⊱ ──────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ──────── ⊰

𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗘

CHAPTER THIRTY
flash from the past and a
reality-alterer

⊱ ──────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ──────── ⊰

THE ROLLING DUST cloud consumed where Juliet, Barry, and Caitlin were standing. She had teleported them far enough away so they weren't completely covered, but some of the dust from the edge had come over them. Juliet felt Barry grab her and turn her head into his chest. She held onto him tight as the dust settled.

"Juliet," Dr. Wells' voice echoed from over the comms. "Barry, what happened out there?"

"Are you guys okay?" Cisco asked.

Barry pulled Juliet away and looked down at her, placing his gloved hands on either side of her face. "Are you okay?"

"I'm — I'm fine," Juliet answered, her heart racing against her chest. She looked over at Caitlin, who was coughing. "Caitlin?"

"I'm fine," she replied.

"I think we're all good," Juliet told Dr. Wells and Cisco.

Caitlin looked out at the huge cloud that was fiery. "Oh, God. The nuclear explosion. There's no telling how much radiation we were exposed to."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, this can't be," Cisco voiced. "The Geiger counter in the suits, it's reading less than one millirad."

"But that's normal," Barry said.

"There's no radiation," Dr. Wells announced.

Juliet looked at the other two and held out her hands to them. "Come on."

Barry and Caitlin took her hands. Juliet closed her eyes and concentrated on all three of them, and she teleported them back to the spot where they had left Ronnie-Stein. There was a huge crater where the explosion happened, and they were standing on top of a hill. Together, the three of them carefully walked down the hill to the smoking center.

"Did it work?" Cisco questioned. "Did you separate them?"

"I'm not sure," Juliet replied.

Some of the smoke clear. Ronnie-Stein's body was laying down on the ground in ripped clothes, groaning slightly.

"Ronnie?" Caitlin began.

She approached him and knelt next to him in the falling dust. Juliet and Barry hung back, Juliet placing a hand on Barry's arm as they watched them carefully.

"Tell me your name," Caitlin urged.

Ronnie-Stein reached up and placed a hand on her cheek. "Ronnie Raymond."

Juliet immediately smiled. Ronnie and Caitlin shared a kiss, and Juliet could only imagine how relieved Caitlin felt. Barry then wrapped his arms around Juliet, and she rested his head against his shoulder. It had worked.

"Uh, pardon me," a new voice interrupted, and Juliet looked over to see Martin Stein standing there. "Obviously, I need a change of clothes."

Barry squeezed Juliet a little tighter before letting her go. "Nice to see you in the flesh again, Professor Stein." He reached up and pressed the comms on the hood of his suit, which was down. "We're coming home. All of us." He looked down at Juliet. "I can take Professor Stein, you can take Ronnie and Caitlin?"

"Sure," Juliet agreed. She walked up to Ronnie and Caitlin, who were holding each other. "You guys ready to go?"

"Yeah," Caitlin responded. "Take us home, Jules."

Juliet extended her hands out to them. Ronnie and Caitlin took them, and Juliet teleported them back to S.T.A.R. Labs. Barry sped in with Professor Stein a moment later. Together, the group of five went up the elevators.

"Ronnie Raymond," Cisco stated, walking up to the elevators.

"Cisco," Ronnie said.

The two of them shared a long and tight hug. Juliet grinned to herself at the way Cisco had a bright smile on his face, clearly relieved that this whole plan worked. Barry nudged Juliet with his elbow, and she nudged him back, laughing slightly.

"I missed you so much, man," Cisco admitted. He pulled away. "I shouldn't have locked you in there."

"Hey," Ronnie protested. "Don't."

Dr. Wells wheeled up to him. "Welcome back, Mr. Raymond."

"Dr. Wells. Caitlin told me what happened to you. I'm so sorry."

"I'm responsible for putting myself in this chair. You are responsible for my still being alive — thank you."

Caitlin placed a hand on Ronnie's back. "You said you'd ring him back, and you did. Thank you."

Dr. Wells smiled at her. "You're welcome."

"Excuse me?" Professor Stein cut in. "Are we all planning to sing Kumbaya next?"

