⊱ ──────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ──────── ⊰

𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗘

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
if you're under him, you ain't
getting over him

⊱ ──────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ──────── ⊰

JULIET WASN'T ASHAMED to admit that she was probably the happiest she had been in a while.

She had finally started to understand her powers, something that finally made her feel like more of herself. Work was going well, her friendship with Iris was somehow stronger than ever, Barry was acting a little strange but it was fine, and Oliver was . . . well, Oliver.

Speaking of understanding her powers, Juliet and Barry were currently in the middle of a car — well, motorcycle chase. Three members of the Royal Flush Gang — King, Queen, and Ace had stolen some keys and were now speeding throughout Central City, escaping the cops. Barry was running after them while Juliet periodically teleported forwards, knowing that her mind control would come in handy soon.

"Oh, Barry, Juliet, there's an intersection coming up," Caitlin told them. "Hurry!"

"This should slow 'em down," Cisco stated.

Juliet glanced up from her place on the sidewalk to see that the traffic light had turned red. She smiled slightly at it. Suddenly, the King and the Queen went two separate ways. Barry sped up and stopped next to her.

"I'll go right," Juliet offered.

Barry nodded. "I'll go left."

With that, Juliet teleported away to go follow after the Ace. She ignored Dr. Wells' instructions to Barry to follow after the King and Queen and held her hands out. Instantly, red energy traveled up her arms and surrounded the Ace. Her headache came back, but she had also gotten a lot better at ignoring that and pushing it back, letting her powers come in full force. The Ace instantly stopped on the motorcycle, being held in place by Juliet.

Juliet kept her hands held out as she walked up to the Ace, the sound of her shoes echoing against the pavement ringing through her ears. She focused her concentration with one hand and used the other one to grab the keys. A cop car than approached her.

She gave them a sweet smile. "Have fun."

With that, she teleported away back to S.T.A.R. Labs. Barry sped in next to her, a bright smile on his face as he slung an arm around her shoulder. Juliet laughed slightly as well, grin on her face only getting wider as she removed her mask from her face.

"Give me some!" Cisco shouted, and both Barry and Juliet high-fived him.

"Efficiently done, Mr. Allen and Ms. St. James," Dr. Wells complimented them.

"We need a picture," Cisco insisted, grabbing his phone.

"Pretty sure rule number one of having a secret identity is not taking pictures of yourself in your super suit without a mask on," Barry voiced.

"Oh, come on, please! This is just for us. This is to document all this."

"Who knows?" Dr. Wells asked. "Maybe people in the future will want to know how all this happened."

"Well, we all need to be in it if the future wants the whole story," Juliet announced.

"First, let me put on some makeup?" Caitlin questioned.

"The future does not care about your makeup," Cisco replied, handing his phone to Barry.

Barry shook his head. "Mm-mmm."

Juliet walked over to stand by Caitlin, Dr. Wells, and Cisco. Barry still stood behind the computers, positioning the phone just right. She reached up and positioned her hair so it sat better on her shoulders.

"Okay, big smiles. Three . . . two . . . one."

Juliet smiled for the picture, leaning a little closer to Caitlin. Barry sped forwards to get in the picture and then back to grab the phone.

Barry caught the phone and looked at it. "Ha!"

"Does that count as a selfie?" Caitlin inquired.

"Absolutely."

"Sick," Cisco responded as Barry gave him his phone. "Came out good."

Juliet's phone then buzzed on the table where she had left it. She walked over to it and picked it up. A soft smile spread across her lips when she noticed it was a text from Oliver, saying Mine tonight?

She had been going to Starling City whenever her and Oliver were free. Oliver never really came to Central City, considering that it was a bit of a drive and he didn't have teleportation powers. Juliet didn't really mind. As long as he got to see him.

"I've gotta run," Juliet voiced.

"Where to?" Barry asked.

"Starling. Oliver just texted."

"Oh." Barry didn't hide the slight disappointment in his voice, but Juliet didn't seem to notice. "Have fun."

"Emphasis on fun," Cisco teased.

Juliet's face burned red. "Shut up, Cisco."

She then teleported out of her suit and back into her regular clothes. Juliet gave them all a quick, fleeting grin before closing her eyes, imagining Oliver Queen's apartment in her mind, and then she was gone.

