EXPEDITE ▇▇▇▇ VOLUME ONE
━━ ❛ 𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒔 ❜
chapter no. 007!
"I'M GAY FOR IRIS WEST." Those were the first five words Piper Lita heard Erin Osborn confidently declare through the phone once she picked up. The redhead opened her mouth to respond but quickly shut it, trying her best not to laugh. "Hello? Earth-One to Piper? Did you hear me? I've officially found my future wife."
Shaking her head, Piper sighed dramatically. "Erin, she is straight."
"You don't know that! For all you know, I could have run into her at Jitters, pretended I recognized her from her awesome blog, asked for her number, and am now texting her." Erin exclaimed, and shuffling could be heard on the other end.
"Wait, did you?" Piper asked, suddenly intrigued.
It was silent for a moment before Erin huffed. "No. I wish, but I did see her at Jitters. I was planning on going up to her and making small talk or whatever, but I chickened out."
"Piper! We're briefing everyone on the plan," Caitlin announced, walking into the S.T.A.R. Labs lounge, her eyes landing on the speedster who was sitting on the couch, a phone pressed to her ear.
Piper nodded. "Erin, I gotta go. I'll see you when I get home." She hung up the phone and got off the couch, making her way over to the brunette.
The two women started making their way down the hallway towards the Cortex. "So," Caitlin began, glancing over at the redhead. "How'd you get your powers?"
At the question, Piper's ears perked. "On January seventh, twenty-ten, an explosion at Brenner Labs took out seven blocks. Many homes and businesses were destroyed. Hundreds of people were involved in peculiar accidents at the time of the explosion and were affected by the dark matter that came from the lab. I happened to be one of those people. I was struck by lightning while trying to help a man whose car broke down on the side of the road. I was messing with some of the wirings when the explosion hit. It emitted purple lightning across the city, and I was struck. I was in a coma for six months, and when I woke up, my city had been taken over by meta-humans, and it became my goal to get the city back. To save and help people."
"Have you always wanted to help people?" the doctor asked.
The latter shrugged. "Yeah, I suppose."
The conversation ended as the two women entered the Cortex, joining everyone else.
Piper made her way around the circle of computers and stood next to Joe, smiling at him. The detective returned the gesture right as somebody cleared their throat.
"Can we get started?" Harry asked, rubbing his forehead while holding his glasses in his hand.
The room was silent for a moment before Caitlin started talking, deciding to take lead in briefing everyone. "Wells and I finished the speed dampening serum, and Cisco found a breach that's located somewhere isolated and where people won't be around."
"Tonight, Doctor Light and the Flash will go to the boating dock and play out the fake attack and death of our favorite speedster at eight o'clock." Cisco continued, and the redhead glanced over at Linda, sitting down in a chair with meta-dampening cuffs locked on her wrists. Barry was in his suit; arms crossed over his chest as he glanced over at Piper. The two locked eyes for a split second before the woman forced herself to look away, knowing she would tune everyone out if she continued to stare at him.
"Joe, you and Dr. Wells will be positioned at the highest vantage points at the dock. Both of you will have guns that will shoot the speed dampening serum at Zoom when he comes through the breach." Barry stated, and the two men nodded. "Piper, you will stay here with Caitlin and Cisco."
Piper's eyebrows raised considerably high, and a frown etched its way onto her face. "No, I'm not. I'm going with you."
The scarlet speedster shook his head stubbornly, his lips pressed together tightly. "No, you're not. You're our greatest weapon and advantage. Zoom can't know you exist or see you."
The redhead narrowed her eyes and let out a quiet breath, holding back the frustration that was boiling inside her. "I am not going to be sidelined, Flash. I'm faster than both you and Zoom and have powers that can come in handy. There's no way in hell that I'm staying behind."
It was silent as everyone stared at the woman, some slightly startled by the serious tone in her voice.
"All right, so Piper's going," Cisco declared, clearing his throat.
Barry frowned deeply, a small sigh escaping his lips in defeat, knowing that as much as he didn't want her going, she was still going to regardless.
