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"YOU FAILED TO TELL ME what exactly you were doing at The Garden." Barry told Evelyn with a cocky smirk while they strolled side by side down the street.
Evelyn rolled her eyes with a slight smile. "I told you already."
"You were set up on a blind date, and it turned out he was caught up in a black market exchange. And you didn't know until you ended up in the basement of The Garden. Was that right?" Barry recalled her not so great excuse. Evelyn bit down on her lip. She prayed he would buy it and just let it go already.
"Yes." Evelyn said confidently, although it faltered a bit.
"That's not true and we both know it." Barry replied with a frown. He hoped she would tell him the truth since they have been nothing but honest with one another for as long as they've known each other.
"It is th-"
"I know you know Leonard Snart." Barry confessed suddenly as he stopped in front of a jewelry store. Evelyn would've found that funny if she wasn't completely panicking inside. How ironic that Barry confronted her on her rocky past with Leonard in front of a jewelry store she once helped Snart rob. Luckily, she wasn't caught on footage. She always knew how to clean her tracks.
"I'm worried about you." Barry continued as he held on tightly to her hand. "I don't want you going back down that path. You've changed your life around for the better. I just don't-"
"Barry, I'm fine. I promise I'm not falling back into old habits." Evelyn assured him while she slipped her hand out of his grasp. She purposely chose not to directly address his statement about Leonard. She wasn't technically lying to him. She wasn't working with Leonard to pull a heist. She was working with Leonard to help put a stop to his father. So, isn't she doing something right?
"So why were you there with Leonard?" Barry asked her still very much concerned for her safety.
Evelyn looked away from him with pure frustration in her eyes making Barry sigh in defeat. "Alright. Alright." He said as he put his hands up. "I'm not gonna force you tell me if you're not ready. But just know that I'm here whenever you're ready too. No judgement, just me as friend wanting to know that you're safe. Just be careful, okay?" Evelyn finally met his glance. She nodded her head.
"Now, on a lighter note, I need to pick up something here before we head over to Joe's." Barry said with bright smile. Evelyn glanced at him quizzically. He held open the door to the jewelry store and gestured for her to enter first with one hand. She rolled her eyes playfully with a smile, but she still complied with Barry's wishes.
"Today's been so tiring. I woke up with-" Barry's words faded out as Evelyn unintentionally tuned him out when something caught her attention from the moment they stepped foot in the store. Evelyn stood in front of the display case. The diamond necklace sprawled over the manikins neck twinkling from the sun rays.
"It'll look good on you." Barry said from behind her and Evelyn jumped. Barry contained his laughter to the best of his abilities. "I'm serious Eve, you should get it."
"Uh, no thanks." Evelyn said as she pointed to the price tag.
"Wow, that's a lot of zeros." Barry said with a chuckle of disbelief.
"That necklace costs more than my college tuition." Evelyn said with a laugh.
"It costs more than my car." He said, and Evelyn gave him a look. "If I owned a car, it'll be more money than my car." He rephrased his sentence with a smile.
"You should really get a car." Evelyn responded.
"Do you think I really need one?" Barry asked her. It was his way of reminding her that he's The Flash (as if she needed the reminder when he's been slowly taking over the media). Why get a car when you're the fastest man alive?
"I suppose not." Evelyn replied with a laugh. The pair wandered away from the display case and toward the man standing behind the register.
"How may I assist you?" The old man asked with a toothy grin.
"I'm here to pick up an order. It should be under Barry Allen." He told the man. He told them he'd check the storage and be back in a flash which made Evelyn and Barry smile to themselves.
"So what exactly are you picking up from a jewelry store?" Evelyn asked Barry curiously.
"Uh, I Uh-" Barry stuttered but the man soon came back with his order. He handed it to Barry, and Barry turned to show it to Evelyn. "This."
Evelyn took the ring from Barry. She examined it, and saw how it shined beautifully in the sun. "This is a beautiful ring, Barry. Who's it for?" Although she asked, she had a person in mind.
"It's Uh, it's Iris's Christmas present." He admitted with flushed cheeks. "It's an exact replica of her mother's ring. She lost it when we were kids."
Evelyn smiled at his words. Barry was honestly one of the most selfless person she had ever met. He had the biggest heart and that was one of the many things she loved about him. Iris is crazy and oblivious to not see how much he cared about her. "She's gonna love it, Barry."
