EXPEDITE ▇▇▇▇ VOLUME ONE
━━ ❛ 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒍, 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒍, 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒍 ❜
chapter no. 012!
THE EVENING SKY WAS BASKED IN A NAVY BLUE SHADE, THE EDGES OF IT CURLING AS THE SUN WAS FADING BEHIND AN ARRAY OF CLOUDS. It was quiet out, creating a sense of peace as she looked out the passenger window, noticing how the world passed by them in a whirl of colors. Christmas decorations adorned each home they passed, glowing brilliantly in the dimly lit streets. Pulling her leather jacket closer, she sighed.
Was she regretting saying yes to going over to the West household? A little. She was more so anxious than regretful.
Piper had spent close to a month avoiding everyone. If Barry or Iris, even both of them, were at the house, it would be the first time she'd seen them since. Aside from seeing the dorky CSI man at the station earlier that day.
Noticing how the car had come to a stop, she unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door. Stepping out, a blast of cold wintry air kissed her cheeks. She looked up, staring at the two-story house that the West family inhabited. This was the first time she'd ever been there, physically.
Pulling her hair into a messy ponytail, she followed the detective up the porch steps. Joe unlocked the front door. They both stepped inside, the man closing the door behind her and locking it. Looking to the left, she saw Barry and Iris stand up from the couch, boxes of decorations surrounding them, and the living room.
"Dad, there's something I need to— Piper!" Iris squealed, racing around the couch and throwing her arms around the redhead. The two women weren't close, they hadn't known each other long enough to be, but the dark-skinned girl still considered her a friend. Someone she cared about.
The speedster was nearly knocked off balance by the force of Iris wrapping her arms around her. She hugged her back, her nerves fading away as she melted into the embrace. Pulling away after a few seconds, Piper saw Barry standing behind Iris, relief radiating off him. Before she could say anything, he grabbed her, holding her to his chest. Nearly immediately, she wrapped her arms around him, burying her head into the crook of his neck.
Please, keep me at this moment forever.
His arms felt like home as she rested in them, allowing him to cradle her and kiss the top of her head without realizing what he was doing.
Everything felt right again to Piper. She didn't need any more time to process or heal— being in his arms fixed everything. It healed the broken parts of her that she'd been doing her best to ignore and run away from. "Can we talk later?" he murmured, hoping she'd heard his voice. Piper nodded, squeezing him before stepping away.
"What're you doing here?" Iris asked, dragging the redhead's gaze away from Barry.
"Joe tricked me into coming," she answered.
Joe chuckled. "I told her about how we're decorating for Christmas and told her she should come."
Piper noticed how the reporter standing before she grew anxious, wringing her hands together. "Um, before we do that, there's something I need to tell you, dad."
"We should probably sit down," Barry said to Iris, and she nodded in agreement.
Following everyone else, Piper stood by the wall as the detective sat down at the kitchen table with Barry and Iris. The two glanced at each other tensely, tears beginning to glisten in Iris's eyes as she looked back over at her father.
"Okay... The last time the two of you looked at me like this was when you both took my convertible on a joy ride and wrapped it around that big Oak tree off Fairmont Drive."
"Dad... um," Iris looked down at her hands, the words caught stuck in her throat.
Barry frowned and looked over at his adoptive father. "Joe, we have something that we need to tell you."
"No, um, I have something that I have to tell you," Iris spoke up, blinking back tears. "It's about Francine." A single tear slid down her cheek as she looked over to the brown-haired man, who gave her a soft nod. Glancing back to her father, she cleared her throat. "When she left us, she was pregnant."
Piper's eyes widened. She knew that Iris's mom had come back to town before she died, mainly due to her surveillance and following, but she didn't know what Iris was about to spill. Maybe it'd be a good idea for her to leave.
Joe blinked, his eyes watering as he opened his mouth. It was silent as he tilted his head, looking around the room slowly, trying to process what he'd just heard. Pushing back his chair, he stood up and walked backward.
Taking in a deep breath, the dark-skinned woman squeezed her eyes shut as more tears spilled. Piper pushed herself off the wall beam that was next to the chair Barry was sitting in and glanced at him. He was watching Joe, who now had his back turned to them.
"Did she have the baby?" the detective finally asked after a couple of minutes of tense silence.
