taken easily - and plus, he didn't know this 'Livewire' would act as a conduit for his own power. He could really use his own team right about now. If he had Belén, he would know their dynamic and between each other would come up with an actual plan!

"They're getting creamed out there," Winn mumbled and looked to the side to see Anais staring with wide eyes. Her face was panicked, unusually so, and so suddenly she was gone. "What? Where-"

In the abandoned warehouse, Barry had just been thrown over a wooden box that crumbled with him. That one hurt. Silver Banshee's scream smacked Supergirl against the opposite wall. As the two were getting back, hopefully, on their feet, Livewire began a crazed hum between her lips. Lightning crackled around her hands as she made a round in the middle.

"Which one should I get first…?" she pretended to think about even though she was already turning in Supergirl's direction. But above came a crash and suddenly Livewire was slammed straight first against the ground.

Silver Banshee went to use her sonic scream but Anais drew an arm and released a bright blast of orange beam directly at her. Supergirl had finally gotten back on her feet and was awed yet worried for her friend who seemed a bit...out of it. Anais had an odd determination on her face that seemed to want to protect. Funny, she had only worked with Anais for a short while now and had never seen that face.

Livewire rolled on her back and attacked by surprise with a thunder blow that threw Anais away. There was a loud crash as the blonde hit the wall and fell over an already crumbling shelf.

"No!" Supergirl flew over to make sure Anais was fine and gave the perfect escape for Livewire and Silver Banshee.

~ 0 ~

Barry never thought he would meet someone who could outmatch Joe and Veronica in the 'parenty scolding lecture' department until he saw Lucy Lane going at it with Anais. After returning to the D.E.O with Anais, the blonde woman was taken to the medbay and subjected to various tests and observations. It reminded Barry of his early days at STAR Labs where basically everything he did was recorded and observed.

"Hey," Kara met with Barry just outside the medbay. "How are you doing?"

"Well, aside from my eardrums ringing like church bells, I'm okay," Barry gave a light shrug of his shoulders. The injuries he'd gotten from hitting the walls and the furniture had already vanished by the time they returned.

Kara apologetically smiled at him. "I'm sorry I made you rush in on Livewire without a plan. I didn't know she was gonna have a cohort."

"That's the thing about being a superhero. You have to somehow be prepared for the unexpected," Barry said, and couldn't count the many times he had definitely not been prepared for something out in the field.

"Something happened to me a few weeks ago. I was exposed to this substance that made me crazy. I did a lot of horrible things. And when I was helping people as Supergirl, I was... I was so happy. And now that the people don't want me to help them, I feel lost. And I'm in such a hurry to prove myself again, I'm making stupid mistakes. Like today."

"This is gonna sound ironic coming from me but, um, you need to slow down. Just keep doing your good work," Barry advised with a true heart honesty." Don't worry about the rest. The public will forgive you, I promise."

"How can you be so sure?"

"'Cause the same thing happened to me."

Kara blinked. "Really? So what finally fixed things?"

"Time. When you're used to fixing things with brute strength, or in my case, amazing speed, it's hard to accept that there are things out of our control."

Kara took a breath and nodded, hoping the words would stick by her for the next time she felt bad. With the silence between her and Barry, the increasing voices from the medbay started to carry over.

"We must inform them, Miss Lane," one of the examiners was saying while Anais, seemingly more panicked than ever, shouted 'no!'.

Lucy nodded her head, calm despite the mood over them. "Yes, I understand."

"No!" Anais jumped off the bed when the examiners began to leave with Lucy. "You can't do that!"

"I'm sorry Anais, it's out of my hands-" Lucy stumbled back when Anais sped around the room to snatch every clipboard holding her information. "Anais."

"You can't tell them," Anais insisted. "Th-they won't let me work with Supergirl if they know I went out before-"

"You were ready?" Lucy finished for her. "Well, you should have thought of that before you went out. I'm sorry." She gave the nod for the examiners to take back the clipboards and finally leave.

Anais rubbed her face when they'd taken the clipboards from her then stomped back to the bed.

"Anais, what's wrong?" Kara walked in with Barry behind her. "The yelling…?"

"She clearly got told she shouldn't have gone out," Barry said. "I know that. Went through it...still do…"

Anais gave him a small, sideways smile. "Yeah...you would…" Barry, in return, gave a questioning look at the way she had said...like she KNEW knew him.

Kara, on the other hand, didn't notice. All she knew was that her friend was in distress. "Anais, you shouldn't have gone out like that…"

"I know!" Anais threw her arms in the air. "And now that I have, my parents are going to be informed about it and...knowing my Dad, he's going to overreact and bring me back home."

"What's the problem if you went out?" asked Barry.

"I'm not technically supposed to go out until I finish training," Anais explained. "It's part of my contract with this place...with the government…"

"Why'd you go then if you knew you could get into this big of a trouble?"

"Because you were in trouble," Anais said, shrugging her shoulders. "You...guys...were hurt, and I had to help."

"This is my fault," Kara sighed and shook her head.

"It's not, I made the decision," Anais promised her and glanced at Barry. "And if I had to do it again I would. No doubt."

"You're such a good friend," Kara reached out and hugged her.

"Yeah I am," Anais smiled in agreement. She smiled specifically at Barry for a second before Winn came in.

"Are you alright?" he'd been barred from talking to her due to the fact she was rushed directly into the medbay. "I looked away for like a second and-"

"-I'm sorry," Anais plopped down on the side of the medbed. "I just can't get anything right today."

Both Kara and Winn exchanged confused glances. Of course they still didn't know what Anais went through earlier. Barry cleared his throat behind them, gaining their attention, though he was looking straight at Anais. "You should just tell them." He understood what she was trying to do - keep secrets about the dangerous things that'd happened to her - and he told her before that he'd done the same and it blew up in his face. It was funny, actually, how much Anais reminded Barry of himself when he first started out as the Flash. He felt kind of odd being the teacher now.

"Tell us what?" chorused Kara and Winn.

Anais felt her eyes tear up now that she was thinking about both failed attempts to be a hero. "He came back, Kara." Her voice had gone shaky, but it wasn't clear if it was out of fear or weariness. "He made me chase him around the city and then-then he hit me with his powers, and I-I was weak!"

Kara looked back at Barry for some confirmation. Barry gave a silent nod. She hurried to Anais side and set her hands on the woman's shoulders. "Anais, why didn't you say something?"

"I'm confused," Winn raised his index finger in the air. "Say something about what? Who did you chase?"

Anais rubbed some loose tears from her face and sniffed. "Remember that guy I ran after the other day?" he nodded. "He came back today. He's a speedster too and he can fly, he's telepathic, and he has this sort of power like mine…"

"And you went after him on your own!?" Winn exclaimed.

"I wasn't alone," Anais smiled a teary-eyed smile at Barry.

"And you don't have to be alone ever again," Kara reminded her. "Just because you moved here to be independent doesn't mean you have to take things up on your own."

"It's just difficult processing," Anais sniffed again, hoping to calm herself down. "I haven't even exposed myself to the city and I already have an enemy? That's got to be a record."

"Well, you know what, we'll double up on our training," Kara decided then. "If this guy wants to fight then he'll get a fight."

"Yeah, and you know what?" Winn came to Anais' other side on the bed. "Your suits done," he whispered and proceeded to smile widely. "In case you wanted to take it out for a spin, or…"

Anais laughed as did Kara.

In that moment, watching the trio of friends converse over their course of plan, Barry really missed Belén and the others. Being a world apart literally hurt his insides. I wonder what Belén is doing right now, he wondered. She'd been waiting to congratulate him at the end of his race and he'd strung himself into another world. His heart ached for his Bells.

~0~

Kara and Anais crowded over Barry as he worked on small devices on a table. He had Winn helping him create the devices but only now was explaining what he was doing. "So back on my Earth, we fought a villain who used sound waves as a weapon. He called himself Pied Piper…" Barry explained while he worked the last turn of a screwdriver.

"That's a weird name but a catchy one," Anais swayed her head in thought.

"Yeah," Barry agreed. "So I whipped up these bad boys."

Anais ignored the earbuds for a moment. "I'm sorry, did you just say 'bad boys'?"

"Yeah, sorry…" Barry pretended to wince.

Kara had picked up one earbud to examine it. "Are they earbuds?"

"Yeah. It'll protect us from Silver Banshee's yelly voice."

"Why are there three sets?" Anais asked once she noticed.

Barry smiled at her. "Why do you think...Golden Girl?"

Anais laughed. "That's definitely not what I'm calling myself."

"Cat Grant would say otherwise," Winn sent her a smirk.

Lucy and some other employees came striding into the area. "James just called. Livewire and Silver Banshee kidnapped Cat!"

One of the employees followed up at the nearby desk to put on a video left by Livewire. "Hello, Red and Blue. Come to National City Park now if you don't want Cat's blood all over your hands or all over the street."

Anais winced at Livewire's maniacal laughter. "Seriously, what's wrong with her? Who's more insane - Livewire or Silver Banshee?"

Winn, who stood beside her, shook his head. "I would rather we never found out."

Kara sighed. "You don't have to do this, Barry. This is my fight."

Barry shook his head to disagree while he got up from his chair. "One for all and all for…" he stopped for a second, "You guys have Three Musketeers here, right?"

Kara smiled. "All for one. C'mon!"

"Be careful!" Anais was left to call as the two headed out. She glumly leaned against the table with her arms folded. "I cannot believe I'm benched...again."

"It could be worse," Winn said, offering her a kind smile but Anais was just too upset. "Hey, I'm sorry. Really. How mad are your parents going to be when they get here?"

"I don't know, honestly," Anais sighed.

"Anais," Lucy called and had the blonde lean off the table, "Your parents are on their way."

"Guess that's it then..." Anais sighed again but before she could truly feel sorry for herself, a new idea popped into her head. It wasn't so much of an idea but more of a...realization. "Wait...if they're really mad then they can't actually get more mad than what they already are, so..."

Lucy and Winn exchanged looks, both assuming what Anais was leading up to.

Anais clapped her hands with a newfound gleefulness. "I can't possibly get into more trouble! I'm going out there!"

"What!?" Winn's eyes widened. "But you were just saying that-"

"Lucy!" Anais sped up to the brunette, startling her with the gust of wind that slapped her face. "How's about you-"

Lucy was quick to cover up Anais' mouth. "Whatever you're thinking of, don't tell me. I'm not here, I'm not listening..." She pulled her hand off Anais' mouth and walked around her. "I don't know, I don't hear...la...la..la, la…" she flashed a smile at the blonde as she walked out.

A big smile spread across Anais's face. "Love the temporary boss." She sped up to Winn, ignoring his cry for her to stop doing that and grabbed him by the shoulders. "You were making the suit!"

"Yes...but listen, shouldn't we-"

"Show me the suit," Anais' face fell serious, leaving no room for Winn to even try to persuade her to stay.

~0~

Supergirl and Flash had their hands full with Livewire and Siobhan. Cat Grant had been saved in time but that didn't mean the rest of the city were too. Livewire and Siobhan didn't exactly care what their destruction hit or caused. And just because Silver Banshee's cries couldn't affect Supergirl and the Flash didn't mean everyone had the same immunity.

Supergirl had been thrown by Silver Banshee's scream and the latter didn't wait for a recovery. She was getting frustrated by the crowd around them and since Livewire was still throwing with the Flash up on a rooftop, she decided to get rid of them herself.

"Enjoy my singing," she smirked and sucked in a breath to deliver her fatal cry.

A golden figure streaked over the crowd and threw forwards a golden ray of light that blinded Silver Banshee. "I'd stop if I were you," Anais, in an orange and gold suit with a golden half-mask over her face, stopped across from Silver Banshee. "My light can be terribly awful."

"Who are you?" Silver Banshee picked herself up and threw Anais a dirty look.

"Someone nicknamed me Golden Girl but I have to disagree. Call me Solar," Anais detected an incoming sonic scream and acted before it came. Her hands glowed golden seconds before she fired a series of energy jets that made Silver Banshee skip around until one shot knocked her over the same bench Cat had been tied to.

At the same time, Livewire zapped into the area and a second later the Flash arrived as well. Livewire sent a growl at the helicopter in the air and decided she despised it. She raised her hands and emitted electricity at the helicopter but before it reached the helicopter...Supergirl got in the way.

"No!" Anais cried and zoomed towards Supergirl but the Kryptonian had fallen to the ground first.

Livewire laughed and started heading for the fallen alien.

"Leave her alone!" One woman from the crowd stepped forwards. Little by little, the crowd assembled in front of Supergirl to prevent Livewire From reaching her.

Livewire could not believe her ears. "Yesterday you people were ready to string her up. Now you're willing to die for her?"

"She was willing to die for us," the same woman answered and had the agreement from everyone else.

Livewire turned to Silver Banshee who had just gotten back on her feet. "What do you say we thin the herd?" her hands crackled with re-charged electricity.

"Or…" Anais rolled her eyes and shot a yellow blast of energy at a fire hydrant near the two women. Water burst and gravely shocked Livewire and Silver Banshee till the two fell unconscious.

"Nice one," Barry stopped beside her. "...Solar."

Anais smiled to herself with glee. She turned around and was even happier to see the citizens helping Supergirl get back on her feet. The city was once again with Supergirl, just like it should be.

