⊱ ──────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ──────── ⊰

𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
run home to me

⊱ ──────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ──────── ⊰

JUST TO MAKE sure things didn't go south, Juliet went back to the West house with Joe and Iris. Thankfully, Wally offered her coffee, which she readily accepted.

Joe peered out of the curtains. "I can't believe he's coming here."

They all waited by the window, and Wally came back, juggling three mugs in his hand.

Joe took a mug. "Wally, thank you."

She accepted her mug. "You are a blessing, and I adore you."

"Don't mention it," Wally responded.

"Wait," Joe protested when Wally started to walk away. "I've been meaning to ask you. Uh . . . how are you feeling?"

"Tired, but fine, I guess."

"So you don't notice anything different?"

Wally's eyebrows knit in confusion. "Uh, no."

"I mean, I want you to know you can come and talk to me if you're scared or . . . you have questions about how your body's changing," Joe said.

Juliet shook her head. She sipped on her coffee and practically chugged it like it was fucking water.

"I think you're a little late for the puberty talk, dad," Wally told him. "I've seen the internet."

Joe chuckled. "Looks like I'm gonna have to do this the old-fashioned way."

He then extended his hand out and dropped his mug. However, Wally didn't react or anything, and the wall broke into pieces once it hit the floor.

Wally stared at him. "Are you okay?"

There was suddenly a loud clatter outside, followed by police sirens and an unfortunately familiar scream. Juliet turned back to the window, letting out a sigh. He was here.

"Wally, go upstairs," Joe ordered. "Please, go upstairs, now."

Iris waited until Wally left before turning to Joe. "Dad, do you really think that he's a Metahuman?"

"Well, he got zapped by the Particle Accelerator, and he was unconscious. It was worth a shot."

"I gave you that mug."

Joe looked out the curtains again. "He's coming."

Juliet looked out as well. Sure enough, Tony was clanking down the street, snarling loudly and looking extremely menacing. Juliet had gotten over her fear of him back when they defeated him the first time since she was more powerful now, but this wasn't Tony anymore. He was a literal zombie that could turn into metal. There was no telling exactly what he could do.

Juliet raised an eyebrow at Iris as she put in her earbud for comms. "I trust you."

Iris nodded. "And I trust you."

"You sure about this?" Joe added.

"You know what? Two minutes ago, I would've said yes, absolutely. But now . . ." Iris walked up to the door and opened it. "What the hell?"

And with that, she let the door click shut behind her.

Iris ran out onto the street and whistled to get his attention. "Tony! Hey!" He immediately stopped and looked at her. "Come on, over here."

She started to jog backwards. Tony followed her, and then Iris turned around, starting to run down the street.

"You getting towards S.T.A.R. Labs?" Joe asked on his phone.

"I'm on my way," Iris answered.

"Jules and I will meet you there." He then lowered his phone and started to shout. "Wally, stay here! I'll be right back!"

Juliet then extended her hand to Joe. "Ready?"

He took her hand. "Let's do it."

Juliet focused on the two of them, and the familiar tingling feeling came and went as they appeared back in the cortex. She quickly teleported into her suit, mask and all, before they went back downstairs to the basement where Cisco was. It was incredibly excruciating just standing and waiting for Iris to show up, but eventually, she did. Iris practically collapsed into Juliet's arm, breathing heavily from her run. Juliet held onto her tightly.

"Cisco!" Iris exclaimed.

"Is iZombie still behind you?" Cisco questioned.

"Good news is we lured Tony back to S.T.A.R. Labs," Joe told him.

"Bad news is we lured Tony back to S.T.A.R. Labs," Iris added.

"No, no, no, no, this is good," Cisco insisted. "Okay, uh, sidenote, you all might want to be on this side of the room, especially if you're wearing any jewelry or you have any metal plates in your body."

Iris stared at him. "Huh?"

"Excuse me?" Joe inquired.

Juliet shook her head. "I'm not even questioning it."

"The stray energy from the Accelerator reactivated Girder's brain — well, parts of it, anyway," Cisco explained. "So I disassembled our MRI machine to set up these electromagnets. So, when Girder walks through that door and gets caught in the field that they generate, it should disrupt the energy wave that turned him Abby Normal."

"Like wiping a hard drive," Iris voiced.

"Lah-kah-tah!"

Juliet then rounded around the whole machine and stood behind it. She glanced down, her palms igniting with red energy. She could do this. She could do this.

"Okay, now, I can only maintain full power for a few seconds, so I can't actually turn this on until he's in the room," Cisco stated.

As if on cue, Tony then walked into the room.

"There he is. Hi!"

He turned on the magnets. Instantly, they glowed blue, and electricity started to hum throughout the room. Tony growled, his metal going away to leave pale gray skin. However, the machines suddenly powered down, and electricity sparked from them.

"Why don't it look like it's working?" Joe asked.

"Because it's not," Cisco revealed.

Juliet's eyes widened. "Cisco!"

"Uh, let's get out of here."

