FORTY-TWO
⊱ ──────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ──────── ⊰
𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗘
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
not her barry allen
⊱ ──────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ──────── ⊰
JULIET AND BARRY were doing everything in their power to try and prove that Eddie was innocent. It was proving to be hard to do, considering that there was video evidence that showed Eddie killing two cops, even though it wasn't Eddie — but nobody else but them knew that. Forensic evidence could only do so much against a video.
Barry, however, was taking his chances. He walked briskly up to the interrogation room that Eddie was in, Juliet trailing behind him. They entered to see Eddie sitting at the table with Cecile in front of him.
"The results of the GSR swab," Barry announced, handing Cecile the bag. "Detective Thawne's hands are completely free of lead, barium, and antimony."
"Yet no one can seem to explain how the surveillance video clearly shows Thawne firing his weapon," Cecile argued.
"It only looked like Detective Thawne."
"Mr. Allen, no. Aren't you and Ms. St. James supposed to be the scientists around here?"
Cecile walked past them, heading towards the door. Barry turned and went to say something to her, but Juliet put the back of her hand to his chest. He looked down at her, and she shook her head. There was no use.
Eddie sighed and stood up. "It's pretty hard to blame her. That video is pretty damning."
"No," Barry protested. "No, we just have to convince her."
"Seeing is believing, Barry. They're gonna put me away."
All of the sudden, there was a flash of yellow lightning. Juliet's hair flew up around her, and she blinked, only to see her standing by herself in the room. It was evident what Barry had done. He had taken Eddie so he could escape.
Juliet put her face in her hands. "Oh, dear God."
It was maybe a minute when the flash of yellow lightning that was Barry came back, setting Eddie down in the room again.
"Get me out of here the right way," Eddie stated.
"Oh, hear that?" Juliet asked, turning to her boyfriend and placing her hands on her hips. "He's using his brain."
"Enough," Barry said, taking her shoulders in his hands and practically steering her out of the room. "It would've been a good idea."
"It really wouldn't have been, but you can keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better."
With a goodbye kiss, Barry had gone back to home to shower and change. Juliet sat in her lab, watching the surveillance video of Bates as Eddie killing those two cops over, and over, and over again, so much that it was making her dizzy. They had to prove he was innocent. For him. For Iris.
Speaking of Iris, Juliet would receive a call about every twenty minutes asking for an update. And with a sinking heart, Juliet would have to tell her best friend that they had nothing new and were going to keep looking. It was always hard seeing Iris so upset.
Juliet then got a text from Caitlin, telling her to meet her and Barry at S.T.A.R. Labs. Apparently, she thought she could create some kind of serum that could stop Bates from transforming into other people. Juliet sighed, standing up from her desk and putting her phone in her pocket.
The very familiar tingling feeling spread throughout her body, and before she knew it, she was in the hallway outside of the cortex. Juliet walked into the cortex, but literally nothing could prepare her for the sight that she was met with.
"Okay, Cait, what did you — what the fuck?"
In the medbay, Barry had Caitlin pushed up against one of the tables, his lips on hers. Caitlin, her eyes still open, placed her hands on Barry's chest and shoved him away from her quickly, looking at Juliet in panic.
Juliet stood there like an idiot, her mouth opening and closing as she tried to find the words to say. She could feel each individual piece of her heart completely shatter away, and her mind was spinning, and it felt like everything was spinning out of control. The boy who said he loved her had just gone and kissed Caitlin out of nowhere? She knew Barry wouldn't do that, but it was right in front of her face.
Just like the surveillance video.
Somehow, someway, she knew this was Bates. Barry was always talking about how it was him and Juliet. Fate and destiny. Bates didn't know about their relationship, or how their relationship had grown, or the love that they had for each other. Juliet really wanted nothing more than to reach out her hand and throw him against the wall, but she couldn't show him that she had powers.
"Sorry, just a little shocked to run into that," Juliet said, her face falling back to its blank state. To Bates-Barry, it seemed normal, but to Caitlin, it looked eerily calm. "Didn't mean to intrude."
"Jules—" Caitlin began, her voice sad and panicked at the same time.
"No, no, carry on," Juliet insisted. "Get it out of your systems, I need to send a text real quick."
