⊱ ──────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ──────── ⊰

𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗘

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
hey, hey, you, you, I don't like
your girlfriend!

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TRIGGER WARNING: mention of suicide, somebody trying to commit suicide

EVER SINCE BREAKING up with Oliver, Juliet's life just seemed like one huge version of Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne.

Barry had taken Caitlin's advice of finding someone new to be crazy for. And it wasn't Juliet — it was Linda Park, the girl who gave Barry her number at the karaoke bar.

Juliet had to be okay with that. She had dealt with it her entire life with Barry liking Iris. And Linda was nice and pretty. Besides, she was fresh out of a breakout, she couldn't just jump into something new, especially with somebody who potentially didn't like her back.

She should've liked Linda. Yet, the resentment for the girl that she was dating Barry was rising up within her. Linda didn't deserve that, so, like always, Juliet buried her feelings deep down into the depths of herself.

It was the night of Barry and Linda's date (Barry had told her all about it, which made her heart sink even further into her stomach), and all Juliet really wanted to do was sit at home and eat ice cream with Iris. However, she was sitting in the cortex of S.T.A.R. Labs since she was the lone superhero for the night.

Juliet spun around in one of the chairs, moving red energy back and forth between her fingers. The alarm that noticed them there was a crime taking place then sounded. Juliet sat up straighter as Cisco rounded around the desk of computers to look.

"Robbery at the convenience store on Brand and Paulson," Cisco told her. "Go along and save the little old lady, JJ."

Juliet stood up, her eyebrows knitting in confusion. "Did they say that it was a little old lady?"

"No . . . but it's always a little old lady."

She rolled her eyes playfully. "Yeah, yeah. I'll be back."

Juliet teleported into her suit before teleporting to the convenience store. She had stopped the robbery in a matter of seconds, and the cops literally came right after she stopped it. Juliet went back to S.T.A.R. Labs and got back into her regular clothes, slumping back down into her chair.

"It wasn't a little old lady, by the way," Juliet revealed.

"So . . . how do you feel about Barry going on this date tonight?" Cisco asked, sipping his drink through his straw.

She let out a small laugh. "Fine."

"Are you sure? Because you've got total heart eyes for him, and he's got total heart eyes for you, so I'm just very confused—"

"Cisco, you don't know what you're talking about." Her phone then rang. Juliet took it out of her pocket and saw that it was Joe calling, and she answered. "Hey."

"Hey, we got a jumper on Fifty-Second and Waid," Joe replied.

"All right, I'll be there in a sec." She stood up again. "Duty calls."

Juliet got back in her suit and went to the streets. Sure enough, there was a guy at the top of a building about to commit suicide. Juliet teleported up there, took the man's arm in hers, and brought them back down to the ground. She gave a quick smile to Eddie while blurring her face before going back to S.T.A.R. Labs again, returning to her sweater and jeans.

"This conversation isn't over," Cisco insisted. "You two like each other. It's obvious."

Juliet's eyes slightly softened. "I'm okay. And everyone keeps saying that, but nothing is happening, so . . . I'm just learning to not get my hopes up."

"It'll happen one day, JJ. I'm sure of it."

Juliet sure hoped so.

The next day, Juliet, Barry, Cisco, and Caitlin all went to Jitters together. Barry had told them all about his date with Linda, and in turn, Cisco was rambling on about all the things Juliet did last night as Scarlet without Barry.

"Dude, JJ was a crime-fighting machine," Cisco admitted.

She shrugged. "It was, like, two things." Juliet looked back to Barry, and even though she didn't want to, she focused her attention on Linda. "So Linda was cool?"

Barry smiled, which made Juliet's heart race infuriatingly. "Yeah. We're going on another date tonight."

"Tonight?" Caitlin repeated. "Really?"

"Aren't you worried about moving too fast?" Cisco added.

"No," Barry replied as they started to climb the stairs to the upper level. "What do you mean? It's a second date."

"Nah, nah, nah, nah, I meant going too fast, hurrying. Look, I mean, you're fast, but there's fast, and then there's fast. Am I being subtle enough?"

Juliet shook her head. "Not at all."

"Cisco's right," Caitlin agreed. "With your increased blood flow and increased heart rate, theoretically, your speed could cause you to . . ."

Juliet's eyes widened in realization at what Caitlin meant and let out a small laugh, hiding it behind her hand when Barry gave her a look.

"You're gonna need to think about a lot of dead puppies," Cisco stated. "Like, we're talking a whole kennel. And baseball. Cold showers. You know what? Nuns."

"Okay, it is just a second date," Barry said.

"A second date?" Iris questioned, and Juliet turned to see her best friend already up there, doing some work. "With who?"

"Uh, with Linda Park, the sports reporter," Barry responded.

Iris gave Juliet a questioning look, one that said you okay, this is weird? while Cisco went to go take a phone call. "That's great."

"Uh-huh," Juliet voiced, suddenly feeling very awkward. "She's great." She looked at Barry. "You're great. Everything's great."