"Professor Stein, I presume."

"Harrison Wells. Do you have somewhere I can freshen up and get a change of clothes?"

"Of course," Dr. Wells replied. "Right this way, Professor."

All of them walked off. Juliet made sure with Dr. Wells that it was okay for her to go home and get freshened up as well, because there was still dust all over her. Once he gave her the okay, she teleported back to her apartment and took a quick shower. She got dressed in a new pair of clothes and put her hair in a side braid.

Suddenly, her phone ring. She tied the end of her braid with a hair tie and looked at her phone. It said that Dr. Wells was calling her. Juliet's eyebrows knit in confusion and she picked it up.

"Hey," Juliet greeted.

"Could you bring Professor Stein back to his house?" Dr. Wells inquired.

"Yeah. I'll be there in a sec."

Juliet teleported back to S.T.A.R. Labs. Professor Stein was waiting in the hallway when she got into the cortex. She walked up to him.

"Hi," Juliet said, giving him a small smile. "You ready to go?"

"Very much so," Professor Stein answered.

"All right." Juliet held her hand out to him. "This is going to feel weird, okay? But only for a second, and then it'll be over."

He took her hand. Juliet concentrated on the two of them and teleported them to Professor Stein's house to a secluded spot in the driveway where no one would see them for a moment. She let go of his hand and put both of hers in the pocket of her coat. Together, the two of them walked up to the front door.

"I can't believe it," Professor Stein admitted. "Oh, wait. Uh, what — what should I say?"

Juliet grinned softly. "You came home. I don't think you'll have to say anything. She already knows."

Clarissa then opened the door, staring at her husband with a mixture of shock and adoration. Tears immediately welled up in her eyes.

"Oh, Clarissa," Professor Stein said. "I'm so sorry I put you through this."

They kissed for a long moment. Juliet smiled to herself. Two couple reunions in one day — score! Professor Stein kissed Clarissa's cheek before they hugged each other tightly. Clarissa then looked at Juliet and mouthed thank you. Juliet gave her a nod.

"Miss, uh . . . Juliet," Professor Stein voiced.

"Hmm?" she hummed in response.

"Juliet, I — I know I can be difficult, but, uh, thank you for bringing me home."

"No problem. I'll see you later, Professor."

Juliet turned around and walked away. She walked down the driveway, prepared to teleport out of there and maybe go get a coffee at Jitters, but her phone rang. Again. She pulled it out of her pocket only to see that it was Joe calling. He had also left her three messages. Juliet answered the phone.

"What's up, Joe?" Juliet asked. "Sorry for missing your call, I've been a little busy dealing with a nuclear explosion."

"There's something you have to see," Joe revealed. "Meet Barry and I at his childhood home."

"Barry's childhood home? Joe, what—"

"I'll show you when you get there."

Joe hung up. Juliet pulled her phone away from her ear and stared at it in confusion. She wondered what the heck Joe was going on about, but he sounded serious.

Juliet teleported to a secluded spot on the old street Barry used to live on. She walked on the sidewalk for a little bit until she finally reached the house. Juliet had only been to his house a couple of times when they were kids with Iris. It still looked the same as she had remembered it. It was a two-story level house painted green with yellow accents. There was a large front porch and stairs leading up to the front door.

It was pretty. Juliet wished Barry had gotten to live in it for longer.

Joe and Barry then came in a police car. Barry got out of the car, staring up the house, almost transfixed. Juliet couldn't imagine how he felt being back at the place where his life got torn apart.

Together, the three of them walked up into the house. Joe opened the door, and they entered. Juliet looked around. The decorations were different because someone new was living there, but it looked just like it used to. Barry walked further into the house than Juliet and Joe.

"It's smaller than I remember," Barry voiced.

"Yeah, it's because you're bigger," Joe responded. He walked ahead of Barry and Juliet, apparently leading them somewhere, and they followed. "Have you been in here? I mean, recently?"

"No. I haven't been in this house since that night."

Juliet then noticed some kind of machine on the table in one of the rooms. Resting on it was a mirror. Her eyebrows knit in confusion.

"Barr, this mirror, you remember it?" Joe questioned.