~0~

Barry moved around the cracked cement of the DEO's training field. It was fairly similar to the STAR Labs field so he knew it was the perfect spot for Anais to try out the lightning bolt. Since there was still no word about his way back home, Barry figured it was the perfect opportunity to try teach Anais the things he learned about their speedster abilities. If it wasn't now then when would it be?

"Alright Miss Solar," he turned around to see Anais smiling proudly at her new name. It reminded him too much of when he and Belén used to train in their earlier days. Anais had the same young spark that Belén had when she was first exploring her powers. "You've seen me do the lightning trick so it's not entirely new."

"Except it kind of is," Anais folded her arms over her chest. "Because I've never done anything like that. Hell, the only thing I've done is just run and that's only because it's part of my DEO tests. I'm basically at zero, Barry. I couldn't even run up a building."

Barry of course remembered the fact he had to catch her before she plummeted down. "Okay," he took in a breath while he re-assessed this training session. It was unfortunate that he only had a couple of hours to teach her what took a long time. But if he could just introduce her to the concepts then he could leave knowing that she had the idea of how to keep training on her own. "Why don't we start with the building thing, then? The key to staying on balance is to keep your speed at a certain level. I'm sure that Winn or somebody else at the DEO can calculate that for you because every speedster has different speed levels."

"Okay," Anais dutifully nodded her head, preparing to take mental notes of everything that Barry would tell her. "Something else basic? Just to keep my confidence up?"

Barry smiled with amusement. "How about the windmill trick?"

"The what?"

Barry nodded and turned sideways away from her. "This one's super easy, I promise." He extended his arms to his sides and started propelling them in fast circles until he create the familiar wind. As basic as it was, it still left Anais awed.

"Let me try!" She took a few steps away from him and imitated his arm movements. Sure enough, she started creating the same air force. "Oh, that was easy! And it's handy!"

"It is," Barry pointed at her. "Never think because it's a basic movement that it won't be helpful. I can't tell you how many times I've used it to stop people from falling."

"What else?" Anais put on her best listening ears for her temporary teacher. Like Barry, she was aware that there weren't really any other speedsters like them so whatever he would teach her now was it.

Barry started with being able to handle doing several tasks at light speed while giving each task the sufficient attention. At first glance, Anais seemed a bit distracted so Barry presumed she might have a struggle with that but it wasn't something impossible. He was a bit all over the place too in the beginning. He then moved onto actually running over difficult structures, such as water. Fortunately, that was one of the tests the DEO ran - Anais remarking about the terribly cold water and them just shoving her into it - so Barry moved on pretty quick. He switched to the explanation of calculated speed jumps to vibrating their molecules - a concept that completely fascinated Anais because how else would she be able to sneak up on her friends? - and finally to the lightning bolt trick.

Anais watched him go in endless circles just like he had before on the rooftop. He came to the same stop and chucked the lightning bolt into the air. "That is really cool," she sighed in content. "I can't wait to do that."

"You'll be able to one day," Barry assured her. "The key is to be connected to your speed, to the Speed Force."

"The Speed Force?" Anais repeated, sounding and looking utterly lost. "What's that?"

Barry blinked at her, for a moment there he thought she was joking...but her grey eyes were blank. "You don't...you don't know about the Speed Force?" Anais shook her head. "Anais, the Speed Force is the origin of your speedster abilities. How could you not know about it?"

Anais felt self-conscious with her lack of knowledge, something that Barry hadn't intended on. "I just...I didn't get to really know my heritage. My real Mom died before I could access my powers. I don't really know who nor what I am."

"That's okay," Barry said quickly once he saw her dejected face getting stronger. "It's never too late. I literally got my powers two years ago and I'm still learning. Somebody," - he chose to omit that the 'somebody' he referred to was Thawne - "taught me that the Speed Force is a force that drives your powers. It's a sentient force that we can actually go into."

"That would be so cool," Anais bit her lip anxiously. "It talks to you?"

Barry nodded. "It's helped me out and I'm sure that it's helped me out in situations where I never even realized. This force, Anais, is a force you want to get to know. You should try to connect to it."

"How do I do that?"

"It all depends on the speedster. I'm sure you'll find a way."

Anais nodded, though she didn't look very convinced she'd find that way. "Must be nice having people that could teach you, though," she smiled sadly. "Kara tries her best to teach me but she's not connected to this force you're talking about. She's just speedy but not like we are. I wish you could stay here."

"Yeah..." Barry scratched the back of his head. "As tempting as that sounds, I really would like to return home. No offence to you or anyone else but...I have somebody I need to get back to." Anais began to smile knowingly even before Barry named this person he needed to get back to. "Belén needs me and I need her."

"She's your girlfriend, right? The one you keep mentioning?"

Barry sheepishly nodded. "Yeah, I miss her. She was waiting for me where we planned the stopping point of my training and...I wonder if she's still there? Has it been minutes for her or...or days?"

"I wouldn't think about that," Anais said, though she knew her words would probably mean very little to him right now. "Why don't you tell me about her? Your, uh, your girlfriend? I won't get to meet her so...what's she like?"

Despite the situation, Barry smiled to himself when he got to thinking of the answer. "Belén is...incredible. She's amazing. She's a metahuman-"

"A speedster too?" Anais curiously guessed and became even more curious when Barry shook his head.

"She's a botanical metahuman. She controls all plant life but she emphasizes a lot on azaleas, it's why calls herself 'the Azalea'."

"Those are poisonous flowers."

"Yeah," Barry agreed with a nod. "It's part of her powers so-"

"Don't piss her off, got it," Anais chuckled.

"She's really great, though. She cares a lot about her meta community and she always tries to show them that the Azalea is there to help them whenever they need it. And when she's not being a metahuman, she's this fantastic woman who loves to write and aerial dance and, recently bake amaretti cookies."

"Chocolate?"

"Yeah!"

Anais smiled silently.

"She's, uh, she's been having some trouble lately. We've met other doppelgangers, you know? And hers is a scientist, and...not nice." Barry would once again choose to omit some of the uglier parts of the story. "Belén likes to think of herself as the 'runt' of her doppelgangers because she's not a scientist. She's 'just' a reporter."

"What? I'm sure she's great!"

"She is. She's a reporter, or...was. She's suspended because she published an article that she didn't get approval on."

"Why would she do something like that?"

A soft smile spread across Barry's face. "Because people needed help and that's what my Bells does. She wrote an article specifically for her botanical metahuman community and she was suspended for it. But people are backing her article up so I just know that there'll be some justice for her. It's only fair."

"Well, she does sound amazing," Anais folded her arms over her chest, "And, uh, I'm so sorry I won't go to the wedding." Barry blushed red and looked away. "But she sounds like somebody CatCo. would love to have."

"Belén working for Cat Grant?" Barry cocked his head to the side. He was truly unable to see how that would work out. "I just really wish I could get back to her."

Anais watched him slowly fall into his glum state, a rightful response given his situation.

I shouldn't do it...

But Barry looked so upset and it was partly her fault for making him talk about his girlfriend...

Ah screw it, you're already in trouble anyways!

~0~

The next day, Barry was still not having much luck with a concrete way of getting home. He had one idea that he shared with the others and since they had nothing much to go by on, they decided to give it a try that afternoon.

Anaís was leading Barry down the DEO hallway in quite a hurry, even for a speedster. It was early in the morning, really early that only a few DEO employees had clocked on, but it didn't matter for Barry. He hadn't slept at all anyways. Spending the night on this Earth meant that he still didn't have a way back home. So whatever plan Anais had going on, Barry just let it happen because he really had nothing else going on. Plus, she seemed very cheery for some reason.

"Anais, where are you taking me exactly?" He finally asked when the curiosity got the best of him.

Anais was too giggly for this to be DEO related. "My parents are here and they wanted to meet you!"

"What? Why?"

Anais whirled around, forcing Barry to crash into her since he'd been right behind her. "Because I told them all about you. So, a warning: I told them everything! But don't worry, they're really good at keeping secrets. I mean they kept me a secret from the world and they basically keep themselves from the world too so really, it's like their whole main thing!"

"O...kay…" Barry never knew that he would find somebody who could talk faster than Belén but Anais was sure tempting him to give her the title.

Anais stopped suddenly again and turned around. "So a little bit about them. Um, they're scientists. They, uh, they adopted me after the DEO found me and they've been looking after me ever since. They're completely human but they've tried helping me use my powers safely. They're intelligent beyond belief. If anyone can get you home, it's them. And believe me, they want to. They understand you."

"That's very kind of them," Barry nodded, truly grateful because he honestly didn't know what he would do if he had to spend another night here.

"No, Barry, uh...they really understand you," Anais' expression turned serious fast, her eyes boring into Barry's in a way that made the speedster shift.

"What do you mean?"

Anais opened her mouth to seemingly explain but closed it when she got a better idea. "I'll just let them explain." She reached back for the doorknob and motioned him to follow her in. "Mom! Dad! Do you have the tachyon…"

There were two adults in the room, their backs to them, and they were bickering

"No, you idiot! I told you not to!" the woman was frantically gesturing to the bowl on a table near them.

"Are you - what did you call me!?" the man was scarfing down something in his mouth because Barry was sure it sounded like he was quickly trying to chew something.

"You're a child! I told you not to bite the amarettis until your daughter showed up!"

Anais sighed. "And they're embarrassing. They're really embarrassing." Barry smiled at her while she looked absolutely mortified. "Mom! Dad!" She hissed at her parents and fortunately stopped their bickering. "Jesus, you just can't be normal, can you!?"

"It was your father's fault!" Anais' mother huffed, smacking her husband's arm. "We're trying to make a good impression!"

Barry nearly keeled over when she turned around, even more so when both of them had faced them. Beside him, Anais struggled not to laugh...even though she really wanted to.

As it turned out, Anais' parents were very familiar.

"Barry, I'd like you to meet my parents," Anais walked over to the pair, moving behind them to then squeeze her way between them. "But you already know them."

Barry did. Because her 'adoptive parents' turned out to be his doppelganger...and Belén's. An older version of their doppelgangers. Suddenly, many things made sense. Anais' last name? Cat had said it! He was an idiot, he really was.

"Hello Barry," the older Belén - or simply Belén - greeted softly. "Feels like it's been ages…"

Barry's doppelganger huffed at the comment. "I'm not that old!"

"You guys are freaking him out, shush," Anais tried to say but her mother's eyes narrowed down on her. Barry recognized that look and couldn't help but wonder if that'd be the look his Belén would one day give to a child of theirs.

"Don't you shush me!"

"Sorry Mom,"Anais' eyes widened and lowered to the ground.

"Mom…" Barry repeated with a small, confused, smile. "Anais...what is going on!?"

"Exactly what you see," Anais shrugged. "Meet my parents, Mr. and Mrs. Allen, special DEO scientists that only a select few know about. It's why you couldn't find them on a public search engine. Nobody really knows them."

"But it's...it's you…" Barry pointed at his doppelganger. "I've met another you but you were...we were the same age!"

"Right, the multiverse theory," Earth 38 Barry nodded with a hum. "You know Cisco talks about that a lot but we never really tested it out."

"Cisco…" Barry laughed. "You have Cisco!"

"My godfather!" Anais exclaimed. "And my godmother is Caitlin! You mentioned her too!"

"You're scaring him," Belén put a hand over Anais' shoulder. She gave the young Barry a soft smile, just like before. "I'm sorry, our daughter tends to get a little bit overexcited. But it is very nice to meet you, well...this version of you."

"Me too…" Barry was in a sort of trance as he studied them from head to toe.

His doppelganger was exactly like him except for the peeking wrinkles here and there on his face. His eyes were the same shade of hazel green but Barry could see the extra years in them. His dark hair was still sticking up like his own was, and he even dressed the same. A burgundy sweater with the checked blue and white collars sticking out with dark pants. The one stark difference though was the wedding band on this Barry's finger that Belén was also wearing.

Barry's eyes flickered to Belén's doppelganger.

Her face was framed by curly, light brown hair but...with the signature ombre blonde tips. Her curly mess of a hair was pulled up into a bun with some stray curls left sticking out. Just like Barry's doppelganger, her chocolate brown eyes were layered with years and experience. She was dressed in a loose white blouse and dark slacks. One more difference were the thin pink glasses in front of her eyes. But she wore the wedding band...

Man, his doppelgangers seemed to be better at the game than him. Earth 2 may thoroughly suck but his doppelganger had managed to marry his Belén too. Was he doing this wrong!?

"I'm old, aren't I?" Belén presumed that's where his thoughts had gone too. She nervously laughed and brought a hand to push her glasses up. "I bet the younger me can still see and doesn't have wrinkles."

"No, you're...you're just as beautiful, Bells," Barry smiled at her, his words had come out like a blurt and it was all true.

"Hey that's my wife you're talking to," his doppelganger sarcastically snapped.

"Shush," Belén waved him off. "If he wants to call me beautiful then you let him."

Her husband rolled his eyes then flashed Barry a sharp look. "Does she have a huge ego in your world? Because I don't know how to turn it off and I have been looking for the off button for 23 years now."

Barry's eyes widened and his mouth almost hit the ground. "Twenty years?" he repeated. His doppelganger nodded but Belén was too busy glaring at him to answer Barry's question. "You've been married for 23 years?"

