I was sitting outside of a restaurant, in a simple white dress and a black leather jacket, already ready for a date.

Barry zoomed up with a bouquet of roses, but they had catch on fire due to the speed he had been using. "Oh!"

I stood. "Oh, my..."

I took the bouquet, touching the flames on the flowers, drawing them into me, leaving the flowers barely harmed at all, but smoking. 

"Sorry," Barry told me.

I laughed. "It's all good."

"I didn't realize that roses were so flammable," Barry told me. "Oh, my gosh."

I chuckled. "At least they didn't ruin completely."

Barry smiled. "Yeah, 'cause you're here. Those are for you, by the way."

"Oh, I didn't realize," I told him sarcastically. Barry chuckled. "See, you're not the only one who can be a smartass all the time."

Barry smiled. "You... look like a dream."

I smiled. "You do, too."

We smiled, looking at each other for a moment. I bit my lip, wrapping my arms around his neck with the roses in hand, kissing him for a long moment. Barry placed a hand on my cheek, deepening the kiss.

We heard a rush of a speedster zooming past.

The flowers were ripped from my hand.

Barry and I pulled away, looking around in confusion.

Zoom appeared behind me, wrapping the stems of the roses around my neck, strangling me.

Flames appeared, wrapping around Barry, pulling him up into the sky.

Phoenix was using fire to fly, using the flames to dangle Barry so far up from the ground, the flames wrapped around him and burning him, making him scream.

Zoom spoke his demonic voice into my ear. "Everything you have will be ours."

I turned into fire to get him to let go, slipping over the concrete, returning to human form, kneeling on the ground.

Phoenix dropped Barry from the sky.

I reached out toward him with fire. "No!"

I caught him with fire, instantly putting him down and letting the fire fade.

It didn't matter that I had caught him. 

He had been burned alive.

Phoenix threw a ton worth of flames toward me, making the fire burn me alive.

~

I sat up in my bed at my loft in my room, gasping awake from the nightmare. I realized it was just a dream, breathing heavily, putting a hand to my head. 

Barry was lying next to me, woken, sitting up in concern. "Hey. You okay?"

I took a moment to catch my breath, nodding. "Yeah. I--I'm sorry."

Barry shook his head. "Don't be." We laid back down, his arm around me, my head on his chest. "It's okay. Just a dream."

I gazed off numbly. "Yeah."

~

At STAR Labs the next day, Cisco was getting us up to speed on another metahuman in Central City. "As some of you may well know, I've been deeply embroiled in a secret, one-sided battle with an invisible enemy."

"No, not the Turtle again," Caitlin told him.

"What?" Quinn asked. "What is the--Or who is the Turtle?"

"It's Cisco's white whale," Caitlin answered. 

"Half whale, half turtle?" Jay asked.

"No," Cisco answered. "Do you see what you're doing, Caitlin? Everybody's confused now."

"Get to it," Harrison told him.

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

Cisco played security footage.

Everyone in a bank seemed to freeze.

A man in a hoodie walked through the scene.

"So he can..." Caitlin trailed off. "What? Stop time?"

"No, no, no," Cisco answered. "Look at the time code. It's still running."

"Yeah, okay," I told them. "So if he's not stopping time, what is he doing?"

"He's slowing down everything around him," Cisco answered, pausing the footage. "And that is why we call him the Turtle."

"Why have you never mentioned this guy before?" Barry asked.

"Oh, I don't know," Cisco told us sarcastically. "I think we've just been a little distracted, you know, what with Captain Cold, and the Weather Wizard, and Gorilla Grodd. Do I need to go on?"

I smirked in amusement.

"Okay, so if we can catch him, figure out how he uses his powers..." Jay trailed off.

"Maybe we can show Zoom what life is like in the slow lane," Cisco told us.

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

"Well, the robberies in the videos all correspond with police reports that were dismissed as lost or missing items instead of thefts," Barry told us.

"The suspect's M.O. being..." Jay trailed off.

"Items of immense personal value," Barry answered, typing at the computer with zooming speed. "Uh... oh, it appears that there's a press conference at CCPD because the Vandervoort diamonds have just been recovered."

~

We got to the CCPD, as Flash and Pyra, where the press conference was in progress, in hiding up on the balcony, overlooking everything and everyone.

Captain David Singh was delivering the press conference. "And we're happy to report that the famed Vandervoort diamonds have been returned to their rightful owner."

Two men in suits were standing next to Singh.

One was holding the diamonds in a display box.

The other spoke. "The real gem is the return of my great-grandfather's ring. Getting that returned to the family is what's most priceless to me."

I saw the man in the hoodie from the security footage. "Barry."

