Over the next few weeks work had been hectic and by work I meant superhero work. Mardon broke out James Jesse to try and kill us with the help of Leonard Snart but luckily he told Barry. Though Mardon and Jesse hid bombs in Christmas presents all around the city threatening to set them off if we wouldn't sacrifice ourselves. We were able to send them all into one of the dimensional breaches. Barry and I spent Christmas together since he didn't want me to be alone again. To make matters even more interesting I found out that Joe had a son when we were all hanging out at the West's house one night. So it was pretty normal for our lives.
Currently I was making breakfast for myself and Barry who was still asleep in my bed. He was up late last night trying to figure out how to be faster than Zoom so he didn't get back until late. I cut up some fruit putting it into bowls and set up the table.
"Sadie?" Barry called from the bedroom.
Before I could answer he was by my side in a second hugging me, "I'm right here," I said getting the words out.
"Sorry, I just had a nightmare. It's fine, don't worry," he mumbled into my hair.
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"Yeah, what's this?" He asked turning to the table and changing the subject.
"I just thought we could have a real breakfast instead of the coffee and granola bars we've been having the past few weeks," I shrugged.
"This looks great," he kissed my temple before we sat down talking about the day to come.
"So, I was thinking," I started setting down my bowl of yogurt.
"Oh, and what have you been thinking?" Barry asked wiping his mouth.
"I know this might seem soon or maybe not but I was wondering if you wanted to move in here," I suggested before rambling, "I mean you're here every day and it might be easier and..."
"Sadie," he said and I stopped, "I'd love to."
I grinned, "Really?"
"Of course," he nodded, "If you want I could do it right now."
"Sure," I started but before I could finish the word Barry was gone and in another second he was in the doorway with a few boxes.
"Well that was easy," I laughed when Barry's phone rang.
"Looks like unpacking might have to wait. Cisco has an idea," he told me.
"That should be interesting," I said getting up and running to my room to change out of my pajamas into a pink flowy tank top, leather jacket and jeans. After I finished my makeup and hair I zipped on some boots before meeting Barry at the door.
"Finally," he sighed.
"Okay, yeah. Not all of us have super speedy powers," I rolled my eyes before jumping into his arms.
"Yeah, but..." He grinned.
"Just go," I shook my head and took a breath as he started to run and soon we were in Star Labs.
"Okay, now I can begin," Cisco said before Barry even had me on the ground yet, "As some of you may well know, I've been deeply embroiled in a secret, one-sided battle with an invisible enemy."
"No, not the Turtle again," Caitlin sighed as I sat beside her and Jay.
"What? What is the or who is the Turtle?" I asked.
"It's Cisco's white whale," she answered.
"Half whale, half turtle," Jay said confused.
"No. Do you see what you're doing, Caitlin? Everybody's confused now," Cisco sighed.
"Get to it," Harry answered putting his hands behind his head.
"I stumbled upon a few of these cases when we were looking for the Reverse Flash," he started pulling up a news article, "Robberies that were seemingly committed at high speed, people holding their beloved items one second. Those items were gone the next. Tell me what you see."
Cisco played a video of a gathering where everyone seemed to freeze in place as a man walked through them.
"So he can what? Stop time?" Caitlin asked.
"No, no, no. Look at the time code. It's still running," he pointed out as Jay got up as they gathered around the tv.
"Yeah, okay. So if he's not stopping time, what is he doing?" Barry asked.
"He's slowing down everything around him," Cisco answered as the people started moving again, "And that's why we call him the Turtle."
"Why have you never mentioned this guy before?" I asked.
"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," he said sarcastically, "Do I need to go on?"
"Okay, so if we can catch him, figure out how he uses his powers..." Jay suggested as Barry walked over beside me to look at the computer typing in info.
"Maybe we can show Zoom what life is like in the slow lane," Cisco finished.
"How would we even know where to find him?" Harry asked.
"Well, the robberies in the videos all correspond with police reports that were dismissed as lost or missing items instead of thefts," Barry answered.
"The suspect's MO being?" Jay asked.
"Items of immense personal value," he said before going back to the computer super speeding through it. He stopped and suddenly before I blinked he picked me up and we were at CCPD and I was dressed in my suit.
"What the?" I started before coughing my lungs out.
"The Vandervoort diamonds have been recovered the Turtle has to be here," Barry told me as we looked down into the lobby.
"The real gem is the return of my great-grandfather's ring," an old man stated, "Getting that returned to the family is what's most priceless to me."
A man in a hood entered the building, "Gotcha," Barry whispered as a greenish glow came off of the man. Barry started to run and I followed even though he was already down in the lobby but as I got to the top of the stairs everyone started panicking.
"What happened to it? Lock this place down!" Captain ordered, "No one leaves this room."
A gust of wind came beside me and Barry scooped me up yet again and ran us back to Star Labs where Caitlin checked our vitals but nothing was wrong.
"Yo. What was it like being in Turtle Time?" Cisco asked us as we gathered in the cortex.
"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 answered.
"Everyone was fine one moment and then it all went to chaos," I added.
