Iris had called me today and told me that she had broke the news to her dad about Wally, and from what she told me, Joe was devastated to find out about his unknown son. Barry went to go talk to him in the pipeline and I stayed behind with Caitlin, Cisco, and Jay. Soon, Barry comes up and walks over to me and I look at him with concern. "Is Joe ok?" I ask him and he nods. "He's kind of ok about it. He blames himself for not being there for Wally because he grew up without a dad." Barry tells me and I fold my arms as I frown. "But it's not his fault. Francine made that decision to keep Wally a secret from Joe." I say with a shrug and Barry nods. "He was telling me the story about the time Iris' appendix burst, remember that day?" Barry asks and I nod. "How could I not remember? Watching one of your best friends being rolled away into an ambulance. The second time I watched that it was after you were struck by lightning." I say and Barry nods. "Yeah. Well, he said about a drug bust that him and Singh made about 10 years ago. He said that after that, they went for a steak lunch for a job well done and as they were ordering, his got this feeling in his chest, like his heart was being squeezed." Barry says and I nod.
"He knew something wasn't right. His paternal instincts were acting up." I say and Barry nods then continues with the explanation.
"He said that he called our school and the nurse said that she was just about to call him to tell him that Iris was headed to the hospital. He said that he knew it. That he could feel it in his heart."
"It's natural for a parent to feel that way for their kid. Remember when I twisted my ankle during PE sophomore year?" I ask Barry and he nods. "After my x-rays were taken, and I was waiting for the doctors to tell me the news, my dad said that he felt like something happened while he was working. When they said it was a fracture my dad was really worried and I had to do physical therapy, but it was just a little piece of bone that was fractured off the ankle with my tendon. It hurt like hell, but my dad was really worried that he would baby me, remember?"
"Yeah. I'd always help you upstairs and downstairs because you were scared to use your crutches on the stairs." he says.
"Yeah. But what I'm trying to say is that, he was just a concerned dad. Joe may blame himself for not knowing about Wally and not being there for him, but he's been there for Iris, and that's all that matters, right?"
"That's kind of what I told him." he says with a smirk and I smile.
"Great minds think alike."
"Great "couples" think alike." he corrects me and laugh as he wraps his arms around me and kisses me.
Soon the others walk in and the screen turns to static and we hear singing. "Flashy the red-nosed Speedster had a very shiny suit. And if you ever saw him you would see a birdie, too." Jesse sings as he appears on the screen and I turn to Barry who looks at me and we both look back at the screen. "Merry Christmas, kiddywinks! I'm back." he starts to say and I furrow my brows as I stare at the screen remembering the last time Barry and I dealt with him. "Citizens, you know, the holidays can be a time for gentle reflection on the year past, our ups and downs, our triumphs and heartaches, but don't forget, they can also be a time for disemboweling our enemies." he says and I glare at the screen. "We don't have a Trickster on Earth-2." Jay says as Jesse keeps talking. "Lucky you." I say to him as I keep my eyes glued to the screen. "No. My stocking won't be completely stuffed until it's filled to the brim with bloody Flash parts. What do you say, speed freak? You and your little birdie wanna roast chestnuts?" Jesse says and I fold my arms and tighten my grip on my arms. "I can't believe we have to deal with this psychopath again, and on Christmas. Not only that, but he's with Mardon, too." I say and really irritated at the fact.
"Are there any clues as to where he is based on the video?" Barry asks.
"None that I can see." Cisco says walking up to the computer to analyze the footage.
"Guys, there's a reflection of something in his cornea. See?" Jay says and I walk up closer to the screen.
Cisco zooms in on Jesse's eyes and I see the reflection Jay was talking about. "What is that?" Barry asks as we stare at the reflection. Cisco zooms in closer and I see that it was some sort of teddy bear. "That's Mr. Jiggle Wiggle." Wells says and I look at him with confusion. "Come again." Cisco says confused by Wells' comment as well. "It's a doll. A stuffed children's toy. I gave one to my daughter when she was six." Wells says and I nod understandingly as I turn back to Cisco. "Mr. Jiggle Wiggle was manufactured in Okamura Toys." Cisco says pulling up the file on the toy. "Yahtzee! Okamura once had a shipping facility in Central City that shut down four years ago. It's been abandoned ever since. What if Weather Wizard's there? The wand's not finished." Cisco says looking back at us. "No? The Trickster is." Barry says and he walks over to his suit and I walk up to mine. "What are you doing?" he asks me and I look at him. "Jesse asked for both of us. I'm going, no matter how much you deny it." I say and he sighs in defeat and nods. I put my suit on and Barry speeds ahead and I caught up with him on my bike. I stayed outside of the building in case Jesse tried to escape as Barry sped inside to catch him. "What are you doing here?" I hear Barry ask in the com and I was confused to who he was talking to.