Iris nodded, more tears falling as her bottom lip trembled. "Yes." Her voice cracked. "H-His name is Wally. Wally West."
Barry sighed quietly, looking between the two in distress.
"It's short for Wallace. It's what we were going to name you if you were a boy." Joe turned around, his cheeks wet with tears.
"I only found out a couple of weeks ago, Dad. I am so sorry that I didn't tell you sooner." Iris apologized, standing up shakily from the table.
"That's why she reached out to us after all these years. She wanted us to know before..."
Joe nodded, cutting her off. "Before she died. And I thought Francine was running out of surprises." The detective turned around and left, heading towards the stairs, and Iris walked around the table, following him.
"Dad, listen—"
Joe turned around, holding up his hand. "I'm sorry. Just let me sit with it." He paused for a moment before climbing up the stairs, and disappearing from view. Barry let out a heavy breath, running his hand down his face as Iris stood next to the couch, tears falling down her cheeks.
Wiping away her tears, Iris turned around. "Do you think he'll be okay?"
Barry shrugged, standing beside Piper, who was frowning. "Just give him time. He needs time to process it."
The redhead nodded in agreement, giving Iris a small smile that was slightly forced, but the woman didn't notice. "I um, I'm going to make us some hot chocolate so you two can start decorating. Do you want any, Piper?" the dark-skinned girl asked, trying to distract herself.
"Yeah, thank you," Piper answered softly, watching as Iris walked to the kitchen, rubbing away her tears.
A blast of air hit the redhead, causing her shirt to lift slightly, and she looked over to the living room where Barry had already set up the tree, stockings, and lights. She chuckled, making her way into the living room, the sound of her heels clicking against the wooden floor. "You know that's technically cheating, right? Using your speed to hang up decorations quicker than doing it normally?"
The brown-haired man looked up, placing a Santa hat on his head. "It's not cheating if I'm having fun. That's the whole point of putting up Christmas decorations, right? It's supposed to be fun." Piper narrowed her eyes, shrugging in response. Barry walked over with another Santa hat in hand. He stopped in front of her before placing it on her head, positioning it correctly. "There you go! You look beautiful," he smiled.
He just called me beautiful. I think this is it. This is the end of my life.
"You just added ten years to my lifespan by saying that," Piper blurted, her words not processing in her mind until it was too late to take them back. Her cheeks glowed bright red as Barry chuckled, shaking his head.
"Good. I'm glad I did because it's true." A genuine smile curled on both of their lips. Backing away, Barry reached into a box and held out an ornament. Piper grabbed it and made her way over to the tree, hanging it and turning back around to see him holding out another one.
"I'm not going to be the only one hanging these up, gorgeous. You better get your ass over here and help," she stated, placing her hands on her hips. Barry cracked another smile and joined her at the tree.
The two speedsters hung up ornaments together in silence for a few minutes, their arms brushing occasionally.
Gazing over at the redhead, who looked absolutely adorable with that Santa hat on, Barry couldn't help but stop and stare for a moment. "Everyone's missed you, you know," Barry's words made Piper pause, "I've missed you." Hanging up the ornament in her hand, she briefly glanced at him. "You haven't been around that long, but the team felt off without you there. There was nobody to snap at me when I made a dumb decision or anyone commenting about how cute I was or how good it felt to have me inside them."
Putting her hand's palm to her forehead, Piper groaned in embarrassment. Barry laughed softly; his cheeks tinted pink. "I could go on about how it felt for all of us when we didn't have you around because things were different. When Jay first arrived, Caitlin had someone she connected to; when he left, it affected the team and her. I didn't fully understand how that felt until you stopped showing. There wasn't someone else running beside me anymore. It was just me, and it sucked. I like having you by my side when we're out running and saving the city from meta-humans. You helped me feel less alone, and I felt alone a lot with you gone."
Piper's eyes watered as she rotated to face him.
"I know that what happened with Zoom broke you. What he did broke you. I know that all you've felt for the past month is guilt and self-hatred because of what happened. I know how you feel." Barry brought his hand up to her cheek, wiping away a tear that had escaped. "You aren't alone in what you feel. We're all here for you. I'm here for you. You already know that probably, considering how many times I came to your apartment and talked to you through the door."
Piper chuckled softly, nodding.
