I was sleeping peacefully on the bed until I heard a gasp and I prop myself up on my elbows and look at Barry who was sitting up. "Barry? What's the matter?" I ask him putting my hand on his arm. "Nothing, Tori. Go back to sleep." he says lying back down and I look at him with furrowed brows. "Barry Allen, tell me what's wrong, or I will read your mind!" I say to him and he sighs as he sits up agian. "I had a nightmare." he says to me as he runs a hand through his hair. "About what?" I ask confusingly. "Zoom. He killed you." Barry says and I frown at him as he lies back down. I lay my head on his chest and feel his arms wrap around me tightly. "I'm right here, Barry." I say as I rub circles on his chest and we both drift off to sleep again, and this time, no one woke up with nightmares.
*~*~
I woke up only to see that Barry was gone. I sigh and just sit up as I run a hand through my messy tangled hair. I get out of bed, take a shower, get ready, and go to work. I know Barry's been worried about Zoom since he's been getting those dreams lately, but he's been guarded about it. He keeps me by his side at all times and never leaves me. The only time I'm actually without him is at work. I love being with him, but to have him stick by me 24/7 is making me feel trapped. "Is something wrong, Tori?" Jake asks as I snap out of my thoughts and look at him. "What?" I ask him not really paying attention. "Are you ok?" Jake asks walking over to the table I was sitting at and taking a seat next to me. "Yeah. I'm fine. It's just that, I'm worried about Barry." I say and I hear Jake sigh as he tightens his lips. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be talking to my ex about my boyfriend situations." I say to him as I twirl my thumbs. "No, no. It's ok. I'm all ears." he says to me and I look into his blue eyes and sigh. "It's just that... Barry's been having bad dreams lately, and we've talked about them. But he never leaves my side and the only time I get to be by myself is here. I love him, but I feel trapped when he's treating me like that." I say to him and Jake puts a hand on mine. "Maybe you should tell him that. You may not want to hurt him, but he might not stop if you don't say something." he replies and I nod with a deep sigh. "Thanks, Jake. I needed that." I say and he smiles. "Anytime." he says and we get back to work.
After a while, I hear my phone ring and I see Barry's picture on my phone. "Hey, babe." I say as I answer the phone. "Cisco called me saying something about a new meta. I'm gonna go get you." Barry says and I sigh. "Barry, we actually need to talk about that." I say to him as I walk away. "Ok, we can talk later. First, we deal with the meta situation. Then, we can talk." he says and I sigh. "Ok. See you soon." I say and hang up as I grab my stuff. "I gotta go, Jake. I'll see you tomorrow." I say and walk outside. I was swooped up speedily and I was suddenly in S.T.A.R. Labs to see Caitlin sitting at the computer with Jay next to her, Wells standing on the other side of the table, and Cisco was standing a bit farther. "As some of you may well know, I've been deeply embroiled in a secret, one-sided battle with an invisible enemy." Cisco says and I look at him in confusion. "No. Not the Turtle again." Cisco says and I raise a brow. "Who's the Turtle?" I ask looking at Caitlin confusingly. "Cisco's white whale." Caitlin tells us which gets me even more confused. "Half whale, half turtle." Jay says and I look at Barry who looks confused as well. "Mmm, no. Do you see what you're doing, Caitlin? Everybody's confused now." Cisco says and I just shake my head as I lean it on Barry's chest. "Get to it." Wells tells him which I actually agreed with. "I stumbled upon a few of these cases when we were looking for the Reserve-Flash. Robberies that were seemingly committed at high-speed. People holding their beloved items one second, those items were gone the next." Cisco says pulling up an article. "Tell me what you see." he tells us pulling up footage of a public place. We all watch the footage as the people were doing their daily routines, and suddenly everyone froze except one man who had his hood up unable to capture his face.
"So he can, what? Stop time?" I ask Cisco.
"No, no, no. Look at the time code. It's still running." Cisco says and I look to see he was right.
"Yeah, ok. So if he's not stopping time, what is he doing?" Barry asks as we walk a bit closer to the screen.
"He's slowing down everything around him. And that's why we call him The Turtle." Cisco says turning to us.
"Why haven't you mentioned this guy to us before?" I ask with furrowed brows.
"Oh, I don't know. I think we've just been a little distracted, you know?" With Captain Cold, and the Weather Wizard, and Gorilla Grodd. Do I need to go on?"
"Ok! Sheesh!" I say holding my arms up in defeat.
"Ok, so, if we can catch him, figure out how he uses his powers..." "Maybe we can show Zoom what life is like in the slow lane." Cisco finishes Jay's sentence as Barry leaves my side and looks at the computer.
"How would you even know where to find him?" Wells asks Cisco.
"Well, the robberies in the videos all correspond with police reports that were dismissed as "lost or missing items" instead of thefts." Barry says.
"The suspect's MO being?" Jay asks
"Items of immense personal value." Barry responds.
I hear speedy taps of buttons from Barry and he suddenly gets something. He speeds into his suit, grabs me, and I look around to see that we were at the precinct. I look down at myself seeing that I was in my regular clothes. "Hey, why didn't you change me into my suit?" I ask him with furrowed brows. "'Cause your powers might not help in this situation, Tori." he says and I sigh knowing he was probably right. He explains to me that this was a press conference because the Vandervoort diamonds were recovered. "Ok. Get this guy. I'll wait for you downstairs." I say and he nods. "And, Barry... be careful." I say and he nods once more before pecking my lips and I head downstairs trying to go unnoticed. I managed to not be seen and I stood at the doorway to watch for anything suspicious. "The perpetrators who committed this heartless crime have been apprehended, and are now in custody. And we're happy to report that the famed Vandervoort diamonds have been returned to their rightful owner." Captain Singh says motioning to the man beside him. "The real gem is the return of my great grandfather's ring. Getting that returned to the family is what's most priceless to me." the man says opening the velvet case to see the ring.
