It's snowing outside, decorations are being hanged in the house, and I'm snuggled up in a blanket with my boyfriend and a nice mug of Abuelita's Mexican Hot Chocolate with my own grandma's secret twist. What is that twist? Cinnamon and some liquor. What can I say? Christmas is coming! My favorite time of the year, because I get to spend time with family, friends, my boyfriend, and receive gifts, but most important in my religion is celebrating the birth of Jesus. Ok, so I don't think that Christmas is about the gifts, but I do know that it's about spending time with family and my religion, foremost. "Ok, I have a tree that needs decorating, mistletoe that needs to be hung, and a house that needs to be decorated too." Dad says and I smile at him as I take a sip of my hot chocolate. "Ok, I'll call Iris tomorrow to help me decorate the tree. You and Barry can decorate the house, and I'll hang the mistletoe over the doorways." I say and the men laugh. "Ok, that'll work. Come on, Barry." Dad says and Barry pecks my lips then gets up to help my dad decorate the house. I take one last sip of my hot chocolate and grab the box filled with mistletoes and hang them on every door way, but of course, being short, I couldn't reach the one in the kitchen.
"Care for help?" I hear Barry ask and I look at him with a smile.
"I would like some help." I say.
He walks over to me, picking me up and I laugh as I hang the mistletoe on the doorway and he slowly lowers me down. "We're under the mistletoe." he sings and I roll my eyes. "Yeah. The one that I just hung." I say and he laughs. "Tradition's tradition. You can't break tradition, Tori." he says and he leans in and kisses me. "I like this tradition." I say and Barry chuckles as he leans in again and kisses me. "When you two love birds are done, can you help me hang these lights?" my dad asks from the door and I turn to him and laugh. "Ok, we're coming." I say and I look over to Barry. "You coming, Rudolph?" I ask seeing him glow a light shade of red. "I'm not a Rudolph! I'm more of a Prancer." Barry corrects me and I nod with pursed lips and giggle as we walk out. After helping to decorate the house, I decorate the inside with fairy lights, some little trinkets and knick knacks of Christmas stuff and leave a gingerbread scented candle in the living room on the coffee table. "Wow, Tori. It looks nice in here." Barry says walking in with mugs of fresh new hot chocolate. "Thank you. I try my best." I say grabbing one of the mugs and peck his lips. "It'll look nicer with the tree, though." dad says and I smile at him.
"Ok, then, you and Barry grab the artificial tree in the garage and we can decorate it right now." I say and dad widens his eyes.
"Well, it's been a long night. I'll grab the tree in the morning, sweetie. Good night." Dad says and I laugh as he walks upstairs with the mug in his hand.
"You know, I can help you and Iris decorate the tree tomorrow, if you want." Barry says as we sit back down on the couch.
"I'd like that very much." I say and kiss him again.
I suddenly hear the doorbell ring and I get up from my spot next to Barry, put my mug down, and walk over to the door. I open it only to see Iris and I smile at her, "Iris! What a nice surprise! I was gonna text you right now to see if you wanted to help me decorate our Christmas tree tomorrow." I say to her. "I'd love to help, Tori." she says and I smile at her, but then frown when I see tears at the brim of her eyes. "What's wrong? What's the matter?" I ask her pulling her into the house and Barry looks at her in concern. "I'm so sorry. I can't keep this in anymore." she says and I walk her over to the dining room and serve her what's left of the hot chocolate. "I know that I was so mad at you guys and Dad for not telling me that you guys were The Flash and Hummingbird, but when I found out about this, I didn't know what to do." Iris tells us as she holds the warm mug in her hands. "What're you talking about, Iris?" Barry asks her and I take a seat next to her as I wonder the same thing as tears stained her cheeks. "When Francine came back, my dad told me not to trust her, and he was right. I didn't know how much." she starts to say and I look at her in anticipation.
"When my mother left us, she was pregnant. She had a son. Joe's son. My brother." she says and I widen my eyes and look over to Barry who had the same expression.
"What's his name?" I ask her.
"Wally. Wally West." she says with a sad smile. "When I found out, I told her to leave and then never come back, and to never tell my dad. But I feel like this is hollowing me out. Every time I look at Dad, I feel like I'm hurting him. I don't know what to do." she sobs.