Barry followed my gaze. 

Waves of energy spread from the Turtle, spreading to cover everything in the room.

Once it did, everything slowed so much nothing seemed to happen at all.

Barry zoomed toward him, but once he got into the wave of energy, he was slowed down immensely, too, but he was still going.

I shot fire through the wave. The fire ball was slowed down a great deal, but it still hit the Turtle from behind before he saw it coming, making him fall to the floor.

The wave disappeared. 

Everything returned to normal speed, including Barry, who zoomed way past the Turtle, toward where he had been a moment before.

The Turtle stood, holding his arms toward Barry and me, sending the waves toward us in full force. 

I could barely move through the wave, but I was able to form fire very, very, slowly, flying painstakingly slow toward the door.

The Turtle walked out of the other door, leaving. 

The wave disappeared.

Everything returned to normal speed.

I let the fire fade, landing on the floor, looking toward Barry across the precinct.

We both sighed.

~

We were back in the Cortex, in normal clothes.

"Well, the good news is whatever the Turtle did, it only affected you temporarily," Caitlin told us.

"Yo, what was it like being in Turtle time?" Cisco asked.

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

Barry nodded. "Very well put."

"Thank you," I told him.

Barry nodded. "Yep."

"That's exactly what was happening," Harrison told us. "He has the ability to transfer all the surrounding kinetic energy into himself."

"Leaving everyone else in a temporary state of potential energy," Jay told us.

Harrison nodded. "That's right."

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

"Your powers," Harrison answered. "Your powers allow you to change positions or forms faster than anyone else."

"So you can convert your stored potential energy back to kinetic energy," Quinn told us.

Harrison walked toward the door.

"Excuse me, where are you going?" Cisco asked. 

"Trying to figure out how to use this against Zoom," Harrison answered. "Then the only thing we'll have to worry about completely is Phoenix."

Harrison walked out, leaving.

Cisco sighed sarcastically. "'Cisco, please join me. We'll use your idea and take it to new scientific heights and save the world'. Yes, I'd love to!"

Cisco walked out, leaving.

Quinn, Caitlin and I smiled.

Jay and Barry smirked.

"Okay," Caitlin told us. "Facial recognition software found us a match from the press conference footage. The Turtle's name is Russell Glosson." She brought up his information on the screens. "He was a small-time thief who stopped thieving after the particle accelerator explosion."

"All right, I'm gonna head to work," Barry told us. "Catch Joe up. Let me know if you find anything else."

Barry walked away, leaving.

Jay walked into the infirmary.

Quinn looked confused, following. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Jay answered. "Yeah, it's just..." He cleared his throat. "It's hard to look at that... and not think about how I can't help people anymore."

Quinn sighed. "Yeah, I know. Me, too. But they have lots of technology here. Why don't we figure out how to get our powers back?"

~

Everyone was back in the Cortex.

Barry walked back in. "Hey, you guys got anything?"

"I think we found the next target for our 30-something, metahuman, not-a-ninja-Turtle," Cisco told us.

"How long did it take you to come up with that one?" I asked.

"It just came out of my mouth," Cisco told us. "Did you see that? That was amazing."

"That was nice," Caitlin told him.

"Central City Museum is hosting a special black tie event tonight showcasing 'The Crystal Ball'," Cisco told us.

"It's a famous painting, apparently, recently recovered from Markovia," Jay explained.

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

"Okay, yes," I told them. "This is a plan. So the Turtle will make his move, and we can be there waiting to take him down."

~

That night, Barry, Jay, Quinn and I were at the gala, Barry and Jay in tuxes, Quinn and me in floor-length dresses for the occasion. 

Barry sighed. "All right. Keep your eyes open for the Turtle. A sentence I never thought I would say."

We smiled.

I spoke into a mic on my dress subtly. "Caitlin, are you, Caitlin and Harry in position?"

"We're in the security feed," Caitlin told me. "We've got the facial recognition software running, so we'll be able to spot Turtle before he makes his move."

~

I was getting champagne.

Barry walked closer. "May I have this dance?"

I looked at him, smiling a small smile, placing down my drink. "I thought you'd never ask."

Barry took my hand, leading me to the dance floor. We danced slowly to the classical music.

Barry smiled a small smile. "I have spent most of my life feeling very unlucky."

"Yeah?" I asked. "And now?"

Barry smiled. "Feels like I've been struck by lightning twice."

"In a good way or a bad way?" I asked.

"In a very good way," Barry answered. He looked over my attire. "You... look... like a dream."

I managed a small smile. "You do, too."

I looked down, thinking about the nightmare.