"I'm trying to say that I care about you and want to help in any way I can. I want to be here for you if you'll let me. Cisco told me what Zoom said to you... about you being next. And I want you to know that I won't ever let him touch you again. I'm never allowing him to hurt you again. You're safe with me. I promise." Barry said firmly, his eyes shining brightly as Piper's stomach churned. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him tightly. Just like she had earlier, he immediately embraced her tightly.
She could feel his heartbeat against her chest and how fast it was racing. Biting down on her lip, she tightened her hold on him, instinctively kissing his shoulder before burying her head into his neck.
Both speedsters' hearts raced as they stood silently, soaking in the other's touch.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
"It's okay. You're back and here now. That's all that matters." Barry murmured.
Footsteps approached from the kitchen, and Iris walked into the living room, three mugs in her hands. Smiling adoringly at the pair, she set down the cups and watched as Barry pressed a kiss to the side of Piper's head.
"You know, if you want to kiss her, go stand under the mistletoe near the kitchen. That way, you can quit kissing the side of her head and go for what you really want." Iris mused teasingly, and they jumped apart. Barry glared over at her while Piper's cheeks turned to a bright red. Iris laughed, covering her mouth with her hands. "God, you two are cute," she sighed.
"Shut up," Barry grumbled, grabbing two of the reindeer-shaped mugs from the coffee table and handing one to the redhead, who was blushing profusely. Piper glanced away as she tried to ignore Iris's words and the temptation to drag the boy to wherever that mistletoe was.
Suddenly, Barry's phone started buzzing and ringing like crazy. Pulling it out of his back pocket, he saw that Cisco had issued an emergency text message and location. "It's Cisco. Something's happened. I need to get to S.T.A.R. Labs. Are you coming?" he asked the other speedster. Her eyebrows rose, and she hesitantly nodded. Placing down their mugs, they waved to Iris before speeding out.
Racing the scarlet speedster, Piper showed up in the Cortex fifteen seconds before Barry did. On the way there, she'd pressed the charm on her necklace and jumped into her suit, leaving the mask off.
"Holy Hannah!" Cisco yelled as she stopped in the middle of the room, papers flying. "Piper! Oh, my sweet girlfriend, thank God you're back. I've missed you." He sighed right as Barry sped in, stopping next to her.
"What's going on?" the two of them asked simultaneously, briefly glancing at the other.
Caitlin and Jay walked out from the side room, Piper's attention automatically latching onto the face of the city's biggest threat. While she'd been gone, she kept up with the team through the video cameras, and at one point, Jay came back to the team to help out. The speedster had seemed to forget that piece of particular information until now, her fists clenching.
"You must be Piper Lita. If I'm not mistaken, the speedster from Earth-Four." Jay greeted. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she held her breath, nodding. This son of a bitch is actually pretending not to know who I am. "I'm Jay Garrick. I'm assuming you already know who I am," he continued.
Piper tilted her head, forcing a smile. "It's great to meet you finally. I've heard a lot of good things about you."
Jay smiled back. "Likewise."
Cisco sighed dramatically before waving his hands. "Listen, we can do proper introductions or whatever later. You guys need to see this." A live broadcast popped up on the monitors by clicking on a few buttons.
"Flashy-y, the red-nosed speedster had a very shiny suit, and if you ever saw him, you might even want to puke." The man on the screen sang manically, fake gagging.
"The Trickster..." Barry whispered, eyes widening as he took off his cowl.
"Merry Christmas, kiddie-winks. I'm back!" Chills crawled down everyone's spine. "Citizens, you know, the holidays can be a time for gentle reflection on the year past. Our ups and downs," Harry walked into the room, "our triumphs and heartaches, but don't forget, it can also be a time for disemboweling our enemies." The screen glitched, and Piper furrowed her brows.
Jay turned to the brunette. "We don't have a Trickster on Earth-Two."
Caitlin shook her head. "He's one of a kind."
"My stocking won't be completely stuffed until it's filled to the brim with bloody Flash parts. So, what do you say, speed freak? Want to roast chestnuts?" The video feed cut out, and Barry frowned, walking forward.
"Are there any clues about where he is based on the video?"
Cisco sat in a chair as he pulled up the video back up. "None that I can see."
