And I'll Be Me

T W E L V E

"Mom, do you know where we are?" I asked.

"I think I do. I'm not positive. But, I think we're at S.T.A.R. labs." She said, more tears soaking her face.

--

"No, there's no way. There's...there's now way.." I panicked.

"Do you know why he took us?" She asked.

"No... but, maybe it has something to do with The Flash." I said, looking around.

"That is correct, Miss Gray." Said Reverse Flash, holding up a finger.

"I warned you to stay away from him. But, you didn't listen. So, I took your mother. Then, you still didn't stay away. So, I took you. You are so stubborn."

"You won't get away with this. The Flash is going to take you down, and I'm going to dance on your grave you son of a bitch." I spat.

"How rude. The Flash isn't going to do anything. He has no idea where you are. Also, he will never be able to beat me. I am much faster than he will ever be." He smirked.

"He gets faster everyday. You have no idea what he's capable of." I said. He walked closer and got in my face.

"Trust me, I know everything about him. For instance, I know how you, feel about Mr. Allen." He whispered.

"I would NEVER trust you." I spit in his face. He backed away and wipped his face off. He smacked me.

I didn't make a sound. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction.

He ran off.

I then moved to reveal the pocket knife I had been hiding behind my back. I tried desperately to cut the rope.

Once I was free, I cut my mom loose.

"Come on, we have to go." I stuttered. I pushed my mom up the latter first.

I climbed up shortly after. I looked around and realized my mother was right. We were in S.T.A.R. labs. That's why we could never find her. She was in the one place we never thought to look. We were down in the containment cells. Where we keep all of the bad metas.

I ran and opened the door, pushing my mom ahead of me. I ran for the cortex. Dr. Wells, Caitlin, and Cisco were there. But, there was no sign of Barry.

"Guys!" I screamed as I ran in there, my mother behind me. I stopped to catch my breath.

"Reverse Flash took me. The reason we could never find my mother is because she was here! At S.T.A.R. labs. The entire time she was down in the meta jail." I explained, panting.

"What? How would Reverse Flash hide her here and we not know about it." Caitlin said, looking around and her eyes landing on Dr. Wells. A questioning look in her eyes.

"That's a question I don't have the answer too." He said, looking back at Caitlin.

"I have to go home and get mother cleaned up." I said, waling back out with my mom. We walked all the way to my house and I took my mother in the bathroom. I gave her a clean pair of clothes and told her I would be back.

I pulled out my phone and called Iris.

"Shaylea? Are you alright?" She said.

"Yes. I found my mother, Iris. I was able to get out and get my mother." I sighed in relief.

"That's amazing, Shaylea! I'm going to head over right now. I was scared to death when he took you. I heard something in your room, so I went to check on you and that's when I saw him.." Iris said.

"I'm okay Iris, I promise." I assured her.

"Okay, I'm glad. Bye, see you soon." She hung up.

The only thing I could think of was Barry. Then Roy. What if Roy calls? What would I say to him? Now that my mother is back, what would Barry do? My mind just kept asking questions I wasn't sure I had answers too. It felt like gravity forgot to pull me back to the ground.

I walked back to the bathroom to check on my mom. I knocked on the door.

"Hey, you doing okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, I was just about to take a shower." She replied.

"Okay, I'll make you something to eat for when you get out." I said, walking away.

I put some chicken in a baking pan and put in the oven. Don't judge, it's actually really good.

I heard a knock on the door. It had to be Iris. I ran to open it.

"Hey, Iris. Come in." I said, letting her walk past me.

"So, where's your mom?" She asked, sitting on the couch.

"Taking a shower." I said. "When Barry talked to yesterday while you were in the bathroom, he was trying to get me to agree to go on a date or something. I told him I didn't think I was ready for a relationship because of everything going on. Then he had me promise when I got my mother back, that we could try. I don't know what to do now. I mean, what if Roy calls? What if Barry confronts me? What do I say to them?" I panicked.

"Shaylea, calm down. You're rambling again. First, which one do see yourself being happier with?" She asked.

She knew the answer to this. She just wanted to hear it from me. It was obviously Barry. I think Barry and I could have a life together. But, I was worried about ruining our friendship. What if something happened and we weren't friends anymore? I know, I should just trust him and hope for the best. I also know he promised we would always be friends. I'm just really paranoid.. maybe I need to trust it, and go for it.

"Iris, it's obviously Barry." I said.

"Yes, I know. So, maybe you should go for it. Maybe it will be good for the both of you." She replied.

"Yeah... okay, if Barry does decide to ask, I'll do it." I said.

"Good. But, you know you don't have to wait for him to ask, right?" She asked.

"What, you think I should ask him? That's crazy, I'll just get nervous and mess it up." I cringed, she knew how nervous I was.

"You'll be fine. I promise." She assured me.

"Hey, girls." My mom said, walking in.

"I'm so glad you're okay, Mrs. Gray. Both of you." Iris said.