"He has the ability to transfer all the surrounding kinetic energy into himself like Barry said he felt," Harry answered.
"Leaving everyone else in a temporary state of potential energy," Jay finished.
"That's right," he nodded.
"So why could I still move?" Barry asked Jay.
"Your speed," Harry answered for him, "Your speed allows you to change positions faster than anyone else.
"So you can convert stored potential energy back to kinetic energy," Jay said as Harry left the cortex.
"Excuse me, where are you going?" Cisco asked him.
"Trying to figure out how to use this against Zoom," he answered, "You remember Zoom?"
"Cisco please join me," he said sarcastically after Harry left "We'll use your idea and take it to new scientific heights and save the world. Yes, I'd love to!"
"Okay," Caitlin said pulling up the monitor, "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."
"Alright, I'm gonna head to work to catch Joe up," Barry said heading for the door, "Let me know if you find anything else."
Caitlin and Jay left to go talk leaving me by myself yet again in the cortex. I really needed to get a real job before I bore myself to death. Barry was invited to Joe's house for dinner that night with Wally. He had invited me but I thought it should be more of a family matter. The next morning I was back to where I had been 24 hours ago as we thought of a plan to catch the turtle.
"Central City Museum is hosting a special black tie event tonight showcasing The Crystal Ball," Cisco answered as Barry shook his head not understanding what it was.
"It's a famous painting, apparently, recently recovered from Markovia," Jay told him.
"The painting is on loan to the museum from the Silverberg family," Cisco said pointing to a pamphlet on the screen, "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."
"Okay, yes. This is a plan," Barry said walking around the desk, "So the Turtle will make his move, and we can be there waiting to take him down."
"How do you look in a tux?" Caitlin asked Jay.
"Come on, he's 6'2, he's square-jawed..." Cisco started.
"And he's jacked," I noted.
"I think he'll look fine," he finished and Barry looked at me.
"I mean, I'm just...I'll just shut up now," I mumbled.
"I'm 6'4," Jay corrected.
We went over the plan before Barry left to go tell Joe and the CCPD what was going on and I got up to leave.
"Sadie, do you want to come to my place and we can get ready together? I could drive you," she offered.
"That sounds great! I'll meet you there I just have to go home and pick up a dress," I nodded. I left for home and picked out a cocktail dress back from my banquet days with my family then went to Caitlin's. We helped each other with our hair and I did her makeup for her. I slipped on my red dress that had a low neckline and she zipped it up for me. "Alright, how do I look?" I asked.
"Stunning," Caitlin smiled as there was a knock at her door, "That must be Jay."
I followed her to the door and she opened it as Jay turned around.
"You look amazing," Caitlin complimented him.
"As do you both, ready?" He asked holding out his arms for us.
"What a gentleman," I grinned as he led us to his car and we drove to the museum where Barry was to meet us. Once we were there we split up to cover more ground and I heard Caitlin in the comms.
"Cisco, are you and Harry in position?" She asked.
"I'm in the security feed. I've got the facial recognition software running, so we'll be able to spot Turtle before he makes his move," he answered.
I grabbed a champagne of a tray as a waiter passed by me and took a sip.
"Drinking on the job I see," Barry's voice was suddenly in my ear as he snaked his arms around me.
I turned around in his grasp, "You look dashing," I grinned.
"And you look like a dream," Barry kissed my cheek, "Want to go dance?"
I nodded setting my drink to the side as he led me to the dance floor where there was slow jazz music playing. We stopped towards the middle keeping our hands entwined as Barry wrapped his arm around my waist and I put my hand on his shoulder as we slow danced. "Who knew Barry Allen could dance?" I laughed.
"There are still a few things you don't know about me," he smiled.
"Oh yeah? Like what?" I asked.
"That I love you," he answered simply.
"I already knew that," I sighed.
"I know, but I'll keep telling you," he said, "I don't know how much time I have with you, Sadie. But I do know that I love you and I want you to know that for the rest of our time together."
His words brought tears to my eyes, "I love you too, Barry," I nodded and he reached up wiping a tear from my cheek before looking over my shoulder.
"We got eyes on Turtle," Cisco said in the comms suddenly.
Barry was gone in a flash and I turned to find the Turtle walking in, there was a security guard that was reaching for his gun in a blur he had his gun and in another blur he was gone again. I looked around and found him on the stairs and up above him was Barry. In another blink I was one the ground and the room was dark. The chandelier was broken in front of me with Barry underneath it.
"Come on, Sadie," Caitlin said helping me to my feet as Jay grabbed Barry.
They rushed Barry back to Star Labs and by the time we were there he was conscious.
"Sadie, are you okay?" Barry asked as Jay and I helped him into the cortex.
"Barry, I'm fine. Are you okay?" I asked as we sat him down and Caitlin checked him for a concussion.
"Your pupils are normal. Your heart rate's a little low. But other than that, no concussive symptoms," she said after a few moments as Cisco and Harry joined us.
"I feel fine," he nodded, "What about Turtle?"
"No sign of him," I answered, "Or the painting."
"He, uh, must have gotten away with it in the chaos," Jay added.
