EXPEDITE ▇▇▇▇ VOLUME TWO
━━ ❛ 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏' 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 ❜
chapter no. 053!
ONLY TWO DAYS, FOURTEEN HOURS, AND TWENTY-ONE MINUTES REMAINED UNTIL SAVITAR'S GRAND PLAN WAS REVEALED TO THE CITY. Meaning that Team Flash, plus the temporary addition of Miles Warren and Damon Rowland, had less than three days to stop whatever was coming their way.
Time was running out, and everyone could feel the impending pressure.
There hadn't been any sightings of Savitar, his cult, or Efficacy since Friday, and the city didn't know whether or not that was a good thing.
On one hand, it was good because that meant fewer people were dying and fewer people were being turned into meta-humans. On the other, it was bad because their absence only brought on a wave of dread for what was to come. Everyone knew that the Cult of Savitar was nowhere near finished. They could feel it.
For Team Flash, the cult's absence was a relief, giving them more time to develop a plan and solution to their current mess. However, it also made them anxious.
No Savitar around meant there was also no Efficacy around, which meant that the team didn't know if Barry's letter worked or affected the scarlet archer in any way.
Little did they know, the letter wasn't what was going to affect her or bring her home. The reality that the love of her life was days away from being wiped out of existence would send her running back.
And running back is precisely what she did.
Placing one black-heeled-covered foot in front of the other, Piper made her way down the curved corridors of S.T.A.R. Labs, trying her best to remain silent. She was nervous enough as it was. She didn't need a lot of noise to announce her arrival.
Every inch of her was on the verge of shaking the closer she got to the Cortex. One singular thought in her mind: they're going to hate me. There's no return from what I've done to them and this city.
Some of her knew that her thoughts weren't real, but that didn't stop them from feeling real.
The only thing that was reassuring her was the clothes she'd dressed in; they made her feel like her. She was wearing her favorite soft pine green, cream tattersall tapered pants, a fitted black long-sleeve, her favorite black heels, and had layered her necklaces.
Along with the clothes, she had a new haircut that made her feel more confident and relaxed.
Her signature silky smooth, perfectly wavy, scarlet-red hair that fell all the way down to only a few inches above her hips was gone. The burned ends from the fire she started inside the mansion, and the streaks of dyed black hair were all gone and chopped off. Leaving nothing but wavy garnet-red hair that fell to her shoulders.
Her clothes and newly cut hair were the only things helping her feel normal. Besides that, she was a jumbled, clumsy mess on the inside, internally screaming at herself to just turn around and speed out of the building before everyone could yell at her.
The sound of familiar voices reached her ears, and Piper stopped just feet away from the entrance, holding her breath as she heard someone mention her name. The rapid pounding of her heart clogged her ears as she felt her body freeze for the tiniest of seconds.
Get yourself together, Piper.
Moving forward a bit, she pressed herself against the wall as she peered her head around the corner ever so slightly. Immediately, her eyes landed on Cisco, the only person speaking.
"If Barry's letter didn't work, I don't think anything else will," Cisco admitted, looking up from his broken stare at the floor. Swiveling his eyes to the speedster, he frowned as he noticed Barry's glassy eyes.
"I don't like saying this, but we must consider the possibility..." Harry cleared his throat, stepping forward.
Piper moved a little more, the full team coming into full view as she did so.
At the sight of both Miles and Damon, she felt her heart stop. They were here because of her and Savitar.
Raising her brows exceedingly high, Erin stood up from Iris's lap as she gave the man a look of warning. "Harrison Wells, don't you fucking say it," she hissed, pointing her finger directly at him as she breathed in deeply.
"Say what?" Damon asked, his hand falling from where it'd been resting against his cheek.
Blinking back the thin layer of tears clouding his eyes, Harry sighed, "That we've already lost Lita to Savitar." Sliding the glasses off his face, he rubbed his eyes harshly. He didn't want to cry. Nobody needed to see that side of him, not right now. They needed to focus on the problem at hand.
"W-we haven't lost her, okay? Piper's in there; she's strong. She can fight off the drug." Erin insisted, her voice cracking as a single tear ran down her cheek.
Nobody in the room could place faith in the woman's words. There were too much doubt and fear for them to wholeheartedly believe that their Piper was still kicking and fighting.
Hell, even Erin couldn't believe a word she was saying.
Looking down at her hands, Caitlin bit down on the inside of her cheek as Harry's words echoed in her mind.
We've already lost Lita to Savitar.
Every part of her didn't want to believe it, but she was there when the worst of Efficacy was shown to the team. She was the one who was kidnapped and tied to a chair. She was there. And that was enough to bring about the smallest sliver of doubt that Piper was still in there, alive and fighting.
After everything the redhead had been through, Caitlin wouldn't blame her if she gave in to the darkness and decided to give up. When Ronnie died, she was in a similar place. She could've succumbed to the darkness, but she didn't, and that's because having Barry enter her life gave her purpose—meaning.
The woman had Barry Allen and his entire heart, which still wasn't enough to bring her back. Or so Caitlin and everyone else thought.
Pulling herself back from peering around the corner, Piper breathed in deeply as she blinked back the wall of tears that had gradually been building up the moment she walked through the entrance.
Just hearing the disappointment, sadness, stress, and hopelessness in all of their voices caused her heart to splinter, cracks spreading across it slowly.
Every inch of her was screaming to walk in and announce that she wasn't a serial killer speedster who'd all taken and broken their hearts. But she also knew how badly she hurt them. Efficacy manipulated the team and their emotions; played with them like dolls, and there was nothing Piper could do to make amends for what she'd done.
She did this to them. She did this to the city.
