⊱ ──────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ──────── ⊰

𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗘

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
I need something you proof

⊱ ──────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ──────── ⊰

SAVING PEOPLE WAS probably one of the most rewarding things as a superhero.

There had been a terrible car crash into a telephone pole, one that resulted in the car flipping upside down with two people still inside and the telephone pole being caught in sparks. Juliet had teleported there by herself, her and Barry agreeing that it was a one-person job this time. She ignored the firefighters behind her and tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge.

Juliet took a step back. She held out her hand, concentrating on the car door. It squeaked under her concentration and she brought her hand back towards her, successfully ripping the door off of its hinges. She moved her hand to behind the car, where she dropped the door. Juliet slightly climbed inside and held out her hand to the man first since he was the closest.

"Give me your hand," Juliet instructed. "This is going to feel really weird, okay?"

The man gripped onto her hand. She closed her eyes and focused on the two of them, teleporting them away a safe distance from the car.

Juliet nodded once to the man, who stared at her in amazement. "Stay here."

She then teleported back to the car to save some time. Juliet had to climb further into the car to reach the woman. She held out her hand, and the woman took it.

"Same thing. You'll feel tingly and it'll all be over."

The woman nodded. Juliet closed her eyes, feeling the heat of flames come up behind her. She teleported her and the woman away from the car as it exploded. They landed next to the man that Juliet had just saved.

Upon seeing the woman, the man instantly took her up in his arms and held her close. They shared quiet I love you's, which made Juliet smile softly to herself. These were truly the moments she lived for.

The man looked over at her. "Thank you . . . Scarlet."

Juliet's smile slightly widened and she nodded to the couple. She watched them for a moment longer as they hugged each other again before teleporting away, heading back to S.T.A.R. Labs. Juliet instantly teleported into her regular clothes, putting her suit back on the mannequin. Cisco had rolled it out to inspect the dirt that she had gotten on it.

"Nice job, J," Barry complimented, raising his hand for a high-five.

Juliet obliged. "Thanks. They looked so grateful. It made me feel all fuzzy inside."

"JJ, that was insane," Cisco agreed, wiping away some of the dirt on the red leather jacket with a towel. "I mean, even I'm having a hard time getting mad at you for dirtying up my suit."

"You mean my suit?" Juliet countered. "And JJ?"

"New nickname. I think it's cool. And I'd be comfortable calling it our suit."

"Tonight was the fastest your teleport has ever been," Caitlin told her. "And your vitals all looked strong when you used your powers."

"Yes, your training is paying off," Dr. Wells stated. "That couple is alive tonight because of you."

"I can get stronger," Juliet voiced. "I really know I can."

"And you will one day, I'm sure. But, for today, I'd say you've both fulfilled your save quota. Proper rest is what you need, as do we all."

"Better yet, what we all need is a proper drink," Cisco announced. "Who's up for a round?"

"Oh, dude, it's — it's movie night with Joe," Barry responded. "J and I can't. But we'll see you guys tomorrow, all right?"

"Bye," Caitlin said.

"Goodnight," Juliet replied as she followed Barry out of the cortex. "Do you know what we're watching tonight?"

Barry smirked down at her. "As long as it's not Tangled again, we'll be fine."

Juliet gaped at him. "Excuse me, Tangled is a classic. I'm sorry that you and I don't share the same exquisite taste."

Barry chuckled and slung an arm around her shoulder, which Juliet found kind of weird, but she didn't question it. "But it's my turn to choose."

"Oh God, we're gonna watch Jurassic Park again, huh?"

"You know me too well."

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

THE NEXT DAY, Juliet found herself at another crime scene. There had been a break-in at Iron Heights, and one of the prisoners was missing. She stood in the cell of the missing prisoner by the name of Clay Parker with Barry, a pair of gloves on as she inspected a phial Barry was holding of evidence they had found.

"Hey," Joe began, making the two CSIs look at him. "The security cameras in half the prison are shut down. Then Clay Parker, according to this data log, who was still locked in his cell, somehow vanishes."

"Not completely," Barry revealed, holding up the phial.

Joe stared at it. "What's that?"

"Some kind of organic particulate residual," Juliet answered. "It was on the floor just outside of the cell and in the hallway. Barry and I followed the trail, and it brought us outside."

There was suddenly a new presence. Juliet looked to see that a prison guard was leading none other than Henry Allen into the cell. Her face lit up and she grinned brightly. She hadn't seen him in a while, and it was especially nice not to see him behind a glass partition.