"So, Linda," Caitlin spoke. "Cisco wrote some dialogue for you and the Flash to recite at the docks." The doctor walked over and handed a few pieces of paper to Doctor Light, then handed some to Barry.
"Perfect. A script." Linda grumbled, her eyes scanning over the sheets.
Harry turned to the speedster and slid his glasses back on. "You'll have to let Light hit you with the beams at the docks. We need to make this as realistic as possible to catch Zoom."
Barry nodded. "Let's capture Zoom."
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THIS WAS A BAD IDEA. This was a bad plan. Everything about this was just bad.
Nobody else seemed to be feeling the same way Piper did. Let alone thinking the same thing, that something wasn't right. The purple speedster could feel it in her bones, in every fiber of her being. Something wasn't right.
"I'm here to kill the Flash, and no one can stop me!" Doctor Light yelled, shadows from lamps on the dock reflecting off her. Reaching up to her earpiece, she ducked her head. "How's that?" she whispered into the comms.
Piper stood beside Barry in the darkness, watching the girl.
"Uh, it's a little too much. Uh, stop messing with the earpiece," Cisco spoke through the comms, and the scarlet speedster rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, you don't want to dislodge it," Caitlin added.
Linda nodded and looked at one of the security cameras the team had sat up, clenching her fists.
The redhead nudged the man beside her, and he took off, halting once he was in front of the doppelgänger of his ex-girlfriend. "All right, Doctor Light, here I am." Barry started walking, Linda following in suit. "But we're gonna skip the part where you say you're going to kill me and go right to the part where I don't let you."
Piper cringed.
"I'm here to kill you, Flash," Linda replied automatically. "Wait, what're you doing? We're skipping that?" she hissed, confused.
"Yes," Barry whispered back.
The redhead pressed the palm of her hand to her forehead, sighing. This was one of the most cringey and awkward scenarios she'd ever witnessed.
"I am loyal to Zoom, so get ready to fry." The two stopped walking, facing the other off.
"Next time we're doing this, I'm writing better dialogue," Cisco muttered, and Piper furrowed her brows.
"Next time?" Both she and Caitlin asked. The long-haired boy stayed silent.
Doctor Light thrust one of her hands forward, shooting a light beam, but the Flash instinctively dodged it. "Barry, you need to let her hit you with the blasts," Piper murmured into her earpiece, and she saw him nod.
Dashing forward, the scarlet speedster let Linda hit him with her blasts, sending a searing pain throughout his body. Groaning, he fell to the ground, lying flat on his back as Doctor Light made her way over to him, a triumphant smirk planted on her face.
Remaining in the shadows, the speedster swept her eyes around the dock, looking for a sign of movement. She glanced at the two in the center of the dock before she sped off, combing through every inch of the location, seeing if anyone was lurking.
Nobody was.
Making her way back to her original spot, she noticed that nothing had changed, and no one had moved. Sighing, she crossed her arms and watched as Linda reached down and snatched the emblem off Barry's chest.
"Here it is, Zoom. I did what you wanted. Now bring me home." Doctor Light chucked the emblem into the breach, watching as it disappeared. Leaning forward curiously, Piper watched the breach turn light blue, bubbling quietly.
Everyone watched and waited for something to happen, but nothing did.
Piper kept her body vibrating for the next hour, ensuring she was utterly invisible while they waited for Zoom to appear. Barry moved his leg, keeping his eyes shut.
"Hey, stop fidgeting," Linda hissed, turning towards him.
"Sorry, it's been an hour, and my leg fell asleep," he muttered.
A small smile tugged at Piper's lips before she swept her eyes over the dock one last time. Nothing was out of place. No one was there except for Joe, Harry, and them. The team had given Zoom everything he wanted, so why wasn't he there? Something wasn't right, and Piper could feel it. She'd known all along that something wasn't, but now it was even more apparent to her.
"He's probably waiting to see if you're really dead. Any minute now, he's gonna strike." Cisco said hopefully, but Piper shook her head in disagreement.
