⊱ ──────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ──────── ⊰
𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗘
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
juliet & barry
⊱ ──────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ──────── ⊰
JULIET STOOD BY the coffee machines in the hospital. She was waiting there with Joe, Rob (Captain Singh's husband), and Barry, who had immediately rushed to the hospital once Juliet told him over text what happened and apologized profusely for not being there. Juliet was in the midst of making Joe and Rob coffees since Barry declined, maybe to escape and think about her own guilt for a second. She tapped her fingers against the counter as the coffee poured into the cup. If she had gotten there earlier, if she had done things differently, maybe Captain Singh would be okay.
The coffee stopped pouring. Juliet took the now-full cup and added some milk and sugar to it before placing a lid on top. She grabbed the two coffees and wandered back to the waiting room. Joe was sitting in a chair, his knee anxiously bouncing up and down. Juliet offered him a tight smile as she handed him his coffee. She then went to Rob, who was standing next to Barry with his arms crossed.
Rob took the coffee from her. "Thank you, Juliet."
"No problem," Juliet replied.
"This isn't how I thought I'd finally meet David's co-workers." His eyes flickered from her to Barry. "He speaks very highly of you two."
Juliet glanced up at Barry for a moment, her heart warming. "Does he?"
"David's all bark," Rob told them. "A very loud bark."
The door to Captain Singh's room then opened. Juliet straightened up and looked at it to see that a doctor was coming out of it.
Joe instantly stood up. "How is he, doctor?"
"We're stabilizing him," the doctor revealed.
Rob immediately walked closer to the doctor, leaving Juliet and Barry behind. Juliet instinctively linked her arm through Barry's, maybe as a grounding mechanism or maybe because she just didn't want to be alone.
"He's experiencing some paralysis in his lower extremities."
"Oh my God," Rob said.
"The hardest thing to gage right now is the extent of his neurocognitive deficits," the doctor continued. "He may not be the same person you remember."
Rob took another step forwards, tears filling his eyes. "Can I see him?"
"I'm sorry, visitation's for family only."
"Being his fiancé makes him family, doctor," Joe insisted.
"Uh, sure," the doctor approved, and a teary-eyed Rob entered the room.
Joe lowered his voice. "Will he be able to return to the force?"
"I'm actually not sure he'll be able to walk again."
Juliet shut her eyes for a moment, her heart dropping. "Shit."
The doctor went back in the room. Joe glanced back at Juliet and Barry for a moment before walking straight ahead. The two shared a look. That wasn't good. They followed him, Juliet removing her arm from Barry's.
"Joe, where are you going?" Barry asked.
"I need to end this," Joe answered.
"Not by yourself."
Joe whirled around. "Yes, by myself! I know him! I can find him. I don't want anybody else getting hurt, especially Iris and you two."
Juliet shook her head. "Iris—"
"Mardon said he was going to avenge his brother. That goes beyond me. It goes all the way to the both of you and her. You two say with Iris, and you keep her safe. Do not leave her side."
Juliet sighed before nodding. "Fine."
She watched as Joe walked off. Juliet rubbed her eyes tiredly for a moment. God, how had everything gone so wrong?
The first place they thought of to check where Iris could possibly be was Central City Picture News. Iris worked there basically all the time, so it was a giveaway. They entered to see multiple reporters milling around.
Barry tapped on the shoulder of the first reporter he saw. "Hey, have you seen Iris West?"
"She went to see her dad," a man replied, and Juliet looked up to see him walking down from the upper portion of the room. "You're Barry Allen and Juliet St. James, right?"
"That's us," Juliet confirmed.
"Her friend-slash-brother and her friend-slash-sister? Or is that brother-slash-friend and sister-slash-friend?"
"Friend is fine," Barry stated as he shook the man's hand.
"Oh, I'm Mason Bridge," the man announced.
Juliet followed after him. "Iris has told me a lot about you, including the fact that you think Harrison Wells is mad."
He is.
Shut up, brain.
"Oh, no, no, no, I never said he was crazy," Mason protested. "He's a sociopath and a liar, for sure. Really? You don't see it? All the time you three spend together?"
Juliet raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry?"
"Sometimes when I'm bored, I follow him around. And for the most part, he keeps to himself, except when he's meeting up with you two, which he seems to do quite a bit. And then one time, he met up with Simon Stagg, and then poof, no more Simon Stagg."