"Dad," Barry breathed out.

He walked up to stand by his father, a grin taking over his features. Juliet watched fondly as Barry and Henry finally — finally got to hold each other's hands again. She knew that Barry had a hard time with his father being in prison, and they finally got to reunite at last.

"So . . . word around here is, Parker pulled a Shawshank?" Henry asked.

"Yep, and none of the other prisoners heard or saw anything," Joe responded.

"Well, they wouldn't talk to you about it."

Barry let go of his father's hands. "Leaves us with not a lot to go on."

"Well, if there's anyone who can figure out how Parker got out of here, it's you, son," Henry said. "With Juliet's help of course." He looked at her and sent her a small wink. "Hi, Jules."

Juliet gave him a small wave. "Hi, Henry."

"Come on, Allen, let's go," the guard urged.

"Duty calls."

The guard led Henry out of the cell. Juliet watched as Barry stared down the hallway at the retreating figure of his father.

Barry looked back at Joe. "So, my dad just happened to come by?"

Joe shrugged. "The guard owed me a favor."

"Thank you."

They took the particles they had found back to S.T.A.R. Labs, which Caitlin put under a microscope. She projected it onto the TV screens, where they all watched the cells move across it quickly. Juliet's eyes scanned the screen. Something about it seemed . . . familiar.

"Not even Barry's cells move this fast," Caitlin announced. "I've only seen something like this with Juliet."

Juliet raised an eyebrow. "Huh. Interesting."

"So Clay Parker is a Metahuman?" Joe questioned.

"Not so fast," Dr. Wells cut in. "The particulate residue Barry and Juliet gathered at Iron Heights does contain Clay Parker's DNA, but also DNA of a woman."

"Run her DNA against the CCPD criminal database," Barry instructed. "See if you get a match."

Cisco typed for a moment before a mugshot of a girl named Shawna Baez popped up on the screen. "Yahtzee. Her name's Shawna Baez. Mostly petty crimes, and this girl likes to party, apparently. Long list of disorderly conducts at local bars."

"So I'm guessing we find her, we find Clay Parker," Joe voiced. "Barry? Jules?"

"Yeah," the two of them chorused.

Juliet and Barry followed Joe out of S.T.A.R. Labs. However, after spending some time at CCPD, Iris texted the two of them asking if they wanted to get coffee with her. That's when Juliet found herself at Jitters, taking her mug of latte from the barista and walking over to a table with Barry and Iris.

"What's that smile about?" Iris inquired to Barry. She looked over at Juliet. "Do you know what's up with him?"

Juliet nodded her head to Barry, urging him on. "Go on."

"I saw my dad today," Barry explained as they sat down. "No glass, no phones. Just me and him, face-to-face. Joe arranged it."

"That must have been amazing, Barry," Iris stated.

"Yeah. I really needed it."

"I'm sure he needed it, too. Were you both there investigating the breakout?"

"Yeah," Juliet responded.

"That is a big story," Iris admitted. "Which I am not a part of. My editor wants me writing about the Flash and Scarlet, and only the Flash and Scarlet."

"I thought that's what you wanted to write about, 'Ris."

"I don't know. I would just like to be thought of as more that the Flash and Scarlet PR flack. I mean, if I don't write something soon, I think I might lose my job."

"Don't even say that," Juliet insisted. "You're not going to lose your job, because we're going to find you a really good story to write about. All three of us, together. Barry and I are always in your corner, remember?"

Iris got a small smile on her face. "Yeah, I remember."

After their little coffee date with Iris, Joe called them to let them know that Henry wanted to talk to them about the case. They all went back to Iron Heights, where the three of them sat behind the glass partition. Juliet stood behind the two chairs that Joe and Barry were sitting in, her arms crossed across her chest.

"What do you mean you've been asking around?" Barry asked.

"Do you know a Marcus Stockheimer?" Henry questioned.

Joe took the phone from Barry so Henry could hear him. "Sure, he's some mid-level gangster. He works mainly on the south side."

"Well, word is, Clay Parker was a runner for Marcus. When Clay got pinched, Marcus lost a lot of money. Apparently Marcus doesn't like losing money."

"So what?" Barry inquired. "So Parker can't leave Central City until he's paid off his debt?"

"From what I'm told, if you're a member of the Stockheimer crew, you get out, first thing you do is pay him a visit or suffer the consequences," Henry explained.

Barry held the phone up to his ear. "All right, no more playing cop. Promise me."

