⊱ ──────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ──────── ⊰

𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗘

CHAPTER SEVEN
close to death

⊱ ──────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ──────── ⊰

JULIET'S EYES SLOWLY fluttered open. She was still laying in the bed of S.T.A.R. Labs, now wearing a shirt with the company name on it. Multiple machines were hooked up to her and her chest ached from where Caitlin had stuck the syringe in. She let out a groan as she rolled her head over.

"Easy, J," Barry instructed. "Your body's still healing you."

Cisco smiled down at her. "The materializing figure lives."

"You'd be dead if the energy inside your body hadn't sped up your lung cells' regeneration," Caitlin told her. "You might be able to heal yourself by touching where you got hurt, but your body can apparently also signal when something is wrong."

Juliet let out a tiny laugh. "I learn something new about these powers every day." She then winced in pain at the ache in her chest. "My chest burns like that one time Barry peer pressured me into trying a cigarette. Never again."

Barry scoffed. "You agreed to it."

"Yeah, and I hated every second of it."

He smirked. "What can I say? Teen me lived for danger."

"Teen you lived for the drop of new comic books," Juliet corrected.

His smirk faded as he stared at her incredulously. "You didn't have to expose me like that."

Caitlin still looked stern. "This isn't funny. You could've—"

"I'm okay, Caitlin," Juliet stated, giving her a small smile. "Trust me."

"Now that we have a sample, we'll get to work analyzing it, figure out the makeup of the poison, maybe get a clue as to his human identity," Dr. Wells announced.

Juliet then held her hands out to Barry. He took one and assisted her in sitting up, being careful not to hurt her even more. She swung her legs over the side of the bed. Juliet then touched her chest, making the ache go away and the pain to disappear.

"Or at least a way to stop him from turning into a mist," Cisco added. "The Mist. Okay, that's his name. End of discussion."

"Barry and I have to get back to the station," Juliet stated, now standing up and teleporting back into her normal clothes that Caitlin had brought for her.

"You should be resting, Juliet," Dr. Wells said.

"We have to talk to Joe about this."

Juliet then teleported and Barry ran back to the CCPD. They entered their lab together, only to see Joe sitting there, looking through some files.

"Joe, we had him," Barry immediately voiced. "The Metahuman. We were wrong. He's not controlling airborne toxins. He can literally transform himself into poison gas."

"That's new," Joe commented. He stood up and started to approach them. "The victim was a judge. We're going through some of her old cases to see if there's a connection."

Juliet frowned. "But we're too late. I wasn't powerful or fast enough to stop him."

"Focus on the job. Don't think about that right now."

Barry sighed. "You don't want to know what I'm thinking about." He walked over to the window and placed his hand on the box of evidence from his mom's case. Juliet watched him in concern and crossed her arms. "My dad has spent fourteen years in a six-by-eight-foot cell for a crime he didn't commit. I couldn't save my mom, but I can save him."

"Didn't I promise you that we would get your father out of prison together?" Joe asked.

"I don't need your help, Joe. I could be in and out of there with him before anyone even sees me."

Juliet raised an eyebrow. "That's not ethical, Barry, and you know it."

"Okay," Joe began. "You break him out of there. Then what? He's on the run for the rest of his life. And something tells me he's not as fast as you are."

"You don't know what it's like there," Barry argued.

"You think I don't understand what you're feeling? I have been a cop for almost as long as you've been alive. So you should know, putting on that suit does not make everybody safe. For every person you save, there's gonna be somebody you can't. And the hardest thing you're gonna have to face is not some monster out there with powers, it's gonna be that feeling of uselessness when you can't do anything. Or the guilt that weighs on you when you make a mistake." Joe then stood up. "Some things, Barry, you can't fight. Some things you just have to live with."

Joe then walked out of the lab. Juliet slowly approached Barry and stood next to him, leaning against the desk. She didn't say anything for a short while, allowing Barry to be lost in his thoughts while he stared at the floor. Finally, after about a minute, she spoke up.

"I know you want to break your dad out of prison, but you can't," Juliet said quietly. "As much as it hurts for me to say that, it's true."

Barry continued to stare at the floor. "Ever since I got my powers, all I've wanted to do is just run in there and get him out of that cell. But . . . I guess Joe's right."

"We're going to break your dad out of prison, Barry," Juliet told him sincerely. "The impossible is now the possible. He's going to come home. We just need time."

Barry looked down at her. "I wish time would speed up, then."

"I know. But things like these . . . we can't super speed or energy blast out of them. We have to re-evaluate everything and see things from different angles. All that I do know is that everything will turn out okay, though."

"And how do you know that?"

Juliet smiled. "Because we're Barry and Juliet. We can do anything."

Barry grinned back at her. He slung an arm across her shoulder and pulled her into a side hug. Juliet allowed him to do so, her heart racing against her chest from the close proximity.

Henry Allen was going to get the justice he deserved. Juliet knew it. They just had to be patient.

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WHEN JULIET WALKED into S.T.A.R. Labs the next day with Barry, the first thing that she noticed that it was kind of empty. Nobody was in the cortex, but when the two walked into one of the side rooms, they saw Caitlin sitting on the treadmill through the window, just staring at the floor.

