The next day, after work, we were at S.T.A.R Labs to see Jay, Caitlin, and Cisco together at the computer. "Hey. You guys got anything?" Barry asks as we walk into the Cortex. "I think we found the next target for our 30-something meta-human-not-a-ninja Turtle." Cisco says and I squint my eyes at him. "How long did it take you to come up with that one?" Caitlin asks him. "It just came out of my mouth. Did you see that? That was amazing." Cisco says and I roll my eyes. "Central City Museum is hosting a special-tie event tonight showcasing The Crystal Ball." Cisco says and I look at the article on the computer seeing that it was a painting. "It's a famous painting, apparently, recently recovered from Markovia." Jay explains and I nod. "The painting is on loan to the museum from the Silverberg family. Jacob Silverberg, himself, said, "The painting's safe return means more to us than all the money in the world." It's like they're begging Turtle to rob it." Cisco says and I nod. "Ok, yes. This is a plan. So, the Turtle will make his move, and we can be there waiting to take him down." Barry says and I nod. "How do you look in a tux?" Caitlin asks Jay and I smirk at her. "C'mon. He's 6'2", he's square-jawed and he's jacked. I think he looks fine." Cisco says and I nod in agreement. "I'm 6'4"." Jay corrects Cisco and I laugh. "Yeah, yeah. Say what you wanna say. My man looks hot in a tux." I say with a smile as I look at Barry and wink.
"Aww, how cute. Don't make me puke." Cisco says and I chuckle.
"Cait, help me pick something out? I'll call Iris to help us." I say and she nods.
"Getting ready already?" Barry asks looking at us.
"Never underestimate the ways we women try to look good for you goofballs." I say and Caitlin laughs with a nod. "I'll see you later." I say kissing Barry then pull away.
"See ya." Caitlin says and we walk out.
*~*~
Iris, Caitlin, and I were checking through mine and Caitlin's pile of dresses and tried it on. "How about this?" Caitlin as wearing a seafoam green long sleeve dress that ended above the knees. "No. Too sexy." Iris says and I nod as I pick out a purple high-low strapless dress. "Not right for an art show." Iris says and I nod as I hang it in my closet. "This one?" Caitlin asks holding up a long blue dress with a sequin strap on the right shoulder. "Yep. That's the one." I say and Iris nods. I see a black off the shoulder strapped dress that fit around the curves and flowed to the bottom with black lace at the hem of the dress and I grab it and hold it up to my body as I turn to Iris and Caitlin. "Tori, that looks beautiful!" Caitlin says in awe and I smile. "Try it on! See how it looks on you!" Iris says and I change into the dress then look at the mirror with wide eyes. "Tori, you look stunning! Barry's gonna flip out when he sees you tonight!" she says and I smile at her.
"Ok, ladies. I think my job is done here as an outfit advisor for a date/hero-duty event." Iris says and I laugh.
"See ya!" I say and she walks out then I look at Caitlin. "You wanna stay and get dressed here?" I ask her.
"No. I think I'll get dressed at home. I'll see you later." she says and I wave at her as I take off the dress.
I go to the bathroom and take a quick shower. I walk out of the bathroom and go to my room, locking the door behind me so Barry doesn't come in. I put on a strapless bra and my underwear, then I put one of Barry's old t-shirts and get ready. I blow dry my hair, do an elegant makeup look, then I curl my hair and spray the curls to secure them. I suddenly hear a knock on the door and I knew who it was. "Not letting you in!" I say as I look through my jewelry case to look for earrings and a necklace. "Did I do something wrong to make you lock me out?" he asks me worriedly making me giggle. "No. You didn't do anything wrong. I just don't want you to see me till we get to the museum." I say putting on dangled diamond earrings, a diamond necklace, and silver pumps. "Come on, Tori. Let me in." he says and I just roll my eyes with a smile. "I'll meet you there. Love you!" I say to him as I pick out a red lipstick. "Ok, see you there." he says and his footsteps fade away.
Once I was done, I grab a black clutch, and I take a cab to the museum. When I get there, I walk in seeing a bunch of men and women, but I keep my eye out for Turtle. I walk over to where the bar is located and I see Barry drinking a club soda, then he looks at me with wide eyes. "Hey." I say with a smile as he stares at me in worry, but with awe. I read his mind and I see me in Zoom's clutches and he let's go of me making me fall off the edge of the building. I walk up to him, grab his hand, and make him touch my cheek. "I'm right here. Zoom won't get me." I say quietly and he kisses me tenderly. "Did I tell you that you look amazing?" he asks and I chuckle as I hold his hand tighter and nuzzle to it's warmth. "I think I imagined you saying that to me." I say and he kisses me again. "Care to go dancing?" he asks me and my smile widens. "I thought you'd never ask." I say as I peck his lips and he drags me to the dance floor. We start to dance and I just couldn't seem to get my mind off Barry at the moment. I had my ear piece in just in case Cisco had gotten an eye on Turtle, but right now, I just stayed focused on Barry. "You know, all I've been worried about since Zoom came into our lives is how to keep you safe." Barry says as we dance. "I know that you can handle yourself, but I just can't loose another person I love." he says to me as he holds me tighter. "You won't lose me. No matter what, Barry." I say and he gives me a small smile.