"No. He isn't coming." The redhead replied and stopped moving, stepping out from the shadows. The Flash stood up, and Doctor Light groaned, walking towards him.
"I told you this was a ridiculous plan," Linda grumbled, and the speedster shot her an annoyed expression.
A loud cluster of cans was shoved off a pile of wooden pallets as Harry stormed off angrily.
"So, Wells ain't taking this well," Joe observed, and Piper smirked at the small pun the detective made.
"What about you?" she asked Barry, the two speedsters walking behind the others.
"It just sucks, you know," he sighed, glancing over at her. "You were right, with what you said earlier, about this being about more than just Zoom. It is about Reverse-Flash, but not for the reason that you think. Not because I didn't beat him. It's— Wells— he said something to me on the video he left me. I assume you know what I'm talking about?" Barry asked, peering down at the purple speedster. She nodded. "He said something before he confessed to killing my mom. He said that even if he was dead, he still won because I wouldn't be happy. That I'd never be happy."
Furrowing her brows, Piper frowned. "How would he know?"
"He knows me— future me."
"So?" she stated, crossing her arms. "So what if he knows the future you? Big whoop-dee-doo, let's give him a silver medal." The man in front of her frowned. "Barry, he knows future you. He doesn't know you now. Your friends and family know who you are. You know who you are. Screw the future! It's ridiculous to worry about something that is years away when you're living and breathing in the present. Wells said what he said to mess with you. There is no actual way to prove what he said is real. And even if it is, so what? You are the only one in charge of your happiness, Barry. No one else. If you want to be happy, then do whatever it takes to be happy."
The scarlet speedster stared down at the girl before him, his heart beating faster as her words soaked in.
"You give really good advice," he breathed, and she chuckled.
"Thank you. Now, let's get back to S.T.A.R. Labs."
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"IT'S LIKE YOU THINK THESE THINGS JUST GROW ON TREES OR SOMETHING." Cisco Ramon retorted, placing a new lightning bolt emblem on the infamous scarlet red suit, an annoyed expression clouding his face. Piper snorted.
A smirk appeared on Barry's face. "And we threw away the last one for nothing," he commented, and his best friend scowled.
"You've been going over this footage dozens of times," Caitlin spoke up, walking up behind Harry, who was staring helplessly at the computer screen. "Everything went according to plan."
Harry slammed his fist on the table, and everyone jumped slightly.
"Calm it down, Oscar the Grouch," Cisco muttered, walking over to the circle of computers where Piper stood.
"If it had, Snow, then Zoom would have shown up." The Reverse-Flash look-alike snapped.
Rolling her eyes, Piper looked at the speedster, who was already staring over at her. The two made eye contact briefly before looking away. "Maybe Linda was wrong. Maybe he can't see through the breaches." Piper theorized, shrugging.
Suddenly, a burst of blue lightning flooded the room, and the lights flickered out. Within milliseconds, Piper's suit was back on, and she had grabbed Caitlin, Harry, Cisco, and Barry, placing them in one of the side rooms connected to the Cortex. Purple lightning effortlessly flowed off her like water running under a bridge.
"What's going on?" Caitlin asked, but before anyone could respond, sirens started wailing, red lights flashing on the walls.
Speeding over, Piper looked down at a computer screen. "It's Doctor Light. She's gone," she yelled over the ringing, noticing that the motion detectors she didn't know existed on the roof of the building had gone off. Pulling up security footage, her eyes landed on a prominent, black figure with blue lightning flowing around him—similar to hers.
"Zoom's here. He has Linda on the roof."
Before she could do anything, Barry had grabbed his suit and snapped a set of meta-dampening cuffs on her wrists, racing out of the room and up to the roof.
Cisco raced over to Piper and quickly shut off the alarm system, pulling up footage from the rooftop onto all the monitors. To her horror, the redhead saw the two speedsters facing off, one of them dangling Doctor Light over the side of the building.
"Put her down," Barry spoke, approaching the latter slowly.