"Yeah," Barry replied. "It belonged to my grandma. How is it still here?"

"Just be glad it is. Look, I don't fully know how Cisco did it, but . . ."

"Did what? Joe, what are we doing here?"

Joe gestured for Juliet and Barry to get out of the way. The two shared a glance before they walked to the side. Joe pressed a button on the machine, making a projection shine into the room. It showed Nora Allen on the ground, screaming, while the Reverse Flash's yellow suit and eyes blurred past her. However, there was another figure as well, along with a projection of blood. Juliet stared at it, her arms slowly crossing against her chest.

"Mom," Barry commented, and Juliet frowned.

"You can definitely see two very fast people fighting around your mother," Joe pointed out.

"Two speedsters."

Joe pointed to the projection of blood. "You see that?"

"Blood," Juliet said, speaking up for the first time since entering the house.

"Cisco and I had the DNA tested. It's yours."

Barry shook his head. "No, it's not. That's impossible. I wasn't even downstairs yet."

"No, Barry. Not that you." He pointed at Barry. "This you. Cisco had the samples analyzed and the proteins in the blood were that of an adult, not a child."

Juliet's eyes widened in realization. "Wait, you're saying—"

"The second speedster, the one trying to stop the man in yellow—"

"Is the Flash," Barry finished. "That's me."

Juliet stood there in shock. Barry, as an adult, had been there that night. He had failed in saving Nora Allen from being killed by the Reverse Flash. But if adult Barry had been there that night all those years ago, that meant he had somehow traveled back in time.

She was very confused. That was impossible. But, she guessed, that they were the impossible.

The three of them went back to S.T.A.R. Labs and told everyone — besides Cisco, who already knew, and Caitlin, who was out was Ronnie — what they discovered. Juliet sat next to Barry on the counter in the medbay. Their shoulders were brushing up against one another's. She could tell Barry was tense.

"Time travel," Dr. Wells announced.

"If the last five months have proven anything, it's that anything can exist, but to actually travel through time?" Barry inquired.

"Well, the greatest minds in human history put their collective genius towards solving that puzzle."

"So, is it possible?" Joe asked.

"Yes, it's possible," Dr. Wells answered. "It's possible in the very same way that Juliet can alter realities."

Juliet's eyes widened and she looked up at Dr. Wells in shock. Did she just hear that correctly?

"Wait, alter realities?" Juliet repeated. "I can alter realities?"

"I've been studying your powers since you got them, Ms. St. James," Dr. Wells continued. "Your red energy blasts and how you can mind-control people is something that we've discovered as hex magic. You can bend the universe to your will with your mind. You've only done it in the form of controlling people and objects, but as you get stronger, which you will, you will be able to do it."

Juliet felt her mind spin with this new information. She could make new realities? Immediately, the first thing that popped into her mind was bringing Nora back to life. If she really could become that strong, she could make Barry's life okay again.

"But time travel and altering realities is problematic. Assuming you could create the conditions to take that journey, well, that journey would then be fraught with potential pitfalls. The Novikov principle of self-consistency, for example."

"Wait, the what, now?" Joe interrupted.

"If you travel back in time to change something, then you end up being the causal factor of that event," Barry explained. "Or, I guess in Juliet's case, if she changes realities, she could cause another disaster."

"Like Terminator," Cisco added.

Joe understood now. "Ah."

"Or is time and reality plastic?" Dr. Wells continued. "Is it mutable whereby any changes to the continuum could create an alternate timeline?"

Cisco pointed at Joe. "Back To The Future."

"Oh, saw that one too," Joe responded.

"Doc Brown," Dr. Wells stated. "Tremendous picture."

"Right. So what's the answer?"

"I might be a clever guy, Joe, but if you're asking me to give you a working theory on how to travel through time or exactly how to alter realities, I'm afraid I just can't do that."

"There is someone else you can talk to about this," Cisco revealed.

Professor Stein knew everything about that kind of stuff. So, Juliet and Barry took a trip to his house. She rang the doorbell, and the two of them waited for a moment. Clarissa then opened the door.

Juliet smiled at her. "I'm back."

Clarissa looked a little confused. "Hi, Juliet. Hi, Barry."

