⊱ ──────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ──────── ⊰

𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗘

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
you can hear it in the silence

⊱ ──────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ──────── ⊰

CAITLIN WAS IN the midst of doing a brain scan on Juliet and Barry, the two of them sitting on the bed together in the treadmill room. Juliet was still a little shocked of how she had fought off Grodd, and how her eyes had turned completely red. That was something that had never happened before, not without her doing it willingly. Maybe it meant she was going stronger, but Juliet didn't know. She always learned new things about her powers considering Dr. Wells hadn't trained her as much as Barry.

"You're experiencing a spike of activity in your primary motor cortex," Caitlin explained. "It's the same thing we saw in Eiling. The images you two saw were some kind of psychic attack by Grodd."

"First Eddie gets taken by the Man in Yellow, and now my dad—" Iris began, looking down at the ground with tears in her eyes.

"We're gonna save both of them, Iris," Barry reassured her, pulling the scanner off of his head and standing up, Juliet doing the same. "I promise you."

"Hold up," Cisco interrupted. "I put a tracker in the tranq dart you shot Grodd with. As soon as it activates—"

"No, Cisco, we can't wait for that. J and I will search every inch of that sewer if we have to."

"And what happens if you find them?" Caitlin asked. "What happens if Grodd takes over both of your minds the same way he did with Eiling? What if Juliet fighting off Grodd's mind control was only a one-time thing?"

"It won't be," Juliet stated firmly. "I can keep him out of my head. I proved my mind control is stronger than his."

"Can you guys build me something?" Barry questioned. "Some kind of tech so he can't get into my head?"

Cisco sighed. "I don't know. Maybe if Dr. Wells were here."

Juliet shook her head. It just seemed like that was their luck, wasn't it?

"I don't understand," Iris admitted. "Every day you guys figure out a way to help people. All of the Flash and Scarlet's powers and all of this equipment, and you can't save Eddie and my dad?"

She then walked out of the room. Juliet stared after her with a frown.

"We'll figure something out," Caitlin told Juliet and Barry softly.

Barry nodded. "Fast."

Juliet then walked ahead, Barry trailing behind her as they followed after Iris all the way to the elevator. "Iris, hold on."

"I can't get that sound out of my head," Iris revealed, stopping in her tracks to turn and face them. "My dad screaming. Why did he insist on going down there with the both of you? He's always preaching about being safe, but not once does he think about running into danger himself."

"Iris—" Barry began.

"No, Barry. He's just a regular cop. He is not some Metahuman with superpowers. He's not you two."

"You're right, he's not us. And this isn't his fault. None of this is his fault. Look, yes, maybe Joe told J and I not to tell you that we were the Flash and Scarlet, but we didn't have to listen. We could've told you — a hundred times, we could've told you, and we didn't. Yes, we should've. So you're right to be mad. But don't be mad at your dad. Be mad at us."

"Okay," Iris agreed, her voice shaking and more tears filling her eyes. "Okay, then explain to me how the people I thought I knew better than anyone have been keeping secrets from me? Big, life-changing secrets? Juliet, Barry, you were supposed to be my best friends."

"We are," Juliet whispered, her voice trembling and tears welling up in her eyes.

"How can you say that when the most important things in your lives, the things that matter the most, the things that you're supposed to share, you both kept all of them from me? You two lied to me about everything."

"I know we did," Juliet insisted, a tear dripping down her cheek. "And we're sorry — I'm sorry. You've done nothing but tell me everything that's going on in your life, and fuck, it would hurt like hell, too, if you kept something like this from me." She sniffled, wiping her cheek with the back of her hand. "But do not think, even for a second, that I wouldn't go back and do it all over if I could, or alter reality to make it that you've always known, because you're my sister." Juliet stared at Iris strongly, her heart clenching. "I never wanted to lie to you. Ever."

They just stood there, staring at each other, both of them looking broken with their eyes glassy.

"Okay," Barry interrupted softly. "J, let's go check on Cisco and Caitlin."

He put an arm around her shoulders, steering her away from Iris. Juliet sunk a little into his side, the tears feeling hot on her face. She sniffled again and ran her palms against her cheeks, trying to get them to go away.

Barry ran a hand up and down her arm comfortingly. "I know."

"I hate today," Juliet revealed, and Barry stopped, looking down at her. "I'm fucking tired."

"I know." Barry put his hands on either side of her face and wiped some tears away with his thumbs. "After all of this is over, we can go back to your place, okay?"

"Okay," she agreed softly. Juliet then turned her head and pressed a kiss onto his palm. "You're the best, babe."

"We're not forever lovers for nothing."

Cisco and Caitlin had built Barry a device that would potentially keep him safe from Grodd. Iris had followed them back into the cortex, and Juliet did her best to avoid her gaze from her best friend.

