EXPEDITE ▇▇▇▇ VOLUME ONE
━━ ❛ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒃𝒖𝒕 ❜

chapter no. 003!

     THE INKY DARKNESS ENGULFED THE FRAIL LIGHT, DIMINISHING ALL HAPPINESS AND BLISS THAT HAD RISEN WITH THE SUN. Now, only silence lingered in the air. Piper Lita shivered in the claustrophobic closet and watched silently through a small crack in the door. A small sigh of anxiety left her lips. Tersely, her chocolate brown eyes glazed over Barry Allen, who was crouched down on the ground while holding his phone.

     Out of all of the ideas that the hero had come up with while Piper had been on Earth One, this one had to be the dumbest of them all. And Barry had come up with a lot of dumb ideas. Pretending to be a criminal? Not something he was great at.

     With a heart as pure as his, it was disturbing for the redhead to watch him try to be a "baddie." The term that Cisco had called him before he went to talk to Leonard Snart earlier on that night.

     "It's two armed guards," Barry whispered, glancing back at the father-son duo.

     "Guess your timing didn't work out after all," Leonard snarled quietly.

     Lewis Snart glared over at his son. "Yeah, that's why I've got a Plan B."

     "'Cause you always needed one," Leonard bit back.

     "Yeah, but..." Lewis started walking towards him, "your sister turned out to be a disappointment also."

     A gun was cocked, and Piper watched carefully as Barry darted, grabbed the two guards, and ran them down a few floors before racing back. Only Leonard noticed as his eyes glanced toward him. "All right, what do you guys say we get on with the job?" the speedster interjected. "Guards are gone. Must have taken a break."

     Mr. Snart lowered the gun and tucked it away as Piper and Barry sighed quietly in relief.

     "Yeah, must have," Leonard narrowed his eyes as he grabbed his cold gun.

     The redhead sped out of the closet and stood next to the door that the three were planning on breaking into. Vibrating her body, she instantly became invisible as the three walked down the hallway.

     Zooming in on Barry through her mask, she could see how anxious he was becoming as they got closer. "Okay, Sam," Mr. Snart began, "Show us what you got." He stepped to the side, gesturing for Barry to get started.

     Moving to the right, Piper watched as the brown-haired boy stepped forward, their bodies nearly touching. "Yeah, all right. Gonna just—" he fumbled with the wires in his hands as he glanced at the keypad. Turning his head back, he locked eyes with the two Snarts. "You guys, just keep a lookout, and I'll—" Barry nodded towards the door awkwardly, and they looked away.

     He turned to the keypad and started typing in all combinations. Piper watched quietly as he rushed to find the combination, licking his lips as he did so.

     Look away, look away.

     Adverting her chocolate brown eyes, she checked to see if the other two were still keeping a lookout. They were.

     The two peered back over at Barry right as the keypad flashed green, causing the doors to click open as 'Access Granted!' popped up on the screen.

     "Boom! Told you Draycon was my jam." A relieved smile settled on Piper's face as she watched the man before her grin proudly at himself.

     "Nice job, Sam." Mr. Snart complimented, mildly impressed. Leonard walked into the room. "It's good to go out on a high note," the oldest of the two sighed, pointing his gun at Barry.

     The purple speedster's heart dropped, as did her smile. The sound of a gun being shot sounded as a bullet bulldozed its way into Barry's shoulder. Leonard's head snapped around as Piper forced herself not to react.

     Mr. Snart turned around and walked into the room while his son stared at Barry, who lay on the ground. "I'm sorry, Barry," he mumbled as the door closed, and the redhead let out the breath of air she'd been holding in.

     As if she had appeared out of thin air, Piper stopped vibrating and stood still as she watched the speedster, waiting for him to move. She slowly walked toward him, placing one foot in front of the other. The palm of his hand was open, and her eyes caught sight of the bullet lying in it.

     He didn't get shot. He's okay.

     Her shoulders dropped an inch in relief, and she turned her head back towards the door the two men had gone through.

     Well, since Barry's just chillin' here on the floor, I might as well make my grand debut.

     Phasing through the door, Piper stopped as she stood on the opposite end of the room, eyeing Leonard and Lewis Snart. The alarms went off, and she rolled her eyes, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed as she waited for them to notice her.

     "Time's up," Leonard said bluntly.

     "Let's get out of—" Lewis Snart shut his mouth once he turned around, his eyes landing on the woman with purple lightning radiating off her. Her wavy, red hair stood out as it flew behind her.

     "Oh, I didn't know The Flash had a girlfriend," Leonard smirked.

     Lewis held out his gun towards her, but before he could blink, it was gone. "See, Lewis... the only place you're returning to is Iron Heights. I bet your friends there will be thrilled to see you again." Piper mused, winking. She juggled his gun between her hands.