Juliet then gave Iris a pleading look that just screamed help me.

Cisco came back to their table — thank God. "Hey, I gotta go. I gotta help out a friend."

"Everything okay?" Barry called after him. "We just got here."

"Yeah, I'll see you guys later."

Juliet's eyebrows knit in confusion. He was acting weird.

"Quentin Quale was attacked near his lab at Concordance Research last night," the TV said from near them, and Juliet turned to watch the news. "There were several unsubstantiated reports of the so-called Burning Man in the area following the attacks."

"Burning Man?" Iris asked. "Caitlin, weren't you asking about him a few weeks ago?"

Juliet, Barry, and Caitlin all shared a look. Ronnie.

They went back to S.T.A.R. Labs, where Dr. Wells was waiting for them, apparently already knowing the news too. He pulled up the news report and multiple articles about the Burning Man so they could read about what Ronnie had been up to. What they knew for sure is that he merged with Martin Stein via the F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M. project, and that was who was in control at the moment.

"Well, it appears letting Ronnie roam free is no longer an option," Dr. Wells announced.

"He's not even Ronnie anymore," Caitlin admitted. "He's Martin Stein walking around in Ronnie's body, like a vampire."

"Is there a reason that Stein's brain is in control of Ronnie's body, not the other way around?" Barry questioned.

"Simple Darwinism, I suspect," Dr. Wells replied. "A brand-new organism will select the strongest parts of itself in order to survive. Survival of the fittest. In this case, Ronnie's body, Stein's mind. In any event, he badly hurt an innocent man, and we have hunted Metahumans for less. Caitlin, we need to know that you're on board with what needs to be done here."

Juliet gave a concerned look to Caitlin. This must be so hard for her.

Caitlin took a deep breath. "How do we find him?"

"Quentin Quale, the scientist that Ronnie attacked, is a former colleague of Martin Stein," Dr. Wells revealed. "If Martin is indeed in control of Ronnie's body, he may be trying to figure out exactly what's happening to him."

Juliet crossed her arms. "What exactly do we know about this Martin Stein? Like, I don't even know what he looks like."

Dr. Wells pulled up a picture of an older-looking man on the screens. "Martin Stein."

Barry stared at the picture, a look of realization flashing across his face. "That's Stein?"

"It is."

"I've seen him before."

"When?" Caitlin inquired.

"On the train, the day the Accelerator exploded," Barry responded, before going into detail about how they talked on the train about the Particle Accelerator.

"I think we should go talk to his wife," Dr. Wells stated. "She's still in town."

And that's how Juliet found herself at the home of Clarissa Stein with Barry, Caitlin, and Dr. Wells. Juliet walked with Clarissa and Barry, her hands in the pockets of her jacket as she looked around the beautiful home.

"Of course I've heard of S.T.A.R. Labs," Clarissa replied. "Martin was always vocal about the competition."

"S.T.A.R. Las is actually helping the CCPD looking into your husband's disappearance, Mrs. Stein," Barry told her.

"Oh, please. Call me Clarissa."

"The Conway Prize for Scientific Advancement," Dr. Wells voiced, looking at some awards on a table.

"Martin was very proud of that one," Clarissa said.

"I'd always hoped to win one of these myself. Oh, and look at that. He won it three times."

Juliet leaned in closer to Clarissa. "Martin's clearly a special kind of person, because he was able to make Dr. Wells jealous."

Clarissa nodded. "Well, Martin had a talent for making people jealous. Even me. I sometimes think Martin loved his theorems and experiments more than he did me."

"I'm sure that's not true," Caitlin insisted.

"And you haven't heard from your husband since he disappeared?" Barry asked.

Clarissa shook her head. "No."

"Mrs. Stein, could I show you a photograph?" He pulled out a picture of Ronnie. "Have you seen this person before?"

She took the picture. "Yes, I have. Who is he?"

"Um . . ."

Dr. Wells quickly spoke up. "He's just a person of interest in your husband's case."

"When did you see him?" Caitlin questioned.

"I started getting the feeling that someone was watching me, and sometimes I still do," Clarissa admitted. "And about a month after Martin disappeared, that young man showed up here."

She told them how Ronnie, or more so Martin, had broke into her house with a key under the loose stone, saying something about losing his mind and body. Clarissa had then called the police, but Ronnie-Stein had quickly left.

They thanked Clarissa for her time before leaving the house, going down the driveway. Juliet stared down at her beat-up Converse as she walked.

"So it appears Martin Stein and Ronnie Raymond have something in common besides sharing a body," Dr. Wells voiced. "They both feel the need to protect the women they love."

Juliet suddenly felt a burning gaze on the side of her face. She looked up from her shoes to see Barry staring at her. Once he realized he was caught, Barry's face flushed a light shade of pink and he looked straight ahead. Juliet shook her head slightly in confusion. Whatever that meant.

"Clarissa told us she feels like somebody is watching her," Juliet said, trying to ignore what just happened.

"Well, then, this has all the makings of a stakeout," Dr. Wells stated.