She turned back around and headed out into the hallway. Juliet let out a breath and leaned against the wall. The image of Barry and Caitlin kissing was practically burned in her mind, and it was really throwing her for a loop. She then pulled out her phone and opened up a text with Dr. Wells and typed Bates in the cortex, can't show my powers, help. Although she didn't really want to ask him due to their whole investigation on him, he was the only one who could really help them without Juliet's secret being revealed.
Suddenly, the sound of heels clicking got closer and closer to Juliet. She looked up from her phone, only to see Iris walking towards her.
Juliet pushed herself off of the wall and put her phone away. "Iris?"
"Hi, I have been looking for you and Barry everywhere," Iris voiced, taking Juliet's arm and pulling her back into the cortex with her.
"Here I am," Bates-Barry replied, and Juliet's eyes narrowed at him. She definitely couldn't do anything now with Iris here. "What's up?"
"Look, whoever is framing Eddie, I got to thinking. What if they've done something like this before? I went through CCPN's crime archives, and in the last eleven months, there have been six crimes committed by people who later swore that they were innocent."
Juliet glared harshly at Bates-Barry, watching his face fall at the information, because he had done it.
"None of them had priors, all of them had rock-solid alibis," Iris continued.
Bates-Barry shrugged. "All right."
"So . . ." Iris walked over to the computer, and they all followed her. Juliet crossed her arms across her chest, keeping a close eye on Bates-Barry in case he decided to act out. "I hacked into my dad's CCPD account, and went through the footage of Eddie shooting those cops. Look."
She typed for a minute, and the video that Juliet had watched so many times popped up on the screen. It played out just like every time she watched it. Juliet's jaw clenched, her fingers practically itching to release the energy that was inside of her.
Iris' eyes focused on Juliet, noticing her restless state. "What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing," Juliet answered, her gaze murderous. "I'm fine."
"I don't know, it seems pretty convincing to me," Bates-Barry admitted, and Juliet resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
"Look again," Iris urged. She played the video again. "Eddie is not left-handed. Look, Eddie is being framed, and we need to figure out who is behind this. And believe me, when I get my hands on them, they are going to be—"
Juliet's eyes did not leave Bates-Barry's figure once. He didn't seem to notice, and she watched as his left hand slid out of Barry's coat, holding a gun. Juliet's eyes widened and she lifted up her hand just a little, focusing on Bates-Barry's hand. Red energy traveled through her fingertips as she stopped his movement, but kept it discreet. Bates-Barry's eyebrows knit in confusion and tried to move his hand, never taking his eyes off of the screen, but couldn't because of Juliet.
And, finishing off the job, Dr. Wells rolled up and tased Bates-Barry with a taser gun. Juliet released her concentration on the hand and allowed his body to shock from the electricity, not feeling really anything. Bates-Barry let out a cry of pain and fell to the ground with a thud, passed out cold.
Juliet raised an eyebrow and stared down at him. "Good riddance."
Iris shot up from her chair. "Oh my God, what did you do?"
"Your observations about the shooter were spot on, Miss West," Dr. Wells told her. "He was indeed left-handed. As is this man. Our Barry . . . is right-handed."
Caitlin's head snapped over to Juliet. "Is that why you didn't freak out?"
Juliet shrugged. "I know Barry. That was not my Barry Allen." She looked down at Bates-Barry. "Fucking with my feelings."
"Then this is him," Iris cut in.
Dr. Wells nodded. "It is indeed."
"I need to take him in to the police. If they can see what he can do, then maybe they'll let Eddie go."
Juliet, Caitlin, and Dr. Wells shared a glance.
"Perhaps it might be best if Dr. Snow, Ms. St. James, and I handle this," Dr. Wells suggested.
"What are you three going to do?" Iris asked.
"I'm technically a cop," Juliet replied.
"You're a forensic scientist. That isn't a cop."
"That's why I said technically."
Iris shook her head. "No. No, no, no. I — I'm taking him in."
"Of course," Dr. Wells approved, looking right at Caitlin.
"Well, at least let me help you," Caitlin added.
"Okay," Juliet began, clapping her hands together. "While you two do that, I have a mission to go find the real Barry Allen."
