⊱ ──────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ──────── ⊰

𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
did you ever hear about the girl who
got frozen?

⊱ ──────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ──────── ⊰

A LITTLE WHILE later, Juliet did indeed find herself wearing a dress — black tie event, after all. It was navy blue and strapless, decorated with flower designs and sparkles. The bottom half of the dress spread out into something more sheer so that her legs peeked through. She paired with black heels, and her hair was straight, cascading down her back.

The museum was bustling with people in fancy attire. Juliet, Barry, Jay, and Caitlin all entered, blending into place with their own tuxes and dresses.

Barry sighed. "All right. Keep your eyes open for the Turtle. A sentence I never thought I would say." He then extended her arm out to Juliet. "Would you care to join me, forever lover?"

Juliet grinned a little at him and tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow. "I would love to."

They walked through the museum. It was pretty, with all of the art and the glittering lights. Juliet smoothed her hand down her dress a bit, feeling the sparkles on her skin.

Barry leaned his head down closer to Juliet. "Have I told you tonight that you look like a dream?"

"I've been called, pretty, beautiful, and gorgeous ever since I stepped out of my apartment," Juliet replied. "Dream is a new one." She then reached up and pressed a kiss to his jaw. "You look handsome."

Barry nodded to the center portion of the room, where couples were dancing to classical music. "Do you want to dance? I want to talk to you."

"Sure," Juliet said.

They moved to the middle, which was the only open space. Barry put his hands on her waist and Juliet put his around his neck. She stared up at him, the familiar sensation of a racing heart coming back to her. Underneath the glittering string lights on the staircase, Barry looked quite angelic.

Her eyes trailed across his face. "Are you okay?"

"You're my favorite person in the whole world," Barry admitted. "I'm sorry I was hiding the nightmares. I just . . . I thought that if I said it out loud, it meant that it would be a possibility."

"It's not a possibility," Juliet insisted. "That newspaper in the Time Vault. Thawne was from the future, right? Gideon said Juliet Allen, and they probably knew about Zoom. It means I live." She held onto him a little tighter. "I promised you I'm not going anywhere. I tend to keep it."

"I just . . . losing you would be—"

"Blue like I've never known?" Juliet joked.

Barry shook his head. "What I'm trying to say is, I can't live without you." He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead, making her close her eyes in content. "I love you."

"I love you so much more."

"We've got eyes on Turtle," Cisco's voice echoed from the comms.

Juliet's eyes flew open, and she whirled around. Sure enough, the Turtle, wearing his coat with the hood, was removing the painting from the wall.

"Go," Juliet urged, looking up at him. "Your speed can work against him."

Barry nodded his head before walking off to get into his suit. The Turtle turned around, and Juliet stayed in her center spot. She glanced around for a moment to make sure nobody's eyes were on her before lifting up her hand by her side. However, she was too late. The Turtle turned back around, the painting in his hands, and stared at the crowd.

Juliet saw glimpses of him getting closer to her until he was standing right in front of her. She stared up at him strongly, trying to resist the urge for her eyes to glow red, because he couldn't know she was Scarlet. Barry in his suit suddenly sped to the top of the balcony.

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

Juliet didn't know what had happened, but the next thing she knew, her body slammed to the ground. She gasped in surprise and slight pain before picking her head up. Somehow, the Turtle had used something to make the chandelier fall from the ceiling, the very same one she had been standing underneath. Crystals shattered all over the floor, and underneath it was the crumpled figure of her boyfriend.

He took it for her.

Her eyes widened. "Barry." She pushed herself up and practically crawled over to him, not caring about the broken glass that was probably embedding in her skin. Juliet looked up at Caitlin and Jay. "Come on!"

Caitlin and Jay ran over to her. They put their hands on her shoulders, and Juliet put her hands on Barry. And with that, she teleported them away.

Barry had come to his senses not long after they got back to S.T.A.R. Labs, and even though he had a whole chandelier land on him, he seemed to be doing okay. Speed healing, she guessed. Juliet stood off to the side, her arms crossed over her chest as she watched Caitlin shine a flashlight into Barry's eyes. She was fine, too — she had healed herself from all the broken glass and bruises she got from being launched across the room.

"Your pupils are normal," Caitlin told him. "Your heart rate's a little low. But other than that, no concussive symptoms."

"I really do feel fine," Barry reassured her. "What about Turtle?"

"No sign of him," Harry answered.

"Or the painting," Jay added. "He, uh, must have gotten away with it in the chaos."