"Let me try," Juliet told Barry quietly. "You know, girl talk. Plus, it was also me who she had to save yesterday."

Barry nodded. "Good luck."

Juliet walked into the room. The sounds of her shoes against the floor and the door shutting was quite loud against the deafening silence, but Juliet continued to approach Caitlin anyways.

"Mind if I join you?" Juliet questioned. Caitlin looked up and nodded, so Juliet sat down next to her. "I'm sorry, Caitlin. It was inconsiderate of me to just get up and go like that."

"It's all right," Caitlin replied. "You had to go, I get it. It's just . . . that was the last thing Ronnie said to me that night."

Juliet let out a deep breath. "I may not have experienced someone close to me dying, but I've watched someone go through that." She glanced out at the window for a second to see Barry pacing around the room. "Barry's mother died fourteen years ago. I have a knack for knowing what he's feeling without him saying anything, and vice versa. It's one of the things that makes us so close. But . . . he tries to hide it, but I know the pain comes back to him the further he tries to get away from it. He gets this look in his eyes and secludes himself." Juliet looked back over at Caitlin. "There's just some things you can't fight."

"I've been terrified of going down there for so long," Caitlin admitted.

"You don't have to do it alone," Juliet replied. "Barry and I could go with you, if you want."

She extended her hand out to Caitlin. Caitlin looked at it for a moment before finally grasping onto it. Juliet gave her a small smile, and the two of them stood up. They exited the treadmill room and got Barry before making their way down to the Particle Accelerator. Together, the three of them entered a place with lots of pipes and wires. Caitlin stopped in her tracks and stared at the large circle on the wall where Juliet presumed the Particle Accelerator was. Juliet stood back with Barry.

"He saved so many lives that day, and no one will ever know what he did," Caitlin voiced.

"We do," Barry responded as him and Juliet walked up on either side of Caitlin. "He was a hero."

Caitlin's eyes filled with tears. "I didn't want him to be a hero. I wanted him to be my husband."

Juliet extended her arms out to Caitlin. Caitlin accepted, and Juliet hugged her tightly. Barry placed a hand on Caitlin's shoulder to show his support as well.

"Barry, Juliet, Caitlin, you down there?" Cisco's voice then echoed, making the three of them part from each other. "You got to come look at this."

Juliet, Barry, and Caitlin then went back upstairs. When they arrived, they saw a molecule diagram on a large screen.

"Hey, check this out," Cisco ordered. The three of them walked over to him. "It's a 3D molecular model of the gas we retrieved from Juliet's lungs.

"We have identified the toxin," Dr. Wells added.

"Hydrogen cyanide?" Barry inquired, Juliet also recognizing the molecules on the screen.

"What's interesting is what's mixed in with the cyanide — a sedative."

Juliet's eyes widened in realization. "Oh my God, of course. We have to find out if anyone was executed on the night of the explosion."

"Why?" Dr. Wells asked as Caitlin walked off towards the computers.

She looked down at him. "The sedative that's mixed in with the gas? It's what's given to criminals on death row before they breathe in hydrogen cyanide in the gas chamber."

"That's right," Dr. Wells realized.

"There was someone executed," Caitlin announced, pulling up a news article with a picture of the guy on the screen. "Kyle Nimbus."

"That's him," Barry stated.

"He was a hit man for the Darbinyan Crime family. They turned on him and testified. Judge Theresa Howard was the judge at his trial. She sentenced him to death."

Juliet continued to stare at the picture of Nimbus. Everything was starting to make sense now.

"He must have been affected by the explosion while he was being gassed," Dr. Wells noted.

"Records indicate the execution was completed," Cisco revealed.

"And that's why there wasn't a DNA match in the system," Juliet said, glancing back at Caitlin. "The database only has records of people who are alive."

Dr. Wells nodded. "Right."

"He said there was one more person on his list," Barry revealed. He turned and pointed at Caitlin, and him and Juliet walked up to him. "Check the arrest record. Who caught him? That could be his next attack."

"Barry, Juliet, the lead detective . . ." Caitlin trailed off.

Juliet froze and her eyes widened further. Her heart felt like it literally plummeted to the pit of her stomach. Caitlin didn't even have to say the name. No, no . . .

"Shit," Juliet whispered. She scrambled for her phone and immediately called Joe. However, when she raised it to her ear, all it did was ring and then go to voicemail. "Come on, pick up, pick up."

It went on like that for about five minutes. Both Juliet and Barry continued to call Joe, but he wouldn't pick up. Finally, Juliet suggested they called Eddie. The two of them paced around the med bay as Barry put his phone on speaker so Juliet could hear the conversation.

"Eddie," Barry stated as the phone picked up.

"Barry, what's up?" Eddie questioned.

"Hey, do you know where Joe went? He's not picking up his cell."

"Uh, not sure."

"Please, Eddie, we need to know where he went," Juliet pleaded. "It's really important that we speak to him."

Eddie paused for a moment. "He went to Iron Heights to see your dad, Barry."

Barry then instantly hung up the phone. Juliet and him shared a worried glance. If Nimbus faced both Joe and Henry and managed to . . . she didn't even want to think about it.