"I think you know what you have to do." Barry tells her and I nod.
"I can't. It's gonna kill him." she responds.
"No, it won't, Iris. No matter what he thinks, he'll still see you as his little girl and he'll never change that perspective, even with your brother. You're dad is the sweetest person I've ever met, and I'm sure that when you and him meet your brother eventually, he'll welcome him with open arms." I say and Iris smiles.
"Thanks, Tori. I needed that." she says and I smile at her sincerely.
"I'm always here for you, Iris. You're my best friend. It's what we do. We help each other out through tough times."
When Iris leaves, Barry and I go up to my room and lay on my bed tiredly with Christmas music in the back. "So, the Christmas Eve party's gonna be at Joe's and Iris' again.." I say to Barry as I roll onto my stomach and look at him. "Yeah. I can't wait to give you my gift this year." Barry says and I smile at him. "I'm probably gonna help my dad make tamales. It was a Christmas tradition for us to eat tamales for Christmas, remember?" I ask and Barry nods. "Yeah. I loved those pork ones you and your dad made. Those were my favorite." Barry says to me. "Mine too. I'd always sneak a piece of pork when I was little and just watching my mom and dad make the tamales." I say and Barry laughs. Everything was suddenly quiet and I rolled on my back as Barry pulled me in close. Then I remember last year's Christmas. "What are you thinking of?" Barry asks me. "Last year's Christmas." I say with a frown and Barry pulls me in closer and holds me tight. "I'll never let that happen again." Barry says and I look up at him with a small smile. "I love you." I say to him leaning my forehead on his. "I love you, too." he says and he kisses me.
*~*~
I was in rehearsal with Jake as usual and we were just about finished when I got a text from Barry. 'Mardon's back in town. Broke out Snart and Jesse. Pick you up right now and we'll head to S.T.A.R. Labs.' the text says and I groan. "Great." I say as I lock my phone and put it in my pocket. "Is everything ok, Tori?" Jake asks and I turn to look at him. "Oh, yeah. Just fine. It's just that I totally forgot about helping Iris out with something and she just reminded me. I have to go." I say and he nods. I walk out of the restaurant and walk casually to the parking lot only for me to be swooped up and sped to S.T.A.R. Labs. When Barry puts me down, he tells everyone about what happened at Iron Heights. "Oh, yeah. Weather Wizard, Captain Cold, and the Trickster." Cisco says and I nod crossing my arms. "There's three of them and two of you. I do not like those odds." Caitlin says to us. "You don't have to tell me twice." I say as Barry wraps his arms around me. "And I'm gonna be no help without my speed, so..." Jay says and I frown at him.
"Oh, oh, light bulb, up here. I have an idea." Cisco says and I look at him. "Most weather phenomena are marked, no pun intended, by a change in electric charge and pressure in the atmosphere. We could just map out those fluctuations--"
"To pin point his location." Barry says finishing Cisco's sentence.
"Right. It would just be a matter of removing all the electricity..."
"All the electricity from his immediate surroundings." Barry finishes again and I look at him confusingly.
"Attracting to one spot." they both say the last thing together.
"The same way a lightning rod does! Only instead of a lightning rod, we could use--"
"A wand?" Barry asks him.
"Have we already had this conversation?" Cisco asks.
"I'd like to know that, too." I say with a look of confusion on my face.
"Kind of." Barry responds.
"What does that mean?" Wells asks him.
"Uh... Alright. So last time Mardon attacked, he, um, generated a tidal wave that destroyed all of Central City." Barry says and I remember eavesdropping on that conversation with him and the other Wells.
"So, why are you not sleeping with the fishes?" Wells asks.
"Earth-2 has The Godfather ?" Cisco asks straying off topic.
"Every Earth has The Godfather, Vito." Wells says and Jay nods in confirmation.
"So, I ran back through time. One day into the past, and I got a do over, and I stopped Mardon before he could hurt anyone." Barry says.
"You shouldn't have messed with the timeline."
"That's what the other Wells said. So the good news is, in that timeline, you created that wand and it worked. So you just gotta do it again. For the first time." Barry says and I glare at him.
"Yeah. No pressure." Cisco mumbles.
"I can give you a hand." Jay says.
"Best of both worlds?"
"I like that." Jay responds.