Barry took a quiet breath. "I know that wasn't the first dream you had, Vera. And I know that it wasn't the last. Vera, you talk in your sleep some nights. And others you wake up screaming." I looked up. "If you want to tell me..."

I sighed. "For a long time, I never let anyone in. I guess old habits die hard, don't they?" Barry nodded understandingly. I bit my lip for a second, sighing. "The dreams... the nightmares... They're about Zoom and Phoenix killing you. And then killing me." Barry understood. "But it's not just us, Barry. Every dream's different. I've seen them kill Caitlin, Cisco... Joe, Iris... Jay, Quinn... Patty, Harry... Everyone."

Barry took this in, sighing, looking down. "I know you're worried about what they can do. I'm worried about it, too. But we'll deal with it, the same way that we deal with everything." I raised my gaze to meet his. "Together."

I nodded, seeing something behind him, seeing Patty in formal attire like the entire party, dancing, and Turtle behind her a distance away. "Barry."

Barry turned to follow my gaze.

"We've got eyes on Turtle," Cisco told us.

Barry and I walked away from the party to get into the Flyra suits, coming back.

Turtle started to take the painting.

Patty aimed a gun at Turtle. "CCPD! Freeze!" Turtle sent out waves of inertia, taking the gun from Patty. The crowd murmured, exclaiming. Everyone turned to see Turtle aiming the gun at Patty, running out, leaving. Patty didn't run. "Are you as fast as the Flash?"

"Oh, no," Barry answered. "He is much slower."

"This is a trap?" Turtle asked. "I'm slow, not stupid."

Turtle sent out waves of inertia, making everybody freeze, aiming the gun up at the chandelier, firing.

The chandelier slowly, slowly fell down toward Patty.

I was only able to move as slow, shooting fire toward the chandelier. 

Barry tried to zoom toward Turtle, but the inertia wave kept him moving slow.

Turtle walked out, leaving with the painting.

The fire I had shot reached the chandelier just as the chandelier was about to reach Patty, hitting it with such impact that it destroyed it completely, sparks falling over Patty and the floor.

The waves of inertia faded away.

Patty gasped in surprise.

Barry came to a stop, looking toward me up on the balcony.

We both sighed.

~

We all went back to the Cortex.

"No sign of Turtle," Jay told us.

"Or the painting," Quinn added.

"He, uh, he got way with it in the chaos," I told them.

Cisco looked at me. "Yeah, things went all sideways after your foster sister decided to go all 'Lethal Weapon' 1 through 4 on Turtle."

"We have to find out how Turtle drained me of my speed," Barry told us.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"I'm gonna go stop by Patty's house," I told them. "See if she's okay after tonight."

I walked toward the door.

"Finding Turtle is what's important, Mitchell," Harrison told me.

"Yeah, well, this is important to me, too, okay?" I asked. "Thanks."

I walked out, leaving.

~

I went to Patty's to see that the door was ajar, knocking. "Patty?" I opened the door, stepping inside, feeling that I stepped on something, looking at the floor to see three bullets on the floor. I knelt down to pick up one, whispering. "No, no, no, no, no. No." I stood. "Come on." I pulled out my phone, calling Barry. "Barry, um, I think the Turtle has Patty. I--Look, is everyone still at STAR Labs?"

"Yeah."

"Okay."

I hung up, running out of the door.

~

I was pacing in STAR labs with the others.

"Vera, we'll find her," Quinn told me.

"I'm not getting any leads on this guy," Cisco told us. "It's like he's totally fallen off the grid. You know, it--any of the stuff he's stolen, I can't find it."

I sat in a chair.

"He keeps them," Harrison told us. "He keeps them the way a serial killer collects trophies."

"He's stolen a lot of stuff," Caitlin told us.

"Which means he needs a lot of space to store it, right?" Jay asked. "That's where we start. See if he rented any storage spaces."

Cisco checked. "No, no. I'm not getting anything. Wait a minute. His ex-wife used to be an archivist for antiquities at the Naydel Library before it shut down, and it shut down three months after the accelerator exploded."

"That place is big enough to hold Turtle's stuff," Barry told us. 

I stood, walking closer. "Okay, all right."

"Wait, we haven't even figured out how to neutralize the Turtle's power," Caitlin told us.

I walked toward the suits, looking at them. "Have him focus on me while Barry gets Patty and gets out."

Barry shrugged. "Seems simple enough."

~

I used fire to fly to the library, letting it fade and landing on the ground.

Barry zoomed up next to me. "All right, we're outside the library."

"Barry, you can only save Patty if you grab her between each of the Turtle's pulses," Cisco told him.

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

"We got it," I told them.

We got into the library.

Patty was tied to a chair.