"Same thing as you. Trying to catch a murder." I hear Patty say and I felt worry come over me.
I suddenly hear singing through the coms and Jesse's voice, "We can't let Christmas hog all the holiday fun. Happy Hanukkah!". I wanted to know what was going on in there to the point where my mind was debating on running into the building. But I know I couldn't due to Barry's voice in my head yelling at me, and the thought of danger being there he was able to get both himself and Patty out. "Dreidel, dreidel, dreidel. I made you out of C-4!" Jesse's voice says with an evil laugh and I widen my eyes. "Barry!" I say worriedly as I felt my heart pound in my chest. "I'm afraid we are definitely looking at closed casket funerals." Jesse says with a chuckle, and I this point I stared at the building in pure worry. "There's nowhere for me to run us to!" I hear Barry say. "So what should we do?" Patty asks and I bite my lip as I try to think of something. "Hold me." Barry says and I widen my eyes at what he says. "Excuse me?!" I ask in shock and anger. "I'm seeing someone." Patty says and I just wanted to scream off the top of my lungs that he was also. "Me, too. Don't let go." Barry says and the next thing I see was the building exploding, but two figures fly out of the skylight. I dash over to where they landed and sigh in relief that they were both alright. I see Patty walk over to her car and I knew something was wrong with her, "Detective!" Barry calls her. "It was all just a trap for you and her. Mardon and Jesse aren't even here. They're still on the loose." she says to us. "How did you know to come here?" I ask her as I turn my voice modulator on and she turns to face us. "Because there was a reflection in Jesse's eye of Mr. Jiggle Wiggle. And that's the thing that my dad bough-- It doesn't even matter." she says cutting off what she was previously saying.
"That's why you came here alone? Without any back up? Because of your father?" I ask her as I cross my arms.
"You don't know anything about me." she says.
"We know you're being reckless." Barry says.
"And we're sure the people in your life care enough about you to not want to see you get hurt." I say.
"Except Mardon didn't kill my father. I did." she says as she walks up to us and I look at her in confusion. "See, he had a little shoe shop, and we didn't have any money, so I worked there after school. Except, one day, I decided not to show up because... I was being stupid and silly with my friends. I didn't even call to tell him that I was ditching. So, he brought the deposits to the bank, not me. He was shot and killed by Mardon, not me." she says and I finally understand why she was doing this.
"That's why you became a cop. Joined the meta-human task force." Barry says.
"It'll be legal when I kill Mardon. I have made my whole life about getting justice for my father, even if it meant I didn't have a life. And now, I met a really great guy, and that doesn't even feel real to me. And I'm scared he's gonna find out how angry I am." she cries and I look at her with a frown. "I don't even know why I'm telling you this."
"Sometimes it's just easier to say things to someone with no face." Barry tells her.
"Listen, Detective, I know from experience that keeping something that big inside you without telling it to someone you love hurts you and that person. If I were you, I just tell him straight out about how you feel about this, and why you're feeling this way." I tell her.
"Thank you for saving me." she says and walks to her car.
"You know, even if you get this guy who wronged you, it doesn't make things better." Barry says.
"It has to be better than this." she gets in her car and drives away.
I look over to Barry as I turn my voice modulator off and he looks at me. "Home?" I ask him wanting this night to be over already. "Yeah." he says and I get on my bike, and speed home with Barry.
*~*~
I wake up the next day and take a quick shower as I thought about what happened with Patty last night. Once I get out of the shower, I notice that Barry was still asleep to my surprise. I put on a baby teal colored jumper that says "Pink" with a cream colored knitted scarf, soft black jeggings, and white Doc Martens. I do my makeup, curl my hair, and put on a cream colored knitted bobble hat. I suddenly feel a pair of arms wrap around me and I look to see Barry staring at me in the mirror. "You look cute today." he says and I smile. "It's cold outside, isn't it? Gotta stay warm while looking cute." I say and he chuckles. "Heard anything from Patty?" I ask him, but he shakes his head. I may not know Patty as well as Barry does, but that doesn't mean that I can't be concerned about her. "I'll pick you up." Barry says snapping me out of my thoughts and I nod. I put on a nude colored lipstick and then go to work.