"Are you quoting Hannah Montana?"
"Maybe." Cisco says as he walks away and I laugh.
I turn to look at Wells to see him look a bit frazzled, but I didn't know what. "You ok, Harry?" I ask him and he turns to look at me. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" he asks and I furrow my brows at him as he walks away. "Holiday blues? It can't be easy knowing Zoom still has his daughter." Caitlin says and I look at her then back in the path that Wells walked off in knowing it was something else. "Yeah." Barry says and suddenly my phone buzzes and I look to see that it was my dad and I answer. "Hi, Daddy." I say with a smile on my face. "Mija, I think you and Barry need to get home right now." Dad says and I was confused at his words. "What do you mean?" I ask and I see from the corner of my eye, Barry looking at me concerned. "Just come home." Dad says and I look at Barry. "Ok. We'll be home as soon as possible." I say and I hang up. "What was that about?" Barry asks me and I shrug. "We just need to go home." I say and Barry nods. We say our goodbyes to Caitlin and we head home. When we get home, I walk in through the door and look around for my dad. "Dad? You here?" I call out as Barry shuts the door behind me. "Oh, he is. But he's treating a guest at the moment." I hear a voice say and I turn to see Snart sitting on one of the chairs with a mug in his hand. "Mmm. Cocoa isn't cocoa without the mini marshmallows. Your dad sure knows how to make a good cocoa, Tori." Snart says and I glare at him.
Barry speeds over to him and holds him by his collar as he pins him to the wall. "Are you out of your mind, breaking into my home?" Barry asks pretty angrily. "Careful. Made an upgrade to the cold gun. If I release my grip from the handle, the core goes critical. You might make it. She won't along with her dad." Snart says and I look at Barry with a frown and he lets go of Snart. "Why are you here, Snart?" Barry asks as I walk over to his side keeping my glare prominent. "I got the Noel spirit. Wanted to give you a little gift. Mardon broke Jesse and me out to kill you both. Jesse's on board, of course. He's shaking with excitement. Me, I'm gonna pass." Snart says and I look at him in confusion. "Why? You grow a conscience?" I ask putting a hand on my hip. "Mardon wants revenge. Jesse wants chaos. I'm just not invested like they are." Snart says to us. "You mean there's no money in it for you." I say to him. "I was never much for non-profit work." he says to me with a smirk. "If you're not with them, then tell us where they are." Barry says to him.
"Nah. Consider me more of a secret Santa. Besides, you and your friends love to solve a good mystery." Snart says then walks away as Barry scoffs.
"You know I can just read your mind and find out for myself." I say.
"You could. But then again, there's the upgrade on my cold gun, so you won't. Not unless you want you and your dad to become a frozen popsicle." Snart says to me.
"You are full of it, Snart. I think our friends and us save your sister's life, and you just can't stand owing us a marker. I hate to break it to you, but that, that right there is called honor." Barry says as we turn to face Snart.
"Go on. Make your pitch. I can see your dying to."
"Help us stop them."
"Sorry. I'm not interested in being a hero."
Barry scoffs.
"Well, you're doing a pretty lousy job of being a villain this week."
"Merry Christmas, Barry. Tori." Snart says and he walks out
I groan in annoyance and remember my dad was in the house. "Dad? You in here?" I call out and he walks out of the kitchen a bit frightened. "Is he gone?" he asks peaking his head out from the dining room doorway and I give him a small smile. "Yeah. He is." I say to him and he sighs in relief. "I'm just gonna go up to bed." Dad says and he walks upstairs leaving Barry and I alone in the living room. I flop on the couch and just groan in frustration. "You know, I was hoping to have a nice normal Christmas this year, but I forget that ever since the particle accelerator exploded two years ago, we're not normal. Last Christmas we dealt with Reverse-Flash and this Christmas we have to deal with Mardon and Jesse. Is this gonna be a new tradition with us?" I ask as I run a hand through my hair. "I know that you're annoyed with this. I am too, Tori. But this is what we do." Barry says and I sigh. "I know." I say as he takes a seat next to me and wraps his arm around my waist. "I'm sure our Christmas will be great when we take down Mardon and Jesse." Barry says and I look at him with a smile. "I hope your right." I say to him and he leans down to peck my lips.