"Yeah, things went a little sideways after he got the gun and shot down the chandelier," Cisco answered.
They checked to make sure that Barry still had his speed which he did before clearing him to go home and get rest. We walked out of the cortex and I turned to him, "Want to unpack when we get home?" I suggested trying to lighten the mood.
"I almost wasn't fast enough," he mumbled.
"Barry, we're not going to talk about today. Nothing happened and everyone's safe," I sighed.
"But.." He started.
"No, either we don't talk about it or we don't talk at all," I said sternly.
"Yes ma'am," he nodded before grinning slightly, "I'll run you home but I have to stop by CCPD then I'll be home."
I liked the sound of home now when he said it. I was no longer on my own and it made me feel good to have someone by my side though Barry already was before we decided to live together. Barry dropped me off and I walked upstairs when I heard footsteps behind me. "Barry?" I asked but then around the corner came the Turtle. I ran up the stairs but wearing heels didn't help. I tripped and he pulled out a gun pointing it at my head.
"What do you want from me?" I asked hoping if he were to shoot I could phase quickly enough.
"The thing most precious to the Flash, you."
I struggled to crawl and as I heard the gunshot I tried to phase but in a blink it was in my hamstring knowing he must have stopped everything around him. I screamed in pain clutching my leg. Guess I wasn't going to be able to phase. Okay, this is it. After I get out of this I am no longer being the damsel in distress it is too stressful of a job and I'm done, someone else can have it. Turtle slipped a bag over my head and proceeded to drag me downstairs to his car where he shoved me in and I landed in the backseat groaning in pain. The car rolled to a stop and Turtle grabbed my arm dragging me somewhere inside. He sat me down in a chair and I heard the click of handcuffs around my wrists. He ripped the bag from my head and walked over to his desk. "What do you want from me?" I asked.
"I want you to stop moving forever," he answered glancing at me.
"What do you get from killing me?" I asked.
"Oh, I'm not gonna kill you," he chuckled, "That's much too fast and messy. I like to take things nice and slow."
"Well you didn't have to hurt me to prove a point," I rolled my eyes.
"This is about hurting someone who values you," he answered.
"Who, Barry?" I asked playing dumb.
"No. The Flash," he sighed looking at me.
"What does he have to do with this?" I asked as he got up from his chair.
"I saw the way he saved you," he said getting closer.
"Yes, that's what he does. He's a hero," I shrugged, "He saves people who need saving."
"That's a waste of time, saving people," he stopped, "They take everything for granted."
"So you take the things that matter most to them," I said piecing it together as he turned away.
"My wife, Rosalyn, took me for granted," Turtle sighed, "She wanted to leave me the thing I valued most."
"So that's what this is about? You're hurt because your wife left you?" I asked.
"I couldn't let that happen. So I made her mine," he said reaching for a sheet along a wall to reveal a woman in a glass case, "Forever."
I gasped in fear as he walked towards me picking up a card and taking it over to another sheet revealing another glass case.
"I do hope I spelled your name right," he grinned.
Turtle got out a medical kit on a cart and start fumbling through things until he got out a needle reaching for my arm, "No!" I gasped as he tried to insert it into my arm but failed. There was a flash around the corner and he walked towards it as I saw Barry bolt through the room but the Turtle slowed him down. Suddenly Barry was on the ground groaning in pain before running away.
"I guess he doesn't care about you as much as I thought," Turtle said turning towards me before grabbing a knife.
"No," I muttered trying to phase through the handcuffs but nothing worked not when I was injured, "No, no, please!" Barry came running around the corner once again and Turtle was thrown against the wall and Barry was in front of me panting.
"It's alright," he said taking off the cuffs as I lunged towards him wrapping my arms tightly around his neck, "I have to go put him in the cell but I'll be back," he comforted me putting a hand on either side of my face and I nodded. Barry left and wasn't gone for more than a few moments before he was back and I was in his arms.
Barry dropped me off with Caitlin to make sure I was okay and he went to make sure the Turtle was locked away safe.
"It seemed to only graze your skin which isn't too bad," Caitlin told me stitching up my leg, "If he were a better shot it might have been worse."
"Good, 'cause I'm done being the damsel in distress. I quit, odeos, sayonara, goodbye, I'm done," I announced as Barry rushed back in.
"You okay?" He asked.
"I'm great," I nodded, "A bit sore but other than that, I'm good. Not a porcelain doll either so thank god for that. I do want to go home though."
"We can go right now if you'd like," Barry offered and I nodded.
Caitlin gave the okay and we went back home, "Alright, as I said earlier no talking down about ourselves. Everyone is alive and safe. So let's get unpacking," I clapped my hands.
"Why don't you let me do the unpacking and you can just relax," Barry suggested.
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," I nodded and left to go change out of my now bloody dress. I slipped on a Star Labs sweatshirt and as I pulled it over my head Barry ran in and half of my closet was now filled with his clothes. "Barry, I was changing!" I scolded him, "You can't just walk in on me like that!"
"Well it was bound to happen sooner or later and I chose sooner," he grinned giving me a quick kiss before turning around to leave, "It's not like I haven't seen it all before."
"Barry!"