chapter forty-one ; tipping of the scales

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As soon as Natalie had begun to stir in bed earlier that morning, Barry went straight to work on getting her ready for the day. He had intended for her to go faster than her normal routine which in the end, after all of his pushing, was still slow. Despite her questions, the relatively newly minted superhero picked up his girlfriend and ran her to a part of town she's never been to, dropping her off in front of a rundown bar.

"Barry, it's too early for drinks," Natalie whined, shoving off her blue coat, leaving her in a black-and-white grid crop tank and black high-waist pants, the clothes Barry had picked out for her earlier so that she didn't take up time deciding. She called him out on his good taste earlier when she walked into their room with her towel. He had responded with the simple answer of he thought she would look hot in them, much to her amusement. "Plus this place looks really sketchy."

Barry waved her comments off and grabbed her hand, his face stoning over with determination, "We're not here for drinks, Natalie. Just stay near and behind me." He didn't move until he saw Natalie agree. Barry pushed open the door to the bar tentatively, taking in the detail of everything inside and making sure the door didn't make any noise to draw attention to them. He led her inside, closing the door behind them softly and leading her around the dark and musty bar. There was nobody there except for the bar tender and a man ordering, his back towards the approaching couple. The man tilted his head before he turned around, chuckling lightly to himself when he saw Barry standing there. "Well, well, well, if it isn't the Scarlet Speedster."

The brunette girl's eyes widen in realization and her grip tightened on Barry's hand when she recognized the face as Leonard Snart, better known to her, thanks to Cisco, as Captain Cold. Her line of sight whipped up to Barry when he spoke, "We need to talk."

"What the hell are you doing, Barry?" Natalie hissed as she glared at Snart, remembering what he had done to Cisco and his brother.

Her confusion seemed to amuse Snart as he laughed a little to himself. "You two want anything? Beer, food? The pickled eggs here are fantastic," Snart offered as he led the couple from the bar to the pool table. Natalie, a bit mad at the fact Barry didn't tell her he was meeting with a supervillian, followed behind Barry, watching Snart carefully. "No thanks, we're good. Apparently we're here for something else," Natalie snapped as she glared slightly up at Barry.

Barry gave her an apologetic look before he turned his attention back to Snart, "I need your help with a problem."

"Must be pretty desperate if you're here asking for my assistance," Snart commented as he took a seat on the pool table. Ironically, the song Cold As Ice by Foreigner started to play on the juke box.

"I was just thinking the same thing. That and one of us is pretty damn stupid," Natalie muttered.

Snart cracked a smile at her before looking at Barry, "What do you need?"

"Help transporting some people out of the city. Five very mad and angry people..who have powers," Barry answered as he rapped his knuckle against the pool table and frowned when he saw the angry expression on Natalie's face.

"So you want me to what, freeze the problem?"

Natalie rolled her eyes and slipped out of Barry's grasp, opting to run her hands along the wooden chairs as she walked a bit away from the two men. "Why do I feel like I've just met our version of a real-life Elsa and Hans combined?" she muttered to herself. She turned around to face the two, raising her voice as her frustrations began to boil to the surface, "Why are we even here, Barry? We can't trust him, he's a criminal."

"And I can say the same to you. First rule is you always look out for yourself, and I have no interest in protecting you, Flash," Snart snapped. He turned his attention to Natalie, the brunette shifting uncomfortably when she noticed he seemed to be reading every detail of her face, "You're both too good. Well he is. You darling, you have a bit of darkness coursing through your veins."

Natalie scoffed and hardened her glare towards the wanted man, "What is this, a soap opera? You do know you don't have to be dramatic all the time. Dragging out your words and emphasizing them, wearing that big and puffy winter coat for effect. I get you think you're the big bad wolf but eventually you're gonna get axed."

"You talk too much," Leonard Snart noted as he squinted his eyes at the brunette, "Probably something you get from your father."

At this, Natalie took a few steps towards the man, her face stoning over as she made her advances, much to Barry's disliking. "How could you possibly know about my father? You don't even know me."

Snart laughed at the fact she underestimated him, "I know everything about you, Natalie Reed. When I found out your little boyfriend here was the Flash, of course I would do my research on him. I did my digging on you, which lead me to your father. Shame you didn't follow in his suit." The cold villain smirked at the fact he was angering the girl in front of him, but his face hardened as he turned back to his enemy, Barry's need in mind, "I have to know my enemies so I can evade and defeat them. I'm not gonna help you fight your enemies, Flash."

"They're your enemies too," Barry countered as he caught Leonard's arm when the corrupted man started to pass by him. Snart yanked his arm back so that he could glare at the young hero. "They will destroy Central City. You said that you love it here, that this is your home. If these people get loose, there won't be a city to love anymore. There won't be anyone to rob if everybody's dead."

"If I'm gonna help you, I need something in return," Snart quipped as he moved towards the bar.

Natalie rolled her eyes, "Isn't the city's hero leaving you alone and letting you have your evil escapades enough? I thought that would be the equivalent of a gold mine to people like you.."

"Would you shut up?" Snart huffed as he scribbled something down on a sticky note. He slid it over to where Barry stood, "Here."

Barry looked downs at the paper and laughed in disbelief. "No, no way. I can't. There has to be something, anything I can get so that you agree to help."

"Or you could just.. Help," Natalie added as she looked at the rows of dusty and empty bottles stacked along the wall behind the counter, oblivious to the stone cold glare Snart was giving her.