Juliet held out her hand and concentrated on Tony. Her mind connected to his, and she wrenched his hand to the side, sending him flying into the wall. He crumpled to the ground with a groan and a scream of agony. It wouldn't last long, but at least it would distract him for now. She then held out her hands to everyone, and they all grabbed onto her arms before she teleported them out and back into the breach room.

"Plans A trough G did not work," Cisco announced to Harry and Henry, who had just wheeled Jesse's unconscious body into the room.

Joe shut the door behind them and locked it. "Do we have anything in here that can stop him? Jules?"

Juliet tried to control her spinning mind. "I — I don't know. I can try, but I can only do so much damage if he's made of metal. Maybe I can get into his brain and do what Cisco tried to do with the electromagnets?"

"That would take an immense amount of concentration," Harry replied. "Your brain would go into overload, and it would be too much for your body to handle."

"Okay, that doesn't sound too good." Juliet racked through her mind. "Last time, I held Tony in place while Barry did that supersonic punch shit. Only problem, I don't have super speed and I definitely don't have a supersonic punch."

"We need to get Barry back," Henry said.

"We tried that already, Dr. Allen," Harry argued.

Joe descended down the steps. "We need to try it again."

"Somebody needs to try something, that door's not gonna hold," Cisco protested.

Tony then punched the door twice, causing indents in the metal. The sound echoed throughout the room, and Juliet whipped around, her heart beating fast against her chest. He continued punching the door over and over again.

"I can teleport us out of here," Juliet offered. "But I have a feeling he'll just keep chasing."

"Or, if it's me that he wants, I'll just lead him away," Iris offered.

Joe stepped in her way. "No, you won't. You'll never even make it past that door. If he came back from the dead and still wants you, what makes you think he's gonna let you go now?"

"Wait," Cisco interrupted. "I saw Barry. He had this look. What if we couldn't get him out of the Speed Force because he didn't want to come back?" He turned around and grabbed the helmet. "Turn it on. We got to try again." Nobody said anything, and he raised his eyebrows. "Any of you got a better idea?"

"When you look into the Speed Force, can someone else see into it too?" Henry questioned.

"Well, as long as you're in physical contact with Ramon while he's vibing, then . . . yes," Harry answered.

"Let me do that. I can get Barry to come back."

"Wait," Juliet cut in, looking up at Henry pleadingly. "Let me go. Please."

Henry's eyes trailed across her face, his expression settling into one of understanding. He placed a hand on her arm, giving her a soft smile. Juliet then took off her mask and placed it on the table before walking up to Cisco. She gave him a nod, and he held out his hand, which she immediately latched onto.

Harry turned on the machine, and Cisco placed his hand on Barry's suit. Instantly, the two of them got surrounded by a swirling vortex of clouds and lightning. There was no solid figure, but Juliet could . . . feel him, if that made sense. She knew he was in there somewhere.

"Barry," Juliet began, speaking to nothing but emptiness. "Baby . . . you promised you would run home to me." She extended out her hand, hoping he was listening. "Please."

Finally, out of the clouds, his figure emerged. His suit was on, but his hood was down, and her heart leaped. After not seeing him for what felt like days, it finally felt like she was whole again. Juliet smiled at him, love shining in her eyes. He extended his hand out to her, and their fingertips brushed, making a jolt of electricity spark throughout her body.

Then their hands clasped, and Juliet's entire body ignited. The wind picked up, trying to force them away from each other, but Juliet tightened her grip. She wouldn't let him go — she would never let him go. They stared at each other for a long, long moment until—

Everything stopped. The clouds and lightning dissipated, and Barry lurched forwards, his hand slipping out of Juliet's grasp. Juliet immediately let go of Cisco's hand as he came out of his vibe, and she stared at her boyfriend in awe. He glanced around furiously, looking a little confused, until his gaze settled on her. His expression softened until he looked calm.

"Barry!" Henry exclaimed.

"J," Barry breathed out.

She immediately ran up to him, throwing her arms around his neck. Barry caught her and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, pulling her close to him. Instantly, they kissed, and everything started to make sense again. They continued kissing for an extremely long moment before they pulled away. He smiled — that same soft one that always seemed to be reserved just for her — and pressed their foreheads together.

"Thanks for coming home," Juliet said quietly.

"I'll always run home to you," Barry responded.

"I'm so glad you're back, 'cause we're about to die," Cisco revealed.

Barry picked his head up and looked at him in confusion, but still didn't put Juliet down. "Wait, what?"

Cisco jumped at the banging on the door. "So . . ."

"Girder," Harry supplied.

"Girder came back to life, and he's all Young Frankenstein now, and he only recognizes Iris, and she lured him to my workshop so we could demagnetize him, but the machine shorted out, and Juliet trying to stop him didn't work because he's metal, so he's about to come through that door and smush us all into chunky salsa and possibly eat our brains out. I don't now, jury's still our on that."

"Well, now that you're here, the two of us can just lure him back to Cisco's workshop while he and Harry work on turning the power back on," Juliet stated.

Barry set her down. "Fine by me."

"Plan H," Cisco and Harry chorused.