"Well, 20 years but we've known each for 23," Earth 38 Barry reached for his wife's hand, forcing Anais to step back so they could interlock hands. "You know, our anniversary is coming up…"

"Hmm, it is," Belén agreed, blushing.

"Can we not do this right now?" Anais groaned, bringing a hand to cover her face. "Seriously."

"Anais, why didn't you tell me this?" Barry was at a loss for a proper word to describe what he felt right now.

Anais dropped her hand from her face, almost laughing if her parents weren't right there. "If had I told you 'oh yeah I know you, you're my adoptive Dad on this world' it would have freaked you out."

Barry opened his mouth to argue but...but it was a very good point. He had met his other doppelganger and Belén but it wasn't the same learning they were only married to 'they were married and they had an adopted child'.

"But these are them," Anais looked between her parents with a big grin on her face. "They're my Mom and Dad and...if your Belén is anything like my Mom is then I know she's the best."

"Every version of me is the best, sweetie," Belén shrugged casually, completely missing her husband mouth 'See? Ego.' at Barry. "But after what Anais told us about you, Barry, and my doppelganger...we were very impressed. You two sound incredible."

"I'm just a bit stuck on the 'got struck by lightning' part," Earth 38 Barry remarked, bringing his arms over one another. "That...that sounds like it would hurt."

"It did," Barry assured him with a shudder.

"But of course only my husband could be a superhero," Belén remarked, sending her husband a dreamy smile.

"And my wife had to be right beside me," Earth 38 Barry brought her hand up to his lips for a kiss.

Anais audibly groaned and rubbed her face. "I swear to God, Barry—" she dropped her hands to shoot the Earth 1 counterpart a glare, "—if you do this to your own child I will find a way to cross worlds and smack you! It is unbearable!"

Barry's eyebrows shot up at the same time his doppelganger grabbed Anais' arm to scold her. "Don't talk to him like that! He's your Dad-"

"I'm really not," Barry tried to say but his words were a bit out of reach on account of the mad warmth he felt on his face.

"Oh, he's not even married, Dad!" Anais pulled her arm out of her father's grip.

"Really?" Earth 38 Barry blinked and after Anais nodded, he shot his doppelganger a look. "Kinda late there then."

"No he's not, be quiet! The two of you!" Belén scolded them both and sighed. "This is what I deal with." She then offered the younger Barry another soft smile. They seemed to be a big part of her personality and they fit her so well. "There is no rush. I imagine every world has us at different paces."

"So you just assume that every version of you is going to end up with each other?" Anais scoffed, intending on riling them up but Earth 1 Barry shut down the game without even noticing.

"I believe that we would meet each other in any world." Barry felt his heart ache for his Belén. Those were the words they said to each other back when he was debating whether or not to go back in time to save his mother. In his indecisive state, Belén had asked him if he believed that they would meet each other again regardless of the time lines. Barry knew without a moment's thought that they would. They belonged to each other in every world, no matter if they were a scientist and a reporter, or evil and good, or...a pair who had to raise an alien hybrid. They were each other's.

Belén smiled at the silent doppelganger. She side-glanced her husband, sharing the same knowing smile with him. The only one who didn't quite understand was Anais.

"Barry, are you okay?" her soft voice pulled Barry out of his thoughts.

"Yeah," Barry cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck. "I just...I just really miss home, you know?"

"Misses Belén," his doppelganger said. Barry wouldn't agree out loud but he was sure his face said it all for him. "I'd go crazy if I was stuck in another world...which-" he pointed a finger in the air, "-is why this was a rush job." He turned around and pulled cloth from the tachyon device Anais had taken from Barry.

"My tachyon device!" Barry exclaimed while his doppelganger gave it a last study.

"Interesting device, though can't say it doesn't scare me a bit," he handed the device over to Barry. "But we got it working again."

Barry's eyes lit up at the news. "Seriously!?"

"Yeah, just jumpstart it with your speed, obviously, and you can use maybe Anais' or Kara's speed as well to help bring the energy levels up when you're running. Once you do that, you should be able to cross worlds again. Just try to get into the right one this time."

"Yeah," Barry gladly held onto the tachyon device and looked at his doppelganger and Belén. "Thank you. I really need to get home."

"Oh, here!" Belén reached a hand into the bowl that she and her husband were bickering over earlier and pulled out a familiar chocolate cookie. "

Barry's heart skipped a jolt when he took the chocolate amaretti from Belén. "You make these too?"

"Hey! Those are mine!" Anais frowned. "You always make those for me!"

Belén nodded at Anais to answer Barry's question. "They're my specialty. And-" she glanced at Anais, "-you would've had more if your father hadn't ate most of them!"

"Dad!" Anais shot her father a look.

"They're good!"

Barry smiled and took a bite of the cookie. He really did love them. "My Bells just started making these," he shared once he swallowed the first bite. "She thinks she could make them better but I think they're delicious!"

"Yeah, they were a bit tricky for me too in the beginning. But we get them, especially when I have a very hungry pair over there," she nodded her head at her husband and daughter.

"Hey!" the two went in the same offended tone.

"Thanks," Barry said and laughed when Belén offered him another cookie.

"For the ride home," she winked.

Barry studied her for a minute before he would take the cookie. A part of him wondered if this is what Earth 2 Belén - Datura - would've been like if she hadn't gotten sick. Would she be as happy as she looked right now?

"I'm old, I know," Belén chuckled nervously again, lowering her gaze with a misplaced embarrassment.

"No," Barry whispered. "You are beautiful in any world. If you ever marry me, I would be the luckiest man alive."

Belén smiled at him with a light 'aw' slipping out. "Go on home, Barry. And, uh, pass on a little message to my doppelganger for me, yeah?" Barry nodded. "Even if she's not a scientist, she is the best of us all, not to mention the bravest. To fight every day against metas and willingly put her job at risk for people she doesn't even know...that is bravery. She is no 'runt' of the litter. She's just the best." She leaned forwards and pressed a small kiss to Barry's cheek. "Goodbye Barry."

Barry stepped back with his tachyon device and watched his doppelganger wrap an arm around Belén's waist. Belén raised her hand to touch her husband's face - letting Barry once again catch sight of her wedding band - and kissed his cheek as well. They looked so happy together. He hoped one day that could be him and his Belén too, but for right now...he needed to go see her.

He met Anais' face and gave her a nod. She grinned with understanding. It was time to go home.

~ 0 ~

Out in the same grassy field that Barry had come to with Kara was now the chosen area to get him back home. Supergirl led the way but almost had to stop twice to laugh when she heard the story of Anais's parents.

"It's really not that funny," Barry mumbled and took lead when Kara stopped to put her hands on her knees and laugh.

"Can I - can I get pictures, please?" Kara glanced at Anais with a hopeful look on her face.

"They'll be home for Thanksgiving, promise!" Anais laughed with her.

"Can we please?" Barry did his best not to snap. "I would really like to get home."

"Right, to see my Mom," Anais snorted into a new round of laughter.

"Fine, yes, whatever!" Barry rolled his eyes, but he wasn't very irritated. Each time Anais called him or Belén 'Mom' and 'Dad'. It actually made his face really warm.

"Okay, I'm sorry," Anais said after he got pretty quiet, though she misunderstood why. "You're not actually mad, are you? I mean...yeah, I probably should have told you sooner but I was a little nervous. I've grown up with these people and you can't believe how strange it is meeting a younger version of my Dad in our secret base."

Kara crinkled her nose beside her. That had to be strange.

"I always see my Dad as what he is: my Dad. He's taken care of me. He read me bedtime stories, introduced me to the concept of bedtime stories. He's-he's brought me to Disneyland and he had to learn how to play soccer because I wanted to play and Mom and I creamed him in all our matches." As she said all these words, Barry's lips curved into a deep smile. "You're my Dad. My birth name is Anais Mjorkland but the world knows me as Anais Allen, your daughter. I'm sorry if that's... that's weird…"

"Weird is a good word but...it's also nice," Barry cleared his throat. "It's like a glimpse into my future."

"Well, without the alien part, right?" Kara chuckled but abruptly stopped when she remembered he had already told them there wasn't a version of Kara nor Anais on his world. "If there's no Anais over there, then what would that-"

"They'd have their own kid, duh," Anais shook her head.

If Barry had been red before, now he was a deep scarlet. Oh God, I really gotta get home.

"So what are we meant to do, then?" Kara asked, suspecting this was a topic that Barry didn't want to talk to with them.

"It's simple. We just combine our speed and basically get to throw Barry like a ragdoll in the air," Anais smirked at him.

"Ha, ha," Barry rolled his eyes. "Technically, if you throw me forward at your fastest, then I break the dimensional barrier and get back home."

"I like the way I said it instead," Anais looked at Kara to see if she was on board. "You fly and we run."

"Yeah, I think that would work best," Kara agreed. "We could treat it as a race," she suddenly smirked.

Barry laughed. "Think you can keep up, Girl of Steel?" his eyes flickered over to Anais. "Golden Girl?"

Anais shook her head and warned him, "I'm Solar."

Barry smiled at her. She had the same proud face he had when he first used his meta name. "I like it," he told her. She beamed in return. "And you know, maybe you can keep Golden Girl as a nickname? Like Girl of Steel?" He gestured to Kara who dramatically bowed in return.

"Alright," Kara still sneaked in a laugh afterwards. She turned to Barry and offered him a hug. "I'm gonna miss you, Barry Allen."

"I'm really gonna miss you too, Kara Danvers," Barry hugged her back. "Or Kara Zor-El. Which is your alien name. Because you're an alien which I think is very cool. I think James Olsen thinks so, too."

Kara paled and Anais laughed.

"Right!?" Anais clapped her hands together.

Kara looked between the two in quite horror. "Why are you saying that!?"

"For real?" Anais gave Kara an incredulous look.

"You remember before when I told you to take things slow?" Barry asked Kara. "That's good advice for a superhero, lousy advice for two people who really like each other. Maybe it's time to speed things up."

Kara saw Anais fiercely nodding and smacked a hand over her forehead. "Yeah, alright, maybe…"

"Thank God," Anais mumbled before she went to hug Barry. "Bye young-Dad."

"Don't call me that…" Barry crinkled his nose as he pulled away from her.

"I don't think I'll be able to stop." she smiled. "But also say hi to young-Mom for me."

"Can do," Barry nodded. "And keep training, alright? It'll be hard sometimes but I know you can do it."

"Spoken like a 'Dad'," Anais chuckled but hugged him again. "Thanks."

"Let's do this?" Kara called and made a gesture for them to take their spots. She rose into the air on Barry's right while Anais stood to his left.

"On my count," Barry warned the two women. "One...two..."

"Three!" Anais exclaimed and took off, forcing Barry and Kara to chase after her. As soon as his legs moved, Barry felt the tachyon device on him whir alive which he hoped meant things were about to work out for him. A blue vortex came to life in midair suddenly and before Barry knew it Kara and Anais grabbed his arms and flung him directly into it.

Both blondes skidded to a stop on ground and beamed almost identically as the portal disappeared.

"Goodbye, Dad," Anais sighed contently...and Kara burst into laughter.

~ 0 ~

Barry felt like he'd gone in and out of the portal even quicker than before, because one moment he saw grassy plan and the next he saw the familiar building of his streets...his city.

'No, Cisco, you're not listening!' Belén's voice started filling Barry's ear comm. that had come to life now that he was back on his Earth. 'Barry's gone! There was a portal!'

'What portal!?' Cisco cried from the other end.

'Do you think we opened up another breach?' Caitlin asked with concern.

Belén was pacing back and forth on the sidewalk where Barry was supposed to be stopping, but for the past five minutes neither Cisco nor Caitlin listened to her. "Seriously! There was a-a blue portal! A breach! A-"

But Barry had come by and swept her off her feet. "I'm here! Guys, I'm fine!" Barry assured the two before coming to a stop in the outskirts of the city. He was still having trouble stopping after running that fast.

He set Belén on her feet and was grateful that she didn't catch on fire like Kara had. She was a bit disoriented from the sudden trip but once her vision adjusted and she saw Barry, she beamed. "Oh thank God! I saw you disappear and-and there was this portal - I mean breach! It was a breach wasn't it!? It had to be—"

Barry had slid his hands over her face to kiss her. Despite her numerous questions, Belén gladly accepted his kiss and was pretty dazed when Barry pulled away.

"Hi..." Belén whispered breathlessly, her eyes fluttering open. That was certainly a way to be greeted.

Barry was over-joyously smiling at her. After not seeing her - not being in the same world with her - there was nothing else he could do but greet her like that. Belén knew straight away that something happened to him but she wasn't going to ask him questions right now. She was just glad to see him alive and well. She instead reached for his cowl and gently helped him pull it off.

"Hi." Barry's mind filled with everything he'd seen on Earth 38 and most prominently the Allens he had met. All the feelings bubbled in his chest until he finally blurted his words. "Belén, I love you."

Belén smiled out of confusion but she would never turn away an opportunity to tell him that she loved him. "I love you too," she brought her hands to rest on his cheeks. They felt a bit warm and she suspected that it wasn't out of the running he did. There was something new in his eyes she couldn't quite place.

"No, I...I love you," Barry reiterated, although he wouldn't blame her if she couldn't understand where this new layer of feelings had come from. After meeting a version of her who had grown older with him, there was no way he could love Belén like he used to. He loved her more; with a new intensity that she might not feel just yet, but hopefully one day would.