"So you're a stalker? And you think that Wells knows where Stagg is?"
"No, I'm saying Wells killed him," Mason voiced.
"Ah, all right, well, even if we believed you, which we don't, he's in a wheelchair," Barry argued. "How could he possibly have done that?"
Who's we?
"Uh, I have evidence in a secure digital file that will explain everything," Mason revealed.
Barry blinked. "What — what evidence?"
"Oh, you'll just have to read about it in the Sunday paper, like everybody else."
Mason walked away. Juliet stood there for a moment in shock. What in the fuck? If she was being honest, Juliet was kind of curious to see what evidence Mason was talking about. Then her mind snapped back into focus.
Iris.
Mason had said she had gone to see Joe. That meant that she was at the house. Juliet and Barry left CCPN and went back to Joe's house. Sure enough, when they walked through the door, Iris was standing there. Juliet took an inward breath of relief. At least they had found her.
"Hey, have you heard from dad?" Iris questioned. "He's not answering his cell."
"Uh, no," Barry replied, taking off his jacket. "I haven't talked to him."
"Me neither," Juliet agreed, also taking off her jacket.
Iris sat down on the coffee table. "I'm starting to worry about him. What are you doing home so early? And with Jules?"
Juliet walked over and sat on the top of the couch. "We were actually looking for you. The two of us just met your friend Mason at CCPN, and he told us that he has some kind of proof that Dr. Wells did something. Do you have any idea what that could be?"
"No, he hasn't told me."
Iris then looked at Barry. "So, how are things going with Linda?"
She glanced over at Juliet at the end. Juliet rolled her eyes. Here they go. She said Linda's name in a way that made it explicitly clear that she didn't like Linda — or, maybe the fact that Linda was dating Barry. Juliet knew that Iris was always rooting for her and Barry, but sometimes she just went a little over the edge.
"Why do you say it like that?" Barry complained.
Iris smiled innocently. "Like what?"
"Like how you and Juliet used to always say Becky Cooper."
"Becky Cooper was a bitch," Juliet replied.
Iris nodded in agreement. "Becky Cooper was a nightmare of a high school girlfriend, and you should have never dated her."
Barry looked between the two of them. "Okay, so you're saying that Linda's a bitch and that she's Becky material?"
"No, I never said she was a bitch," Juliet stated. "I said that about Becky. Linda's sweet."
"And I wouldn't go that far," Iris continued. "She's hot and nice and smart, and she is really good at her job. I just . . ." Iris' eyes flickered to Juliet. "I don't think that she's the right one for you."
"Then who is?" Barry inquired, although his mind was screaming Juliet! Juliet! Juliet!
"Let me describe her to you. She's got brown hair that's tinted a little bit red, a really pretty smile, is a nerd—"
"Okay," Juliet interjected, feeling her face heat up. "I just think that Iris is trying to say that fate and destiny doesn't have plans for you and Linda."
Barry looked over at her. "Where'd you get the idea of fate and destiny?"
"Oliver," Juliet replied simply, feeling the gazes of the two of them on her. "When he broke up with me, he said that he didn't believe a lot about fate and destiny but he knew that we weren't meant to be together. And as someone who does believe in fate and destiny, I just . . . I know you like her a lot, Barry, but maybe it's not meant to be.
Their eyes held onto each other's for a very long moment. However, everything was cut short when they gained news from Eddie that Mardon had kidnapped Joe. All of them were frozen, not really knowing what to do, until they decided to go back to the CCPD.
The precinct was filled with basically the entire staff. All of them stood around as Eddie stood in front of them all. He had been there when Joe had gotten kidnapped. Juliet stood in between Iris and Barry, her hands in her pockets as she listened to Eddie with a solemn look on her face.
"We've seen what Mardon can do, but do not forget, he is not invincible," Eddie announced.
"I can't believe this is happening," Iris admitted quietly.
"We'll find him," Barry promised.
Juliet frowned at how Iris started to get choked up and reached up, placing her hands on her best friend's shoulders to get Iris to look at her. "'Ris, I promise, Barry and I are going to bring him back to you. We're not going down without a fight."
"Okay," Iris whispered.
"I want you all to scour this city until we find Joe," Eddie ordered. His eyes then set on their little trio. "Move out!"