     "Ah, you wanna bet?" he snarled, and she nodded. Using her index finger, she pressed it into the side of the gun, taking in a deep breath as she flowed her power to it. The weapon burst into a thousand pieces, falling to the ground as she pushed herself off the wall.

     Leonard looked impressed, and he lowered the cold gun slightly.

     "Tell me, what kind of father puts a bomb inside his own daughter?" Piper asked, speeding and grabbing the bags the two were holding, placing them back inside the vault, slamming the door shut, and darting back to where she was previously standing.

     The men barely noticed that she had moved at all.

     "A very rich man," Lewis replied. "Shoot her, son."

     Piper raised her brows as she waited for the blast of cold, compressed ice to hit her square in the chest, but it never came.

     Leonard's hand trembled as his eyes darted between the woman and the trigger resting in his father's hands. The trigger could end Lisa's life. "Kill her, or you'll never see your sister alive."

     "I got the bomb out!" Cisco shouted through the comms, and Piper met Leonard's eyes. "Barry, did you hear me?"

     "Lisa's safe," she whispered, and Leonard turned himself to face his father. The speedster watched as he shot his father straight through the chest with the cold gun.

     Lewis dropped to the ground. "You're working with—"

     "Expedite."

     "I thought you hated—"

     "Not as much as I hate you." Leonard's eyes were slightly glassy as his father fell to the ground. Crouching down beside him, Captain Cold looked up at Expedite, an expression similar to gratitude settling in his eyes.

     Piper nodded, knowing that he wouldn't thank her out loud, but he didn't need to.

     Glancing over to her left, she saw the Flash approach. Her eyes widened, and she phased through the floor, dropping down to the bottom floor. A small thud sounded when she landed. Straightening herself out, she sped out of the back entrance of the building to be met with Harrison Wells standing in front of her.

     Skidding to a stop, she halted and held back the gasp that was ready to tumble out at any second.

     "Who the hell are you?" Harrison asked in that easily recognizable low voice of his.

     "Did you get both Snart's?" Cisco asked through the comms while the speedster remained still, eyes locked on the man that was supposed to be dead.

     "No, somebody else did." Barry breathed on the other end, and Piper mentally face-palmed herself. He saw her.

     "Who?" Caitlin asked curiously.

     "Another speedster."

     "What?!" Cisco asked, his voice holding curiosity.

     "She had purple lightning,"

     "She?!" Caitlin asked incredulously while Cisco gasped.

     Piper studied the man in front of her before she finally sped off home. Darting down various alleyways, streets, backyards, and parking lots, she made it back to her apartment. The door slammed behind her, and she leaned against it, trying to gather herself together.

     Harrison Wells was dead. Eddie Thawne killed himself. Eobard was gone.

     So, who the hell was that?

     Her breathing was ridged and raspy as her eyes remained wide. "You all right there, Count von Count?" Erin laughed from the couch, referring to the purple vampire character on Sesame Street.

     Looking up from the floor, Piper ripped off the eyepiece and her comms, tossing them onto the coffee table as she joined the amused girl on the couch. "Harrison Wells is alive," she breathed, and that statement immediately shut Erin up.

     When she arrived, Erin Osborn was the first person Piper met in Central City. They met at a comic-book store and bonded over their shared love for the Daredevil comics. She was also the first person to know about Piper's alter-ego identity and where she came from.

     The redhead shared everything with her. Erin knew about Barry Allen, Reverse-Flash, Team Flash, and the metahumans, how Piper kept an eye on all of them, and how Piper followed the scarlet speedster to ensure he was always safe. Erin knew everything. Knowing that her best friend knew everything helped her a lot. It kept her sane. If she had to keep all the information she knew to herself, she would lose it.

     "What?!" Erin exclaimed, muting the TV.

     Piper nodded, trying to slow down her heart rate. "Remember how Barry was planning on pretending to be a criminal?" Her roommate nodded. "Yeah, well, somehow it worked."

     "Maybe he's the Harrison Wells from Earth-Two?" Erin suggested once Piper had finished explaining everything. "I mean, every Earth has a different version of us on it, right? So, maybe he came through the breach like Jay, Linda, and the new metahumans did."

     It was moments like these where the speedster was grateful that her best friend was more than someone she relied on for comedic relief.

     "I mean, it's possible, yeah," she shrugged.

     "Can I ask you something?" Erin asked. Piper nodded. "Why don't you ever interact with them? I mean, it's not like you're in a different timeline or something. You can talk to them. So, why don't you?"

     That was a good question. A question that Piper honestly didn't have the answer to. Shrugging, she adverted her eyes. "I don't know."

     "You should. Considering how much time you spend watching them and following your future husband—" Piper rolled her eyes, "—I think you should. As of right now, you have no way to get home and are holding yourself back from helping people and making friends. It's time the world and Barry Allen meet Expedite."