Barry had been right. Belén didn't quite capture the new intensity of his feelings. She was too confused trying to understand what had happened since they last saw each other. Eventually, she was able to fit a few pieces together and understood he wasn't lying. There was something new in his eyes, a new fondness just for her. Her heart fluttered in her chest. She cupped Barry's face, her thumbs tracing his lips before she leaned in and kissed him.

#ocfairygodmother #arrowverseocs #fd: the flash #fd: supergirl #the flash #supergirl #the flash fics #the flash imagines #barry allen #barry allen fics #barry allen imagines #arrowverse ocs #supergirl fics #supergirl imagines #oc: Belén Palayta #oc: Belen Palayta #oc: Anais Mjorkland #fic: rise up #fic: sweet ambitions

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saiilorstars · 3 years

Text

Sweet Ambitions

Ch.3: The Whispers

Story Masterlist // Masterlist of other OCs

Fandom: Supergirl // Pairing: Winn Schott x OFC

Summary: Anais begins to find her way around in National City by trying to secure a job at CatCo. and working at DEO. But what should she make out of a stranger whispering in her head?

Taglist: @ocfairygodmother @anotherunreadblog @maaaaarveeeeel @stareyedplanet @perfectlystiles

[If you’d like to be added to this specific OC’s stories/edits, send me a message!]

Two blondes soared into the sky after one another. Supergirl made a quick turn, just as Anais was coming up, and managed to swing an arm that got across Anais' face. As the blonde Solista swung backwards in the air, different sets of missiles shot into the air after her.

With a roll of her eyes, and a rub of her jaw, Anais put her hands together to create an orb of yellow energy and shot it at the missiles. She landed on the ground afterwards, intending on taking on Supergirl again for a rematch, when she heard gun bullets fire from behind. Her super speed once again slowed Time around her so that she could easily, and rather effortlessly, pick each bullet from the air. When time started up again, she let the bullets on her palm fall to the ground.

Not too far away, she heard Supergirl's distinct wind nearing her, alerting Anais that the Kryptonian was enacting a second round. Anais whirled around in time to swing a leg and throw Supergirl to the side. She super sped towards Supergirl and decided to return the favor with a punch across the face.

"Sorry!" Anais made sure to call out before shooting into the sky again.

"So am I!" Supergirl called after her.

The two women were once again fighting in the air, but perhaps it was because Supergirl had a little more experience in the air, or maybe because Anais didn't have the right suit yet, but Supergirl managed to get an upper hand rather quick. Before Anais knew it, she fell directly on a table and brought down everything on it with her. The little groan the DEO employees heard could have been the sounds of a broken women, but they would never hear it from Anais.

Supergirl gracefully landed on her feet just in front of the broken table and crossed her arms as she waited for Anais. Soon enough, the blonde Solista sat upright with multiple cuts on her arms and face. Said injuries faded away within seconds, making her look new. However, the mock glare she had fixated on Supergirl was not one that anyone wanted to be on the receiving end of.

"Did you have to throw me on the table with—" Anais winced as she pulled a beaker penetrating her back, "—glass?"

Supergirl's scrunched face said it all. Of course that wasn't her intention. They were just practicing, after all. She extended a hand for Anais to take then helped pull the woman up to her feet. Anais cracked her back and sent a look to the monitoring employees.

"Do they have to watch too?"

"Yeah…" Supergirl followed Anais' gaze and sighed. The audience was never an easy part for her either. "Sorry."

"Protocols, I know," Anais hated that word, honestly. All her life it had been embedded as common vocabulary in her home.

"On the bright side, your showing such good progress," Supergirl remarked in hopes of drawing Anais back to the positive side of this hard training. "You're not bulletproof but dodging the bullets and missiles is no hard job for you since you're a speedster-"

"Child's play," Anais waved a hand at it.

"And your speed overall is said to be incredible too," Supergirl stopped by a table where Lucy was overlooking one of the monitors.

"Very for someone who hasn't been out in the field yet," the newest DEO director chimed in with a proud smile. "Though your flying...seems to be in need of improvement."

"I do more speed runs than flying," Anais shrugged bit ultimately groaned at her progress. "I'm good on the ground but a loser in the sky. What a dork."

"Hey, you're going to get this," Supergirl set a hand on her arm for comfort. "I'm still trying to get the hang of my powers."

"But it's easier for you. You're a full Kryptonian," Anais sighed over her biological disadvantages. "I'm half human and half Solista. Some of the abilities my people have...I don't. Maybe it's my human side that doesn't let me fly as well."

"Don't say that. We just started practicing," Lucy reminded her. "This takes time."

"I could have been telepathic if I was a full Solista," Anais pointed at them. "Imagine that. A telepathic Anais. Yeah, I could have been that great."

Supergirl chuckled. "Okay, you are great and now I just think you might be a little tired."

"You're done for today, Anais," Lucy agreed. "Go home."

"No, but I have been practicing all my life," Anais shrugged. "I have powers but I just haven't had the opportunity to use them for something worthwhile, ladies."

"Well, before you can go out there, you still need to practice," Lucy warned, even wagging her finger at Anais. "You know the drill—"

Anais rolled her eyes and swayed her head. "Yeah, yeah, only small-time, petty crimes."

"Just until you get the hang of things," Supergirl said as a reminder. "Baby steps."

"Fine," sighed Anais. "Now I'm starving…" she rubbed her stomach and pouted specifically at Supergirl.

"Lunch time!" the Kryptonian exclaimed and not a second spared into the sky.

Anais waved a hand at Lucy and sped off on ground. Oh yeah, she was much faster on ground.

~0~

Kara had chosen a small-time restaurant that, according to her, sold the best types of pastas. Anais revealed that pasta was her favor lunchtime meal. Though they were originally planning to have lunch alone in the restaurant, a quick call from Winn changed that into a whole get-together at Kara's.

"Wait, so you just threw her on a table? 50 feet from the sky?" Winn almost laughing after hearing Anais' latest training session was about to get him smacked from the Solista herself.

Kara was making an apologetic face every time she relieved that moment. "I said I was sorry."

"Don't worry, you'll get better," James told Anais, probably the only more mature one in the group.

"That's what everyone says," Anais bitterly huffed and stuffed her mouth with some pasta. Despite the others laughing, she still heard her cell phone ringing. She reached for it on the counter and saw it was her mother trying to video chat. "Oh no," she struggled to swallow in one go. "It's my Mom. Video chatting."

"Answer it," Kara encouraged her. "She just wants to know how you're doing."

"Something about getting my ass kicked by Supergirl and having no job tells me she isn't going to be happy."

"You are trying. You've gone from being isolated to moving to the city and getting a hero identity. She's going to be happy," Kara nodded at the cellphone. "Answer."

Anais squeezed her eyes shut and managed to answer like that. "My Anais!"

Anais slowly opened her eyes and awkwardly smiled at the screen. "Hi...Mom."

"I'm so sorry to call unexpectedly I was just...well, to be honest," her mother said, "I'm home today and this is usually the days we have movie night and I was just missing you."

"Aww," Kara unexpectedly said, instantly gaining the attention of Mrs. Allen.

"Is someone there with you?" she asked Anais.

'Sorry' Kara mouthed to Anais, knowing that now Anais' mother would want to talk to all of them.

Anais cleared her throat and braced herself for the embarrassment she was sure her mother would give her. "I'm, um...having lunch with some friends."

"Friends!? You've made friends already!?" her mother gasped as Anais let her head hang low. The others could not help but laugh. It was the type of embarrassment that only a mother could provide.

"Thank you for that," Anais scolded her mother and decided it couldn't get worse than this so she might as well introduce her mother to them. "Mom, you're on speaker. This is Kara Danvers..."

"Hi!" Kara cheerfully spoke into the phone. "Nice to meet you-ish."

"Kara is letting me stay at her place until I get on my feet," Anais informed her mother.

"Well thank you so much for that, Kara. Though we have told Anais she doesn't need to work—"

"And then I told them that I didn't always want to live off of my parents' money," Anais cut her off before she went on that whole lecture again. "Anyways, then we have James and Winn," she turned the phone over for the guys to give their greetings. "They work at CatCo where I'm hoping to get a position."

"Which we think she will," James said, smiling at Anais. "And I'm James."

"Yeah, I heard she won over Cat Grant in a minute tops," Winn added. "No one does that. Oh, and I'm Winn."

"Plus, she's very good at her photography. I've seen her portfolio," James said.

"Oh we know that," Anais' mother hummed. "We bought her her first camera almost a month after she came to live with us and she couldn't be separated from it. You know, she even went—"

"And that's all the time we have for embarrassment, Mom," Anais turned off the speaker function and pressed the phone to her ear. "Until next time," her sarcastic smile made the others want to laugh again.

"Not so fast, young lady. This call wasn't just to express how much I missed you. Your Dad and I are coming in this weekend to see how you're doing."

"What?" frowned Anais. "But—"

"And to make sure you're not overexerting yourself with all these training sessions we hear you've been doing. Plus, since it was revealed Hank Henshaw was actually an alien and now a fugitive...your father and I are concerned for your safety."

"Mom, I'm fine. Really," Anais honestly said. She didn't want her parents to feel concern for her when there was no reason. Lucy was actually doing a fine job keeping things running whilst keeping Anais contract-free.

"We'll see you this weekend," Mrs. Allen promised then hung up.

Anais cleared her throat and set her phone on the table. "Well, and the award for most overprotective parents go to…"

"Their concern isn't completely misplaced," Winn tried to make her see the logical side of the situation. "Your director turned out to be a Martian who was replaced by a woman who…" he trailed off upon seeing James' expectant face. He cleared his throat and smiled so widely. "Who-who is so lovely. That's-that's what I was going to say. Lovely. Yeah."

Anais smiled at him and picked up her fork to continue eating. "Lucy is doing a good job, actually. And I guess I see why they would want to come back for a check up. I'm just afraid they won't like things and drag me back home."

"Then we'll just have to make sure everything's good this weekend," Kara said like it was no big deal.

Anais, on the other hand, was much more realistic. "Hm, the fact I've got no place of my own and still no job isn't exactly where I want to start."

"Cat will call," James assured her. "I'll give her a push myself if I have to."

"I want the job but...I don't want to be there if it was just because you have to push her," Anais glumly forked at her lunch.

"I really don't think I'll have to," James kept reassuring while the others agreed with him.

"Well, I do have an idea of how to give me a better edge against the other applicants…" Anais admitted. She put her fork down as the others expectantly waited for her to explain. "Cat said she wanted a picture of the newest superhero in the city…"

"Golden Girl—" Winn barely got the name out before Anais pointed a finger at his face.

"Don't call me that!" Anais took a deep breath and continued with her explanation. "Anyways, if I get a shot of myself then I could get closer to the job."

"Isn't that cheating?" Kara thought about it before Anais answered.

"No, just an advantage I happen to have," shrugged Anais.

"But is it a good idea to expose yourself when the DEO has you under observation?" James put down his own fork and hoped that Anais would seriously think about this particular idea before going through with it.

"It's not like they're going to rain down on me for one little picture that's not even going to show all of me." Anais' hopeful stare, which now included her hands put together in a pleading manner, flickered amongst the three helpful candidates.

"I mean, theoretically speaking…if we do this right, we can make sure no faces show up or anything that could potentially out her, or Kara for that matter…" Winn had unknowingly become Anais' new favorite person.

One down, two to go!

"I just feel like it would be cheating," Kara insisted. She didn't want to be made out as the bad woman in this story, but she also didn't want Anais to later regret this decision.

"I mean, think about it, please," Anais didn't want to sound desperate but the idea of returning home to where she would be cooped up again wasn't helping her. She loved her parents, she really did, but she wanted to start making her own life now. Securing a job was the first step.

"Why don't you give us some time?" James offered an alternative he thought was a good compromise for everyone. "Maybe we can come up with something else or, if we decide to go with your idea, we'll at least know how best to do it."

Anais' nod was disappointment but she upheld a grateful smile nonetheless. "Thank you," she said honestly.

Lunch went by without anymore snags. Still, it was obvious their overall hesitancy hurt James and Winn left the apartment, Kara felt an overwhelming urge to apologize to Anais.

"I don't want you to think that I don't want you to get the job, I just...I think you might regret getting the job on...these terms," Kara's intentions were truly honest and that was why Anais had no grudge against her.

"I know. Maybe I'm going about it all wrong but…" Anais threw the last of their trash of their lunch, "I really want that job. Even from where I lived - totally secured - I know that working for Cat Grant would open so many doors for me. I want her to pick me."

Kara nodded. She could see the desire in Anais' face and wished she could help in another way. "You want to go shop?" she found herself asking. Anais blinked with confusion, causing Kara to nervously laugh. "Sorry, I thought...I thought that's a way to distract. I don't even know what I was thinking—"

"No, that's okay, I like the idea," Anais moved over to the blonde. "I haven't really met the city yet."

Kara beamed. It was the perfect opportunity for them to go out and forget about their problems for a while. Who knows, by the time they returned Anais might have come up with another idea for the job position.

~0~

Anais usually wasn't one for shopping, at least not when her mother would drag her around. She remembered her first shopping trip with her adoptive mother and still got shivers. It was just after Hank - or J'onn - stationed her with the Allens. Going from hiding to a loving with humans, surrounded by humans at all times, was a challenging thing for a five year old hybrid.