Iris and Caitlin dragged Bates down to Iris' car with some help from Juliet and headed off towards the CCPD. Once they were gone, Juliet teleported to the last place she knew Barry would probably be — Joe's house. She landed in the entryway and looked around for a moment.
"Barry?" Juliet called. "Baby?"
No answer, which she should've expected.
Juliet walked around the whole first floor and didn't find anything, so she went upstairs. The first place she went to was Barry's bedroom, a place where she had been so many times before. Juliet then noticed a new sort of shadow peeking through his closet, and she opened it up.
Her eyes widened at the sight. Barry was knocked out on the floor, his ankles and wrists tied together with duct-tape and a piece of duct-tape over his mouth. Juliet dropped to her knees beside him and put her hands on his shoulders, gently rolling him over.
Juliet winced. "He's going to hate me."
She summoned a very, very small ball of red energy to her hand, letting it travel to her fingertips. Juliet then placed it for a second on his skin, sending a shock throughout him. Barry's eyes shot wide open and he cried out in pain, but it was muffled because of the duct tape. She then ripped that off, making him cry out in pain again.
"For real?" Barry complained. "Why did you shock me?"
"I know, I know, I'm sorry," Juliet said, ripping his hands free of the duct-tape. "And you were unconscious. What else was I supposed to do?"
"Smelling salts work just as well." Barry sat up and started to pull the tape off of his ankles. "Wait, J, Bates, he was here."
"Uh, yeah, I figured that out." She watched him finish ripping the tape off of his ankles before placing her hands on either side of his face, making him look at her. "Hey, weird question, but can you kiss me real quick? I've seen some things today that I did not want to see, and I kind of need a Barry Allen kiss."
Barry blinked at her. "Uh, sure."
He then leaned forwards and kissed her gently, just like she always did. Juliet practically let out a sigh of relief into his mouth, kissing him back and moving herself a little bit closer to him.
"Okay, hey, wait," Barry protested lightly, pulling back from her, making her let out a little huff of annoyance. His eyes trailed across her face. "Not that I didn't enjoy that, but I also know when something is bothering you. What do you mean you've seen some things today?"
"Uh, earlier, when Hannibal was you, he . . ." Juliet trailed off, the image running through her mind making her feel sick. "Kissed Caitlin."
"Oh."
"Yeah. I knew it wasn't you, like, from the second I saw it, but . . . it's really fucking with my head."
"So you wanted me to kiss you to make sure what we have is real," Barry noticed.
Juliet nodded a little. "Sounds a little stupid when you say it out loud."
"It's not stupid." Barry looked right into her eyes, making her heart race. "I would never, ever do that to you. I meant what I said about fate and destiny. It's you and me, Juliet."
She gave him a tight smile. "I know." Juliet then stood up, offering her hand out to him. "Now, come on. We have a Metahuman to catch."
As predicted, Iris trying to take Bates to the CCPD totally backfired, and he was on the loose again. Juliet stood in the cortex, her arms crossed across her chest. Barry had obviously noticed her jumbled head, so he was making it his own personal mission to stick by her side. His arm was placed around her waist while she leaned comfortingly against his chest.
"So this Hannibal Bates has turned into quite the Metahuman," Dr. Wells announced. "Take a look." He pulled up images on the screen. "His cells have the ability to transmogrify at quite the rate."
"Which is how he can become anyone," Barry commented.
"Which is how he can look like anyone. Because he cannot appropriate your memory or your powers."
"Oh, so hands on the Metahuman now?" Juliet questioned.
"Hands on the Metahuman," Dr. Wells confirmed. "And to help you do that, Dr. Snow has concocted a solution we believe will stop him."
Caitlin picked up a box that had a syringe in it. "Yes, I've made a serum that will create a cortical reaction around his cells."
"Deprive those cells of their electrical charge, his shape-shifting days are over."
Juliet grinned at Caitlin. "Thanks, Cait."
Caitlin stared at her for a moment. "Jules, I tried to push—"
"Caitlin, it's okay," Juliet reassured her with a small laugh. "It wasn't the real him. We're good. Promise."
There was then a beep on the computer, and Caitlin bent down to look at it.
"Oh, Barry, we got a ping from your cell phone," Caitlin stated. "Looks like Hannibal Bates is at the airport."