Turtle stuck a needle into Patty's arm.

Patty moaned in pain. "No!"

I used fire to fly toward Turtle. Turtle sent out waves of inertia to slow me down, walking closer. I was able to punch him in the face with fire, making him fall to the ground.

The waves faded.

I fell to the floor, the fire fading.

Barry zoomed to get Patty, zooming her outside.

Turtle stood, looking behind him to see that they were gone. "I guess you really are the heroes that everyone make you out to be."

I stood, sending out two blasts of fire out of either hand, making it seem like one by lining them up perfectly.

Turtle turned back, seeing the first and not the second, sending out the waves, slowing them both down. He was able to sidestep one, but once the blast ended, the second hit him in the chest with enough force throw him against the wall, making him fall to the floor. The waves faded completely. I walked closer to him, punching him in the head so hard to make him fall unconscious. I sighed, closing my eyes.

I walked outside.

Barry and Patty were outside.

Patty hugged Barry, pulling away. "Thank you." She turned to me. "Thank you." Patty and I hugged. "Thank you, whoever you are."

"It's okay," I told her. "It's okay."

I looked at Barry in relief, sighing heavily.

Barry nodded reassuringly.

~

The team was in the pipeline, looking inside to the nearest cell to see Turtle waking up, standing.

"Hey, Turtle," Barry told him. "So, you want to know my new definition of irony? Now you... are our most prized possession."

Turtle tried to use his waves, but they didn't get past the cell door.

I chuckled.

Caitlin closed the big door between us and him.

Turtle screamed.

Barry pulled his hood back.

I took off my mask.

"Patty okay?" Caitlin asked.

"I'll have to wait till tomorrow to find that out," I told them. Quinn walked out, leaving. I frowned in confusion, following. "Hey, Quinn."

Quinn stopped, turning to face me. "Yeah?"

"Are you good?" I asked. "It's just--You've seemed off since the gala."

Quinn sighed, leaning against the wall. "Yeah. I mean, um... Jay's sick." I walked closer. "I mean, he's really sick. Caitlin found that out while running more tests on us yesterday. And she told him this morning. And he told me tonight at the ball."

"I'm so sorry," I told her. "Is there a cure?"

"None that Caitlin can find," Quinn answered. "Harrison thinks that we didn't lose our powers due to being pulled through the singularity, but because of the fire that Phoenix was using against us. Which explains why she's so much more powerful than she was in our world, and why Zoom is so much more faster, too."

"You think Phoenix was able to take your powers?" I asked.

Quinn nodded. "Yeah, by using her fire power to siphon off of mine." I looked at her in concern. "So the only cure would to be to take them down, and get our powers back."

I nodded barely. "Then we will." Quinn looked at me. "We'll take them down. Together."

Quinn managed a small smile, nodding.

~

The next day, Barry and I walked into the CCPD.

Patty walked closer. "Hey, guys. Vera, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, uh, just here to run some samples from the fire department through Barry's database to find a new arsonist," I told her.

Patty nodded.

Barry looked between us. "I'll be up in my lab."

"All right," I told him. Barry walked up the stairs to his lab. I looked at Patty. "I heard about what happened to you. The night of the gala. Almost dying twice in one night?"

"Yeah," Patty answered, sighing. "I would have if it wasn't for the Flash and Pyra. They're amazing. You know, last night was the fourth time I met Pyra, and the third time I met the Flash."

I raised my eyebrows. "Really? I'm guessing that you didn't get an identity off of them?"

Patty chuckled. "No such luck."

"I just wanted to make sure that you're okay," I told her.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Patty answered. "There's just something that I wanna tell you."

"Okay," I told her. "Ominous."

"Vera, um..." Patty trailed off. "I'm leaving Central City."

I frowned in confusion. "What?"

"Um, before Mardon, and before my dad, before everything, I always wanted to be a CSI," Patty explained. "And four years ago, I was accepted into the Forensic Science program at Midway City University."

"That's a really great school," I told her. 

Patty nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Yeah, I know, I just, uh... I didn't go. You know, I deferred to become a cop and... catch my dad's killer. And I wanted to make sure that you were okay, after I heard about the fire that put you into the coma for nine months. And I've done that. So, um... so it's time to move on from Central City."

I nodded understandingly. "All right. But promise me something."

"Anything," Patty told me.

"Keep in touch," I told her.

Patty nodded. "Definitely."

Patty and I hugged.

"I'm happy for you," I told her.

"Thank you," Patty told me.

We pulled away.

Patty turned around, walking away, leaving.

I really was happy for her.

She deserved to get everything that she wanted.

And if she left...

Then maybe she would be safe.