EXPEDITE ▇▇▇▇ VOLUME ONE
━━ ❛ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒐𝒍𝒇 ❜

chapter no. 020!

     EVERYBODY HAS THAT ONE MOMENT IN LIFE WHERE THEY GO, "WELL, SHIT. I REALLY MESSED UP." If one is unfortunate enough, they have that moment more than once. Sometimes twenty times. In this case, however, concerning Team Flash, this mistake made by the purple speedster was monumental. Everyone had been lied to. Only four people knew the truth, and one of those four was the perpetrator behind all the hysteria occurring on both Earth One and Two.

     The room was silent, and Joe groaned quietly, squeezing his eyes shut.

     Piper gulped, shifting her feet nervously while she waited for someone to bounce back from the shock.

     As the confession set in, Barry pulled off his cowl. All this time, during the entire time they'd known her, possibly, she knew who Zoom was. And she stayed silent about it. He trusted her, not that he didn't still, but she lied, not only to him but to everyone.

     "You lied," he whispered, and her face fell. His reaction was the one she dreaded the most. Piper knew nothing would be the same when he discovered the truth. "Piper... I believe that you do everything for a good reason. That you make decisions because they are the right ones to make. So, please tell me if you have an explanation. Please."

     Joe looked to the woman who was on the verge of crying, her eyes glistening.

     Breathing in deeply, Piper cleared her throat before speaking. "In October, Doctor Light and Jay were having dinner together at the diner where I work. I took their order and was confused about how they knew each other. Jay called Linda 'Light' in front of me, indicating that he knew who she was. Yet, when Caitlin called and told him about Doctor Light being here on Earth-One, he was surprised. So, I thought: why would Jay lie about knowing Doctor Light was here? Especially since Zoom was the one who had brought her here?

     "Then, it occurred to me. Jay Garrick is Zoom. Erin was with me when I figured it out, but I didn't tell anyone else or any of you because if I were wrong, then I would look crazy and untrustworthy. I also didn't want to accuse an innocent man of being responsible for people's lives and mass destruction. In November, when Zoom came and killed that girl in front of me, I followed him after he left. Something I didn't tell any of you about the fight we had was that I ripped off his mask. It was Jay.

     "During the month that I isolated myself from everyone, I dug into Jay's cover. More specifically, I wanted to find his counterpart. Eventually, I found him. His name is Hunter Zoloman. He's a bartender in Coast City. The name Jay Garrick is fake. I searched it up, and no one named Jay Garrick exists in Central City or any of the nearby cities or states.

     "I went to Joe with this information and told him everything. Last year, he suspected Wells of not being who he said he was long before anyone else ever did. I needed to talk to someone I could trust with this information that could help. Erin already knew, but she couldn't help. I needed someone who could and wouldn't automatically jump to attacking him or making it obvious they knew. We went to question him, and the man was completely clueless. He didn't know anything." Piper explained softly, tucking her hair behind her ears.

     Taking this moment to jump in, Joe stepped forward. "After we questioned him, we agreed to keep what we knew to ourselves. Gather more information on Jay and see if he would make a mistake. He already knew that Piper knew; if he knew Erin and I knew as well, we'd be in danger. To keep ourselves and all of you safe and alive, we stayed silent."

     Iris nodded slowly. She understood why they stayed silent and where they were coming from, but she couldn't help but still feel hurt.

     The room was silent once more as everyone took a second to process the truth.

     Piper wrung her hands together nervously, her gaze focused solely on Barry. He was looking at the ground with his brows drawn in. Feeling her stare, he raised his head.

     "You knew before we met you," Harry began, who was sliding his glasses back on, "you knew all along who it was that was holding my daughter captive."

     Jesse's eyes widened as she recognized the furious gleam in her father's eyes. "Dad, don't. I understand why she didn't say anything. After being with Zoom for months and seeing what he's capable of, I don't blame her for keeping her mouth shut. I would have done the same thing." She defended Piper, and the redhead looked away from Barry. Furrowing her brows, she stared at Harry's daughter.

     "Why are you defending her? You don't even know her!" Harry shouted.

     "No, but I knew Piper. The one I was locked up with. She was stone cold and a killer, but she saved my life numerous times while locked up. She risked her life to save mine. She was a good person deep down, and so is this Piper. Besides, knowing Zoom's identity wouldn't have changed much, it still would have taken you just as long to find me." Jesse breathed. Her father shut his mouth, pressing his lips together firmly. The brown-haired girl sent Piper a small smile, to which the speedster returned gratefully.

     I was a killer? What the frickity fra—

     "If Jay is Zoom, then how did he just die?" Cisco questioned, reappearing just in time to hear everything.

     Everyone turned their gaze to him. Piper sighed. "He went back in time and created a time-remnant— a version of him here and one on Earth-Two. I've created one of myself before. It's a handy trick to use."

     Barry snapped his gaze to her. Every part of him wanted to be furious with her, yell at her for lying to him, but he couldn't. Not after everything that'd happened on Earth-Two. Not since he already knew that Jay was Zoom.

     The silence that settled over everybody was tense and uncomfortable. No one knew what to say or do next.

     Piper stared down at her feet solemnly, feeling a tear trickle down her cheek. Wiping it away quickly, she squeezed her eyes shut and wiped away the others that'd escaped. Joe, noticing her state, cleared his throat. "It's getting late, and it's been a long few days. Why don't we all go home, sit with this, and sleep?" he suggested.

     Iris and Cisco nodded, leaving the basement silently. Harry dragged Jesse behind him. The detective walked over to the heroine and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Looking up, she gave him a watery smile. He squeezed her shoulder and left the room, leaving just her and Barry standing in front of the speed canon.

     Hesitantly turning her attention to the speedster, Piper bit down on her lip. Once the detective had left the room, Barry looked over at her, noticing her lingering gaze. "I want to be mad at you. I really do," he spoke quietly. "But I'm not."

     Piper felt her stomach churn, guilt tickling her insides. "I'm really sorry, Barry," she whispered, the image of him standing before her becoming blurred with tears. "The more time that passed, the harder it became to tell you, and I didn't want to risk your, or anyone's, safety." He nodded, walking towards her. She squeezed her eyes shut tight when he rested a hand on her cheek. With his free hand, Barry wiped away the tears.

     The two speedsters stood silent, unspoken words and emotions hanging in the air. Leaning into his touch, Piper opened her eyes and sighed.

     "Look, we've all lied about important things, and I don't want Zoom's identity to come between us. Besides, your counterpart on Earth-Two already told me who Zoom was. It wouldn't necessarily be fair of me to be mad when I knew too. Not for as long, obviously, but still."

     Piper's eyebrows raised considerably, her curiosity peaking. "You met me there?" she asked.

     "Yeah," Barry cleared his throat, "Zoom locked me up, and I met you, Jesse, and the real Jay Garrick. Zoom killed him after he told us who he was." He began walking towards the door, Piper by his side.

     "Why was I locked up in his lair?" she asked curiously.

     Barry felt his heart flutter when she was staring over at him. A glow of intrigue, care, admiration, pride, and love shone back at him. It was the same glow the other Piper stared at his doppelgänger with. Barry knew he was falling deep into something he couldn't escape at that moment.

     So, the speedster allowed himself to live in the moment as he delved into the story of what happened on Earth-Two. Explaining and giving every detail to the woman who was hanging onto every word, her attention focused on him and him alone.