So, Juliet had come to learn that her job (both her superhero one and her normal one) liked to interrupt when she was doing important things. And this time, her CSI job had interrupted when she was doing something very important, also known as being under Oliver Queen.

Her back was pressed into his mattress and her hair was sprawled across her pillow as Oliver hovered over her, their lips pressed against each other's feverishly. Their shirts were discarded somewhere on the floor, somewhere that didn't matter. All that mattered was them.

Juliet ran her hands down from his bare shoulders to press against his stomach, her skin feeling like it was on fire just from the contact. Her mind was spinning but in literally the best way possible. She was sure that her heart would beat out of her chest if it went any faster, but Oliver just made her heart race in that way.

And then her phone rang.

Oliver immediately pulled away from her, laughing slightly as Juliet sighed in annoyance and closed her eyes. He rolled to the side to let her see who it was. Juliet pressed herself up on her one elbow and picked up her phone with the other. She stared down at the screen.

"It's Joe," Juliet said. She sat up straight, answering the phone as she moved some hair out of her face. "Hey, Joe. What's going on?"

"Dr. Wells' house got vandalized," Joe revealed.

Juliet's eyes widened, the daze that Oliver had her in suddenly fading away. "What?"

"We need you."

"I'll be there soon," Juliet promised. She hung up the phone and looked at Oliver who was looking at her questioningly. "Sorry, but Dr. Wells' house got vandalized."

"Is he okay?" Oliver questioned as she stood up from his bed.

"Not sure." Juliet picked her shirt up from the floor and pulled it over her head, completely missing the way Oliver was watching her figure the entire time. She turned back to him once her shirt was on and put her feet back into her shoes. "I'll call you later. Promise."

"If you don't get a chance to, don't worry about it," Oliver reassured her as he stood up. "Just send me a text when you get back safe, okay?"

Juliet nodded. "Okay."

Oliver leaned down and pressed one final kiss to her lips. Unlike the urgent ones they were sharing earlier, this one was a lot slower and sweeter. Juliet smiled into it before pulling away, smiling up at him softly.

"Bye, Ollie," Juliet said.

"Bye, Jules," Oliver responded.

She then teleported away from his place back to her apartment. Juliet got changed into different clothes, fixed her hair a bit, and texted Oliver that she made it back before teleporting to the CCPD. She grabbed her CSI case and looked at her phone to see the address that Joe sent her.

Juliet went there and emerged from a corner. She stared up at the house as she walked to where police cars were parked under an overhang. The house looked very elegant and extravagant. Joe and Barry were already there, evidently waiting for her.

"Morning," Juliet greeted, glancing up at the early morning skies.

They responded to her greeting before the three went up the stairs together. The doors opened on their own when they got there, only to reveal Dr. Wells sitting there in his wheelchair.

"Come in," Dr. Wells urged, and they walked inside, Juliet staring around at the pretty house. "Look, Joe, I apologize for all of this. It just — it really feels like a case of so much for so little. The police should not have been called. I got a prank call before all this happened."

He led them further into the house into a different room. The skylights on the ceiling had been shattered, the glass littering the floor.

"This feels like more than just a prank, Doctor," Joe admitted.

"Well, there are those who feel I did not suffer enough for the Particle Accelerator explosion of last year, and some of them act on it."

"Dr. Wells," Caitlin's voice then rang out, her heels clicking against the floor as she rushed in, Cisco right behind her. "Dr. Wells, are you okay?"

"Dr. Snow, I'm — I'm fine," Dr. Wells answered. "A little chilly. Otherwise, I'm fine. Hello, Cisco. Make yourselves at home as best you can. I'm gonna make a hotel reservation."

Cisco looked around as Dr. Wells wheeled off. "Yo, this place is so sick."

"Yeah," Barry breathed out. "Hey, what took you guys so long?"

"We got lost."

"We've never been here before," Caitlin stated.

Juliet raised an eyebrow. "Never?"

"He tends to keep his private life private."

Juliet nodded and looked back at the broken glass. She stared at it curiously. Juliet looked up and shared a glance with Barry for a moment, her eyes pleading. Barry shook his head with a small grin before crouching down on the floor, using his super speed to piece the glass back together. Once he was finished, Juliet crouched down next to the glass. She then looked to see Dr. Wells rolling in behind them.