"An anti-telepathy strip," Cisco explained. "It uses magnetic resonance to neutralize any foreign neurological stimulus."

"So it'll protect Barry from being mind-controlled?" Iris inquired.

"That's the hope, but we have no way of knowing if it actually works," Caitlin answered. "Well, besides if we test it with Juliet."

"We don't need to test it," Barry insisted. "It'll work. If anything goes wrong, Juliet will be there."

She shrugged. "Scarlet's got it."

The monitor suddenly beeped.

"The tracker just came online," Cisco announced. "We have Grodd's location."

Juliet and Barry shared a glance. They got into their suits, and Juliet stood before her best friend, guilt settling down in her chest as Iris stared in between her and Barry.

"Iris . . . I want you to know, all the times Juliet and I imagined you being here, it was not like this," Barry told her gently.

"Get my dad back," Iris ordered.

Juliet nodded. "We will."

Barry then sped off. While Barry was going to take care of Grodd, Juliet would be going to Joe. Juliet didn't really understand why it wasn't the other way around, but according to Cisco, this was going to work.

"Barry, JJ, what's your ETA?" Cisco asked.

"All right," Barry said. "I'm in position."

Cisco walked over to the computers. "Wait for the signal."

"So the red, that's Barry?" Iris questioned.

"Yes," Caitlin confirmed.

"And the blue?"

"Is Grodd."

"Okay," Cisco breathed out. "Here goes nothing."

He then hit the button, which made steam release into the sewer where Grodd was. Juliet watched as Grodd's movement moved around on the screen until it got farther away.

"The steam's working. Grodd's on the move. JJ, move in."

Juliet closed her eyes and teleported out of the cortex and back into the sewers — unfortunately. Juliet landed in the shadows, only to see the immense body of Grodd run away from Joe on the ground, who was crying in pain. She stepped out of the shadows and dropped down next to Joe on her knees, placing a hand on her shoulder. Her eyes scanned his body for any possible injuries, and when they landed on his ribs, she slightly cringed.

"Jules," Joe let out through his pain. "Thank God. Please get me out of here."

"It's going to be okay," Juliet replied, taking the hand he outstretched to her. "I'm going to take you to S.T.A.R. Labs, right into the medbay." She tapped on the comm in her ear. "Guys, I'm bringing Joe home."

She then focused on the two of them, and the same familiar tingling spread throughout her entire body. Juliet opened her eyes, and sure enough, she was back in the medbay, still holding onto Joe, who was laying on the bed like she wanted him to.

"Dad!" Iris shouted, running into the medbay.

Juliet hurried back out into the cortex, looking at Cisco and Caitlin. "Did he do it yet?"

"Did he do what?" Iris inquired. "I don't understand. What is the plan?"

"He's maneuvering Grodd into a tunnel five-point-three miles from Barry," Caitlin answered.

"So Barry can do what?"

"Same thing he did to Girder," Cisco responded, and Juliet felt a shiver go up her spine at the mention of Tony. "Supersonic punch, baby. Hit it!"

Juliet watched, her heart pounding against her chest, as the red dot that was Barry moved on the screen. She immediately materialized back out of the cortex and into the tunnels, behind Grodd. Juliet held her hand out in front of her and tried to get Grodd to stay in place, putting literally all of her concentration on the gorilla.

Grodd, however, pushed back against her, causing a sharp pain to go through her head. Juliet stumbled back and was forced to watch as Grodd grabbed Barry's fist and throw him right next to her, the headset tumbling off of his head. She rubbed her head and watched as Barry quickly put the headset back on.

"Supersonic punch failed," Cisco stated.

Barry sat up from the ground. "Uh-oh, here we go."

He took Juliet's extended hand and used it to pull himself up. Grodd turned himself towards the two, trying to use his powers. Juliet's eyes narrowed back at him, and even though she could hear the ringing in her ears and corners of the flashing images, she pushed back. Like last time, her eyes started to glow red as she fought to gain control of her mind.

"It's okay, Cisco. The headset's working. And Juliet's fighting back."

"Yes," Cisco voiced excitedly. "Okay, uh, try some speed punches energy blasts on him."

Barry immediately sped forwards, trying to punch the gorilla — Juliet didn't want to try anything, one, because she could potentially hit Barry, and two, she was busy keeping her own mind safe. "This isn't working."

"Okay, what if you try—" Caitlin began.

Grodd, however, picked up Barry by the neck and growled at him. Juliet's eyes widened, and she held her hand out.

"Barry!" Cisco shouted.

It was too late. Grodd let go of Barry and threw him straight into the wall. All of the bricks crumpled from the impact, and Juliet instantly teleported next to him.

"Barry!"

"Oh no, the headset's offline," Caitlin revealed.