I suddenly see a man stare at the ring and I look over to Barry who stares down at me. "Found him." I tell him telepathically. "I saw him, too." he says and he starts to speed down, but suddenly I feel like I couldn't move my muscles, except my eyes could shift around. I look around to see Barry get slower from the Turtle's powers as well, but he was able to move slightly. I see a hooded figure walk through the crowd and he grabs the ring and walks away. Suddenly everything goes back to normal, and I feel a gust of wind blow past me. I widen my eyes and dash over to Barry as he looks at the scene with wide eyes. "The ring is gone. What happened to it? Lockdown this place. No one leaves this room. Sweep the Precinct." Singh says and I look at Barry. Barry picks me up and we speed out of the Precinct before anything else happens. We went back to S.T.A.R. Labs and Caitlin checks on the both of us to see if Turtle's powers did something to us. "Whatever the Turtle did, it only affected you both temporarily." Caitlin says as we walk out. "Yo! What was it like? Being in Turtle time?" Cisco asks and I sigh as I lean on the railing. "Yeah. No, it was weird. It was like waves of inertness. Like all the energy was suddenly sucked out of my body, and then it would return." Barry says and I nod.
"That's because that's exactly what was happening. He has the ability to transfer all the surrounding kinetic energy into himself." Wells explains.
"Leaving everyone else in a temporary state of potential energy." Jay finishes saying and Wells agrees.
"So why could I still move?" Barry asks confusingly.
"Your speed. Your speed allows you to change positions faster than anyone else." Wells says.
"So you can convert your stored potential energy back to kinetic energy." Jay explains.
"Excuse me. Where are you going?" Cisco asks Wells who was walking away.
"Trying to figure out how to use this against Zoom. You remember Zoom?" Wells says and he walks into the other room.
"Cisco, please join me. We'll use your idea, and take it to new scientific heights and save the world." "Yes, I'd love to." Cisco says and I just chuckle a little.
I feel Barry's arms around me and I cuddle up to him with a smile. "Ok! Facial recognition software found us a match from the press conference footage. The Turtle's name is Russell Glosson. He was a small-time thief, who stopped thieving after the particle accelerator explosion." Caitlin says and I look at Barry. "Alright, I'm gonna head to work. Catch Joe up. Let me know if you find anything else." Barry says and he looks at me. "I think I'm gonna go home." I say as we walk out and he nods taking me home. When I was home, I look around spotting a mess from my dad earlier and I sigh knowing I had to clean it up. I wash dishes, clean the counter, and organize any papers that were on the coffee table. After a while of cleaning, I was finally done and I flopped on the couch in exhaustion. I hear the door open and I feel someone wrap their arms around me. "You look beat." I hear Barry say and I open my eyes to look at him. "You have no idea. You know, for once, can't you and my dad do things around the house?" I ask and he chuckles. "Come on, we're heading to the West house." he says and I look at him in confusion. "For what?" I ask him confused why we had to go to Iris'. "Dinner. Joe wants us there and I told him we'd be there. Now come on, lazy." he says standing up and grabbing my arm.
"If you want me to go, you're carrying me there." I say still exhausted and he picks me up bridal style and speeds us to the West house.
Barry rings the doorbell as I keep my eyes shut and I hear the door open. "What happened to her?" I hear Iris asks as she stares at me in Barry's arms. "Cleaning work by the tornado of men." I say and Iris sighs. "You could do your share to clean, Bar." Iris tells him and I smack his chest and he sighs. "Thank you, Iris." I say to her as Barry puts me down and we walk inside. "So, this dinner is to get to know Wally?" I ask and Iris nods. "Dad ordered Chinese food, but we're just gonna wait for Wally." Iris says and I nod as Barry and I sit on the couch. After a while of waiting for Wally, I lay my head on Barry's lap and he runs his hand through hair as we just wait for anyone to say something. "Ok, I think we can call it. Wally is not coming." Iris says and I nod in agreement as I shut my eyes feeling exhausted still. "I'm sorry, Joe. I know how much this meant to you." I hear Barry say as he continues to run a hand through my hair. "He's a kid, right? I get it." Joe says and I prop myself up with my elbows and turn to look at him. "He could've called." I say then lie my head back on Barry's lap. "Well, there could be a number of reasons why he didn't." Joe says and I feel Barry shift under me slightly. "Thank you for being here, I love you." Joe tells his daughter and I hear them hug. "I think it's time for us to go." Barry says as I feel him pick me up and I wrap my arms around his neck and we leave.
*~*~
When we get home, Barry lays me on the bed and I open my eyes to look at him. "I think I remember saying that we needed to talk." I say to Barry as I sit up and run a hand through my hair. "What about?" he asks me as he sits next to me and I sigh. "Barry, I know those nightmares you've been having are putting you on edge and wanting me to be safe, but there's gotta be a time when I have to have time to myself." I say and he looks at me. "I know, but Zoom..." "Is not here. I'm right here. I may spend most of my time with you, but sometimes a girl's gotta be with her other friends." I say interrupting his sentence and he sighs. "I just don't want to see you get hurt." he says and I cup his face in my hand. "I won't get hurt. We're meta-humans, Barry. We can take care of ourselves." I say and he gives me a small smile. "I love you, Tori." he says leaning his forehead on mine. "I love you, too, Barry." I say and he kisses me.