"There's no point of impact," Barry voiced. "No rock or bat or . . . any solid object went through these windows. It's as if they just shattered themselves

Juliet gave Dr. Wells a look. "We know this wasn't some teenage prank."

Dr. Wells shook his head. "No, it wasn't."

Barry stood up. "But you don't want our help. Why?"

"Because I already know who did this. Hartley Rathaway."

Juliet's eyebrows knit in confusion as she also stood up. "Who's that?"

"Hartley Rathaway is the prodigal son," Dr. Wells continued. "And he has returned."

Once the investigation was wrapped up at the house, Juliet, Barry, Dr. Wells, Caitlin, Cisco, and Joe all gathered back at S.T.A.R. Labs. They stood in the cortex, staring at a picture of a man with glasses on the TV screens. Juliet stared at the picture, her arms crossed against her chest.

"Hartley Rathaway possesses one of the finest scientific minds I've ever encountered," Dr. Wells explained.

"Any ties to Rathaway Industries?" Joe inquired.

"His grandfather founded the company, his father expanded it, and Hartley here was set to inherit the throne."

"What happened?" Barry asked.

"He came out to his parents," Caitlin answered, making Juliet frown. "Old money, old values."

"They were estranged when we met, but, brilliant," Dr. Wells said. "I couldn't have built the Particle Accelerator without him."

"So, how come you've never mentioned him?" Juliet questioned.

"That's because Hartley had a challenging personality," Caitlin responded.

"What she means is he was mostly a jerk," Cisco translated. "But, every once in a while, he could be a dick."

Juliet let out a small laugh at that.

"Let's just say that Hartley, like many outliers, had trouble relating to his peers," Dr. Wells went on.

"Yes, but he was always your favorite," Caitlin commented.

"The chosen one," Cisco added. "He referred to himself like that."

"So if you two were so close, why would he target you?" Joe inquired to Dr. Wells.

Dr. Wells paused for a moment. "Hartley left S.T.A.R. Labs about a year ago after we had a . . . a disagreement."

"About what?"

Dr. Wells didn't answer.

"Look, don't worry," Barry reassured him. "We'll stop him. J and I won't let him hurt you — any of you." He glanced in between Juliet and Joe. "Let's get back to the lab, all right?"

Juliet gave all of them a small wave before following Barry out of the cortex. She let out a sigh and shoved her hands into the pocket of her jacket.

"So . . ." Barry began. "How was Oliver?"

"Good," Juliet responded. "Really good."

"You two seem awfully close."

"Well, yeah. We've been dating for a little bit, so I sure hope so."

Barry looked down at her. "So you're dating? Like officially?"

"I mean, we haven't solidified anything, but yeah, I guess."

"Oh."

Juliet raised her eyebrows. "Oh?"

Barry shrugged. "Just oh. I'm happy for you, J."

She gave him a weird look, because he really didn't sound happy. "Thanks."

They then went back to the lab, wanting to test the theory about sound. Juliet got a wine glass and a fork by teleporting to her apartment and back. She placed it on a box and hooked it up to their frequency machine.

"So, every object has a natural frequency," Juliet explained, tapping the fork against the glass, making it ting. "Sound is also expressed as a vibration. That means if the pitch of the sound exactly matches the object's natural frequency, then . . ."

She put on her safety goggles and turned up the frequency. Instantly, the glass exploded, shattering on the table. Barry and Joe instantly laughed at it, making her grin.

Joe pointed to the broken glass. "So, you're saying that can happen to anything, not just glass?"

"For sure. In my opinion, that's what happened to the windows at Dr. Wells' house. Hartley must be using some kind of sonic technology."

"I'm getting this feeling that Wells is hiding something . . . about what's going on with this Rathaway character—"

"Don't touch that!" Barry scolded as Joe went to touch something on his desk. "I mean, it sounds like this Hartley guy was a pill before he went all super villain, so I — I get why he never mentioned him."

"Like he never mentions his girlfriend that got killed," Joe continued.

Juliet tilted her head at Joe. "And how exactly do you know about her?"

"He's taking up a big part of our lives. I wanted to know more about him."

"I mean, if you want to know more about him, you could just ask J and I," Barry responded, Juliet nodding in agreement.

"Sounds like you don't know him as well as you think," Joe stated.