"You like to fish with bait?" The sound of Zoom's voice was dark, menacing, and cold. It sounded like something straight out of a horror film. Harry glowered at the screens as Caitlin and Cisco stood wide-eyed, leaving Piper filled with worry. "I do too." Everybody watched as Zoom dropped Linda. Barry dove after her, the black speedster following behind him.
Cisco pulled up the camera feed from outside S.T.A.R. Labs, sitting down in one of the chairs, Caitlin following in-suit. The room was silent as the four anxiously waited for something to happen. Both speedsters stood still.
"Zoom cannot be human," Caitlin said, a horror-stricken look across her face as she looked at the monster filling the screens.
"He is... or was," Harry replied.
"How the hell is Barry supposed to defeat that?" Cisco asked incredulously.
"Not alone," Piper spoke, everyone's attention diverting to her. "Let me out of these damn cuffs."
Harry was the first to respond, shaking his head quickly. "No. Not yet. Allen was right in putting those on you. You're our secret weapon. Zoom can't know about you yet."
Piper's mouth was agape. "Are you kidding me right now?! All you've gone on about is how powerful and dangerous Zoom is, and now you won't let me, who has a better chance at taking him on, go out and help Barry?!"
Caitlin frowned. "Dr. Wells has a point. We can't jeopardize your safety or life. We need you."
"Why is he running away?" Harry suddenly asked.
Everyone turned their attention back to the screens to see Barry running around the building in circles. "He's not. He's not scared. Oh, he's gonna thunderbolt him!" Cisco squealed.
"What?"
"Jay taught him how to throw lightning," Caitlin smirked, looking up from the computer.
Piper froze, and she blanched, feeling as if someone had stabbed her in the chest. If Jay was the one who taught Barry how to throw lightning, that meant he also knew how to catch it. Barry was going to get struck all over again. "Let me out of these!" She yelled, panic evident in her voice. "He's going to strike Barry with the lightning! You need to let me out of these cuffs now!"
Harry narrowed his eyes suspiciously, taking a step forward. "How do you know that's what he's planning?"
She had to think quickly. They couldn't know Zoom's identity yet, she wasn't certain about it, and if she was wrong, bad things could happen. "Are you not watching Zoom? He's standing perfectly still, just watching. He knows what Barry's doing. He knows what to do," Piper pointed out, gesturing to the screens with two hands. Before anyone could comment, they could hear Barry groaning as something smashed.
Whipping her head towards the monitors, Piper watched as the scarlet speedster was thrown into a light-post panel. The impact of his body against the post left a large indention, and he collapsed to the ground. "Did you guys see that?" Barry grunted into the comms.
"See him catch lightning with his demonic claws? Yeah, saw that." Cisco replied, worry lines creasing on his forehead.
Caitlin bit down on her lip. "Piper's right. He can't do this alone," she admitted as Harry strapped on one of his guns.
"He's not alone." He stalked out of the room, and Piper squeezed her eyes shut.
"The speed-dampener is in the bazooka. He'll be fine," Cisco reassured her, but the purple speedster ignored his words.
"Run, Barry," Caitlin pleaded.
"No. I'm gonna see if Wells's speed-dampening serum works." The Flash said, standing back up. "What do you want from me?"
"Everything."
"You want to be me? Is that it? You want to be a hero?"
Zoom chuckled. "Hero's die."
Chills were sent down Piper's spine as she gulped, flashes of a similar incident happening on her Earth flashing through her mind.
"Only if you can catch them." The words that left Barry's mouth caused her to groan, burying her head in her hands. Barry, please stop talking. If this continued any longer, he was going to wind up severely hurt in the end.
A streak of yellow lightning sped off, followed by a streak of blue. "How's Barry going to match Zoom's speed?" Caitlin asked as the three watched the speedsters chase each other on the roof.
"Genius. He's not going to match it. He's gonna take it out of the equation altogether." Cisco answered, leaning away from the computer.
"What're you talking about?" Caitlin asked as Piper's eyes widened, catching onto what the man before her was insinuating.