"Mrs. Stein, we're so sorry to bother you here, but is Professor Stein here right now?" Barry questioned.

"Well, after a year apart, I'm not letting him out of my sight. Uh, S.T.A.R. Labs did quite a few tests on Martin, didn't they — and they said he was fine?"

"Yeah, everything looked good," Juliet responded. "Is something wrong?"

"He just seems a little different, is all," Clarissa said.

"In what way?"

"He's been asking for pizza. Martin despises pizza."

"Is that the delivery man?" Professor Stein inquired, coming up behind Clarissa. "Oh, Ms. St. James and Mr. Allen. I suppose it's too much to hope you moonlight as pizza deliverers. I am famished."

Barry then sped off, causing Clarissa's hair to fly in her face. She made a noise of shock.

"Sorry," Juliet told her. "That tends to happen."

Barry then came back and placed a box of pizza in Clarissa's hands.

"Oh, bravo!" Professor Stein exclaimed, taking the pizza. "Please, come in."

Juliet and Barry shared a look. This was weird. Nevertheless, they entered the house.

"Mr. Allen, Ms. St. James." He opened the pizza box. "Oh, mmm. Uh, what can I do for you?"

"You wrote a paper twenty-five years ago for the Oxford University Press," Juliet told him. "We wanted to talk to you about it."

"I've written many papers for that publication," Professor Stein voiced. "Could you be more specific about the subject matter?"

"Time travel and how realities can be altered," Barry said.

Martin set down his Hawaiian pizza and brought them back to another room in the house. He pulled a sheet away, revealing a chalkboard full of equations.

"These are just a few of the random thoughts I've had on the subject," Martin stated.

Barry's eyes scanned across the boards. "A few?"

"See, I believe that space-time is a free-flowing highway that intersects the physical world. We live in — in the moments between the on and off ramps. Theoretically, to travel through time and to alter realities, one merely needs to find a way onto the highway."

"So you're saying that time travel and altering realities is actually possible?" Juliet asked. "Traveling to the future, making whole new worlds where life is different?"

"Undoubtedly," Professor Stein confirmed.

"What about the past?" Barry interjected.

Juliet glanced over at him. She knew that Barry was thinking the same thing she had earlier. He wanted to save Nora.

"Yes," Professor Stein replied. "My own personal choice would be the Chicago World's fair, 1893. I — I think Nicola Tesla and I would have some wonderful arguments. What about you two? Would you be interested in taking a trip into history?"

Barry nodded. "I think that I already have. Professor, um . . . fifteen years ago, my mom was murdered, and we recently discovered some evidence that . . ." He shook his head, letting out a breath. "I was there that night, and not just as a kid, but as an adult."

Professor Stein thought about it for a moment. "That must be a — a side-effect of your incredible speed. In some . . . future date, you actually move so fast that the resulting kinetic energy buildup smashes a hole in the space-time continuum."

Juliet watched. Professor Stein seemed mad about this, looking very frazzled. She then looked down at Barry. He seemed upset. Juliet placed a hand on his shoulder, and he reached up, placing his own hand on top of it.

"You — you seem disappointed by the prospect."

"I mean, if I do somehow make it back there to that night, then . . . it means that I didn't save her," Barry voiced. "My destiny is to fail."

"What about me?" Juliet cut in. "I was told today that I can alter realities with my powers." She summoned a small ball of red energy in her hand and watched as it moved around. "I don't know how, or when I get strong enough to do it, but . . . I can change this lifetime. Barry doesn't have to fail. It can be me."

"I want it to be me." Barry looked up at Juliet. "I — I really appreciate the offer, J, but . . . I want to be the one to save my mom."

Juliet stared into his eyes. She could see sadness swimming in them. Although she felt a little shut-down, she understood. Barry wanted to change his own life, not have Juliet change it for him. It made sense.

Professor Stein offered them something to drink. Juliet and Barry followed him out into the kitchen, watching as he got a glass for himself since they declined. However, he suddenly dropped the glass, making it shatter on the floor. Professor Stein was doubled over, his eyes wide.

"Professor?" Juliet and Barry chorused.