"I hear you," Henry responded.

Barry nodded. "All right."

Juliet and Barry decided to go back to S.T.A.R. Las to see if they had found anything from the sample. When the two of them walked into the cortex, the only one there was Caitlin.

Caitlin lowered her mug. "Mm. I was analyzing the particulates that Clay Parker and Shawna Baez left behind, and I found something very interesting. When Clay's cells come into contact with Shawna's, they adopt her properties."

Juliet stared at Caitlin for a moment, who was biting her lip. "Are you okay, Caitlin?"

"Why would you ask that?"

"You bite your lower lip when something's bothering you. Like right now."

Caitlin cleared her throat. "I'm fine."

"Okay," Barry said quietly.

Caitlin then stood up straight and crossed her arms. "Cisco says I don't have a life."

"You don't, do you?"

"I do!" Caitlin insisted. "I cook and I eat and I read and I help you two."

"That is basically everything that has nothing to do with having a life," Juliet voiced.

"You both don't have to be rude about it."

Barry chuckled. "Hey, I'm not doing any better than you. My social life consists of running at superhuman speed and Netflix."

Juliet pointed at Barry in agreement. "I throw balls of red energy at people and drink wine on my couch with Iris. The only other person I see is Oliver, but we've both been busy lately."

"We are quite the trio, Mr. Allen and Ms. St. James," Caitlin said.

"Yes we are, Dr. Snow," Barry agreed.

Caitlin then looked down at the computer as it beeped. "There's an armed robbery in progress. Two suspects, male and female in their twenties. Sounds like our Metahuman Bonnie and Clyde are at it again."

"Well, guess it's time for their social life to be ruined," Juliet commented.

She teleported into her suit before teleporting to the place of the robbery, Barry flashing in beside her. When she got there, she saw Shawna by a car.

"Oh, I've read about you two," Shawna voiced. "You're the Flash and Scarlet. I've heard you're both real fast. Let's see if it's true." Shawna then disappeared into thin air and appeared behind them. "Catch me if you can."

Juliet's eyes widened and she glanced at Barry. "Oh my God, she teleports? That's my thing!"

"Apparently not anymore," Barry muttered. He then sped up behind Shawna and grabbed her. "I can."

Shawna stepped on his foot hard, making him let her go. She then teleported up onto the stairs of the structure next to them. Juliet teleported to the place she just was, but Shawna merely teleported to another place. She quickly teleported back to Shawna and grabbed onto her, but Shawna teleported so that Juliet was hanging off the edge. Juliet gritted her teeth and teleported herself next to Shawna.

"Two can play at that game," Juliet said.

She went to punch her, but Shawna teleported back down to the car and took bags of money in her hand. Juliet held out her hand, ready to hold her in place, but a gunshot sounded behind her. She turned around, only to see that Barry had stepped in front of her back, using his super speed to catch the bullet right before it hit his skin. Juliet was so panicked that Shawna took the opportunity to run forward with the money, teleporting her and Clay Parker away.

"Barry," Juliet breathed out as he fell to the ground. "Oh my God, are you okay?"

"Yeah," he responded, groaning a little. "Just hurts."

"Hold onto me, okay?"

Barry nodded and let her take his hands. She took him back to S.T.A.R. Labs, where they appeared on the floor of the cortex. Barry sped out of his suit while Caitlin wheeled out a hospital bed. He sat on the bed and allowed her to clean up his wound on his neck.

"This is a bullet wound," Caitlin stated. "You're lucky it just barely broke the skin."

"Guess I'm a lot faster than a speeding bullet," Barry said, grinning.

"Shawna Baez can teleport," Juliet announced to Caitlin and Dr. Wells. "Just like me, which is totally not cool."

"You do it better, J."

"Well, duh."

"Well, of course," Dr. Wells voiced. "Quantum entanglement. The ability to manipulate interconnected particles over an infinite distance. Or, as Einstein put it, spooky action at a distance."

"Every time I would get close to her, she'd teleport away," Juliet continued. "Which is really annoying. Is it annoying when I do that?"

"No, Juliet," Barry responded, standing up and patting her shoulder. "But it was like they were playing a game of—"

"Peek-a-boo," Caitlin interjected. "Come on. Can't I name one?"

"Well, the best way to fight teleportation is probably with teleportation," Juliet cut in. "But mine seems different than hers. Maybe she has different limits than I do. If we can find those out, maybe I can show her I'm better — I mean, stop her."