That wasn't you, Piper. It wasn't. They know that. You have nothing to be afraid of.
Letting a quiet and even breath of air fall from her lips, she reopened her warm chocolate-brown eyes. She needed to do this. She needed to come home.
I can do this.
Pushing herself off the wall, she placed one foot in front of the other, turning around the corner and making her way into the Cortex. Each step brought on a new wave of panicked anxiety, and she bit down on the inside of her cheek, trying to keep her breathing pattern regular.
At the sound of heels clicking against tiled floors, everyone's head swiveled to the room's entrance.
For a moment, it felt as if he was hallucinating due to the lack of sleep and the immense amount of stress he carried as Cisco's eyes landed on the redhead. Blinking, he ran his hand through his hair, his jaw slowly dropping.
"I did fight off the drug," Piper breathed; her movement stopped after she'd only made it in the room a few feet.
Glancing at one another, Erin and Iris shared looks of relief and happiness. The two interlaced their fingers before looking back at the woman with pride shining in their eyes.
When his shamrock green eyes landed on her, it felt like the world's weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He could breathe again.
She was back. She kept her promise.
Taking a small step forward, Barry breathed in deeply, his eyes washing over the woman. The first thing he couldn't help but notice was the obvious—her hair. It was short, way shorter than he'd ever seen it before. Ever since he met her, the woman had had nothing but long, wavy, scarlet-red hair that always looked seamlessly perfect. But he liked it; the shorter hair looked beautiful on her.
Piper's gaze danced around the group of apprehensive, fearful, and happy expressions until it stopped on the brown-haired man that she promised she would always come running home to.
A jubilant smile spread across her cheeks as she sighed quietly; everything was okay. She was okay.
"Barry..." Piper whispered, pushing down the rising lump in her throat as she tried not to cry at the sight of him still alive.
The scarlet speedster took a step forward, doubt, fear, and hope, swimming around in his abdomen. "Is it, are you really Piper?" Barry stuttered, taking another step forward as his vision blurred with hot tears. It felt as if he were living in an alternate reality or as if he were dreaming. Dreaming of the day when she would fulfill that promise of coming home one last time.
Piper's heart ached as she noticed the uneasy expression written across his face as he waited for a response, and she breathed in deeply. The desperation for the answer he and everyone else craved was swimming in the abyss of his eyes, and the redhead forced herself to push down the rising lump in her throat.
The words were on the tip of her tongue, ready to pounce, as she nodded. "Yeah," she whispered, a small smile spreading across her lips. "Yeah, it's me."
A gasp tumbled from Caitlin's lips, and she leaned against Cisco, a rush of relief spreading throughout her core.
Before he could take another step, Harry pushed Barry to the side, marching toward the woman. "How do we know we're really talking to our Piper? How do we know this isn't some sort of game you and Savitar are trying to pull off?"
Piper sighed, "It's not a trick or game. I'm not lying to any of you."
"But how do we know that? We're not going to just take your word," Harry scoffed, rolling his eyes.
Standing up from his seat, Damon grabbed Miles's hand and pulled him toward the redhead. He glanced at his fiancé for a split second before looking back, hope gleaming in his eyes.
"If you're really Piper," Damon spoke, the sound of his rough but smooth voice causing the woman to look away from Harry. "What was the first thing you told us after you took down Flim Flammer?"
A small smile cracked at the old memory. Flim Flammer was the first crook she ever caught as Expedite.
"I told you that our city needed to find smarter conmen if they really wanted to run multiple companies out of business. Announcing you're a conman when entering a corporate building really isn't the smartest thing to do," Piper said, smirking slightly at the sound of Cisco snorting at her comment.
Miles nodded. "It's her."
At his words, it was Barry's turn to shove Harry to the side as he sped over to the redhead. Piper was slightly taken back by the force of his body crashing against hers,' and she stumbled backward a bit. His arms wrapped around her waist as he buried his face in the crook of her neck, blinking back the layers of tears clouding his vision. With a shaky breath, she placed her arms around his neck and pulled him closer.
Every inch of his body, pressed against hers, felt like home, and both of them cradled the other, savoring every second that passed.
"I'm so sorry," Piper whimpered, squeezing her eyes shut.
Barry's grip around her tightened, and he pushed aside the anger and exasperation he had been feeling for the past few weeks. He just wanted to be in this moment with her for just a minute before reality kicked back in gear.
"I know," he whispered, pressing a quick kiss to the side of her head before he felt her pull out of his arms. She shot him a tiny smile and moved to face everyone else, gulping nervously at the expectant gazes.
"Why'd you come back? What finally pushed you over the edge?" Joe asked, subconsciously glancing over at Harry as the rest of the team remained silent.
Piper could feel her throat closing up at the detective's question, every nerve inside of her twitching and tingling at the thought of what was coming.
The end for every speedster alive and the multi-verse was coming in two days, and none of them had a clue.
None of them knew that their beloved scarlet speedster would disappear and be erased from existence. None of them knew what was coming. And it pained Piper, knowing that she had to be the one to tell them and that she had played a massive role in allowing this to happen. For allowing things to get as far as they had.
"Savitar," she said, her voice cracking as she uttered the devil's name. Cisco furrowed his brows. "His plan is to wipe out the entire multi-verse and every speedster alive."
Miles stood up straighter at the redhead's words and glanced at Damon, the two sharing perplexed expressions.
"And I don't know how to fix any of it. Fix this. Stop him. I don't." Piper shook her head, holding back her tears as she watched the incredulous looks being exchanged around the room.
This was the beginning of the end. This was the beginning of the end for the multi-verse. This was the beginning of Barry Allen's end.
This was the end.