Eddie then walked into the lab. "Joe. Multiple 9-1-1 calls. Rathaway Industries is under attack. Sector cars are en route."

Joe walked out of the lab with Eddie. Barry's phone then buzzed, and he pulled it out of his pocket, answering it and putting it on speaker.

"Hey," Barry began.

"Barry, it's Caitlin. I hope Juliet's there, too."

"I'm here," Juliet confirmed. "We know why you're calling."

Juliet teleported into her suit at S.T.A.R. Labs before teleporting to Rathaway Industries. When she got there, she saw that glass was shattered basically everywhere, from the large building in front of her to the cars on the sidewalk. She then noticed a figure in a black cloak standing there — Hartley. Juliet summoned a red ball of energy in her hand and threw it at him, causing him to fall back on the ground as Barry sped in next to Juliet.

"You're done, Rathaway," Juliet stated, summoning another ball of energy and just holding it.

Hartley stared up at her, looking just like he did in the picture. "You know my name. I know some names too. Caitlin Snow, Cisco Ramon, Harrison Wells. I can hear the radio waves emanating from both of your suits." He stood up from the ground. "About nineteen-hundred megahertz. Is that them on the other end, listening? Are they gonna hear the both of you die?"

"No," Barry refused. "They're going to hear you get your ass kicked."

"Okay."

Hartley pointed one hand at Juliet and the other at Barry. Instantly, sound waves emitted from it, sending the two flying backwards. They both crashed into the glass statue with the Rathaway logo on it. Juliet fell onto her back with a grunt, pain shooting throughout her body. Glass shattered all around them.

She pushed herself up on her palms, ignoring the way glass was probably sticking into her skin. Juliet instantly teleported away, going to different spots while Barry sped around. Hartley tried to track them with his sonic technology, but couldn't keep up with them. Barry then started to grab the batons from police officers and throw it at Hartley. Hartley ducked and cried out in pain when one hit him.

Juliet continued to teleport until she finally made it in front of Hartley, catching him off guard. She grabbed his technology from his wrists and took them off, sending them flying behind her. Juliet then lifted up her hand by her face and concentrated on Hartley. Red energy traveled between her fingers and started to make its way around Hartley as she focused on him to keep him still.

"You know, they told us you were smart," Juliet said. She gave him a small smirk. "Look like I'm smarter."

"But I'm smart enough to have figured out who Harrison Wells really is," Hartley voiced, and Juliet's face fell, sharing a confused look with Barry. "You see, I know his secret."

Juliet really had no idea what that meant. Nevertheless, they handcuffed Hartley, and Barry sped him back to S.T.A.R. Labs while Juliet teleported. The three of them went up the elevator together, both Juliet and Barry had a hand on Hartley's shoulders to keep him in line.

"Being scooped up by a guy clad in head-to-toe leather is a long-time fantasy of mine, so thanks," Hartley told Barry. He then smirked at the people waiting for them outside the elevator, and Juliet removed her hand from Hartley, crossing her arms across her chest and standing close to Barry. "Well, well, well, the gang's all here. You've lasted a lot longer than I would've thought, Cisco."

"And you didn't last ten seconds against the Flash and Scarlet," Cisco argued, and Juliet and Barry discreetly shared a low-five.

"I was thinking of calling myself Pied Piper."

"Hey, I assign the nicknames around here. Although that one's not bad."

Hartley's eyes swept to Caitlin. "Caitlin . . . never did get that wedding invite."

Juliet's eyes narrowed with anger and she summoned red energy to her fingertip, using it to shock Hartley. "And you can shut the fuck up."

Hartley let out a yelp from the shock and stumbled forwards.

Cisco caught him and pushed him forwards. "Stay in front of me."

Caitlin followed after them. Juliet sighed and watched them go down the hallway, a deep sense of disgust for Hartley settling into her chest. Some people just took things too far — and apparently, that was Hartley's specialty. No boundaries.

"Juliet, your palms are bleeding," Barry told her.

She looked down. Sure enough, small cuts littered her palms, stinging her skin. Blood was leaking from them — not a large amount, but still. Juliet touched her left palm with her right hand and her right palm with her left hand. The skin glowed red, and suddenly, the cuts and blood were gone.

"Come on," Juliet encouraged. "Let's go hear what he has to say."