After work was done, Barry picked me up and we headed to S.T.A.R. Labs. "Patty didn't come to work. I'm worried about her." Barry says to me and I frown at him. "There has to be a reason she didn't come. Maybe she told her boyfriend about the whole Mardon situation and he made her stay." I say, but Barry disagrees. "She would've told Joe. I asked Joe if he heard from Patty, he said no." Barry says and I sigh as we walk into the Cortex. "Well, try contacting her. See if she answers you." I say and he nods. He walks away and takes his phone out to call Patty. I turn to see Jay and Caitlin walk in with the wand and place it on a holder. "That looks amazing!" I say with an impressed look. "Yeah. We just need the speedster's confirmation on the design." Caitlin says and I turn to look at my boyfriend hang up and walk over to us. "No answer." he says with a shrug and I sigh again. "Barry. How's it look?" Jay asks Barry as he comes to my side and looks at the wand. "Eerily familiar." Barry says and I roll my eyes as he wraps his arm around me. "Great. Now we just wait for Mardon to strike." I say crossing my arms. We waited a while until we heard a beep and we see a pinpoint. "What's that? Is that Mardon?" Barry asks pointing at the monitor showing the location.
"That's definitely him. Atmospheric pressure just dropped 200 hectopascals." Cisco says.
"Where?" I ask him.
"Central City Square." I widen my eyes remembering the event that was being held there.
"The tree lighting ceremony." Caitlin and I say in unison.
"There's thousands of people there." Barry says.
He walks over to the wand, grabs it speeds into his suit, speeds me into my suit, and speeds us out. Next thing I knew, we were on a balcony with Mardon standing on the ledge. "A little warning next time would be helpful." I tell Barry telepathically. "Oh, glad to see you both. Maybe you can help me." Mardon says as I glare at him. "Help you back into a jail cell?" Barry asks him as we slowly walk up to him. "That'll our pleasure, Mardon." I say to him. "No. No. See, I'm trying to decide if I should kill everybody down there with a deadly hailstorm, or, a little trick here, with acid rain. What do you both think?" he asks us and I cross my arms. "How about neither?" I say with a shrug. "You see this wand here? Guess what?" Barry couldn't finish his sentence before Mardon purposely fell off the ledge. I jump on the ledge with Barry expecting to see Mardon's body on the ground, but instead I see a flying Mardon. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me." I say not believing this one second. "Um, guys. He's flying." Barry tells the others through the coms. "He can fly? Since when can he fly?" Caitlin asks just as shocked as us. "Well, he's using his powers to alter the air pressure around him to create pockets of updraft that can--"
"No. He can fly." Wells interrupts Cisco.
"Get him." Jay says.
"Oh, I had no clue. Thanks for the info, Jay." I say sarcastically as I grab the wand from Barry and he picks me up bridal style and speeds us along buildings and a helicopter to catch Mardon.
We stop in the middle of the square and I hold the wand up to take all of Mardon's powers, then he falls to the ground. The crowd around us run away in terror as we looked at Mardon. "You didn't really think we'd let you hurt all these people, did you?" Barry asks him. "No, of course not. But, I bet you're gonna let me hurt you." Mardon says and I look at him confusingly. Suddenly, I see two wrapped presents skid across the ground and one stops at my feet and the other at Barry's. "Feliz Navidad! Time for a real war on Christmas." Jesse says and I turn to see him in a Santa outfit sitting on the chair. "Jesse." I say through gritted teeth remembering the last time I faced him. "How ya doin' puddin'? Long time no see." he says and I glare at him. "What is this?" Barry asks Mardon as I turn back to him. "That is a box with a bomb in it." Mardon says and I look at Jesse. "Yep. I've handed out about 100 of them today. Oh, it feels so good to give." Jesse says and I widen my eyes. "You see, right now, there are 100 random children, they've each taken home a box, just like that one, and are shoving it under their Christmas tree. There's no way for you to get to all of them. Even if you knew where to look." Mardon says.