After Barry had pay for the ring the two headed to Jitters. Barry released a shaky breath before he interrupted their comforting silence by his sudden revelation. "I'm gonna tell Iris I'm in love with her."
Evelyn did a complete double take. She wasn't expecting for Barry to ever say those words. He had been putting off his confession for years, and now he decided he was tired of waiting. What had changed in the past couples of weeks she had spent helping the Snart's? "What? Why the sudden change of heart?"
"I just can't afford to wait any longer. Life's too short." Barry answered nervously but there was a glimmer of excitement in his eyes.
"What about Eddie?" She asked.
"I don't know." He sighed. "I mean, I don't wanna mess up what they've got going on. Eddie's a nice guy, and I don't just expect her to drop him for me. Okay, this has absolutely nothing to do with me wanting her to return my feelings. I mean, don't get me wrong, I would love for her to feel as I do. It's just, I need to say it. Too much has been happening these past couple of weeks, and so much more is to come. I can't afford to put it off any longer. Okay, I have to tell her. For myself..."
"I get it Barry. I understand." Evelyn said to him as she grabbed a hold of his shoulder gently. "If you have to tell her then you tell her. And what's a better time then Christmas, right?"
"Right." Barry sighed softly with a smile.
"Okay, so fill me in on what has happened these past couple of weeks exactly." Evelyn demanded more than she asked.
Barry groaned to himself, and he rolled his eyes at the memories that swirled around in his head. "So much has happened. I don't even know where to begin, but I'll try my hardest to sum it up to the best of my abilities. So a part from fighting crime and stopping other metas who have been abusing their powers, I've learned that there's another speedster." Barry told her quietly so no one else could hear. Although, they were the only ones who were currently occupying the sidewalk. Better safe than sorry.
"Is that even possible?" Evelyn asked him. So far, all the meta's Barry had confronted have had different abilities. There hadn't been any that she could recall or knew of that had the same abilities as another.
"Apparently." Barry sighed. "But he isn't just some speedster. He's faster than me. And...this is gonna sound crazy but...he's the thing I saw that night. I think he murdered my mother, and he told me that it was my destiny to lose to him. He claims I know him." Evelyn gasped softly. She was one of the only people who believed Barry when he recalled the events of that night. When everyone called him crazy, she stood up for him. Just like Barry, she always believed in the impossible and her beliefs still haven't changed. With the creation of the The Flash and Meta Humans, she knew it could be possible. This speedster could have murdered Nora Allen.
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"Are you certain this trap will work?" Eddie asked Cisco as they all huddled around the monitor that held the security footage of the trap Cisco had set up. He made it to trap the yellow speedster.
"I've sent up at least three charges into an open satellite. If anyone's looking for tachyonic particles, they'll know we got him." Cisco told him confidently.
They all watched the monitor anxiously. Evelyn chewed on her bottom lip as one of her legs shook. To say she was worried for everyone's safety was an understatement. From what Barry had told her about the speedster, she could tell he was as ruthless as they come. And her suspicions were soon proven, when the monitor showed that Cisco's trap had caught the man in the yellow suit. He was just as intimidating from a screen as she had imagined from Barry's words. His face was a blur and his eyes glowed red.
Evelyn heard Eddie's gun click as Wells leaned forward with a smirk on his lips. "Let's see what we caught." Wells, Eddie, and Joe went down to the trap with back up while Evelyn stood behind with Cisco and Caitlin. The three of them watched from the screens.
"Cisco, lights." Wells called out.
"Sure thing, Dr. Wells."
Wells glanced towards Eddie who stood shaken up while he had his gun aimed at the speedster. "Detective Thawne, would you like to read him his rights?" He asked him with a smirk.
Eddie lost his train of thought when he noticed Joe walking slowly toward the yellow speedster. "Joe, what are you doing?"
"Getting some answers." Joe muttered. "Fourteen years ago, you murdered Nora Allen. I want to know why. Why?"
"Doctor Wells, we meet at last." The speedster said ignoring the detective's question. His voice almost sounded like a constant growl.
"What do you want with the tachyonic particles?" Wells asked him.
"My goals are beyond your understanding." Said the man in the yellow suit.
"Oh, I don't know..." Wells trailed off with an amused smile. "I'm a pretty smart guy. I knew you were exceptionally fast, so any trap we manufactured would have to be invisible. I knew your cells could repair themselves at extraordinary speeds, so you could withstand the damage this is doing to your body right now."