Since her clothes were tattered from her traumatizing experience, Mrs. Allen thought that giving Anais a whole new wardrobe would help Anais settle into her new life. At five years old, all Anais knew was how to best hide and stay off the grid. Suddenly, she was being brought into a mall surrounded by humans, shown dresses, shirts, jeans everything a little girl would want...but it scared the living hell out her. She'd burst into sobs, attracting the attention of every customer nearby, so from there on out, Mrs. Allen brought Anais clothes herself.

It continued on like that despite Anais growing up and feeling more prepared to deal with humans.

Now that Kara brought her to a local mall, Anais started to regret it. While Kara pointed out the shops she liked to usually visit, Anais was trying to get a handle on the level of noise in the three story building, and the lights…it all seemed to mesh together in front of her, overwhelming her. She jumped in her spot when Kara placed a hand on her arm. With wide eyes, she saw Kara giving her a concerned look.

"Are you okay?" the Kryptonian asked. The color in Anais' face had paled, making the girl seem sick.

"U-um…" Anais kept looking around, the quick-paced action bringing her special attention from passing customers.

Kara wasn't sure what was going on, but she suspected it ran along the feeling of being unprepared. She pulled Anais into a hallway leading to the restrooms. Anais relished in the quiet of the hallway, but once she was calm again she felt ridiculous.

"I-I'm sorry," she leaned against the wall and tilted her head back, closing her eyes to give herself another moment.

"Is it too much?" Kara looked out the hallway, even with her controlled super-hearing ability she could understand what Anais was probably going through.

"I'm acting like a child," Anais rubbed her forehead. "Here I am trying to prove to my parents that I can handle a life on my own, in a city, and…" she laughed at herself, "I can't even go to the frikin mall without panicking."

"I'm sorry, I should have taken you somewhere smaller," Kara came to stand beside her against the wall. "Like a shop or something…"

"No, it's on me," Anais crossed her arms and took a deep breath. "I've had so many examinations on my...powers," she whispered, "But it's always in remote areas or small places."

"So...you've never been somewhere like this?" Kara made a gesture to the mall.

Anais shook her head. "My mom brought me once when I was five and I freaked out so I never went back."

"What about when you were older?"

"I couldn't really control my powers and since there were no real teachers...I stayed at home instead. Even now, I don't have the same hold like you do. I've been cooped up for so long I never really learned…"

Kara could understand some things Anais was going through. As a child, it took her a while to learn to control her new abilities as well as just...adjusting to human life. She stood away from the wall, turning to Anais. "We're going to help you learn, then. We'll just need to start small."

"It's a lot of work, Kara," Anais wasn't sure if she could put people like Kara to do all this work for her, someone Kara barely knew. "I'm not...I'm not worth the trouble…"

"Don't you say that," Kara grabbed her arm and gently pulled her off the wall. "Now you've been saying you want to start anew, so...let's start again."

"The noise…" Anais hesitated to leave the hallway.

"I understand how that feels, so here's what we're going to do," Kara made a gesture for Anais to watch her. "When you start hearing more than you can handle, stop and take multiple deep breaths. I know it's cliche but it really does work. Your body needs to adjusts to the new noise level before it finds a level that's suitable. With time, you're going to get used to the noise levels in the city and you'll be fine."

"Okay," Anais nodded, willing to give it a try. She allowed Kara to bring her back to the shopping area and sure enough, she felt her ears ringing with the incredible noise.

"Deep breaths," Kara instructed again and attentively watched Anais. If anything happen, she'd just have to take them out of the building fast.

Anais lowered her gaze to the marble floor and took in one deep breath. The noise felt warbled in her ear, so she took a second one. By the third one, she felt the noise begin to die down.

Kara smiled when the woman straightened up with a much more calm expression. "Better?"

"I...I think so," Anais looked up at the three floors and fought against the overwhelming feelings. "Let's...let's go buy something."

Kara chuckled and turned them around, pointing to a store across them. "We can start there!"

Anais followed her and hoped to God she would keep it together. As it turned out, the store definitely seemed to be in Kara's style. Anais thought Kara's style was...preppy, cute...but not really around her style. Still, there were some nice things she liked such as blue and white striped shirt and then there was the nice yellow plaid skirt she found afterwards. Kara's joke of looking like Cher Horowitz from Clueless did make Anais laugh just a tad loud for customers to stare. Things were going fine until they came out of the store and Anais felt a peculiar tickle...in her mind.

Kara was getting frozen yogurt, which Anais hadn't wanted, so she was alone when it happened. It was a strange feeling to have something poking in her mind, but Anais was sure that it wasn't her imagination. She looked around but all she saw were bustling humans going in and out of stores, too drawn to their cellphones if she had to describe. The tickle (or poke) turned into a light whispers. She was definitely not imagining!

Anais whirled around trying to catch the culprit. There wasn't anyone suspicious but it was in her gut that someone was trying to do something to her.

"Anais?"

As soon as Anais spun back to see Kara, the whispers in her mind stopped.

Kara pulled the spoon out of her mouth, concerned Anais was getting overwhelmed again. "What is it?"

Anais brought a hand to her forehead again. "I'm not imagining, I'm not imagining…"

Kara was about to ask her what she was talking about when Anais' cell phone went off. Anais took out her cell phone from her back pocket and took a look at the ID on the screen. "Hello?" Anais forgot, only slightly, what she'd experienced after hearing the other line. "Um, yeah...I, yeah, okay. Kara won't mind."

Kara had returned to her frozen yogurt but at the mention of her name she cocked an eyebrow. "Won't mind what?" she asked after Anais ended the call.

"If I take a raincheck on any more shopping for today," Anais slipped her phone back into her back pocket. "That was Winn. He wanted to meet me for some suit conversations?"

Kara's laughter was rather amusing for Anais. "Oh my God, he won't stop."

Anais smiled as they started heading out of the mall. "I want to talk about a suit. It sounds cool."

"He has good taste but remember to take things slow," Kara threw the woman a glance. Anais agreed. "So, where's Winn?"

"Said in a coffee shop—you'd know the place, actually."

"Oh! Mr. Shertbets!" Kara burst into an excited exclamation.

"Kara…" Anais grabbed the end of Kara's spoon and gave it a wiggle to remind her that she still had dessert in her mouth.

Kara apologetically smiled. "So maybe I can just meet you back home."

"Yeah," Anais chuckled. "After you show me to this place."

"You're going to love it!" Kara promised then hurried to show her where her absolute favorite place was.

Neither woman noticed a young man across the street watching them. He frowned, though it wasn't clear to who or what he was upset with. "Could it be?" he whispered then went to follow.

~ 0 ~

Anais was sure she would love the cafe shop as soon as her nose met the sweet cinnamon scent. Kara made her promise to bring back a box of cupcakes at the very least since she would be returning home without stepping in. Anais wasn't sure what Kara would want - since the Kryptonian left before Anais could ask - but Winn would probably know.

"Hello," she found Winn seated at a round table on his own.

Winn was looking at his computer when she'd arrived. He lowered the lid and motioned her to take a seat. "Hi! You ready?" it was obvious was too excited over this new assignment he'd basically signed up for.

"Yes!" Anais was the same. "But are you sure you're up for this? Not that I'm doubting your expertise since, you know, Supergirl and all, but...this could take a while. Isn't your girlfriend still pissed she got fired."

Winn awkwardly cleared his throat. He didn't really want to admit that he was taking some space away from Siobhan - just for a bit - to breathe. He still cared for her, especially after what happened to her, but she was getting a tad grouchy. No matter what he said, she would shout and get angry with him. She'd later apologize and he'd forgive her knowing she wasn't in the right state, but the cycle repeated itself anyways. He just needed a break. And maybe with some hours to herself, Siobhan would calm down too.

"She's napping," he geniously came up with.

Anais raised an eyebrow, immediately guessing this was just a lie. "Napping?"

"Yeah, napping," Winn opened his laptop again. "Definitely napping…"

Well, who was she to poke a hole in a lie she had no business being in? She scooted her chair closer to his and went straight for the interesting parts. "So, what do we need to start in?"

"I need to understand your...unique biology," Winn purposely lowered the volume of his voice. "You know, what exactly is a Solista?"

Anais nodded in understanding. "I am basically driven by light…"

"Yeah, kind of got that from the whole 'Sol' root word," Winn gave a light shrug of his shoulders. "Spanish for Sun?"

"My people are from a planet named Solaria. The Solista race are first and foremost speedsters. My birth mother used to say that kids would begin running as soon as they took their first step. Since I was only half Solista, it took me a bit longer."

"Do you mind if I write this down?" Winn asked. He wanted to keep useful notes for when they actually got started on the suit, but he didn't want to do it without her permission.

"Yeah, just...you know, don't share it with anyone please," she motioned him to go ahead and type.

"Okay, so what other abilities do you have?"

"Besides speedsters, we use heat energy. Um, the speed and the heat go hand in hand. I can fly, I have super strength, super hearing - but I'm not bulletproof so please help me out with that." Winn laughed and told he would try to come up with something. "So...that's...really much it...for me…"

Winn stopped typing to look at her. "Me? Why-why do you say it like that?"

"I'm a hybrid," Anais sighed. "Half Solista, half human. Because of that, I don't have all the powers a regular Solista would typically have. My birth mother said Solistas are naturally telepathic but it doesn't look like I inherited that. So, what do you think we can do?"

"I think we can fashion something that can fit your speedy needs. We're definitely going to need to add a cape - I actually made the mistake of not giving that to Kara and she crashed into a building…" Winn scrunched his face at the reminder. Poor Kara. "So we're not going to repeat with this one. I think the hardest part will be doing the speed resistance bit but I've done it with Kara's so, we should be good."

"Be warned that I'm faster than Kara," Anais didn't meant that to show off. As part of her biology, she was just naturally faster than a Kryptonian who wasn't on Krypton.

"I will make a note," Winn promised her.

Anais thanked him for it but she was cut off when she felt that tickle in her mind. Only this time, the whispers were almost immediately heard.

Outside…

Anais turned on her chair and looked out the glass windows. Winn noticed her off action and followed her gaze to the windows. "Is something wrong?"

"Many things but this one...this one I might be able to fix on my own," she got out of her chair and hurried towards the doors.

"What? Hold on!" Winn quickly shut his laptop and went after her.

Anais rushed out into the sidewalk and took a quick look around the streets. She caught the back of someone who was running away. "Oh no you don't," she took off in a normal-paced run. She wasn't about to expose herself to the public before even becoming a true hero.

"Anais, where are you going!?" she could hear Winn's calls from behind but she wouldn't stop.

The person she was chasing, which by now she could see was a man, was clearly running away from her. The whispers in her head wouldn't stop and neither would she. She made a quick turn at an intersection leading to an alleyway. "Got you now," she smirked.

The man had come up to a fence barring an apartment building. His hands gripped the metal but he wouldn't turn around to meet Anais.

"You're the one doing the whispers in my head, aren't you?" she kept her distance for caution.

"Whispers?" the man repeated with a low chuckle.

Anais' eyebrows knitted together in offence. "Are you laughing at me?"

"Yes," his blunt answer only increased her offence.

"Anais! There you are!" Winn came to a skidded stop beside her, completely out of breath. "What are you doing!?"

In that moment she glanced at him, the man across them started rising into the air. "Oh no you don't!" Anais was about to fly after him but Winn grabbed onto her arm to keep her on ground.

"You can't out yourself like this!" he reminded her.

"He's getting away!" Anais groaned and pulled out her cell phone and snapped a couple pictures of the man now in the sky. She lowered the phone to see what she'd taken, but she, along with Winn, weren't sure who they'd captured.

~ 0 ~

"You should show these to the DEO," Kara said as soon as Anais had shown her the pictures. The Kryptonian was staring at Anais' cellphone in their living room.

Anais was pacing in the room trying to come up with plausible facts about the stranger she'd encountered. "No if I do that it'll just give them and my parents another reason to keep me away from the field."

"But they could help find out who this guy is," Kara swiped through the pictures but couldn't see the face of the man.

"Or they could shut me down altogether," Anais stopped walking and turned to Kara. "I'm sure this guy is the reason why I kept hearing whispers in my head. It was like...like he was trying to get into my head or…"

"Maybe that's his power," Kara reasoned. "He could be with my aunt's crazy army, actually…"

"But then he would be after you, wouldn't he?" Anais didn't know a lot about Kara's aunt Astra - except that she was dead - but she thought the uncle Non would be more focused on getting Kara and not some stranger alien.

"Well, if we don't show these to the DEO then what are we going to do?" Kara's use of pronouns made Anais smile, but confused Kara. "What?"

"You want to help me figure out who this guy is?"

Kara thought this was an obvious thing but apparently not for Anais. "Yeah, why wouldn't I?"

Anais realized she was being ridiculous again. "Sorry," she came to take a seat on the couch. "I'm not used...all this…"

"I noticed," Kara gently smiled at her. "But here we are now, so...what's our plan?"

Anais took back her cellphone and swiped through the pictures again. She'd examined them so many times since she'd taken the pictures but there wasn't anything she recognized. She'd only met a handful of people in her time with her adoptive parents so...she doubted she actually knew him. "Maybe he knows me…" she started to reason. "He was doing that same trick on me at the mall. He picked me for a reason, right?"

"Maybe," Kara shrugged and leaned against the couch.