"Please don't do this." I say to him
"What, me? Kill a hundred of families? No." Mardon says with a chuckle. "That's up to you two. I'm happy just to take your guy's lives, but after seeing you, gorgeous, I'm tempted to keep you longer." Mardon says disgusting me. "So, this is how it's gonna be. You are gonna stand there and let me end you, very publicly, and very painfully, while I take your little girlfriend." Mardon says. "It's like last year all over again with his son, only it's Mardon as a replacement." I say and I feel Jesse grab me and hold a knife to my neck. "But... If I see even a flicker of electricity on you, the casket makers are gonna have a merry Christmas. So, Flash, what's it gonna be?" Mardon asks him. "Barry, don't." I say telepathically as I clutch onto the wand tighter. "Give it to him." Barry says and I widen my eyes at him. "I love you." he says as I feel tears on the verge of falling down. "You heard him, sweetheart. Give it to me." he says and I sigh. I levitate the wand and hand it over to Mardon and both men laugh. Mardon creates an ice ball and hits Barry. "NO!" I yell as I try to dash only to feel Jesses's grip tighten on my waist and his knife presses against my neck a bit rougher making me wince. "Nu-uh. Unless you want me to slit your throat, you won't interfere." he says and I just look at Barry on the ground. Mardon shoots another ice ball at Barry and he skids across the floor. Mardon uses his wind power to throw Barry across the square. Both men drag me to the location where Barry had landed and I just couldn't help but feel my heart shatter. "Oh, Flash, are you alright? You don't look so good." Mardon says. "I know, I'll give you a jolt." Mardon says and he summons lighting and shoots it at Barry.
"No!" I yell.
Barry falls back down to the ground and I was just hoping that the others were doing something quick. "Ah! I'm done. He's all yours." Mardon says to Jesse and he just shoves me to Mardon who holds me tightly and Jesse walks over to Barry. "To think this city worships you!" he says with a chuckle as he holds the knife up. "But when I kill the Flash, they'll realize I'm the man who saved Central City!" Jesse says and I fidget in Mardon's arms, but couldn't get free. I suddenly hear explosions and I feel Mardon's arms loosen around me. "Was that you?" Jesse asks Mardon about the bombs. "No. Gut him." Mardon says to Jesse. "Alright! I'm gutting already." Jesse says turning back to Barry. "Barry, Tori, the bombs are gone!" Cisco says in my earpiece and I smirk. I elbow Mardon and do a roundhouse kick making him fall to the ground as Barry ties Jesse to the lamppost with fairy lights. I levitate the wand and bring it to me, taking Mardon's powers again. I hear a siren and see Patty's car park in the middle of the street, then she gets out with a boot launcher in her hands. "Detective, it's taken care of. They can't hurt anyone else." Barry says to her. But the next thing you know, she shoots a boot at Barry locking him in place, then she shoots me and the boot electrocutes me and locks me in place. I collapse to the ground still feeling jolts of electricity surge through me. "What are you doing?" Barry asks as she drops the boot launcher, grabs a gun, and points it at Mardon. "This is for my father." she says as she walks to Mardon.
"No, no, no, Detective!" Barry calls her, but she doesn't listen. "Detective, no! You can't do this!" he tries to reason with her.
"He killed my father for a couple hundred dollars! What was so important that my father had to lose his life?"
"Mardon... will get... what he deserves." I say as I feel the jolts continue to surge through my body.
"He deserves to die!" Patty yells at me as I wince in pain from the electricity.
"Not like this!" Barry yells at her.
"You don't have it in you, pretty lady." I hear Mardon say as I squeeze my eyes shut.
"I've been asking myself that for the last four years, and now I know!" Patty tells him.
"No. Patty! You pull that trigger, your life ends, too. You will go to prison." Barry says to her. "Everything and everyone that you could have had in your life will be taken from you. Again." he pauses for a moment. "Mardon can't take anything else from you unless you let him. I didn't know your father, but I know he wouldn't want this. Not over him."
"Mark Mardon, your under arrest." I hear Patty say and cuffs being locked as Barry sighs.
"That was beautiful." I hear Jesse say as he weeps.
"Get me... out of this!" I yell as I wince in pain again.
Once I was unlocked from the boot, Barry speeds us back to S.T.A.R. Labs and he puts me down gently. "If I get another boot on my leg, the one who made it will never hear the end of it from me!" I yell knowing Cisco heard me as I limp to the suit room to change. "Don't blame me for Patty using the boot on you!" Cisco yells back as I change into my regular clothes and hear him leave. When I was changed, I walked out of the Cortex and wait for Barry in the hall. As I wait, I see Joe and he smiles at me. "Hey, Tori. You alright after that boot incident?" Joe asks me and I sigh. "I'm coping with it. At least I'm not limping anymore. I wonder if that's how Barry felt when he got struck by lightning?" I ask and Joe chuckles. "Doubtful. He probably had a lot more pain than that." he says and I smile and nod. "So, everything went well with Francine?" I ask him and he nods. "Glad to hear. I'll see you at the party." I say and he nods then leaves. I was wondering what was taking Barry so long, so I walk back to the Cortex and see him standing in front of the lab window where Wells was. "Bar, you coming?" I ask him and he turns to me and nods. He walks over to me, picks me up, and we head to the West house.