"Payback time," Barry voiced.
Juliet looked up at him. "Let's go."
The two of them put their suits in backpacks and dressed in things that could sort-of hide them — for Barry's case, a hat and a zip-up hoodie, and for Juliet, just a hoodie with the hood up. They stood in the airport, glancing around at the crowds of people with their luggage.
"Guys, are we sure he's at the airport?" Barry inquired into his phone, talking to Dr. Wells and Caitlin. "Yeah, but . . . he could be any of these people. J and I aren't seeing him."
Juliet then focused in on an older woman going through security. As she went through the full body scan, the screen glitched out, going through multiple different bodies before settling back onto the woman's figure. Juliet tapped Barry's arm a couple of times to get his attention.
The two stepped forwards. At once, the woman — Bates — stopped in her tracks, a look of recognition going across his face. He stepped forwards and put his hand on the security guard's arm, instantly transforming into him and taking off.
"Gotcha," Barry said, pulling off his backpack.
They watched as he sprinted up the stairs, bumping into people and such. Juliet teleported into her suit in a completely deserted area of the airport before teleporting to the top of the stairs. She only stood there for a second, because Barry, in a flash of yellow lightning, snagged her waist in his arms and took her with him. He set them down in one of the backrooms of the airport that Bates had run to. Juliet blinked the black spots out of her eyes before settling in on Bates, her eyes narrowing.
"Hannibal Bates," Barry called.
"I think you've mistaken me for someone else," Bates replied. He then morphed into Caitlin, and Juliet scoffed, walking closer to him. Barry sped up next to her, holding the syringe with the serum. "Wait. It's me. Please don't hurt me."
He then held up a can of pepper spray. Juliet lifted her hand up and focused on the pepper spray, flicking her hand to the side and letting it fly out of Bates' hand. She lunged forwards and punched him right across the face, but Bates kicked her stomach, sending her stumbling back. Bates then knocked Barry's arm, making him drop the syringe, but Barry grabbed Bates and threw him against the wall of the cage they were in.
Bates crumpled to the ground, but he morphed into Iris. He got up and started to throw multiple punches and kicks at Juliet and Barry, and although he got a few good hits in, the two heroes held their own. Barry knocked his fist into Bates' throat, and he stumbled back, morphing into Eddie.
"Not so hero-like," Bates taunted. "Treat all your women like that?"
Juliet's jaw dropped. Oh, hell no. Barry was literally the sweetest boyfriend ever. She raised her hand, but apparently, Barry had enough. He sped forwards and sped-punched Bates over and over again before sending him flying into the wall. Bates landed on his knees, but this time, he morphed into Barry in the Flash suit.
"Well, look at that," Bates commented, standing up. "I'm the Flash."
Barry then sped at him again, bringing him back over to Juliet, who stood there helplessly. Bates threw punches and kicks at Barry, which Barry all blocked before speeding around Bates and punching him mercilessly. Watching the Flash fight the Flash was really disorienting, and Juliet was honestly very confused.
"You may look like me, but you're not as fast," Barry argued.
Juliet then focused in on the syringe. She raised her hand and lifted the syringe up into the air, moving her hand closer to her to make the syringe fly at her. Juliet caught it and stuck it in Bates' neck once Barry was done punching.
"No more imitating innocent people for you," Juliet told him. "Sucks to suck, bitch."
She ripped the syringe out of his neck. Bates lifted up his arm, clearly shocked that he couldn't use his powers anymore. However, his arm then transformed into Iris' arm. Juliet then watched before her very eyes as he transformed into Eddie, then his grandmother, then Caitlin, then the airport security guard, then Iris, before he screamed and fell to the ground.
"Barry?" Caitlin's voice echoed over the comms. "Jules?"
"Yeah," Barry responded. "The one and only."
They took Bates back to S.T.A.R. Labs, but their main priority was freeing Eddie. There were security cameras in the room that they were fighting in, and they managed to get the footage. Juliet stood in Captain Singh's office with Barry, Captain Singh, and Cecile, watching the video of their fight with Bates and how he morphed into different people.
"Detective Thawne has been released," Captain Singh announced.
"I have to admit, this is new territory for me," Cecile admitted.
"This is new territory for all of us."