"Terminal velocity. The highest velocity attainable by a falling object." Piper gasped, spinning on her heel as Cisco made his way to where the brunette was sitting. "They're going to have a free-fall fight. Their drag force equals the downward force of gravity, making the net force zero, making them have equal velocities."
"That is genius." Caitlin breathed, smiling at the two.
A sudden boom was heard through the sound system, causing Piper to turn around to see Zoom pinning Barry down on the ground, his hand wrapped around his throat. Her chocolate-brown eyes widened, and she walked closer to the screens. A whoosh of black and blue punched the scarlet speedster, breaking his nose and bringing on a pool of blood that dripped down Barry's face.
Zoom stood up, bringing Barry up with him and punching him across the face, in the stomach, across the face again, and repeatedly in the stomach. Barry stumbled backward, his eyes both purple and blue as blood crawled down his suit. Taking this moment of opportunity and vulnerability, Zoom hit him in the back, resulting in multiple bones being heard broken through the comms.
Piper gulped, her face ghostly pale as she watched the man she'd been following since she arrived, who she had grown very protective over, slowly dragged to his deathbed.
Caitlin was silent while Cisco ran his hands over his face, the worry lines growing deeper.
The sound of Barry groaning in pain echoed around the room, and they watched as he limply fell to the ground, unable to move. Standing above him, the black speedster readied himself to throw another punch. Then, Harry shot his gun, a vial of the speed-dampening serum launching at the villain.
Piper watched in horror as Zoom caught the arrow, turning his head to look at Dr. Wells. "Never forget, I am the fastest man alive." Taking the serum in both his hands, he stabbed it into Barry's chest, causing him to lurch forward.
One of the computers emitted rapid beeps, and Caitlin gasped. "He's killing him!"
The purple speedster spun around, her eyes glowing a light purple as her veins flooded with anger. "You're next." Zoom spoke and snatched Barry, running off.
"Unlock the cuffs. Now!" Piper ordered.
Cisco looked up at the enraged speedster with glassy eyes, shaking his head. "I'm sorry, Pipes."
Like boiling water in a pot, the anger she possessed boiled rapidly, ready to spill over the brim at any moment. A man just as angry stormed into the room, marching over to both scientists. "Anything?" Caitlin shook her head. "Do you have anything?" he asked Cisco.
"No."
Groaning, Harry pulled out a key and marched over to the furious purple speedster, unlocking the cuffs. "Find him." He simply instructed, and she nodded, but blue lightning filled the room before she could run off.
Instinctively, Piper ran and placed everyone behind the computers, standing in front of them protectively.
There, in the middle of the Cortex, stood the Devil himself. He held a barely conscious Barry Allen, his body dragging on the ground. Blue lightning flowed around him as he stared at the four people before him.
"Barry!" Caitlin yelled, covering her mouth as tears pooled in her eyes at the sight of her friend.
"Harrison Wells," Zoom growled. "You thought you could defeat me with this?" He held the scarlet speedster up higher, ripping off his mask.
Piper stepped forward cautiously, her eyes trained on the very human monster. "I made a mistake," Harry breathed, his face sickly pale.
Zoom tilted his head, making his presence even more daunting. "Yes, a costly one." Vibrating his hand, he brought it to Barry's chest.
"No!" Piper screamed, snapping her fingers twice and throwing four glowing purple lightning balls. The four orbs came together and struck Zoom, sending him flying backward as Barry fell to the ground. Everything that came in the path of Zoom's body was destroyed as he slammed into the wall, collapsing to the ground.
"Another speedster," he spoke, slowly pulling himself up. "I'll be coming for you next." An arrow darted past Piper and hit the blue figure of lightning, causing him to cry and fall back to the ground. For a split second, he lay there before he got up and sped out of the room.
"No. No!" Harry wailed, running out of the Cortex.
Piper dropped to her knees and brushed some hair out of Barry's face, her eyes glistening. Caitlin pressed her hands to his chest, starting compressions as Cisco buried his head in his hands.
"Stay with me, Barry. Stay with me." Caitlin muttered as Piper grabbed onto one of his hands, intertwining their fingers.
Please be okay. Please be okay. You have to be okay.