"We'll focus on those limits," Dr. Wells promised.

"All right, let us know," Barry said. "I'm gonna change. J and I gotta go help Iris."

Once Barry had gotten back in his normal clothes, the two of them went outside of the CCPD. They saw Iris, her arm interlocked with Eddie's. The two of them looked a little dressed up.

"Hey, Barry," Eddie greeted. "Hey, Juliet."

"Hey, Eddie," Barry responded.

Iris grinned at them. "Hey, what are you two doing here?"

"Well, I did offer Barry and I's services up to help you with your story for the paper," Juliet reminded her. "So here we are . . . to help."

"Oh, that is so sweet. I would love to, but we were about to have dinner with Eddie's mom tonight."

"And we're late," Eddie added.

"Can we do it another time?" Iris pleaded.

"For sure," Juliet replied. "Have a good dinner."

Eddie and Iris then walked off. Juliet sighed and put her hands in the pockets of her jacket. Well, there went her plans.

"So . . . are you doing anything with Oliver?" Barry asked.

"Nope," Juliet answered. "Hasn't answered my text from today, so I'm just . . . hanging around."

"Do you wanna go out tonight?"

Juliet blinked. "Excuse me?"

Barry shook his head, his cheeks flushing pink. "No, not like that. I was just thinking that maybe we could go to some of the bars that Shawna and Clay went to and see what's up."

"I — I mean, sure."

Barry then pulled out his phone, calling Caitlin and putting it on speaker.

"Hey," Caitlin began.

"What bars did Shawna and Clay frequent?" Barry questioned, making Juliet smile.

"Uh, mostly south side dive bars. Why?"

"I — I was just gonna check 'em out with Juliet. See if they fall into any old habits."

"That's a good idea," Caitlin said. "I'll join you."

So, turns out, Shawna and Clay used to frequent this karaoke bar. Juliet sat at a table with Barry, a vodka cranberry in her hand, laughing slightly at the terrible singer up on the stage. She only turned away when she felt a new presence next to the table. Her eyes instantly widened. It was Caitlin, wearing a short sparkly black dress and Caitlin.

"Holy shit, Caitlin," Juliet let out. "You look incredible. I feel severely underdressed."

Caitlin took her purse off of her shoulder. "No, you look great. And I don't always dress like a high school principal."

Barry looked around the bar. "So, this is where Shawna Baez and Clay Parker used to hang out?"

"It is, according to the files. I thought we could kill two birds with one stone. Look for them and get ourselves back out there — well, besides Juliet, who has Oliver."

Juliet raised her vodka cranberry slightly. "I literally have no clue what he's doing right now because he still hasn't answered me, but all is well."

Barry sighed. "I keep making the same mistake. Every time Iris falls, I race to pick her up thinking that one of these times things are gonna change, but I — things are never gonna change. I am just destined to be just the friend."

I know exactly how you feel, Juliet said to herself, taking a sip of her drink to numb the sinking of her heart. But you have Oliver now, so stop complaining.

Things were still confusing.

"At least you're not pining for someone who bursts into flames and wants nothing to do with you," Caitlin protested.

Barry let out a small laugh. "What is wrong with us? I mean, we're in our twenties. We should be having fun. We should meet people, go on lots of dates."

Caitlin took Barry's drink. "Well, here's to liquid courage."

She then started to down the drink in one go.

Juliet blinked. "Oh, okay, we're committing." She lifted her vodka cranberry up. "Amen, sister."

She then started to drown her drink as well. Juliet started to feel the buzz of the alcohol, already getting a little floaty.

"Uh . . . that is very fast," Barry commented. The two put their empty glasses down on the table. "Drank all of it."

"Excuse me?" Caitlin called to a bartender. "I would like to start a tab."

Juliet nodded. "Me too."

About half an hour and many vodka cranberries later, Juliet was officially drunk. She sat at the table by herself since Barry had gone to get some water and Caitlin went to go put in her song for karaoke. When Juliet was drunk, she was very giggly, so she was giggling softly to herself as she watched Caitlin, also drunk, stumble onto the stage.

"Mr. Barry Allen!" Caitlin shouted from the stage. "Come on down! Or come up. Come up here with me. Oh, come show 'em what you got. Come on."

She then started a chant of Barry's name. Juliet joined in, and so did the rest of the bar. Barry eventually gave in and joined Caitlin on the stage. Juliet placed her chin in the palm of her hands, watching with nothing but love in her eyes as Summer Nights from Grease started to play.