A smirk spread across Anais' face suddenly so Kara concluded she'd come up with a plan. "What are you going to do?"

"Let him know that I got him," Anais' cryptic answer wasn't very helpful for Kara...until the next morning.

~ 0 ~

"Why are you in my office when I am trying to write up one of my best articles?" Cat Grant removed her glasses and gave Anais a warning look. "I just finished throwing out an annoyingly persistent Siobhan Smythe out yet again so whatever you have, it better be good."

Anais had to watch herself not to rock on her feet. She'd come in with the intention of solidifying her job opportunity and acting like an excited child was not the way to do it. "I have some pictures that might help you with another story…"

Cat was never one to turn away a potential story, even when it was coming from someone who wasn't an employee. "Don't tell me, you've gotten a picture of Golden Girl?"

Anais inwardly groaned. I am not Golden Girl. "No, but—"

Cat lost interest immediately. "Well—" she put her glasses back on, "—then you can find your way out-"

Anais rolled her eyes and dropped the pictures she'd taken of the stranger-man onto Cat's desk. "You may have yourself a new hero on your hands, or enemy."

Cat gazed down at the photographs and raised an eyebrow at them. "A civilian flying?"

Anais gave a curt nod. "Had a streak of luck, but...I'm pretty sure I saw him running away from something...or someone…"

Cat picked up one of the photographs and examined it. The man, dressed in civilian clothes, was aiming for the sky but there were no recognizable features on him. "There's no other witnesses to this man?"

"Not that I know of but...he might show up again," Anais was certain of that. Things would pick up if Cat decided to publish the photographs for the public to see."

"Well, it's no Golden Girl—" Anais cringed but let Cat continue, "—but it is something valuable." Cat removed her glasses again and looked Anais over, making the blonde alien very self-conscious. "I think you and Olsen can get me that Golden Girl picture by the end of the week." She made a motion for Anais to leave her alone.

"Th-thank you…" Anais followed the motion and turned around, making a quick stride out of the office.

Kara was waiting - and acting as if she hadn't been listening all along - by her desk. "Soooo?"

Anais was very careful not to squeal - she'd have to hold that in until she was up in their secret base, or at the very least the elevator. "I got the job!"

"Oh I'm so happy!" Kara gave her a big hug. "Now we can work together and live together! It's going to be a lot of fun!"

"One thing is urgent though," Anais got very serious all of a sudden, making Kara pause in her cheering. "I need to give Cat a better name than 'Golden Girl'."

Kara couldn't help but laugh again.

#ocappreciation #arrowverseocs #supergirl #winn schott #fd: supergirl #supergirl imagines #supergirl fics #winn schott imagines #winn schott fics #supergirl imagine #oc: Anais Mjorkland #fic: sweet ambitions

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saiilorstars · 3 years

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Sweet Ambitions

Ch.4: Worlds Apart (Pt.1)

Story Masterlist // Anais’ Masterlist // Masterlist of other OCs

Fandom: Supergirl // Pairing: Winn Schott x OFC

Summary: Anais meets a strange man who claims to be from another universe. Barry Allen also turns out to be a speedster which is luckily quite needed when Livewire and newcomer Silver Banshee decide to terrorize the city.

A/N: This chapter (and the next) is a crossover with my Flash fic Rise Up

Taglist: @ocfairygodmother @anotherunreadblog @maaaaarveeeeel @stareyedplanet @perfectlystiles

[If you’d like to be added to this specific OC’s stories/edits, send me a message!]

Anais sat against her bedhead scrolling back and forth between the pictures she had of that strange man following her earlier in the week. It'd been two days since she'd snapped the pictures and since then Anais couldn't shake the feeling of being followed no matter where she went. It was difficult to start a new life with a stalker but it wasn't going to stop her anytime soon.

The cellphone in her hand went off, flashing the ID of her mother. "Hi, Mom," she greeted in a way that would throw off her mother from any suspicions of a problem.

"Hi sweetheart!" her mother was cheery by default. "I didn't know if it was too early to call but—"

"No, I'm due at work in about thirty minutes," Anais reminded.

"Yes! At your brand new job!" Her mother laughed in excitement despite the news being kind of old now.

Anais still smiled though. Her parents were incredibly proud of her that she'd managed to snag a job at one of the most important media places. "Yes, Mom, I know. Please don't do that when you come by."

Her mother laughed. "I will try my hardest but you know your father. He's even happier than I am!"

"Was there something you needed, Mom? Not to be rude or anything but...I have to get to work in a bit, remember?"

"No, uh, no...well…" her mother took a suspicious pause, "...you do remember that your father and I will be stopping by the day after tomorrow?"

"Believe me I have not forgotten," Anais promised her. Her eyes roamed her pretty desolate bedroom she'd yet to furnish.

"We just want to check up on you, sweetheart," her mother said, knowing well where her daughter's thoughts were. "We just want to make sure you're stable and that you're not over-exerting yourself at the DEO."

"Trust me mother, I'm not," Anais hated to repeat herself but if it was what her parents needed so that they wouldn't be around all the time, so be it.

"Well, take care of yourself, then," her mother said. "And just to let you know, your godparents are already in the city so you be sure to give them a call to get together."

Anais tilted her head back and brought a hand up to her forehead. My God I love you, Mom, but why? She should be used to her parents' over protectiveness, really. "Yes, Mom, I will."

With that, she ended the call.

She got out of bed and set her hands on her hips. "Oh Mom." She quickly sped around the room to make her bed - which was comprised of some of Kara's old sheets and covers - and went into the shower. In less than two minutes she was showered, dressed and hair-dryed. Her breakfast came in the form cereal, a banana, cookies and possibly the entire box of donuts Kara recently bought yesterday.

"You're going to buy more donuts on your way back from work," Kara warned when the two walked out the CatCo. elevator together. "You know I like eating the sprinkle donuts after work."

"Only took me a week but yeah, I learned," Anais chuckled. "Just take a quick cupcake out of that—" she nodded to the white box Kara held in her hands, "—and hold on until tonight."

Kara's snort was rather loud, making her the object of attention in the room. "I may be bulletproof but Cat Grant scares me sometimes."

It was Anais' turn to laugh. While only working for Cat two days, she learned that the woman did have quite an attitude that wasn't good for the faint hearted. Still, it made the working experience all the more interesting.

"Better get these to her right now," Kara went around Anais and headed into Cat's office.

Anais stopped by Winn's desk before going to her own which was closer to James' office. "Hey, what did the DEO say about...you know…?"

Winn put down a pen he'd been mindlessly twirling between his fingers. His face expression was enough to deduce things weren't alright. The DEO had played host to his girlfriend Siobhan Smythe who'd suddenly garnered the ability to scream loud enough to save herself from dying after accidentally falling over a rooftop.

"They said she wasn't alien," Winn started off with, his voice hushed so no one but them would hear. "Her DNA came back 100% human."

"So then how the hell did she get this ability to scream so powerfully?"

"The doctors didn't know," Winn rested his cheek against his hand. "I'm so confused about what's happening."

"I'd be too if my girlfriend suddenly turned into a banshee."

Winn blinked at her. "A what?"

Anais shrugged the term off. "A banshee. C'mon, you've never heard the stories? The Irish mythology says that a banshee is like a spirit with this killer shriek. Sorry Winn," her smirk wasn't really apologetic, Winn noted, "But your girlfriend is a banshee."

"You don't look so apologetic," his frown was a source of amusement for her.

She gave him a mock salute and headed for James' office. She was due for a new assignment and was itching to find out what it was. "Morning," she made a show of knocking as she opened the door.

"Morning," James greeted her with a kind smile. It was charming, which allowed Anais to see what Kara saw in him. Because yeah, after a week, it was also fairly easy to see Kara was in love with him. It was also easy to see James felt the same.

"So, you have an assignment for me?"

"Well, apart from the whole Golden Girl picture—"

"Not Golden Girl," Anais made a wave of her hand. "I'm so not Golden Girl."

James chuckled. "I know, but...Cat is grilling me for a picture. But, since I know that's not going to happen for a while, I thought you would like to snap pictures of a crime scene that led to the admittance of patients into the hospital due to an interesting condition."

"How do you mean interesting?" Anais crossed her arms.

"Well, the story goes these patients were admitted with electrical imbalances in the brain. It was out in the public and the scene is still scratched off as a crime scene, so…"

"Perfect opportunity to snap some pictures," Anais understood the mission, though she was still curious of the reason for the patients' condition. "Is there any leads for the case?"

James gave a shrug of his shoulders. "NCPD hasn't released anything yet. Sure we'll get something as the day goes by."

"Okay," Anais started out the office when James called her again.

"Cameras should be in, by the way."

"Ah, you know I wanted to use the one my parents bought me," Anais smiled at his intentions but there was no way she would ever leave her first camera.

"Just saying in case you wanted to be the same as the other employees…"

"Well, you and I both know that I'm nowhere near the same as the other employees," she winked at him and headed out.

Before she could reach her desk, however, she felt that same tickle in her mind again. She frowned and looked out the window. The stranger hadn't shown up again since the first time, but of course he would return. It was what Anais intended on when she gave Cat the pictures of him.

"Where are you going?" Both Kara and Winn called to her after seeing her rush to the elevator.

"Just need something outside! Be back in a bit!" she flashed them a smile just as the elevator doors slid shut. She was going straight for the rooftop, unfortunately missing the new visitor CatCo. had after the elevator opened up again in the office. She intended on finding the stranger up in the sky somewhere.

She made a quick stride across the rooftop and looked below to find no one. "I know you're out here! Don't make me search for you like I have all the time in the world!" Her calls were in vain, for no one came.

She closed her eyes and allowed a glowing orange energy mask the her face. If she was going to fly then she needed to be covered up in case any civilian caught her. With that, she rose into the air and scanned the other rooftops, as well as the streets below. Suddenly, there was a terrible wail from below - within the building - that made Anais cover her ears. She strained to keep herself in the air but when she heard glass shatter she knew someone would need her help.

Unfortunately, she knew the person who'd crashed through CatCo's wall.

"KARA!" she screamed and moved to catch her. Just as she was about to move down, something orange zipped across the street and up the building. It snatched Kara in her fall and left with her.

Anais remained in the air, now more confused than ever. "What?" she scratched the side of her head. Without hesitating, she pulled out her phone and snapped the best pictures she could of that lightning. She and Winn would definitely be going over them.

~ 0 ~

Kara didn't know what happened. One moment, Siobhan had come raging into the office and screaming that sent Kara out the glass window...and now she was suddenly in the outskirts of the city thanks to an orange blob.

Said orange blob turned out to be red, and in a suit. It was a man in a red suit who stopped her from falling yet had somehow made her catch on fire. Once she was on her feet she did her best to gather herself together. Now that Siobhan had acted out, she would need to be taken in...though by who? The police were no longer equipped to bring her into custody with those powers. It would become a DEO problem no doubt.

"You don't seem that bothered by the fact that you're on fire," the man's voice pulled her back to the present.

She looked down at herself and saw her shirt was still billowing flames. She gave it a careless pat and turned to him, rather confused with his presence. "I didn't need you to save me."

The man chuckled at her words. "You just fell from a skyscraper. So if I hadn't been there, you would have gone splat."

Kara's mind was back at CatCo. where she was sure the others were probably going out of their minds trying to find her body. At the very least, Siobhan was making an escape and it could be very difficult. "I have to get back to the city." She jumped into the air, leaving behind her clothes to become Supergirl. However, she noticed the same orange-gold flicker rushing below on ground, almost to her pace. She came to a stop and started to lower herself down, meeting the man yet again.

"How did you do that?" the man asked after catching up to her. "You're a meta too?"

Kara was completely lost. Was he seriously asking her who she was? She didn't expect to be worldwide recognized but at the very least she would've been mentioned. "I'm Supergirl," she said in a manner that seemed like it should be enough explanation. And it really should be.

It would have been if the man belonged to her world.

"You're who now?" he looked the woman over, still unsure of how she had changed from day clothes to a...costume?

"How did you save me?" Supergirl inquired, suddenly realizing he'd managed to grab her off a building like it was nothing.

"Well I... Y... You fell out a window and I... I caught you and... ran you... all the way out here-" he realized they were practically in the middle of nowhere, "-which I did NOT not mean to do but I've been working on my speed and...guess I'm faster than I thought."

"Clearly," Supergirl admitted. "But who are you?" She'd never seen that suit anywhere and she figured she'd remember it. It was all red except for the white emblem on the chest with s lightning bolt. "Wait a second, are you the one who's been stalking Anais?" her eyes narrowed on at him.

Red alert. This time it was the man's turn to say his name and think it was enough explanation. "I'm The Flash."

Supergirl did not blink. "The who now?"

"Wait, do you not know who I am?"

"Should I?"

"What about the Azalea?"

Supergirl questioned it with a look and shrugged. Wasn't that a flower?

"Green Arrow?"

No winner.

"Black Canary? Black Orchid? The Tempest?" Barry was getting more and more distraught seeing none of those names were familiar. "Firestorm? Atom? Datura? Zoom?"

"Sorry," Supergirl sheepishly smiled.

The man made the conclusion that he was not in the right place. One moment he was telling his friends he would be running even more and now suddenly he was somewhere far, far away. "Oh, boy. Not as sorry as I am." He removed his mask and released a big, weary sigh.