"Martin?" Clarissa questioned. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know," Professor Stein admitted. "I . . . I feel terrified. My — my heart is racing. I think — I think Ronald is in trouble."

"How could you know that?" Barry inquired.

"Jitters. He needs help. Go."

Juliet looked up at Barry for a moment before closing her eyes and teleporting out of there. She teleported into her suit at S.T.A.R. Labs before she teleported to Jitters.

When she got there and peered around the dark alleyway, she saw that Ronnie was surrounded with guns by multiple people in army uniforms. She recognized the one in the very center — General Eiling. Her teeth gritted, remembering what he did to Bette.

Barry sped forwards and started to take out the soldiers one-by-one. Juliet helped him, concentrating on them and throwing her hand to the side, making them fly against the wall and go unconscious. They stood next to Ronnie when everything was done, glaring at Eiling.

Juliet went to raise her hand to concentrate on holding Eiling in place. However, Eiling pulled two cubes out of his pocket and threw them up in the air. They made high-pitched noises before exploding, sending a shower of small spikes down. Juliet's eyes widened as the spikes went to her, almost like they were attracted to her. She screamed out in pain as they embedded themselves into her body, and she fell to the ground. Barry did the same, spikes embedded into his body as well.

"Stings, doesn't it?" Eiling taunted. "Had that one developed especially for you two. Micro fragments, attracted to kinetic energy. Firestorm was tonight's main objective, but getting you two — that's just gravy."

A S.T.A.R. Labs van suddenly drove down the alley. It swung to a stop in front of Juliet and Barry. Ronnie punched Eiling to distract him.

Caitlin opened the door. "Get in!"

Juliet felt Ronnie grab her shoulder and lift her up. She let out a whimper of pain as he helped her get into the back. Ronnie then helped Barry get in the back as well. He climbed in and shut the door, and the van drove off.

"Oh my God," Juliet said, her eyes squeezed shut in pain as she leaned her head back against the wall. "Oh my God."

"J, are we . . . dying?" Barry asked through his pain.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Oh c-cool."

They got back to S.T.A.R. Labs. Caitlin helped Juliet upstairs while Ronnie helped Barry. Instantly, they set them down on two beds in the cortex that they had pulled out from the medbays. Juliet leaned back against her bed as Caitlin started to pluck the spikes out of Barry. Caitlin was taking one spike out of Barry and then one spike out of Juliet in effort to help them both.

"You need to hurry, Barry's wounds are starting to heal with the fragments still under his skin, and Juliet is starting to bleed," Dr. Wells instructed.

That was true. Blood had started to trickle out from some of the wounds. It wasn't much, but she was still bleeding. Since there was so many wounds, that meant more blood could spill out. She stared up at the ceiling, her eyes hazy with pain.

"This is just like that time I stepped on a sea urchin," Cisco announced. "Only much worse."

"Just don't pee on me," Barry pleaded.

"Uh, you know that's a myth, right?"

Barry yelled out as Caitlin pulled a spike out of his neck.

"I'm so stupid," Caitlin said. "Jason Rush, the grad student who was helping Professor Stein with his Firestorm research, he said that the army took all of Professor Stein's material when he disappeared. I should've known it was General Eiling."

"Not your fault," Dr. Wells reassured her. "He still thinks you hold the keys to the ultimate human weapon." He glanced from Ronnie, to Barry, to Juliet. "All of you."

"Okay, let's just finish this," Barry pleaded. "J and I gotta get to Stein's house. Eiling's gonna be after him too."

"Stein's fine," Ronnie responded.

"How do you know?" Cisco questioned.

"He's right there."

Juliet looked up, blinking to clear some of the haze from her pain away. Sure enough, Professor Stein was standing there in the cortex.

"I don't think Mr. Raymond and I are as distinctive as we had hoped," Professor Stein admitted.

Caitlin finished plucking all of the spikes out of Barry and Juliet. Juliet urged her to finish doing Barry's first since he had speed-healing, and she could heal herself afterwards. Once Barry was done, Caitlin moved onto Juliet. She winced at every spike that was pulled out, but she was finished before she knew it. Juliet was still light-headed, but she touched every wound caused by the spikes, making them immediately heal and her skin go back to normal.