Caitlin sang her part, which didn't sound the best. But then Barry . . . even Juliet in her drunk state could feel her heart start to race from how good he sang. She had always told him that he was a good singer and he never believed her, but he was.

The song ended, and Barry and Juliet got off stage. Barry made a beeline to the table, tapping Juliet's shoulder. She stumbled up, and Barry grabbed her arm to stabilize her.

"Come on, J," Barry encouraged. "Let's get you some water."

"You're fast and you can sing?" Caitlin demanded as they stopped at the bar. "What can't you do?"

Barry watched as Caitlin and Juliet took more sips from their drinks. "Stop you both from drinking, apparently."

"I'm not even sure that was mine. I have to go to the bathroom."

"Ooh, same!" Juliet exclaimed, letting out more giggles.

The two stumbled into the bathroom. Juliet leaned against the cool wall as Caitlin stumbled into the stall. Her mind was spinning, but in a good way. She really didn't know how to explain it.

Once Caitlin was finished, they left the bathroom. However, Juliet immediately stopped in her tracks. Barry was talking to a girl at the bar. The girl was pretty — really pretty. She pouted, her heart slightly breaking. Juliet didn't like the familiar feeling of jealousy that arose in her. She was . . . Oliver . . .

Honestly, her and Oliver didn't have a label. Juliet didn't know if she liked that. If she wanted to date somebody, she wanted to date somebody. Right now, Oliver and her had gone out on a couple of dates, but she had found herself under him more times than they had gone to a restaurant. They worked well together, but Juliet wasn't sure if he was what she wanted.

Or maybe that was just the alcohol talking.

Caitlin took her hand and dragged her back over to Barry, Juliet letting go of her hand when they were close enough. "Barry?"

"Yeah?" Barry responded.

"I don't feel good."

"Okay, come on." Barry pointed to Juliet. "I'm going to take Caitlin home real fast, and then I'll come back to get you. I'll be a minute, tops."

Juliet shot a finger gun at him. "I'll be here."

Barry then grabbed Caitlin and sped her out of the bar. Before Barry could come back to get her, Juliet closed her eyes, imagining only a specific person in mind, hoping that even through her feelings she could see him and shake off the jealousy.

Was that using him? Juliet didn't know. But they also were . . . whatever they were.

A tingling feeling spread throughout her body, but it wasn't from the alcohol this time. When she opened her eyes, she was standing in a nice loft apartment with high windows. Juliet blinked a couple of times, clearly disoriented, before stumbling backwards a tiny bit. Giggled spilled past her lips in her drunken state as she looked around.

And sitting there, right on the couch, was the one person he wanted to see. Oliver Queen stood up, confusion written all over his features.

"Ollie!" she exclaimed excitedly, throwing her arms up in the air.

"Juliet," Oliver said. "What are you doing here?"

"I — I wanted to come see you," she slurred. "You haven't answered my texts, Ollie."

"You should go home, Juliet."

"No. Let me stay here. With you."

Oliver sighed. "Where's Barry?"

"With Caitlin," Juliet answered, hiccupping slightly. "Why — why do you ask?"

"You're drunk, Jules. We really need to have a conversation, but . . . not right now." He glanced out at the night sky. "I don't want you teleporting in case you end up somewhere weird, so you can stay here for the night."

"With you," Juliet urged, taking a step forwards and wobbling slightly.

Oliver shook his head. "Not with me."

"What the fuck—"

"Let's go upstairs, Juliet."

Juliet allowed him to bring her upstairs in the apartment. He gave her a shirt and a pair of sweatpants, leaving the room to let her get changed. She frowned, shrugging off her clothes and changing into his, wondering why he didn't just stay if he had seen her undressed before. Even if she was drunk, she didn't like how cold Oliver was being. He was cold to everyone else but not her. She was always the exception. Juliet didn't like how that changed.

She fell onto the bed and closed her eyes, falling asleep alone. Little did she know Oliver was watching her from the doorway, his eyes swimming with sadness, knowing of what he had to do tomorrow morning, not only for his sake but for hers.

〖   ϟ   〗

YEAH I'VE BEEN SIPPING I'VE BEEN BUZZING SHOOTING DOUBLES LIKE IT'S NOTHING AH BUT NOTHING MAKES YOU GO AWAY 😩😩😩

don't mind me and my yeehaw songs 🤠

also ooooh we've got some of juliet's inner thoughts about oliver <3