Kara took a moment to study him and see if maybe she knew him from somewhere (without the suit) and perhaps not recognize him too soon. Though his dark brown hair was a bit out of place from his cowl, and his green eyes were looking to the side in thought, Kara was sure she'd never seen him in her life. The red suit was just out of the question as well.

"Hey, I'm Barry Allen. I'm the fastest man alive. Also I think I am on the wrong Earth...and I'm gonna need your help."

~0~

Barry Allen had traveled to another world before, on purpose. It also included a sure way to return home. This time however, he had no idea where he was, nor how he would be returning to his own world. Luckily for Barry, Kara and her friends - who Barry had yet to meet - had a secret, small base in an abandoned office inside the building where Supergirl, known as Kara to the civilians, worked. Barry was quick to start searching for any familiar names he knew from his world who could help get him back home. He didn't even want to think what his friends would be thinking at the moment. Had he been gone for a couple minutes? Days? Years? Barry shook those thoughts out of his head.

He was sure his girlfriend would kill him if he was gone for years.

The door of the room burst opened and in came a woman with long, straight blonde hair and clear blue eyes. She could have passed as Kara's sister had it not been for her more yellow hair and paler skin. She stopped her skipping when she saw Barry at the computers.

"Anais!" Kara turned on her alien friend.

Anais's eyes were wide in a comically way. "Kara…?"

"Uh, Anais, let me explain," Kara cut in before things went further. She wasn't sure what Anais was thinking other than there was a strange man in their base. "Barry's the one who 'saved'—" she put quotation marks in the air, causing both women to momentarily laugh, "—me after Siobhan."

"I did," Barry made a face, but was not acknowledged.

"Also, he's from another world!"

"Universe," Barry corrected.

"Wait, wait," Anais pointed at him. "You're...you're from another universe? Like...like that multiverse theory thing Winn talked about the other day?" Winn had a lot of things to say and some of those things were not as interesting as he thought.

"Yes!" Kara exclaimed.

Anais took a moment to process this. She'd seen the lightning streak coming back into the city, and since Supergirl followed out of her own accord, Anais figured there was no danger. It allowed her to come back to the offices much more calm and headed up to their base where she presumed Kara would be. She was not expecting that man, nor the news that other worlds existed.

Wait, a second...did he just say he was…?

"And so, from this other world you're...fast?"

"Oh!" Kara made the connection. "He's just like you!"

Anais had doubt on her face. She placed a hand on her hip and looked Barry up and down. "I'm probably faster."

Barry didn't take this so well. "Hey! I don't know who you are but—"

"Thank God you don't," Anais said, just a tad wide-eyed. Oh my God she had to be dreaming but... this was too crazy even for her.

Anais cleared her throat, getting serious. So, this wasn't a dream. This was happening. "And let me guess? Not going so well?"

"Nope! You guys have Central City but you don't have S.T.A.R. Labs. No Cisco Ramon, no Harrison Wells, no Caitlin Snow. Nobody who's gonna be able to help me get back home," Barry leaned away from the computer, dejectedly. "I don't even see a Belén Palayta anywhere on this thing. That's the real downer here." Having his girlfriend around would make things ten times better...even if she wouldn't know him because this was, after all, a different universe. He was already dealing with angry doppelgangers.

He missed Anais' small smile.

"Hey!" Winn burst into the room along with James. "Kara, are you alright?" they knew she had to have been with her powers but the fact Supergirl hadn't made an appearance right away was what made them worry perhaps not everything was okay.

Kara nodded reassuringly at them. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. What happened to Siobhan?"

"Oh, well, after she went all Mariah Carey on you, she just split," Winn made a nod to the side.

"Told you she was a banshee," Anais flashed a smirk his way which didn't help him at all. Winn pointed at her, hoping she wouldn't say more.

"Oh, so we both have Mariah Carey. That's something," they heard Barry say.

James threw him a suspicious look. "Who are you?"

"Hey, sorry, I'm Barry Allen," Barry got up from his chair and went to shake hands with him.

"James Olsen. And this is Winn."

"Uh, you guys…" Kara laughed at the impossible thing she was about to repeat. "I'm not quite sure how to tell you this—well, I do know how to tell you, I just—"

James cleared his throat, hoping to get her to move on. "Kara?" Barry grinned because Kara sounded like she usually talked, or rambled, more than necessary. It reminded him of his girlfriend.

"Yeah, right, sorry," Kara shook herself to get back on track. "Uh, Barry... ...is from another universe."

Anais rolled her eyes at him. "To be fair, half the science things you say sound kind of warped to me."

Winn didn't seem very amused by her comment, much less when James and Kara nodded in agreement. "You guys are bad friends."

Barry couldn't help but think of Cisco right at that moment. "It's true."

"I still can't believe it. And I'm from another planet," Kara laughed.

Barry's head whipped in her direction almost instantly. "What?"

"Oh, yeah. She's an alien," Winn pointed at Kara like Barry already was unable to see her. "And so is Anais."

"Thank you for that disclosure, Winn," Anais pursed her lips together and was subjected to a crazed look from Barry too.

"What do you mean by 'this Earth'?" James asked.

"Ooo!" Winn once more pointed excitedly. "Oh, yeah. One where all of us are evil!"

Barry turned back, completely scowling. "Been there. Girlfriend was evil, best friends were evil so...it sucks."

"That cannot be fun," Winn scrunched his face.

"You have a girlfriend?" Anais asked with eyebrows raised together like she was suspicious.

"So, theoretically speaking, or not so in your case," Anais gestured to him, "If someone were to go...impossibly fast...it's possible to open, like, a breach, and then travel between worlds?"

"Yes."

"There's alien speedsters too...cool," Barry felt like his head would be spinning soon if they kept dropping more alien facts about themselves.

"What about you, though? You're human," Anais leaned forwards with curiosity, "How did you get your powers? You weren't born with them, right?"

"Um, so, I was struck by lightning the same night a particle accelerator exploded. And I became a superhero," Barry explained and suddenly Anais laughed. Had he said something funny?

She stopped laughing when she noticed his serious face. "Oh, you were serious?"

"Kind of, yeah..."

"Sorry, aren't humans supposed to die if they get struck by lightning?" Anais looked to the others for some help.

"Livewire didn't do that," Winn reminded but Anais had no idea who that was.

"Yeah, but that was different," Kara acted as an intermediate for that," James' explanation didn't help her either.

"Let's just call it a miracle," Barry said before they entered some sort of argument.

"Still weird…" Anais tilted her head at him. "And so, you can just...pop back and forth between universes?"

"Well, don't worry. Don't worry at all because we're gonna help you," Kara backtracked to her friends, everyone onboard save a weary James.

"First things first, food. I have to consume about 10,000 calories a day…" Barry began but Anais finished for him.

"Because you burn through your calories incredibly fast, right?"

"Yes…"

"Mhm," Anais smiled her first genuine smile. Now like that, she seemed like a friendly person. "Believe me, Kara and I know places. Well, I know them because Kara knows them. I just moved here."

Kara hummed as ideas started invading her mind. "Mr. Sherbets?"

Anais quickly agreed. "Mr. Sherbets."

Barry looked between them, frankly their 'idea faces' scared him a bit. "What's a Mr—"

"Do you like donuts?" Kara asked.

"Who doesn't like donuts?"

"That settles it!" Anais beamed. "James, I'm taking a personal day!"

"Wait, what—" James didn't get to finish because the woman had already led Barry and Kara out.

~0~

Kara was heading for her desk to pick up her purse when Cat noticed her from her office.

"Ker-rah, you're alive," Cat called from her desk, merely raising her stark blue eyes from her laptop.

Kara had forgotten that everyone in the office had seen her crash through glass because of Siobhan. She hurried into Cat's office to explain. "Ms. Grant, don't worry, I was rescued…"

Anais, Barry, Winn and James followed Kara in just to back her up in case Cat asked too many questions.

Kara shot Anais a look but Anais innocently smiled back. There was no way in hell she was going to be fired anytime soon with these pictures.

Barry was staring at Anais in confusion. "Wait, your name…"

"This is huge!" Cat went on with her story. "I thought it would be Golden Girl but the color scheme is off. So it has to be direct competition for Golden Girl and Supergirl" she waved a hand in the air, practically seeing the headlines now.

Though no picture of Golden Girl was present, the city deduced she was a speedster of some sort. And by the city, it was really Cat who was giving out all the answers.

"He doesn't have to be because he's probably not," Anais chimed in. "He's not as fast...trust me."

"Um," Barry tilted his head in her way, offended. "I would think he is."

Anais remained with that innocent, yet tighter, smile. "I would think he's not. But I'm sure they're open to having a sidekick?"

"Why a sidekick!?" Barry erupted into a streak of alternatives so that they could both come out looking good in the eyes of this city. Why not an ally? Even a new partner, maybe!?" Cat loudly cleared her throat, making him stop. Her gaze was far too intense for him. "Speaking was the wrong choice, I see that now…"

Cat's eyebrow raised but it was still hard for him to decide what she was. Angry? Upset?

"All five of you standing there doing nothing, you look like the attractive yet non-threatening, racially diverse cast of a CW show," Cat then directed her gaze specifically on Barry. "Who are you?"

"Uh, he's my cousin," Anais quickly supplied and had the support of her friends. "Barry Allen. He's just visiting…"

"Mm," Cat gave the matter no importance. She snapped her fingers specifically at Anais and James. "I'm going to need a better image for this speedster. Preferably one that shows the face. Or is that also un-doable?" her eyes landed on Anais and James since she was still waiting for that picture of her Golden Girl.

"Consider it done," Anais said without a second doubt. James shook his head.

"Couple that with an exclusive on Golden Girl."

Anais faltered. "Consider...almost...done…"

How Barry missed his friend Cisco at the moment. Cat didn't possess his ability to give good names. "What about The Flash?" he decided to help her. "I'm just saying, I think that's a pretty cool superhero name. Right?"

Cat looked to the side and tested the name out. "The Flash? Sounds like someone whose only superpower is jumping out of an alley in a trench coat." Anais and Kara covered their mouths to hide their laughs while Barry resisted the urge to snap back. "No, I want mystery, I want intrigue, I want the Blur. Boys, be gone. Girl-" she pointed a perfectly manicured finger at Kara, "-stay."

"I'm getting donuts for tonight," Anais warned Kara as they left her in the office. "And cookies, and brownies - oh, and cupcakes!"

"Anais, what about that picture Cat wants?" James stopped her on her way to her desk just outside his office. "And you still have that crime scene I told you to check out."

"Um, well," Anais turned around fast that Barry bumped into her, "if Barry's willing then I can snap that easy-peasy no problem."

"Ah, I, uh...I guess?" Barry couldn't find a problem with that. He hoped to be out of the city (and the world) before people actually got to recognizing him.

"There we go!" Anais clapped and glanced at James again. "I should get the hospital thing done in five minutes tops too."

"You just started working here, you can't take personal time," Winn had to point out but then he got to thinking himself and entered a state of doubt. "...can we?"

"Please James, can I just go already?" she asked quieter. "I'll get the pictures, trust me."

In the end, James gave a small nod. He warned her to be careful, and that made Barry wonder if he should take offence or not. As if he could hurt a super-strong alien, or anyone else for that matter.

~0~

"She already got that posted?" Barry got to wondering who was the real speedster, them or Cat Grant.

"Oh yeah," Anais took a seat at the counter and waved a hand to get the attention of an employee. "She's fast like that when it comes to superhero claimage."

"So she's done it to you, then?"

"Eh…" Anais swayed her head, "I haven't really let her. It's not quite up to me yet to reveal myself to the city. It's up to the government and I guess my parents…"

Anais caught on to what he meant and chuckled. "Adoptive parents. They adopted me when I was really young."

Unknowingly, she got Barry to sympathize with her in that one second. "What happened?" he found himself asking before he could think it through. He regretted it when she answered.

"She, um, was murdered...by some humans…"

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…"

Anais' warm smile only made him feel somewhat less guilty. He knew exactly what it felt like when people asked him what happened to his parents and now here he was doing the same to this girl.

"You ate them already?" Miles blinked. "But she bought those last night. Between you and Kara you'll run us out of our stock!"

"Can you just...?" Anais felt her face warm up with embarrassment. The fact he had said that not so quietly made it worse for her. It didn't help when Miles said something more.

"I gotta give you bravery points for being so open about your big appetite on a date," his glance at Barry sent the two speedsters into stammering states.

"We are not on a date!" Anais practically shouted. "No thank you!"

"Yeah, I have a girlfriend!" Barry added on, loud and clear.

"Honestly, Miles, I'm calling the manager!"

Miles laughed but did ultimately apologize for his assumption and promised them some sweet cinnamon rolls on the house.

Anais shook her head. "Sorry about that," she said after Miles left. "Does your world also have the, uh, 'women and men can't be just friends' thing too?"

"I'm not," Anais reassured. "Total coincidence. And yeah, I get that you have a girlfriend. By now I'm sure the entire shop knows that."

"Sorry," Barry flushed and cleared his throat. "I just...wanted to make that clear...for everyone."

"Mission accomplished," Anais rested her elbows on the counter then put her chin over her palms. "It's not easy being in a world different to your own, huh?"

"He's doing it again," she whispered.