"Sounds like it impacted with something,"

Juliet tried to help Barry stand up, but he was stumbling too much. He suddenly let out a scream, and it rocked her straight to her core, so much that she lost focus of what she was doing. The high-pitched frequency and the flash of doctors came back into her mind. Fear crept through her veins and she wanted nothing more than to go curl up in a corner.

Get out of my head, she recited, and the ringing already started to fade away. Get out of my head.

She finally pushed back hard enough that she regained control, and she gasped as her eyes shot open, glowing red again. Juliet stumbled backwards, her back pressing against the wall. Her chest heaved up and down as she felt around on the concrete, trying to keep her focus. She focused in on Grodd and tried to move him, but like she fought back against him, he fought back against her.

Grodd stared down at Barry, and Juliet could somehow hear Grodd's voice still. Human. Weak.

"Barry's brain activity is off the charts," Caitlin said. "It's way worse than last time."

"What's happening to him?" Iris asked.

"Grodd's attacking him psychically. He's paralyzed."

"Come on, JJ, there's a service train coming," Cisco told her.

Juliet heard the train in the distance. She held her hand out, and even from so far away, she could sense it. Red energy traveled from her fingers all the way up her arm, and she willed the train to slow to a stop. For good measure, she moved the train power's to off, the picture of the lever flashing through her mind for a moment.

She looked back at Barry, who was still getting attacked pretty bad. Juliet reached out and tried to move Grodd again, but he didn't budge. After all, he had way more practice with mind control than she had, considering Dr. Wells always pushed her training to the side to focus on Barry. She watched as Barry screamed and writhed around. Juliet couldn't do this alone.

And suddenly, an idea popped into her head.

Juliet swallowed her nerves. "Caitlin, do you think that I could get inside Barry's mind?"

"In theory, you could," Caitlin answered.

She let out a deep breath. "It's worth a shot."

Juliet pressed herself further against the wall and shut her eyes. She could feel the energy coursing throughout her entire body, and flashes of Barry's face appeared in her mind. Her fingertips sparked with red energy, and she imagined them traveling over to Barry on the floor. She pictured his mind, and connected it to hers. Juliet didn't know how, but she knew it had worked. So all she did was let her thoughts run.

Barry.

His name seemed to echo throughout her mind in her voice, and she was sure it echoed throughout his, too.

I'm in your head. Fucking crazy, right? Who knew?

Barry screamed again, falling to his knees.

Hey, I know. But just concentrate on my voice in your thoughts. Listen, I know how strong you are. And I'm strong, too, but I need you to snap out of it, okay? I can't do this without you. You're scared, I get it, but if you're scared of something, run towards it instead of running away. I ran from my feelings for you our entire lives because I was afraid, but when I finally accepted them for what they were, look what happened. Juliet Allen. We're going to be forever lovers, and that's pretty fucking scary, too, but I know we'll always run back to each other. So fight that urge of giving into Grodd's fear, because you're a hell of a lot stronger than him. And you're stronger than me — maybe not in the powers sense, but you know what I mean. You've been through so much in your life and have dealt with it all. Let all of the pain that you've felt fuel you to stand up to Grodd. I know you can do it. Do it for me. Do it for us — the Allens.

She was hit with the sudden realization, that even after Barry's confession, even after the newspaper in the Time Vault, even after everything . . . she had never actually said it back. Guilt settled in her chest — oh God, what kind of future wife was she? She was so caught up in the blissfulness of it all, that she just assumed Barry knew without her actually telling him.

Barry, I love you. I'm sorry I didn't say it back. I should've said it earlier — but, God, I love you, too.

Juliet opened her eyes, and they were glowing red brighter than ever before. Grodd was still there, growling at them. She felt her muscles start to shake from exhaustion

Barry's eyes snapped open, and he looked over at her, lighting flashing within them. "Juliet."

He sped over to her by the wall. Grodd set his eyes on them, and he snarled loudly. He jumped up into the air, and Juliet held her hand up, ready to attack. However, this time, a service train that no one detected, came barreling straight at them. It slammed right into Grodd and whisked the gorilla away completely, vanishing into the darkness.

"Oh, God," Juliet breathed out, her head pounding. "I need, like, fifteen naps."

Barry looked down at her. He suddenly reached out, wrapping his arms around her waist and picking her straight up off the ground. Juliet wound her arms around his neck and held onto him tight, letting out a sigh of relief as she hugged him back. After a moment of that, she picked her head up and looked at his face.

"You mean it?" Barry questioned softly, like he was afraid she didn't.

"I always have," Juliet replied. "I love you."

Barry offered her a small smile. He then leaned forwards and pressed his lips onto hers, kissing her so passionately that Juliet felt her entire body get all fluttery. After a long moment, they pulled back and looked at each other, love flashing through their eyes.

