𝐒𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐭: ᴢᴇʀᴏᴘᴏɪɴᴛ ² − b. allen ((editing))

∟ 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲-𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭.

home stretch
part one

▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀

ANNA'S LEG BOUNCED up and down rapidly as she sat at the curved desk inside the Cortex. Shannon sat beside her with a hand on her back, rubbing circles over her shirt to calm her. The brunette chewed her thumbnail nervously, her eyes glued to the message Caitlin —at least, she hoped it had been Caitlin and not Killer Frost— had sent them.

          They're coming for Anna, the message read. Four simple words that made Anna's stomach twist even though she knew she could handle herself in a fight against Alacrity or Savitar. The problem was, she knew she couldn't handle herself in a fight with them and the Philosopher's Stone.

          Anna didn't want to cry, and she fought like hell to keep the tears from falling out of her eyes, but every part of her ached to sob and scream and throw a fit out of pure rage and frustration and fear. She had fought with Alacrity enough and it was becoming tiresome. All Anna wanted to do was curl up and sleep well at night without worrying that she might not wake up the next morning, or that she would wake up and see a pair of red eyes staring at her from the shadows. Anna was sick of being scared and she was tired of fighting. She knew whether she won the fight against Alacrity and Savitar or not, her fighting was going to come to an end soon.

          This was the home stretch.

          The Cortex had been deathly silent since they had gotten the message from Caitlin using a stranger's phone. Along with the bone-chilling message about Alacrity and Savitar coming for Anna, Caitlin had told them that she and Julian were heading to the hospital to get Julian's wounds checked. After that, Joe, Wally and Cisco left to go make sure they were safe.

          Anna slowly stood up from her seat and cleared her throat, giving everyone a quick look before leaving the room without uttering a word — no one called after her. As soon as she disappeared around the corner and quickly walked further away from the Cortex, she let out the sob she had been holding in since receiving the message from Caitlin. She pressed a hand over her mouth and leaned against the wall, squeezing her eyes shut and tightly as she possibly could. Her whole body shook violently as more muffled sobs escaped her lips, but she tried to stay as quiet as possible in fear someone from the Cortex would hear her.

          "We'll figure this out," Barry spoke up from behind her, causing Anna to jump and wipe her tears away quickly. She turned toward him and sniffled, biting the inside of her lip as hard as she could to keep it from trembling. His expression immediately softened once he met Anna's gaze and all the tension in his shoulders seemed to disappear. He walked up to her and cupped her face gently, brushing his thumbs over her cheeks to get rid of the tears. Barry pressed a kiss to her forehead and Anna immediately fell apart in his arms, her whole body shaking once again as sobs came pouring out of her. "I won't let them hurt you, baby. I promise."

          Anna slipped her arms around Barry's torso and buried her face into his chest, trying once again to keep her sobs quiet so that no one would hear her cry. She curled her hands into fists against Barry's back, bunching up his crewneck in her hands. Anna knew what fear felt like, and she had experienced it many times throughout her time as a hero, but this was something she had never felt before. Thawne made her scared, Zoom made her terrified, but Alacrity and Savitar made Anna feel something so much more frightening — Anna was petrified of Alacrity and Savitar. They were something that Anna could have never anticipated and no matter how hard she tried, there was nothing she could do to keep up with them in a fight. Anna could hold her own when fighting them, but she wasn't strong enough to beat them.