"Doing…" Barry checked the entrance but there was nothing significant about then. "Who's doing—"

Anais ran off, leaving him to call and chase after her (much like Winn had two days ago). She had stopped at the end of the street, but her eyes were scanning the streets, ears keenly tuned in to anything suspicious.

"What's going on?" Barry caught up with her and wondered if there was some sort of attack he wasn't seeing at the moment.

"I-I'm sorry, you should go back into the cafe shop," she said distractedly, taking a step forwards.

"Why? What's happening?"

Anais spotted the same figure running away from her, only this time the man started running. Before she took a step forwards, the man sped past her and Barry, causing a familiar force of wind to push them back. Barry barely had time to process there was another speedster with them when Anais took after this new speedster with her own speed.

"Maybe I haven't left Central City," Barry rubbed the back of his neck as he stared after the two speedsters. With nothing much but to help Anais in whatever he could, he raced after them.

Anais was in tuned to catching this man who, for some reason, thought she was his personal plaything. She could feel his presence in her mind in that form of a tickle. The whispers were faint despite her close to him. She was just behind him and yet nothing about his back seemed special. He was just another civilian by appearance.

The man went up a building, and despite Anais never truly learning how to do that in her time of training, she didn't hesitate to follow. Midway, however, she felt her balance going off. Before she knew it, she lost her way and plummeted down. Thankfully Barry had been right behind her and was able to catch her and continue with the way up to the rooftop.

"Are you alright?" he set her down on her feet but despite their impromptu chase, her gaze was still searching for that mysterious man.

"Yeah, I'm—OW!" she felt an immense pain jab at her head. She fell to her knees, hands clutching her head with her eyes shut.

Barry wasn't sure what was going on but he assumed it was that man making her feel that pain. He looked up and saw the man in the air, but the sun's rays were shadowing the man's appearance.

"He's in-in m-my head!" Anais cried, shaking her head as if it would shake off the pain.

Barry finally stopped when he had enough power and threw a lightning bolt at the man. He was mighty satisfied when it knocked the man backwards, electrifying him while he spun in the air.

"Oh my God..." Anais' voice made him turn around to see her slowly standing up. Her blonde hair was all over her face but she'd perfectly seen what he'd done. "How...how did you do that!?"

"Uuh..." Barry flushed at her awed face. "I...somebody taught me. Has no one taught you that?"

The man watched her for a second from the air then flew away.

"I really hate that guy," she swallowed hard then made a face as she tasted cement on her tongue.

"Who was he?" Barry helped her stand up.

"...I have no frikin idea," she glared at the sky, the man no longer being in sight.

~ 0 ~

When Kara called Anais to notify her presence, as well as Barry's, were needed at the DEO, Anais knew there was something new that was wrong in the city. It didn't take much to convince Barry to help them - it was apparently one of his jobs anyways.

"Wow, so...you're a dork too," Anais concluded with a shake of her head.

Barry stopped laughing momentarily to point and say, "You know, I get the feeling you and my girlfriend Belén would get along really well."

Anais smirked.

"Okay," Kara raised her hands to get their attention. "So here's the situation. There's a villain I foguht a while ago named Livewire. She escaped from our custody with the help of Siobhan—"

"The banshee that threw Kara out of CatCo.," Anais said for Barry's benefit. She then shot Winn an apologetic glance. He was taking Siobhan's new evil route a little hard.

"Yes," Kara continued on, "And now they're probably both about to have a vendetta against me and Cat. We're going to need a lot of help."

"Which is why I brought Barry over of course," Anais shrugged.

"And, actually, you said this place could help get me home," Barry pointed out and received a big, innocent smile in return.

"Supergirl?" a petite, dark-haired woman in black, emerged from the side and was flanked by several employees. Lucy Lane looked far different when she was in DEO uniform. "Anais? Who is this masked man? Alien?"

"Metahuman," Barry waved a hand, a bit nervous of all the 'guards' probably just waiting orders to take aim on him.

"Well, we have protocol for visitors at the DEO, Supergirl," Lucy said, still waiting for an explanation.

"Lucy, it's fine," Kara turned around, making a gesture for the guards to leave them. "He's here to help us find that Livewire woman."

Lucy turned her gaze into an even more authoritative one. "You were supposed to be in two hours ago for your training."

Anais opened her mouth as if to give a proper explanation for her tardiness, but at the end she closed it and smiled. "I was busy."

Barry pulled his hood off and waved once more. "Barry Allen."

"Lucy Lane. I hope you're bringing more to the table than just quick reflexes."

"Yeah. My sister's lab's right over there," Kara nodded and started leading the way.

"Wait, you have a sister?" Barry's voice did a high pitch much like a child would. "Where is she at?"

"I wish I knew," Kara admitted with a small sigh.

~ 0 ~

After getting introduced to the D.E.O's system, Barry got to work on helping Kara find her missing enemy. It turned out Winn was definitely Barry's friend, Cisco Ramon's, counterpart in this new world. God help him if the two men ever met each other.

"Guys," Anais' voice drew Barry, Kara and Winn in. She had just walked in with Lucy and James, the former looking very expectant.

"Isn't that kind of like, universal, for villains?" asked Anais with a faint trace of amusement. Barry nodded, smiling to himself.

"I'll authorize a drop team," Lucy turned to leave but Kara stopped her.

"No. No, no! She's too dangerous!" she stopped and motioned to Barry. "Let's go."

"What? Just like that?" frowned Anais. "You're not meant—"

"Barry!" Kara's voice went over Anais and anyone else who would speak up.

The speedster quickly got up from his chair and got ready to listen. "So, what's the plan?"

Kara had a plan alright. "Catch the bad girl, bring her back here so she can't hurt anyone. 85% chance of punching."

"Okay, that I get," Barry nodded. "But like, what's the plan? Maybe we can overload her somehow."

"Yeah," Winn remembered the last time they fought Livewire, "What about the Industrial Capacitor you were gonna trap her in last time?"

Kara quickly shot the idea down. "No, no. It went busto."

"Well, Dynamic Duo will build you a new one," Anais shrugged and clapped Winn on the shoulder, the man agreeing fairly fast.

"Kara…" Anais stepped forwards but the blonde Kryptonian suddenly pointed a warning finger at her to stay put.

"You're staying here!"

"But—"

"Barry, let's go!" Kara marched right out, leaving Anais with the words in her mouth. Barry awkwardly, and confusedly, followed after Kara.

"Lucy…" Anais turned to the woman in question pleadingly. "I can—"

But Lucy stopped her with a hand in front of Anais's face. "No, you're still in training." And with that, Lucy left her.

"What about the streets?" Anais planted herself on the chair next to Winn. "Can we see better from the streets?"

"Um…" Winn began to try and hack into the nearby camera streets but by that time, Livewire had already introduced her newest partner: Silver Banshee.

"Winn!" Anais went like it was his fault. "That's your psycho girlfriend!"

"It's not like I told her to become...weird...like that…" Winn couldn't even acknowledge the fact his girlfriend, or rather ex-girlfriend now, Siobhan, had turned evil.

"Banshees are evil in mythology," Anais reminded.

"Whatever she is, she needs to be taken in," Lucy's voice drew the two back to business.

It took about one second for the fight to actually begin, and unfortunately it was not going good for their side. Because Kara was unprepared, there was no strategy to use and Barry was out of his element. He had yet to meet a meta with a killer cry and simply didn't know this 'Livewire' could recharge herself with his powers like a battery. He could really use his own team right about now…

"They're getting creamed out there," Winn mumbled and looked to the side only to find Anais staring with wide eyes. Her face was panicked, unusually so, and so suddenly she was gone. "What? Where—"

Lucy had felt the small whip of wind and immediately knew what happened. "Anais!"

Out in the abandoned warehouse, Barry had just been thrown over a wooden box that crumbled with him. That one hurt. Silver Banshee's scream smacked Supergirl against the opposite wall. As the two were getting back, hopefully, on their feet, Livewire began a crazed hum between her lips. Lightning crackled around her hands as she made a round in the middle.

Siobhan, who now went by Silver Banshee, went to use her sonic scream but Anais drew an arm and released a bright blast of golden beam directly at her. Supergirl had finally gotten back on her feet and was awed yet worried for her friend who seemed a bit...out of it. Anais had an odd determination on her face that seemed to want to protect. Funny, she had only worked with Anais for a short while now and had never seen that face.

Livewire rolled on her back and attacked by surprise with a thunder blow that threw Anais away. There was a loud crash as the blonde hit the wall and fell over an already crumbling shelf.

"No!" Supergirl flew over to make sure Anais was fine and gave the perfect escape for Livewire and Silver Banshee.

~ 0 ~

Barry never knew he would meet someone who could outmatch his adoptive father in the 'parenty scolding lecture' thing until he saw Lucy Lane going at it with Anais. After returning to the D.E.O with Anais, the blonde woman was taken to the medbay and subjected to various tests and observations. It reminded Barry of his early days at STAR Labs where basically everything he did was recorded and observed.

"Hey," Kara met with Barry just outside the medbay. "How are you doing?"

"Well, aside from my eardrums ringing like church bells, I'm okay," Barry gave a light shrug of his shoulders. The injuries he'd gotten from hitting the walls and the furniture vanished by the time they returned.

Kara apologetically smiled at him. "I'm sorry I made you rush in on Livewire without a plan. I didn't know she was gonna have a cohort."

"How can you be so sure?"

"'Cause the same thing happened to me."

Kara blinked. "Really? So what finally fixed things?"

"Time. When you're used to fixing things with brute strength, or in my case, amazing speed, it's hard to accept that there are things out of our control."

Kara took a breath and nodded, hoping the words would stick by her for the next time she felt bad. With the silence between her and Barry, the increasing voices from the medbay started to carry over.

"We must inform them, Miss Lane," one of the examiners was saying while Anais, seemingly more panicked than ever, shouted 'no!'.

Lucy nodded her head, calm despite the mood over them. "Yes, I understand."

"No!" Anais jumped off the bed when the examiners began to leave with Lucy. "You can't do that!"

"I'm sorry Anais, it's out of my hands—" Lucy stumbled back when Anais sped around the room to snatch every clipboard holding her information. "Anais."

"You can't tell them," Anais insisted. "Th-they won't let me work with Supergirl if they know I went out before—"

"You were ready?" Lucy finished for her. "Well, you should have thought of that before you went out. I'm sorry." She gave the nod for the examiners to take back the clipboards and finally leave.

Anais rubbed her face when her arms became empty and stomped back to the bed.

"Anais, what's wrong?" Kara walked in with Barry behind her. "The yelling…?"

"She clearly got told she shouldn't have gone out," Barry said. "I know that. Went through it...still do…"

Anais gave him a small, sideways smile. "Yeah...you would…" Barry, in return, gave a questioning look at the way she had said...like she knew him.

Kara, on the other hand, didn't notice. All she knew was that her friend was in distress. "Anais, you shouldn't have gone out like that…"

"I know!" Anais threw her arms in the air. "And now that I have, my parents are going to be informed about it and...knowing my Dad, he's going to overreact and bring me back home."

"What's the problem if you went out?" asked Barry.

"I'm not technically supposed to go out until I finish training," Anais explained. "It's part of my contract with this place...with the government…"

"Why'd you go then if you knew you could get into this big of a trouble?"

"Because you were in trouble," Anais said, shrugging her shoulders. "You...guys...were hurt, and I had to help."

"This is my fault," Kara sighed and shook her head.

"It's not, I made the decision," Anais promised her and glanced at Barry. "And if I had to do it again I would. No doubt."

"You're such a good friend," Kara reached out and hugged her.

"Yeah I am," Anais smiled in agreement. She smiled specifically at Barry for a second before Winn came in.

"Are you alright?" he'd been barred from talking to her due to the fact she was rushed directly into the medbay. "I looked away for like a second and—"

"I'm sorry," Anais plopped down on the side of the medbed. "I just can't get anything right today."

"Tell us what?" chorused Kara and Winn.

Kara looked back at Barry for some confirmation. Barry gave a silent nod. She hurried to Anais side and set her hands on the woman's shoulders. "Anais, why didn't you say something?"

"I'm confused," Winn raised his index finger in the air. "Say something about what? Who did you chase?"

"And you went after him on your own!?" Winn exclaimed.

"I wasn't alone," Anais smiled a teary-eyed smile at Barry.

"And you don't have to be alone ever again," Kara reminded her. "Just because you moved here to be independent doesn't mean you have to take things up on your own."

"It's just difficult processing," Anais sniffed again, hoping to calm herself down. "I haven't even exposed myself to the city and I already have an enemy? That's got to be a record."

"Well, you know what, we'll double up on our training," Kara decided then. "If this guy wants to fight then he'll get a fight."

"Yeah, and you know what?" Winn came to Anais' other side on the bed. "Your suit's done," he whispered and proceeded to smile widely. "In case you wanted to take it out for a spin, or…"

Anais laughed as did Kara.

In that moment, watching the trio of friends converse over their course of plan, Barry really missed Belén and their friends. Being a world apart literally hurt his insides. I wonder what Belén is doing right now, he wondered. She'd been waiting to congratulate him at the end of his race and he'd strung himself into another world. His heart ached for his Bells.

#ocappreciation #arrowverseocs #supergirl #the flash #fd: supergirl #supergirl fics #supergirl imagines #winn schott fics #winn schott imagines #oc: Anais Mjorkland #fic: sweet ambitions

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