𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐄 ━━ 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩

⠀⠀𝟰𝟳. ❛ LINGERING IN THE DEPTHS ❜

     A devilish smirk spread across her lips, and she tossed her hair behind her shoulder. "I wondered when someone would get smart enough to figure it out. Truthfully, it took much longer than we expected." Piper admitted, leaning against the kitchen countertop.

     "We?" Erin echoed, raising a brow. Her theory of Piper working with Savitar was slowly becoming a reality.

     "You were smart enough to make it this far. Surely, you can spell out the rest of the sentence for yourself," Piper teased, a sick and twisted smile creeping up onto her cheeks.

     The short-haired woman breathed in shakily, knowing that this was it. This was all the confirmation she needed.

     Caitlin glanced at Barry and Cisco with wide eyes, barely recognizing Piper's voice due to how low and deep it was. The three stood behind the wall that separated the kitchen and living room, listening in on the conversation at hand and confused beyond a doubt.

     All they knew for sure was that Erin had figured something out and caught the redhead in an extensive lie.

     "That's why you've been avoiding Barry... you knew that if you were around him, you wouldn't be able to play the role he assigned you," Erin breathed, wanting more confirmation.

     The man in question furrowed his brows, briefly making eye contact with Cisco, who appeared to be coming to some sort of conclusion. The scarce pieces of the puzzle were quickly coming together, and he refused to believe that it could be true.

     "Actually, no. That's not the reason, but a good guess. The effort was cute," Piper commented, flicking a strand of hair out of her face.

     "Then why?! God, he's the only person you have ever fallen head over heels in love with, Piper! Why would you do this to him? To your relationship? Not to mention, how could you do this to us?! To me? To the team? We're your family. Your friends. How could you do this?!" Erin shouted, her eyes watering as she only grew angrier.

     Not able to hide from the shadows anymore, Barry walked into the kitchen, slamming his keys on the counter. "How could she do what?" he questioned hotly, Caitlin and Cisco following behind him.

     Erin turned her head, meeting her friends' confused and hurt expressions. Seeing how heartbroken they appeared already without even knowing what was going on only infuriated her more.

     This was Piper's fault. She did this.

     The woman held the power of breaking their hearts over all of them. She knew how much everyone cared for each other and for her. She knew and was knowingly using it to her advantage, but for how long? That was the real question.

     How long had she been stringing them along? Since the day she came back? Or last week?

     The range of answers was endless. There was no way they'd ever be able to know for sure.

     "She's working with Savitar," Erin spat.

     The water bottle in Cisco's hand fell to the floor, and he backed away, shaking his head. All the pieces fit perfectly. All this time, he was right.

     Caitlin quickly shook her head. "No, no, no, no. She wouldn't. Not after everything he put her through... her city... and Central City. Piper wouldn't... she couldn't. Right, Piper?" She breathed, looking at her friend desperately.

     Rather than meeting Caitlin's gaze, Piper rested her eyes on the brown-haired man who was deathly silent, his facial expression impossible to decipher.