"Hey, guys." I hear a voice say and we stop dancing to see Patty with her arms hooked around a man I didn't know.
"Patty! What a nice surprise!" Barry says with a sweet smile.
"I didn't know you guys were into art." she says to us.
"Oh, yeah! We're definitely art fanatics. I've been wanting to see The Crystal Ball painting since I was 18." I say to her and she nods.
"Sounds like me!" the man says and I look at him oddly. "Oh, my bad! I'm Tyler, Patty's boyfriend." he says.
"I'm Barry and this is my girlfriend, Tori." Barry introduces us and I smile at the man.
I suddenly see Turtle near the painting and I look at Barry. "Excuse us." I say as I drag Barry away and he looks at me. "Go. I'll take care of Patty." I say and he nods and leaves. I take a deep breath then walk over to Patty and her boyfriend with a sweet smile. "Where'd Barry go, Tori?" Patty asks and I try to think of something. "Um... Barry... had to... go somewhere. He said that he'd be back soon, though." I say and they nod. Patty suddenly turns to see Turtle taking the painting and she pulls her gun out. "CCPD! Freeze!" she yells as she points the gun in his direction. "Patty!" I yell as I try to pull the gun away from her, but Turtle uses his power and I just see him take the gun. Everything goes back to normal and I look around for Turtle. I turn to see him point the gun at Patty and I widen my eyes as I stand in front of her protectively. "How are you as fast as The Flash?" Patty asks and I just wish I could argue with that. I see Barry speed in with his Flash suit on and I smile. "Oh, no. He is much slower." Barry corrects Patty and I look back at Turtle. "What's this, a trap? I'm slow, not stupid." he says and he uses his power to slow everything down, but I manage to push Patty away before his power hit us. Once it did, I froze and couldn't move a muscle, but as soon as it was gone, Barry pushed me out of the way and I heard something shatter. "Oh, my God!" I hear Caitlin say as I groan and sit up to see Caitlin there.
I turn to see what the shattering was, and see the chandelier shattered on the ground with Barry underneath it. I quickly stand up and help Jay move pieces of the chandelier, then he drags Barry out with Caitlin and I following him. We were back at S.T.A.R. Labs and Caitlin checks on Barry, but he keeps looking at me with concern. "You're pupils are normal. You're heart rate's a little low. But other than that, no concussive symptoms." Caitlin clears him and he stands up, walks over to me, and grabs my hands. "Are you ok?" he asks me and I nod at him. "I'm the one who should be asking you that since you were smashed by a chandelier!" I say to him and he gives me a small smirk. "I'm fine. What about Turtle?" Barry asks looking at the others and I look at them. "No sign of him." Wells answers and I sigh. "Or the painting. He must've gotten away with it in the chaos." Jay says and I had to agree. "Yeah. Things went a little sideways after Patty decided to go all Lethal Weapon I through IV on Turtle." Cisco says and I glare at him. "She was just doing her job as a cop. You can't blame her." I say to him. I suddenly feel Barry grab my arm and start to drag me out of the Cortex. "Barry! What are you doing?" I ask as I yank my arm away. "Taking you home. I don't think you should be involved in this." Barry says grabbing my hand and I glare at him as I yank it away. "Why? Because I don't have the power it takes to take down Turtle? You know, you're right. I may not have the power you have to move through his, whatever you call it, power, but I'm still willing to help! But if that's not enough, I get it. See you at home." I say and I storm out.
I feel a gust of wind blow past me and Barry stands in front of me. "I didn't say that." he says to me as I cross my arms. "But you were going to." I say and he doesn't disagree. I start to walk past him when he grabs my arm again. "Tori, I don't want you to get hurt." he says and I look at him. "And I told you I won't. You should go help Wells and Cisco with figuring out how Turtle drained your speed. I'll see you at home." I say to him and kiss his cheek as I walk out. When I get home, I change into a pair of jeans, Barry's S.T.A.R. Labs sweatshirt, and my converse. I look around the house trying to find something to keep me busy, but find nothing. Eventually, I grab the small box of photos my dad had shown me and go through them. There was the picture of Barry and I at my 13th birthday and one of us before we left for college. I suddenly hear a knock on the door and I sigh as I put the pictures down and open the door to see someone I hadn't expected to see. I widen my eyes and try to shut the door as quickly as possible. I almost had the door shut, when he suddenly smacks the door on my head making me stumble back. If I could use my powers, I would, but I couldn't risk letting him see me using my telekinesis and the possibility of him getting away only to tell my secret. I stand up quickly and dash to find something to hit him with. I grab a fire iron from the rack tipping the rest over and try to swing it at him only for him to use his power and freeze me. He grabs the fire iron from me, and when everything was normal, I feel the fire iron hit my side. I groan in pain when I suddenly feel him wrap his arm around my neck, holding me in place. "What do you want?" I ask him as I feel my side throb in pain.
"The thing most precious to The Flash. You." he says and I widen my eyes.
"Well, bad news, stupid! I don't know him, and he doesn't know me. So you got your facts wrong." I say to him.
"I don't think I have." he says and suddenly, I feel something hit me knocking me out cold.