Iris stepped away to take a phone call as the officers dispersed. Juliet's eyebrows knit in concern as she watched Iris' figure suddenly get tense. She looked up and shared a glance with Barry.
"He has my dad," Iris revealed, turning back to the two with tears falling down her cheeks. "He says if I tell anyone, he'll kill him. He wants me to meet him at the waterfront."
"All right, J and I are coming with you," Barry voiced.
Juliet extended her hand out to Iris. "I'm by your side, always. Come on."
Iris reached forwards and took her hand, instantly lacing their fingers together. Barry grabbed the bag that had both of their suits in it just in case, and the three headed over to the elevator. However, Linda walked out of it, making Juliet's eyes slightly widened. Her and Iris stopped in the doorway.
"Barry," Linda began. "Can I talk to you for a second?"
"No, Linda, I'm sorry, I really can't right now," Barry responded.
Linda glanced back at Juliet and Iris. "Of course not."
"Look, it's not like that. It's just — it's an emergency. I have to go right now."
Juliet squeezed Iris' hand comfortingly as they got into the elevator, leaving Linda behind. The elevator was stuck in a tense silence and they got out, instantly heading out to the waterfront of Central City. It was foggy and cold as they ran around, looking for any sign of Mardon and Joe.
"What do we do?" Iris asked.
"He'll find us," Barry voiced.
Iris' eyes then set out on the horizon. "Oh my God."
Juliet followed her gaze, and her eyes instantly widened. A huge storm was brewing in the sky, thunder rolling and lightning flashing.
Barry instantly looked at Juliet. "J, take Iris and get out of here, okay? You both need to get as far away from here as possible."
"No," Juliet instantly refused. "No way am I leaving you right now."
"Juliet, please—"
"No."
Barry swallowed nervously as he stared at her, his heart practically bursting out of his chest. "Fate and destiny." He reached up and placed his hands on either side of her face. "It's you and me, Juliet."
Juliet's heart pounded. "What are you talking about?"
"It's been you. It's always been you. I've just been too much of an idiot to realize it until now. You're always on my mind, you take up every inch of my heart." He leaned his forehead on hers. "It's you."
Juliet's mind was spinning. Was this really happening? Was this just something she made up in her head? But the way Barry's touch ignited her skin was so real that it couldn't be fake.
She picked her forehead off of his and instantly pressed up on her toes, kissing him hard. Her hands rested on his arms and his stayed on his face. He kissed her back just as urgently, as if they were fitting their entire lives of pining into this one kiss. Which, they were. Finally, after a long moment, they pulled away. They stared at each other in slight shock, because holy shit, they had just kissed each other.
"Well, damn," Iris commented. "It's about time."
Suddenly, a huge tsunami wave started to make its way towards Central City. Juliet's eyes widened in shock.
Barry instantly pulled out his phone. "Caitlin. Hey, there's — there's no time for that right now, all right? There is a tsunami heading for the city. How do Juliet and I stop it?" There was a pause. "By running back and forth. How fast?" He then hung up the phone and looked back at Juliet. "Hold the wave in place."
Juliet nodded. "Okay." She looked over at Iris. "You're going to hate us, and it's understandable, but just know we always wanted to tell you, okay?"
Barry then sped into his suit while Juliet teleported into hers. They stood in front of Iris, who just stared at them in shock.
"Go!" Barry exclaimed to Iris. He glanced at Juliet. "Good luck."
"You too," Juliet responded softly.
Barry then sped off. Juliet held up her hands, focusing her entire mind on the wave. Red energy started to travel up and down her arms as the tsunami stopped in its place. Just like the lightning yesterday, she could feel Mardon pushing against her, trying to take control again. Juliet just did her best to hold on.
Her mind was spinning more than it ever had before. She could vaguely see a wall of wind created by yellow lightning that was Barry start to form. Juliet's limbs shook as the wave creeped closer and closer as she started to lose control. The wave was approaching quickly, and she was getting drained, and Barry was still running—
She didn't know if it was enough.
〖 ϟ 〗
this chapter was short I'm sorry <3
but
OH I'M SCREAMING SO LOUD
"fate and destiny. it's you and me, juliet" I THINK THAT'S THE BEST SENTENCE I'VE EVER WRITTEN