*~*~
We walk into the house to see everyone gathered in the living room and I hug my dad. "Trajiste los regalos?" I ask in Spanish so no one would understand me and he nods. I see Caitlin trying to hang the mistletoe over the doorway and Jay walks over to her as Barry walks over to me and kisses my temple. Barry drags me with him to the chair and pulls me onto his lap as Cisco and Joe serve some of Grandma Esther's nog. I hold the mug with two hands as I take a sip and Barry keeps his arm around me. I suddenly see Jay and Caitlin kiss under the mistletoe and I smile at the sight. "Praise God! They finally kissed!" I say and Cisco holds up his hand for me to high five and I smacked it with a laugh. I turn to Barry and he looks at me with a sweet smile. I lean down and peck his lips as he laughs and holds me tighter. There was a sudden knock on the door and I look at Joe who looked confused. "I don't know. Maybe Harry changed his mind." Barry says and I shrug as Joe goes to open the door. I look over to Joe to see a shocked expression on his face and I look at him confused. "Hi. I'm Wally. I'm Francine's son." the boy at the door answers and I widen my eyes in shock as I look between Iris and Joe.
"I'm Joe." Joe introduces himself and shakes his hand. "This is Iris."
"Hi." Iris tells him.
"Hi." he says to her. "I just wanted to... I don't know. I guess now's a bad time. You've got company, so..."
"No, no, no, come in." Joe tells him and Wally steps inside staring at all of us.
I just stared at him in shock as he looks at all of us in an awkward state. I was the first to put my mug down and get off of Barry's lap, then walk over to Wally. "Hi. Um, I'm Tori. I'm Iris' best friend." I say with a polite smile and push a piece of hair behind my ear. "I'm Wally." he replies holding out a hand and I shake it. Then Barry walks over and snakes an arm around me, "I'm Barry. Iris' other best friend." he introduces himself and he shakes his hand. "Ok, how about we start dinner!" my dad says and I furrow my brows at him. "That is a good idea, Richard. Care to help me?" Joe asks and they both walk into the kitchen. Barry pulls me with him to the other side of the living room and looks at me. "That was surprising." he says to me and I nod. "Ok, letting go of that subject, I'm excited to see what you got me." I say with a smile and he chuckles. "After dinner." he says with a chuckle as he kisses me. After dinner, we gathered around the tree and gave out presents. When Barry and I exchanged presents, he waits to see me open the present. I tear the wrapping paper to see a red velvet box and I open it to see something I thought I'd never see in my lifetime. "A love bracelet?" I ask in shock and he nods with a smile. "How did you afford this?" I ask as I carefully look at the rose gold bracelet with diamonds. "I may or may not have bargained with a jeweler to give it to me for a cheaper price. Four hundred dollars down the drain, but it was worth it." he says and I smile at him. "Now yours." I say and he chuckles as he tears the wrapping paper to see a black velvet box and widens his eyes when he opens it to see the silver love bracelet.
"How did you afford it?" he asks me.
"I actually had my aunt from Metropolis give that to me for a cheaper price. She's a jeweler and she said that she was gonna give it to me for free because she knew that you were "the one." But I paid her four hundred, too." I say.
He smiles at me as he puts the bracelet on my wrists and tightens the screw on, then I put his bracelet on him. "I love you, Tori." he says to me not caring if the others were watching us, but they were too caught up in opening their gifts to notice us. "I love you, too, Barry." I say and he kisses me passionately. "Ok, what did he get you that made you two make-out in front of us?" Iris asks as we pull away and everyone looks at us. We hold up our hands to show the bracelets and everyone widens their eyes. Caitlin and Iris walk over and look at them in awe, and I stare at it knowing that deep in his heart, he really does love me like I love him. This turned out to be an amazing Christmas after all.
*Author's Note*
Ok, so, I know I haven't updated this story in a while, but I have a reason. I'm really swamped with school right now and my laptop broke on me, so I'm writing this on my mom's laptop. I'm really sorry about not updating, but I made it up to you guys by writing a longer chapter. Plus I'm kind of happy that I wrote this right now, because it's almost Christmas!! I'm a real Christmas fanatic because it's my favorite holiday. Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter, and I promise to update when I can. Merry Christmas! - Marissa <3