The banging on the door continued until finally, it was completely ripped off the hinges. Tony stood outside, a metal snarling mess, looking much angrier than before. His skin turned back to normal, but his gaze was locked on Iris.

Juliet elbowed Barry. "Meet you in the workshop?"

He nodded. Juliet instantly teleported away, leaving Barry to lure Tony away with Iris. Cisco and Harry arrived not long after, presumably because Barry was taking Tony the long way, and started to try and fix the machine. However, Barry then sped into the room with Iris when they were nowhere near done.

"I hope you're ready," Barry voiced. "He's almost here."

"Power needs at least two electromagnets, too much for this wiring to handle," Harry complained.

"We're gonna need a really big extension cord," Cisco added.

Juliet stepped forwards when Tony entered the room. "Team Distraction."

Barry bumped their shoulders together. "You and me."

"Let's fucking do it."

Tony instantly turned into metal and started swinging. Thankfully, Juliet teleported out of the way just in time. However, while Tony was distracted by Iris, Barry elbowed him. Tony swung backwards and set Barry flying into the wall.

"Ooh, okay," Juliet said. She held out her hand, concentrated on him, and did the exact same thing — just sent Tony absolutely flying into the wall. "Two can play at that game."

Tony got up like it was nothing and snarled at her. Barry then got up, placing a hand on Juliet's back. He glanced down at Juliet, a plan in his eyes. She immediately understood, giving him a nod. If they couldn't create energy with machines, they could use their powers for energy.

"Look, you were never my favorite person, but let's end this so you can finally rest," Barry told him.

He instantly started running around Tony in circled, his lightning lighting up the room. Juliet teleported over to the magnets and put her hands on them, her palms ignited with energy. She focused on moving her energy into the magnets, and with this combined with Barry, the magnets turned on within a few short moments.

Tony's body turned back to normal, and he gave one last look to Iris before slumping onto the floor, dead for real this time.

"Sorry," Barry said, his hands on his knees as he breathed heavily. "I got lost."

"Hey," Juliet stated. She walked up to him, slightly dizzy, and put a hand on his back. "We found you, though."

Harry immediately left to go check on Jesse. Juliet, Iris, and Cisco all told Barry what happened to her while he was gone, and they all moved back upstairs. They walked into the medbay to see Harry by Jesse's beside, holding her hand and staring blankly ahead. Barry squeezed Juliet's hand before letting go and walking around Jesse's bed to be on her other side. Juliet crossed her arms across her chest, leaning against the doorframe.

"Barry," Harry began once he noticed him. "You should rest. You don't need to be here."

"No, that's just it," Barry insisted. "I think I do."

Juliet tilted her head slightly. Barry touched Jesse's hand, and instantly, a flash of lightning made its way from his hand to hers. Jesse started to stir, her eyes fluttering open. Juliet's eyes widened. Okay, what?

"Hi," Jesse greeted. She then looked around. "How did I get here?"

Harry just leaned down and hugged her tightly, obviously grateful that she was back.

"How did you do that?" Henry inquired.

"Are you, like, magic now?" Cisco added.

"Did you know that was gonna happen?" Iris continued.

"Maybe," Barry answered. "It's hard to explain. It's . . ."

Harry looked at them, a knowing gaze on his face. "It's the Speed Force."

ϟ ···················· ϟ ···················· ϟ

BARRY NEVER USUALLY visited his mom's grave. So when he asked Juliet to come with him, she was a little confused, but accepted nonetheless.

They had spent the entire night together, since Juliet wasn't exactly keen on letting Barry out of her sight after whatever the fuck just happened. So the next morning, they got up together, Barry packed a bag, and they went to the graveyard in Central City. They held hands as they walked underneath an umbrella until they reached the grave that read NORA ALLEN. Barry handed off the umbrella to her and let go of her hand, slipping the backpack off of his shoulder.

"Joe offered to take me so many times," Barry stated, crouching down near the ground next to the grave and pulling out a bouquet of flowers. "I always found an excuse to say no." He placed the flowers down before taking the book The Runaway Dinosaur out of the backpack. "My mom and I read this when I was little." He put it down on the ground near the flowers. "Do you know it?"

Juliet nodded, a fond smile on her face. "It was Noelle's favorite. When we were little, and she got upset about our parents always being away even though they constantly reminded us that they loved us, this was the only thing that made her feel better."

Barry looked back up at her. "Can I tell you something?"

"You can tell me anything."

He stood back up and took the umbrella back, latching onto her hand with his free one. "I've wasted so much time in my life being angry about what I'd lost when I already had so much. My dad, Joe, Iris, Noelle . . . and you." Barry squeezed his hand. "I'm sorry it took me so long to realize that you've always been everything to me."

Her smile widened slightly. "You were worth the wait.

"The sound of your voice will always make me come running home." He moved his face a little closer to hers. "Forever lover."

Juliet then pressed up onto her toes and kissed him, and everything felt like home.

〖   ϟ   〗

not them chilling while caitlin is still missing hey guys let's maybe focus on that