"I certainly don't think the law is prepared to deal with this kind of criminal. Hopefully we can catch up fast. It's hard to believe we live in a world where this kind of impossible even exists."
"Luckily, it's also a world where the Flash and Scarlet exist," Captain Singh responded before leaving his office.
"Uh, speaking of . . ." Barry began, making Cecile stop in the doorway. "They left this list of all the robberies that Hannibal Bates was involved in."
Cecile took the files. "It's a long list."
"With a lot of innocent people who have to have their names cleared," Juliet added.
"You know, I saw the Flash and Scarlet once," Cecile told them.
Barry leaned against the doorframe, sharing a quick look with Juliet. "Oh, yeah?"
"Yeah. I was on my way to the courthouse. He blew past me, and she landed near me. It was . . . it was just a blur of red and a gust of wind and a blink of a girl in a red suit before she materialized away. But it was pretty damn cool."
Juliet elbowed Barry's side, leaning her head closer to his as Cecile walked away. "Hear that? We're cool."
Barry reached out and slung an arm across her shoulders. "Hell yeah we are."
Eddie then walked into the precinct. His eyes caught on the two heroes, a look of slight determination on his features.
"Iris," Eddie voiced to the girl who was waiting at the window for him. She immediately turned around and rushed up to him, hugging him tightly. "All charges have been dropped. I'm clear to go."
"Oh, thank God," Iris replied.
"Iris . . ." He tried to pull away, but she only held on tighter. Eddie managed to break free and looked down at his girlfriend. "I need to tell you something."
"You know what? It can wait until we get home."
Juliet frowned a little. Not that she wasn't happy that Iris and Eddie had made up, but now she wouldn't have Iris staying with her anymore. It was actually really fun having her in her apartment.
Eddie gently moved Iris to sit on his desk. "You were right. I was hiding something from you, and you deserve to know the truth. The reason I've been so distant lately . . ." He made momentary eye contact with Juliet and Barry, and she raised her eyebrow. "I've been working with the Flash and Scarlet."
Barry pulled Juliet into him a little more, placing a kiss to the top of her head. "Come on. We have to go."
"Yeah," Juliet softly agreed.
They went back to S.T.A.R. Labs, where Bates was now awake in his cell. Juliet watched, her hand intertwined with Barry's, as Bates slammed his fists against the glass, still transformed as Iris.
"Let me out of here!" Bates yelled. He then morphed into Caitlin and looked at Barry. "Hey, cutie. Want to let me out of here?"
"Like anyone would be dumb enough to fall for that," Caitlin said.
Bates then locked eyes with Juliet and Barry's interlocked hands. "Oh, I see, I've been changing into the wrong girl."
He smirked and morphed into Juliet. It was kind of head-spinning to literally see herself staring back at her. She then felt Barry tighten his grip on her hand, and she glanced up to see that his jaw was clenched and his eyes were narrowed in anger. Juliet lifted up their interlocked hands and pressed a kiss to the back of it, noticing the way all of the tension drained from his body.
Dr. Wells rolled up closer to the cell. "Seen a lot of things that you can become, but who are you, Hannibal Bates?"
He transformed from Juliet into a blank canvas — literally. Bates was wearing a plain outfit, and his face had no defining features anymore. Juliet blinked in shock.
"I — uh . . ." Bates trailed off, chuckling sadly. "I can't remember." His blank face then turned pained. "I can't remember."
Juliet frowned. That was actually kind of sad. He had become so many other people that he didn't even remember his true self.
"Well, let's lock up shop," Dr. Wells voiced. "Good night, everyone."
He rolled out of the pipeline, heading to God-knows-where. Juliet, Barry, and Caitlin hung back, and Barry shut the door to the Particle Accelerator.
Caitlin stared after Dr. Wells. "What about Dr. Wells?"
Juliet sighed and extended her free arm out to Caitlin, who sunk into her side. "Barry and I have to show you something."
Cisco and Joe had returned from their trip Starling, only to com back with something totally shocking. At the scene of the car crash, there was evidence of tachyons, which meant evidence of time travel. It was only prove further when Captain Lance's coffee started to float out of its cup, just like the night Barry's mother was killed, and just like the night Juliet and Barry had gotten struck by lightning. But that wasn't it. They had also dug up a skeleton that belonged to the actual Dr. Wells.