They went back to S.T.A.R. Labs and got back into their regular clothes. Joe had told them everything that had happened with Grodd while he was being treated by Caitlin. Caitlin also did a brain scan on General Eiling, and once it was clear, the two headed down to the pipeline. Hand-in-hand, they approached the screen. With her free hand, Juliet turned the wheel diagram on the screen, and the door to the Particle Accelerator opened up, revealing Eiling in his cell.

"Mr. Allen, Ms. St. James, how nice of you to visit," Eiling began, and Juliet resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Exactly how long do you intend to keep me prisoner?"

Juliet touched the screen again and opened up the cell. "Since your brain scan is normal, that means Grodd isn't controlling you anymore. This prison is made for Metahumans, and considering you aren't one, you can go."

"You will get what's coming to you eventually," Barry insisted when Eiling started to walk out of the pipeline.

"I'm not ashamed of my actions, Mr. Allen," Eiling responded. "You've seen what these Metahumans are capable of. Soon, your prison won't be enough."

"Not all Metahumans are dangerous."

"Oh, you're afraid that I know you two are the Flash and Scarlet?"

Juliet's eyes widened a little and she looked up, sharing a glance with Barry. Oh, what the fuck?

"Don't get your tights in a twist — I've known for months," Eiling admitted. "I wanted to come after you two, I would've done it by now."

"But you think you're going to need us, don't you?" Juliet countered.

Eiling stared directly at her, and Barry slightly stepped in front of her. "Harrison Wells turned me over to that beast. He used me like a damn puppet. So like it or not, we have a common enemy, you and I. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a gorilla to hunt."

He then walked out of the pipeline completely. Juliet watched him go, her jaw clenched slightly. She squeezed Barry's hand a little, and he looked down at her.

The two made their way back upstairs. Juliet and Barry settled down in the treadmill room, sitting next to each other on said treadmill. Their hands were still tightly interlocked, not really wanting to let each other go just yet. The two of them were just . . . thinking. Things in the past twenty-four hours had been hectic.

"Maybe it's a good thing we didn't catch Grodd," Caitlin voiced, and Juliet looked up to see her and Cisco coming into the room to join them. "Where would we put him?" Caitlin sat down next to Juliet on the treadmill. "I mean, the pipeline isn't exactly equipped to hold a super-intelligent telepathic gorilla."

"Joe mentioned that Grodd called Wells Father," Barry revealed. "And Wells must have ordered Grodd to come after us. It's why Grodd didn't kill Joe. I think Joe is right. Everything Grodd did, it was just to distract us." He then looked up at Cisco, who was staring straight ahead. "What's going on? Are you okay?"

"Just thinking about this headset," Cisco replied. "It wasn't strong enough." He sat down on the treadmill next to Barry. "You could've been killed out there, man."

"Your tech worked, Cisco," Juliet reassured him. "And you know what that proves? That we don't need that motherfucker Wells. All four of us faced Grodd and rescued Joe. We can do anything together, because we have the power of friendship."

"Actually, it was the five of us," Caitlin corrected, obviously talking about Iris.

That situation wasn't going to go away overnight. Juliet knew it wasn't going to. But they at least had to talk to her.

Iris had left S.T.A.R. Labs a little while ago, going God knows where, but one person did — Barry. Him and Juliet appeared on the rooftop of Jitters, and sure enough, Iris was standing there, staring out at all the buildings in Central City and watching as the lights glimmered through the dark. Juliet crossed her arms across her chest

"Hey," Barry called.

Iris turned to look at them. "Hey. How did you know I was here?"

Juliet glanced up at Barry. "Oh, it was him."

Barry shrugged. "This is your spot."

"Yeah, it's a special spot," Iris agreed, talking about all the chats she had with the Flash, and occasionally Scarlet, up here. "It's where I first met the Flash and Scarlet. All those times, you two — mostly Barry — were standing right in front of me, and I had no idea." Iris narrowed her eyes at them. "I don't even know you two are anymore."

"We're still us," Juliet insisted. "Just . . . heightened." She sighed. "You know, you were still an extremely huge part of our lives this past year, even though you didn't know our secret identities. I promise you I mean it." Juliet gave her a very small smile. "You gave us our names. Without you, the Flash and Scarlet wouldn't exist."

"We're going to bring Eddie back," Barry promised.

They could tell after that that Iris wanted to be alone. Instead of running or teleporting away, Juliet and Barry just went down the stairs and back onto the sidewalk, walking along the streets of Central City. It was peaceful, actually, but Juliet's mind was still trying to catch up from everything that happened.

"I—" Juliet started to say.

"—hate today, I know," Barry finished. He put an arm around her shoulders. "But it's over now. Wanna get Big Belly Burger?"

She put an arm around his waist and sunk into his side. "You truly know the way to my heart, handsome."

"Anything for my forever lover, gorgeous."

〖 ϟ 〗

AWWWW THERE IT IS

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