Juliet got changed out of her suit and back into her regular clothes. In the treadmill room, Caitlin hooked Professor Stein and Ronnie up to machines that would scan their brains.

Professor Stein looked up at the screen that showed their brain waves. "I'm still inside Ronald."

"There has to be a better way to phrase that," Cisco stated.

Juliet smiled and tried not to laugh at Cisco. She felt Barry elbow her as he grinned as well, and she elbowed him back.

"Beta, Alpha, Theta, Delta — all your brain waves are perfectly in sync," Caitlin revealed. "The chances of that happening are next to impossible."

"Impossible's just another Tuesday for us, remember?" Barry reminded her.

"Yeah, but this is like some Twilight Zone level stuff, and I say that knowing full well that we have a guy locked up in our basement who can turn himself into poison gas," Cisco replied.

"Wait, really?" Ronnie inquired.

"Dude, that was, like, week three."

Professor Stein pulled off the machine on his head and stood up. "Look, if this Eiling is as dangerous as you say, then I need to warn Clarissa."

"I promise, J or I can get Clarissa out of the city in time, but we need you to stay here," Barry insisted. "Professor, I need you to trust us."

"Very well."

He walked out of the cortex. Cisco hopped off of the counter that he was sitting on and followed him out.

Juliet looked down at Ronnie. "And how are you doing?"

"Fine," Ronnie responded. "It's just not the S.T.A.R. Labs I knew."

"Well, this isn't really the world that you knew, either."

"Tell me about it."

In order to keep Caitlin and Ronnie safe, Barry decided that they should stay at Joe's house. Juliet and Barry took them there with Ronnie and Caitlin. He opened the door, and the three of them walked inside.

"All right, here we are," Barry began. "Uh, all right. You guys can stay down in Iris' old room. It's kind of small, but—" He then noticed Joe. "Hey."

"We have guests," Joe noticed.

"Yeah, we do. I hope that's okay."

"Mi casa."

Caitlin gestured to Ronnie. "This is Ronnie."

Joe extended his hand out, and Ronnie shook it. "Nice to meet you." His eyes then widened in realization and he looked at Caitlin. "Ronnie, the . . ."

"Dead fiancé," Ronnie voiced.

"Right. Beer?"

"Thanks."

"Dad?" Iris' voice then called, and Juliet's eyes widened. She turned around to see her best friend walking through the door with a bag of groceries in her arms. "Barry? Oh, hey, Jules."

"Hey, 'Ris," Juliet replied, sending a panicked look to Barry, because Ronnie.

"Iris, hi," Caitlin greeted.

"Hi," Iris said.

"What are you doing here?" Joe asked.

"Uh, it's Tuesday. I was gonna make us dinner, remember? And Juliet was going to come, too?"

"Yep," Barry stated.

"Yeah," Joe agreed.

"Definitely," Juliet voiced, even though her mind was screaming at her that she forgot.

Barry stepped forwards to get the groceries. "Here, I'll help you. Got it."

"I knew you'd forget," Iris commented as Barry walked away with the groceries.

Juliet let out a small scoff. "Us? Forget? As if." She then noticed Iris' expression. "I'm not being convincing, am I?"

"Not at all. Well, there's plenty for everyone. Caitlin, what brings you by?"

"There's a gas leak in my apartment, so Barry said that we could stay here," Caitlin lied.

"Oh, that's sweet of him," Iris responded. She then looked at Ronnie. "And, uh, who's this?"

"This is, uh . . ."

"Caitlin's cousin," Juliet told her, although she was mentally smacking herself.

Caitlin went along with her. "Sam."

"Visiting from Coast City," Joe added.

Iris stared at Ronnie. "You look really familiar, Sam."

Juliet wanted to scream. Of course he looked familiar to Iris. She had literally done research on the Burning Man.

"Yeah, I have — I have . . . one of those faces," Ronnie said. "So, uh, what's for dinner?"

Juliet gave Iris a small smile. God, this was awkward.

〖 ϟ 〗

bruh I loved ronnie why did they have to kill him WHAT WAS THE PURPOSE