All of them stood in Juliet and Barry's lab. She leaned against her desk, staring at the body in revulsion. Not that it was a dead body — well, okay, maybe sort of because it was a dead body — but because Dr. Wells, or whoever he was, was just pretending to be somebody else. And this proved it.
"This isn't possible," Caitlin protested.
"Caitlin, I ran the DNA test twice," Cisco told her. "It's a perfect match."
"This body is the real Harrison Wells," Joe added.
"If this is Dr. Wells, then who have we been working for this whole time?" Caitlin asked, all of them gathering around the light-up table the skeleton was on.
"Dr. McGee told Barry and I that Wells became a completely different person after the accident," Juliet began. "And that's because he is."
Juliet, Barry, Cisco, and Caitlin all went back to S.T.A.R. Labs once they were done in the lab, mostly to try to search for more things that could tell them that Dr. Wells wasn't actually Dr. Wells. Cisco had immediately sat down at the computers, and Juliet walked up behind him, watching as he scanned through models of what seemed to be buildings.
"What are you doing?" Caitlin questioned.
"After the Accelerator exploded, I built a 3D model of S.T.A.R. Labs so that I could pinpoint exactly what caused the malfunction," Cisco answered.
"And you never ran this test?" Barry inquired.
"Of course I did. I just never had any reason to look at any areas outside of the pipeline or the cortex. It's a big building. Lots of places for Wells to hide something."
He then landed on a section, and the computer beeped, lighting a part of the model up in red.
Juliet's eyebrows knit in confusion. "What's that?"
Cisco pointed at the screen. "That shouldn't be there."
All of them shared a look. They had to go there.
Cisco grabbed his tachyon device, and the group of four made their way downstairs. Barry instinctively reached down and gripped onto Juliet's hand tightly. She knew his nerves about what they might find, because she felt them, too. Juliet squeezed his hand back.
"I'm picking up more activity around here," Cisco said, putting his device close to the wall. Sure enough, his device started to beep more, and he glanced back at them. "Tachyons." He pointed at the section of the wall. "There."
Barry reached his free hand up and felt around the wall. When it touched a certain spot, the wall glowed blue, and the section of the wall where Cisco said the tachyons were completely materialized away. Juliet blinked at the dark room that they were presented with. Barry looked down at her, and Juliet nodded.
He led the way in. When Juliet stepped through the doorway, her entire body was outlined in blue until she got all the way in the room. Once all of them got in, the wall completely closed behind them, leaving them in total darkness. Juliet immediately moved closer to Barry, holding onto his hand a little tighter as a shiver ran down her spine.
A blue light then turned on. Standing right in front of them on display was the yellow suit of the Reverse Flash, worn by Dr. Wells — or whoever he was. Juliet clenched her jaw, feeling absolutely sick to her stomach.
"Oh my God," Caitlin whispered.
The rest of the lights then turned on, revealing them to be in an all-white room with dots on the wall that kind of looked like braille. Juliet tore her eyes away from the yellow suit and looked around. There was really nothing else inside besides the little chamber that had the suit.
But she was wrong. As her and Barry traveled farther into the room together, a podium appeared. That wasn't the only thing, though. When the podium popped up, a newspaper article popped up. Juliet's eyes widened and she looked up at Barry.
"Guys," Barry called to Cisco and Caitlin, who were still entranced by he Reverse Flash's suit.
Cisco walked up to them, followed by Caitlin, seemingly just as shocked. "What the frak?"
The news article was from a paper called The Central City Citizen, which was something that Juliet had never heard of before. However, that wasn't really the most jarring thing, no. It was the title.
FLASH MISSING
VANISHES IN CRISIS
〖 ϟ 〗
WE ARE OFFICIALLY 8K READS AWAY FROM 100K SOLDIERS 🫡 THIS IS NOT A DRILL I REPEAT THIS IS NOT A DRILL
also hey if you didn't know I have a tiktok for my wp account! it's jasonsgrace.wp so if you wanna see some edits of jules you can go there :)
+ next chapter is a big one <3 and by big I mean BIG like bigger than the kiss chapter
gif by zcndayas!
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