"Juliet, Barry," Caitlin began softly, holding a small injection tool as they exited the med bay. "I reverse-engineered an antidote to the toxin. I hope you won't need it."

Barry took the syringe. Juliet then glanced over at her suit on the mannequin. They had saving to do. After getting in their suits, the two quickly left S.T.A.R. Labs.

"Juliet, Barry, I pulled up the specs on Iron Heights prison," Cisco told them. "It's maximum security, but I think I can talk you through breaking in there."

"Don't bother," Barry replied as Juliet finally teleported outside of the prison, staring up at the massive prison to wait for Barry. "I've been figuring out how to break into that place since I was eleven."

Juliet shrugged. She admired the dedication.

Barry then stopped next to her. Together, the two of them broke into Iron Heights undetected, thanks to their powers. When they got to the room where people could talk to the inmates, they saw a dead security guard, Henry Allen standing up behind the window, and Joe convulsing on the floor just like Juliet had done not too long ago. Juliet and Barry immediately sunk to their knees next to him.

"Use it," Juliet ordered.

Barry stuck the syringe into the side of Joe's neck. Instantly, he stopped convulsing. When Juliet glanced up at Henry, Barry starting vibrating his face so Henry wouldn't be able to recognize him. Meanwhile, Juliet willed the energy inside of her to make her eyes red so she wouldn't be as recognizable.

Joe looked at the two of them. "Go get him."

Barry grabbed Juliet before running the two of them out of there. They found Nimbus walking down the street and stopped in front of him. Barry put Juliet down and she held her hands at her side, ready to use her powers when the time was right.

"So you've come to finish what the gas chamber couldn't?" Nimbus inquired.

"You're going somewhere you can't hurt anyone ever again," Barry stated firmly.

"Wrong."

Nimbus turned into gas. It grew taller and larger. Juliet looked up at it, swallowing her fear.

"You two need to stay away from him," Caitlin instructed. "Do not breathe him in."

The cloud of gas approached Barry and Juliet. Instantly, she teleported and he ran away in small increments. They suddenly started to play a very dangerous game of tag.

"Easier said than done," Juliet responded.

Nimbus formed into a man again. Barry then ran straight at him, but Nimbus turned back into gas. He stopped running and Juliet teleported to his side.

"You can't fight him, you guys," Caitlin voiced. "Just . . . keep him coming at you. That should sap his strength."

"Gas is the least stable form of matter," Dr. Wells added. "This Metahuman will not be able to stay in his mist form for long, his particles will need to reform."

The green wave rapidly approached the two heroes. Their game of tag continued — Barry running, Juliet teleporting. Nimbus continued to stay in his gas form as the two moved away from him down the street. They stopped and looked back to see Nimbus turn back into a man for a second before going back to mist. The cloud approached them again, but this time, Barry and Juliet jumped to the side, rolling down the hill.

Nimbus stopped in front of them as Juliet and Barry stood up, wheezing heavily as he turned back into his human form. Juliet then summoned a ball of red energy in her hand and threw it at Nimbus, flying him back. He landed on his back and continued to wheeze, green gas expelling from his mouth. Juliet approached him with Barry right behind her. Nimbus looked up at them before closing his eyes.

"Barry," Dr. Wells said. "Juliet."

"We win," Barry announced.

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JULIET AND BARRY had decided to visit Joe in the hospital. However, the entirety of them sitting there, Joe hadn't woken up. And to be honest, Juliet was tired after using so much of her powers when fighting Nimbus, so naturally, her and Barry fell asleep in the chairs they had sat in. It felt like she had been sleeping for one minute when someone shook her shoulder. Her eyes opened to see Barry standing over her.

"Huh?" Juliet said sleepily. She then instantly woke up seeing Joe, and she stood up. "Oh, you're awake."

"It's been a while since I watched you two sleep," Joe said.

Juliet let out a small laugh. "Well, it's just so exhausting rescuing you."

"I really miss the ability to be able to ground you."

"Somehow, you still managed to ground me and Noelle even though we still lived with our parents some of the time," Juliet stated, walking up to Joe and taking one of his hands.

"You two were over my house so much that it was kind of a given, Jules."

"Fair enough."

Barry shrugged and took the other hand. "Sorry we went and grew up." He paused for a second. "I could have got my dad out of Iron Heights tonight."

"I know," Joe replied.

"But you and J were right. That's not the way."

Juliet smirked at him. "When am I ever wrong?"

Barry scoffed. "You are the worst."

Iris then walked in the room, Eddie right behind her. "Daddy."

"Oh," Joe let out as Iris hugged him. "Baby, I'm fine. Don't worry."

"We'll let you guys talk," Barry announced.

Juliet locked eyes with Iris for a quick moment. Her facial expression screamed help me, but Juliet sent her a reassuring nod. Juliet and Barry then left the room together.

"You think he's gonna kill them?" Barry asked.

"Oh, one hundred percent," Juliet answered. "And so we don't witness a murder . . . Big Belly Burger?"

"Only if you're paying."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

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juliet and caitlin >>>>> everyone else ever