"The Super capacitors, the containment field is fluctuating. They need to get out of their now." Cisco said nervously as he examined the graphs on the other monitor. Evelyn grew far more terrified than she already was. She had to try to calm down her breathing as she watched the lights continuously falter.
"The reason I know all of this is because your powers are almost exactly like those of The Flash." Wells added confidently.
"I'm not like The Flash at all. Some would say I'm the reverse." The speedster said.
All the systems abruptly went haywire, and Cisco and Caitlin started to panic as they hurriedly tried to fix the problem. "What's wrong? What's happening?" Evelyn asked them but they didn't answer.
"Doctor Wells, evacuate! Get out of there now! Doctor Wells!" Caitlin shouted into the mic.
The yellow speedster then suddenly dragged Wells into the trap with him. Evelyn watched in horror as the speedster had begun to assault him. "Turn off the barrier." Evelyn told them.
"If I turn it off, that things gonna get out." Cisco reminded her.
"Cisco, he's gonna kill Wells!" Joe yelled adding fuel to Evelyn's request. Joe then started hitting the machine with a large wrench until the machine gave out. The speedster than disappeared with what he came for in a blink of an eye.
"Find him!" Eddie yelled. The speedster reappeared a mere spaces away from him. Eddie held the gun up high while simultaneously trying to control his shaky hands. His breathing was shallow. "Don't move or we will shoot." The speedster then started to take out all the officers until he was left face to face with Eddie. He studied him briefly then roughly tossed him aside.
He then grabbed Joe by his throat pressing him up against the machine. "I warned you not to hunt me." Before he could do anything else, Barry ran into the room dressed in his famous red suit and tackled the other speedster. The two vanished within in a blink of an eye, but their fight continued outside. And while everyone went after them, Evelyn stood inside as she attempted calm her nerves.
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Apart from the vicious circumstances of today, everyone still managed to have a great Christmas. They all gathered at Joe's, unwrapping presents, drinking eggnog, but overall just enjoying one another's company that was for once not due to stopping crime. A warm smile lingered on Evelyn's lips as she watched everyone laugh amongst themselves momentarily before she tried to slip out the front door.
"You heading out?" Barry said as he made his way behind her. His hands that were practically swallowed whole by his slightly oversized sweater were resting in his pockets.
"Yeah, it's getting late. I don't wanna walk back in the dark, especially not after everything that happened." Evelyn admitted that she was still shaken up over everything that happened back at S.T. A. R. Labs.
"Yeah I figured you'd do that." Barry said with a smirk as he took Joe's car keys from his pocket. He may not have a car, but that didn't mean he didn't have his license. "I'll take you home. Joe won't mind. Besides, you don't live that far so.." he trailed off with a smile as he grabbed his coat from the rack.
The drive to Evelyn's house was nowhere near as long as it usually was since the streets were empty due to people being huddled up in their homes with their families for Christmas. Once they reached her apartment, Barry parked the car and confided in Evelyn with the thoughts that were running around in his head. He told her all about what happened with Iris. About how he gave her the ring and told her how he felt about her only for her to yank his heart of his chest and stomp on it. Whether it was intentional or not, it still teared him up inside. Evelyn told him that she was proud of him for confessing his feelings, and now he could try and move on. After a long hug, Barry got back into his car drove off once he was sure that she had headed inside.
Evelyn was yet again greeted with silence. She sighed as she glanced around her dark and gloomy apartment. There were times where she wished she wasn't alone. All her life actually. It was times like these that brought back all those feelings and unpleasant memories of her time in the system. With a heavy heart, she dragged herself toward her bedroom. As crossed the threshold, she halted her movements when she noticed a wrapped box under her medium sized Christmas tree.
Evelyn bent over and picked up the plainly wrapped box. Her fingers skimmed the solid red wrapping paper and delicately touched the gold bow that rested elegantly on top. After a brief moment of observing the mystery box, Evelyn ripped the paper off and found a small card attached. A simple 'Merry Christmas' written in cursive writing. She slowly opened the narrow box with shaky hands. Her breath caught in her throat at the beauty before her. A warm feeling in her stomach over came her as she genuinely smiled at the necklace from the jewelry store now in her fingertips.
A/N:
It's been a while since I updated this story. I've been busy. I was on vacation and such. But I'm sorry for the long wait and if this chapter was poorly done.