"Yeah, things went a little sideways," Cisco agreed, rounding around the desk of computers. "You okay, JJ?"

"I'm okay," Juliet responded, walking a little closer to Barry. "Nothing I couldn't handle. I'll probably head home and change real quick, though."

"Finding Turtle is what's important right now," Harry protested, seemingly shocked over her declaration.

She gave him a look. "Yeah, and I'd rather do that when I'm not wearing this. Fucking sue me."

Barry looked up at her. "You want me to come with you?"

"I'll be fine," Juliet responded. "I'll only be a few minutes, tops."

Barry seemed reluctant, but he nodded nonetheless. She pressed a kiss to the top of his head. Barry slightly leaned into it, and she held it there before pulling away. Juliet gave him a fleeting smile before letting the familiar tingling sensation spread throughout her body, and she teleported away.

Juliet landed in her bedroom of her apartment. She sighed, stepping closer to her closet to grab a change of clothes. Shame, really — this dress was pretty, but after having it on for a while, she was aching to get out of it. She reached up, taking off the small lightning bolt necklace she was wearing. It had been Barry's Christmas gift to her, and although she still wore her J necklace most of the time, she had decided to switch it up for tonight.

Suddenly, there were footsteps echoing through her apartment. Juliet froze, her head whipping over to her door. There was absolutely no way anyone else could be here right now. She had arrived alone, and her door was locked. The only people who had keys were Barry and Iris, but Barry could've sped right in. And she was sure Iris was somewhere else, maybe hanging out with Patty.

Juliet put down the necklace on her dresser and cautiously walked out of her bedroom into the main part of her apartment. She glanced around — nothing in her kitchen or her living room seemed out of the ordinary. And then her eyes set on the open door, and they widened.

She had locked her door before she left. That meant somebody had broken in.

Juliet went to move away, possibly teleport the fuck out of there, when she felt cold, hard metal make contact with her head. The circular shape of it, plus the metal, made her entire body freeze. She had a gun to her head. Juliet then noticed the looming figure behind her, one that must've been hiding in the shadows of the hallway.

"Don't move," the low voice of the Turtle ordered. "It'll all be over soon."

"Oh, fuck me," Juliet muttered.

Then the barrel of the gun made contact with her head, and Juliet got knocked out cold.

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WHEN SHE CAME to, Juliet was in a completely different place. Her eyes fluttered open, and then there came the pounding in her head. She tried lifting up her hand to touch her head so she could heal herself, but her hand wouldn't budge. Juliet glanced down to see she was bound to a chair.

Oh, awesome.

She glanced around the room, trying to make sense of where she was. Juliet seemed to be in some sort of large room, decorated with tables and cabinets. Multiple treasures — probably everything he stole — were littered all around.

Juliet slowly looked over. The Turtle was sitting at a table near her, typing on a typewriter. Well, there went the option of using her powers. Juliet could not risk letting a villain know her true identity. Yeah, it fucking sucked, and yeah, she wanted to throw an energy ball at him and get this done and over with, but she couldn't. Not to mention the Turtle would probably just use his own powers to stop her and get away. The only person who had a chance against him right now was Barry.

"You're awake," the Turtle stated, glancing up from typing.

"Great observation," Juliet commented sarcastically. "What am I doing here, exactly?"

"I want you to stop moving . . . forever."

"Well, since you kidnapped me, that probably means you're planning to kill me. Just, why, exactly?"

"Oh, I'm not gonna kill you," the Turtle voiced. "That's much too — fast and messy. I like to take things nice and slow."

"What point are you even trying to make?" Juliet asked.

"This isn't about hurting you. This is about hurting someone who values you."

Juliet kept her tone even. "Who are you talking about?"

"The Flash," the Turtle revealed.

"What does the Flash have to do with this?" Juliet continued, acting confused, because Barry had practically everything to do with this.

The Turtle stood up, walking closer to her. "I saw the way he saved you."

"Yeah, because I was standing under a fucking chandelier that you dropped. That's what he does. He's a hero — he saves people."

"That's a waste of time, saving people."

"I'd have to disagree with you," Juliet said, energy itching at her fingertips.

"They take everything for granted," the Turtle stated, his tone bitter.

Juliet tilted her head at him. "Is that why you always take the things that matter most to people? Because they take them for granted?"

"My wife Rosalyn took me for granted," the Turtle admitted. "She wanted to leave me — the thing I valued most."

"Wonder why," Juliet mumbled to herself before raising her voice. "So that's why you're doing all of this? Because you're hurt that your wife left you?"