"Guys, there's a reflection of something in his cornea..." Piper murmured, pointing at one of the Trickster's eyes. Cisco zoomed in, and the redhead furrowed her brows in confusion.
"What is that?" Barry asked as everyone walked forward.
"That's Mr. Jiggle Wiggle," Harry spoke, his arms crossed.
Everybody turned to look at him; confusion was evident in their faces. "Come again?" Cisco asked.
"It's a doll. A stuffed children's toy. I gave one to my daughter when she was six." The Wells look-alike spoke, his eyes fixated on the bear.
"Okamura Toys manufactured Mr. Jiggle Wiggle... 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 mentioned, glancing at the brown-haired speedster.
Captain Cold, Weather Wizard, and the Trickster had all broken out of Iron Heights earlier this week, and the team had been trying to catch them ever since. Piper remembered Erin telling her about it yesterday since she'd been watching the video surveillance while the speedster was out running for the millionth time.
"The Trickster is," Barry stated, glancing over to Piper.
────
EXPEDITE, AND THE FLASH WHOOSHED INTO THE OKAMURA SHIPPING FACILITY, LOOKING AROUND FOR A SIGH OF MOVEMENT. Turning towards a workstation, Piper cringed at how creepy the dolls sitting on it were.
"Dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, I made it out of clay, dreidel, dreidel, dreidel."
Spinning around, Barry and Piper looked at a doll that sat on a tiny drum, a box with chains attached to around its neck. Barry walked forward, holding his arm out, shielding Piper in case something exploded.
"We can't let Christmas hog all the holiday fun! Happy Hanukkah!" Dozens of dreidels came out of nowhere on the floor and headed straight for the two speedsters. "Dreidel, dreidel, dreidel. I made you out of C-4!" Trickster's laugh echoed across the building through the speakers as Barry looked at Piper, alarmed.
The dreidels appeared to multiply as they began coming from all directions, causing the two to come back to back. "Put that in your pipe and smoke it!" Piper's hands glowed purple, and she felt Barry grab her arm. The dreidel song sped up and got louder.
"We need to do something," the scarlet speedster shouted.
Piper snapped her fingers, and an orb of purple lightning appeared in both hands. Firing them at the dreidels coming her, they exploded but quickly multiplied.
"I'm afraid we're definitely looking at closed casket funerals."
Barry spun her around, placing his hands on her shoulders. "There's nowhere for us to run to!" he shouted.
Piper looked around. "What do we do?"
Barry's eyes widened as an idea struck him. He wrapped his arms around the purple speedster's waist and pulled her close. Raising her eyebrows, she gave him a questioning look. "Piper, hold onto me tight."
She blinked before wrapping her arms around him. "I imagined you saying that under different circumstances," she breathed, causing Barry's cheeks to turn bright red. "Very platonic circumstances, obviously." She quickly added, mentally face-palming herself.
Trying not to think about what Piper said, he spun his arms in rapid circles, creating wind vacuums. Their feet left the ground as they soared upwards. The purple speedster squeezed her eyes shut as the dreidels exploded, causing a ripple effect and for the whole building to burst into flames. Both of their feet hit the ground solidly, and Piper pulled away, turning around to see that they were standing outside of the burning building.
"That went well," she huffed, putting her hands on her hips, and Barry looked over at her, a smirk tugging at his lips. "What?" she questioned, flicking her hair out of her face as she noticed that he'd been staring.
"So," he began, walking closer to her. She took a step back as he kept coming closer, and eventually, her back hit the tree that they'd landed next to. "I imagined you saying that under different circumstances," Barry echoed, recalling what she had said minutes ago.
Groaning, Piper covered her face as he laughed. "Let's not bring that up. Just pretend I never said that."
Reaching over, Barry pried her hands off her face, holding them in his own as he shook his head. "Are you kidding me?! I'm holding onto that one."
"I appreciate you finding my embarrassment laughable," Piper grumbled.
"It's adorable, not laughable. I'm only laughing because of your reaction." Barry corrected her, but she rolled her eyes nonetheless as her cheeks burned red.
He backed away, letting go of her hands, causing her to frown at the growing distance between them. Barry noticed this and smiled to himself, continuing to walk backward. "Race you back to S.T.A.R. Labs," he said, dashing away.
Piper gasped. "Cheater!"