Juliet and Barry got back into their regular clothes. They stood in the cortex, watching the camera footage from the cells in the Particle Accelerator. Hartley was already in one, and Cisco was standing in front of Hartley, out of their sight from them. Juliet placed her hands in the back pockets of her jeans and watched.

"The scanner is detecting foreign metallic objects in your ears," Cisco announced. "Take 'em out."

"I can't," Hartley responded. "I suffered head trauma when S.T.A.R. Labs exploded. My hearing was severely damaged, and without these, I'm in pain that you can't imagine. We all lost something that night." Hartley looked around at his cell. "Ha. Very clever re-purposing the anti-proton cavities into confinement cells. Wells' idea, I'm sure."

"It was mine, actually."

Hartley then said something in Spanish, something that Juliet couldn't understand because she never really paid attention in Spanish. Cisco replied in Spanish as well.

"Hartley, don't make this more difficult than it has to be," Caitlin insisted.

He suddenly switched languages, saying something in French.

"God, how many languages does this guy speak?" Juliet complained.

"Enough, Hartley," Dr. Wells protested. "Give us a moment."

"See you soon, Cisco," Hartley stated.

"Doubt it," Cisco said.

Hartley, yet again, switched languages, this time saying something in Latin. Dr. Wells responded to him in Latin too.

"God, I wish I'd taken a language in high school," Barry admitted.

Juliet let out a small laugh. "I literally did, and I have no idea what they're saying."

"How did you know we were working with the Flash and Scarlet?" Dr. Wells asked.

"I wrote a hexagonal algorithm tracking all of their sightings, extrapolating a theoretical exit trajectory," Hartley answered. "In other words, every time he ran from the scene of a crime, he ran in this general direction. Didn't figure that out from Scarlet, though, considering she can just disappear."

Dr. Wells sighed. "You are brilliant. And . . . any anguish you have been through because of me was never my intent."

"Not bad . . . as far as heartfelt apologies go. Except that wasn't for my benefit." Hartley looked up at the camera. "That was for you, Flash and Scarlet. Feels good to have the great Harrison Wells behind you, doesn't it? But one day, this man will turn on you . . . in a flash of scarlet, and even you two won't see it coming. I only hope that he leaves you both in better shape than he left me. If you're lucky, you'll only be dead. Because every day I have to live with the agonizing, piercing screaming in my ears." Hartley then laughed. "I almost forgot . . . I told your pets I know your deep, dark secret, Harrison. Have fun letting them in on that one."

Once again, Juliet didn't know what this big secret was. Her and Barry shared a confused glance, nothing but curiosity swimming through their eyes. Cisco and Caitlin then joined them back in the cortex. The four of them all stood around a desk, waiting in tense silence.

Dr. Wells wheeled into the cortex. "I assume you were all listening. Well, Hartley was telling the truth. I have not been honest with you. With any of you." He hesitated for a moment. "The Accelerator . . . Hartley warned me that there was indeed a chance that the Accelerator could explode."

Juliet froze, and her eyes widened. She really felt like she just got punched in the stomach. Juliet felt Barry's hand slide into her own, and she held on tight, trying to ground herself.

"His data did not show one-hundred-percent certainty, just that there was a risk, but it was a real risk. And yet I made the decision that the reward . . . that . . . everything we could learn and everything we could achieve, that all of that . . . simply outweighed that risk. I'm sorry."

Caitlin stood up. "Then the next time you choose to put our lives, and the lives of the people that we love, at risk, I'll expect a heads up."

With that, she left the cortex. Cisco soon followed after her, only leaving Dr. Wells and the two superheroes. Juliet still gripped onto Barry's hand like it was the only thing keeping her head above water.

"After the explosion when everyone else left you . . ." Barry trailed off. "Caitlin and Cisco stood by you. You owe them more than an apology."

"They might soon get more than that, what with Hartley so intent on sending me to the next world," Dr. Wells said.

Juliet stared at him in disbelief. "You think that would make all of this right with them? Not a chance. Their trust is broken — our trust is broken."

Dr. Wells didn't say anything. Juliet shook her head and let go of Barry's hand, grabbing her jacket and walking off. This was literally unbelievable.

〖 ϟ 〗

so I don't normally write spicy scenes and that one in the beginning was kind of pushing my own personal boundaries but yk what I fucking did it bc it's oliver queen

:)