"I couldn't let that happen."

Talk about not being able to take no for an answer, Juliet thought to herself.

The Turtle looked back at her, his eyes shining with madness. "So I made her mine. Forever."

He then pulled down a tarp. It revealed a glass cabinet, holding Rosalyn inside. Her eyes were shut, and she was pale — almost sickly looking. She stood there, completely frozen. Juliet's eyes widened, her heart lodging itself in her throat. The Turtle wanted to make her like that.

The Turtle picked up the card he had been typing on, pulled down another tarp to reveal another glass cabinet, and slotted the card inside. "I do hope I spelled your name right."

Juliet averted her gaze from the cabinets. Turtle went off to go get some medical supplies — probably for killing her nice and slow. Juliet slowly started to form a plan in her head. There was no doubt in her mind that Barry realized she was gone by now. After all, she had said she would only be a few minutes, and it had been way longer than that. If he was coming soon, Juliet could mind control the Turtle to stop him from killing her, and then Barry would power through his powers and knock him out. Sure, that meant the Turtle would probably know she was Scarlet, but they would get him to the pipeline before he started talking.

The Turtle put a box on the table next to her and picked up a needle. He turned to Juliet, who stared up at him strongly, her jaw clenched in anger. The Turtle bent down and started to look for a vein in her arm, and Juliet felt the rims of her eyes start to glow red as her mind started to connect with the Turtle's.

However, there came a crash outside the large room. The Turtle straightened up, staring in confusion. Juliet let her eyes go back to normal and the Turtle threw the needle to the side, standing up and getting ready for action. Barry's familiar yellow lightning illuminated the room. The Turtle must've used his powers, because the next thing Juliet saw, Barry was slumped on the floor, and the Turtle had moved. Barry groaned in pain and rolled over before speeding out of the room.

Juliet watched him go. She knew Barry had probably ran off to do something.

The Turtle turned around and walked back to Juliet, picking up a sharp knife. "I guess he doesn't care about you as much as I thought."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Juliet responded.

As if on cue, Barry sped back into the room at a much faster speed than before. Within the next second, Juliet watched the Turtle's body fly across the room and slam across the wall. Juliet blinked as she watched his body fall to the floor, now unconscious.

"Huh," Juliet voiced. She looked over at her boyfriend, who was breathing heavily with his hands on his knees. "Supersonic punch, baby?"

"Woo," Barry let out, finishing Cisco's legendary quote. He looked up at her. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." She watched him carefully as he picked up the knife and cut the binds she had on her wrists. "Are you okay?"

"I don't . . ." Barry suddenly stopped, his eyebrows knitting in confusion and his voice going soft. "I don't know."

Juliet frowned a little. She stood up from her chair and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him in close. Barry immediately put his arms around her waist, making her body become flush with his. She noticed that Barry was slightly shaking, and she held him a little tighter.

"Hey, I'm okay," Juliet told him. "Remember what I said? I'm not going anywhere." She pulled away slightly to look up at him, placing her hands on either side of his face. "Thank you for saving me."

"You hated being the damsel in distress, didn't you?" Barry inquired.

"Oh, no doubt."

Juliet teleported both her, Barry, and the Turtle back to S.T.A.R. Labs. She put the unconscious body of the Turtle into one of the cells Cisco had prepared. They all stood and watched him, waiting for him to wake up. Barry stood at the front of the group, pacing in his suit. Juliet stood off to the side, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, still in her dress.

The Turtle suddenly awoke, his eyes flying open. He stood up, glancing around in confusion at the cell he was in. As he did so, he locked eyes with Juliet. She merely raised an eyebrow, as if saying — hey bitch, you thought you could kill me.

"Hey, Turtle," Barry greeted as the Turtle felt around in the cell and tried to brute force his way out. "So you want to know my new definition of irony? Now you . . . are our most prized possession."

He glared at Barry before leaning forwards a bit. Juliet watched as green inertness came off of him and waves, but the cell blocked it from doing anything. The Turtle screamed in frustration as Cisco made the door close, locking him fully inside the pipeline.

Barry took off the suit of his hood and offered his hand to Juliet. "Pajama time?"

Juliet took his hand, locking their fingers together with a smile. "Yes, please."

〖 ϟ 〗

I know some of y'all are probably gonna be mad at me for making juliet the damsel in distress but LISTEN she cannot reveal her secret identity :) I think it's also a very important moment for barry's character to save her after having so many dreams of losing her

never fear, she'll get stronger <3