"But Barry's got a date tonight," Caitlin protested.

Barry shrugged. "I'll cancel."

"No you will not," Juliet replied, even though her mind was screaming cancel, cancel, cancel! "You go, we'll stay here. Run along."

Barry smiled before speeding off. Juliet sighed and looked back down at her shoes momentarily.

Dr. Wells wheeled ahead of her. "I'm surprised the date isn't with you, Ms. St. James."

Juliet blinked. "Oh?"

"It's obvious that you two are meant to be," Caitlin agreed. "What are you waiting for?"

"Not getting rejected is probably first. Besides, I literally just broke up with Ollie. I don't want Barry to think he's a rebound."

"Hm. Whatever you say."

The three of them sat in the S.T.A.R. Labs van together. They had ordered some Big Belly Burger and ate it as the sun went away. Juliet sipped on her Sprite, looking through the windshield from her place in the passenger seat. Caitlin was in the drivers seat, and Dr. Wells was sitting in his wheelchair in between them. The only light were from the streetlamps now.

"Want some of my fries?" Dr. Wells offered to Juliet and Caitlin.

"Uh-huh," Juliet replied, taking a handful, having finished hers.

"No thanks," Caitlin refused. "Why would he come back here?

Dr. Wells took a bite of his burger. "Because this is his home. I don't mean the actual house. I mean Clarissa. She's his home. We all want to go home again. You know, where we feel safe. Where we feel loved." Dr. Wells looked at Caitlin. "Ronnie's your home." He then turned to Juliet. "Just like Barry is yours."

Holy fuck, he nailed it right on the head.

"Not anymore," Caitlin voiced sadly.

Dr. Wells leaned forward and grabbed his drink from the dashboard. "Remember what I told you on your first day at S.T.A.R. Labs?"

"A scientist's work is never finished."

"A scientist's work is never finished. Well, my work did this to Ronnie and did this to Martin Stein. But it's not finished, and it won't be until we bring them both home."

Suddenly, there was a whoosh. Juliet looked up into the sky only to see two streams of fire, which was exactly what it looked like when Ronnie flew. She leaned forwards in her chair and saw Ronnie landing behind the house.

"Juliet," Dr. Wells said.

"I got it," she confirmed.

She teleported into her suit back at S.T.A.R. Labs before returning back to the house. Juliet landed in the driveway in front of Ronnie-Stein. He looked exactly like he did that night that the Reverse Flash escaped from S.T.A.R. Labs — ragged clothes, long hair.

"Professor Stein," Juliet began calmly. "Listen, I'm not here to hurt you, okay? And I know that you don't want to hurt anyone else, so please don't—"

He didn't listen to her. Ronnie-Stein burst his hands and head into flames.

"—light up." She nodded. "Oh, okay, cool."

Ronnie-Stein threw flames at her. They came at her fast, and Juliet quickly teleported out of the way, her eyes wide. She watched as the flames went all the way to a car out in the street. It instantly caught on fire.

Juliet summoned a ball of red energy in her hand and threw it at Ronnie-Stein. It send him flying backwards into the brick wall that had a light on it in front of the house. Juliet held out her hand to hold him in place, but before she knew it, Ronnie-Martin stumbled forwards and grabbed her. He lit his hands on fire and sent them flying into the air.

She let out a small shriek as her feet left the ground. Ronnie-Stein flew them higher and higher and twisted and turned. Juliet started to feel a little sick from the combination of heat, less oxygen, and twisting so much. Her head spun as she looked down, watching the city lights get farther and farther away.

Ronnie then stuck his lit-up hand to her face. Juliet cried out in pain from the burn and Ronnie dropped her. It felt like she was going in slow motion as she fell. Her limbs flew around her, and her hair flew in the wind, and she was so sure this was the end—

Wake up, Juliet.

Barry's voice.

Wake up.

Juliet snapped out of it. She summoned two balls of red energy into her hands. Juliet pointed them at the ground and her palms glowed red. She had only done this once before when her and Oliver fought Barry — but this was life or death. Juliet couldn't afford to think whether it would work or not.

Her body momentum slowed, and then she wasn't falling anymore. Juliet was above the warehouse by the roof. She slowly levitated herself down. It was a little shaky because she hadn't really done this before, but soon enough, her feet touched the ground. She was behind the S.T.A.R. Labs van, which told Juliet that Caitlin and Dr. Wells had followed them.

Ronnie-Stein landed in front of her as well. He lit his head and hands back on fire. Juliet sent a challenging glare back, summoning more energy in her hands. Ronnie went to throw fire, and Juliet went to attack, but they were cut off.

"No!" Caitlin shouted, running out of the van.

Ronnie-Stein seemed to recognize her for a moment. Then, he blasted away.

Caitlin put a hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"

Juliet put her hands on her knees, breathing heavily. "Holy shit, I never want to do that again. That was terrifying."

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I PROMISE BARRY AND JULIET ARE HAPPENING SOON OKAY AND I MEAN IT JUST GIVE ME LIKE NINE? MORE CHAPTERS???