"I'll think of something," Snart said as he walked off, leaving behind a frustrated Barry and a still angered Natalie.

The brunette turned to watch as the villain stalked off, "And there he goes again with the dramatics. He has to make an exit. Seriously, I swear this guy thinks he's on a tv show or something.." Barry nodded his head absentmindedly as he began to pick at the table.

He looked up and sighed as he saw Natalie staring off towards the door, "You're mad aren't you.."

Natalie huffed as she tried to form the words to express how she was feeling, "I'm going to start this off by saying even though this idea of asking Snart for help is really stupid, I'm gonna support you. It's not like we have any other option right now. But your plan being stupid isn't why I'm mad. I'm mad because you didn't have enough faith or trust to tell me about it in the first place."

"I'm sorry, Natalie. I really am," Barry said as he grabbed Natalie's hand. When she didn't pull away, he gently used his other hand to turn her head towards him, making her look him directly in the eye. "I just have no idea what to do, Nattie. Everything's falling apart and the metahumans, if they die it's on all of us. I didn't want to tell you because I thought you would stop me. I just, for once I thought things would work, like how Oliver-"

"-Barry, you're not Oliver. I don't know him, but I know that everyone's different. You and him, yes you're both superheroes but you have different morals and ways of going about things. So if you're gonna save those metahumans, you have to do it your way. Not Oliver's or even Ray's. You do what Barry Allen does best."

Barry smiled, the light forming in his eyes at he looked at her gratefully, "And that is one of the many reasons of why I love you. Thank you."

The blush deepened on Natalie's face as she smiled at his words, "It's true. But I'm going to hold this grudge just a little bit longer and you can start to make it up to me by dropping me off at the CCPD."

~~~~~

"How you feeling, Eddie?" Natalie asked as she nudged the cop at his desk, after Barry had dropped her off and headed back to S.T.A.R. Labs.

Her warm smile fell when he saw his reddened eyes and tired expression. She looked around quickly to make sure no one was near before she lowered her voice, "Did you listen to Caitlin? You have to follow what she says so you can get your health-"

"-No, Natalie. It's not that. Nothing..physical. I'd rather not talk about it," Eddie mumbled as he looks back down at his desk, rubbing his eyes as his elbows rested on the desk.

"No, Eddie. You look like shit. You just got back from being kidnapped by your number-of-greats grandfather and I'm not gonna ignore it. Now what is going with you?" Natalie whispered harshly as she bent down closer to him. She sighed when he didn't answer. "Does it have anything to do with Iris?" The saddening look in Eddie's eyes gave away the answer, causing Natalie to steal the chair from Officer Vukuvich's desk and pull it up to the side of Eddie. "Maybe it's best if you talk to someone who isn't Iris, or your partner who's her dad, or her foster brother and best friend."

Eddie gave her a half smile. He took a deep breath before he began to explain, "When I was down there..Wells, he showed me this article, about the Flash in the future." Natalie nodded her head, knowing fully well what article he was talking about. "He showed me the byline where Iris' name was. She's so successful in the future, following her dream. The byline read Iris West."

Natalie shook her head, "I don't understand-"

"-You didn't let me finish," Eddie deadpanned as he looked at Natalie through heavy eyes. "Seeing that byline, I thought that, in the future, we don't get married. Then Wells told me she does get married, she just doesn't change her name. And it's not to me. Nothing happens to me. He told me that in the future, I'm nothing. I'm a useless cop and the only insignificant member of the Thawne family."

The brunette shook her head again, "Why on earth would you believe any of that? The man is a murderer. He has no proof that that happens."

"But he's from the future."

"Eddie, you can't give up on Iris, on the both of you, just because some man from the future said you don't end up together. It's your choice. Ever heard the saying 'It's better to have loved and lost rather than never to have loved at all'? I think you should-"

Eddie cut her off by standing up abruptly and grabbing his coat, "I'm really sorry, Natalie. I know you're trying to help, but there's nothing you can do. The future's written and that's it for me. If we don't end up together, then I don't see the point in sticking around for the bitter end. I'm nothing." She watched his retreating figure until her phone buzzed.

After reading the several texts from Barry, which resulted in her to be currently sitting in her car at the abandoned Ferris Air airfield, Natalie had gone to S.T.A.R. Labs like she was asked. There she was told that Barry had given what Snart had asked, which was to erase all of the information the police and anybody had on him. The brunette had also found out that his sister, Lisa, also wanted in on the plan. So now there she was, sitting in her car as she looked out of her windshield at the metahuman-transfer-truck that was teched out to cancel their powers. All that was left in the plan was to wait for the ARGUS plane that would take the metahumans to Lian Yu.

With her eyes meeting Barry's, Natalie grudgingly stepped out of her car pulling her blue coat tighter around her body as the wind began to blow. "Your ARGUS friends aren't very prompt," Snart noted as Natalie walked up to Barry, "Maybe that's why they've never been able to catch me."

"Well not everyone times things down to the second," Natalie sneered as Barry wrapped his arms around her and tried to shield her from the wind. "And anyway, there it is," she added when she saw an incoming plane. As Natalie, Barry, Snart, Caitlin, and Joe stared on into the sky as the plane flew, Cisco ran out of the truck, panicking about a flux in the containment system. He and Caitlin were looking at the tablet with the data when a crash in the sky pulled their attention, the plane being struck down by lightening as a storm gathered.

Natalie was trying to comprehend the rapid change of events when the back doors to the truck flew open, all of the metahumans standing ready, Mardon seeming to take the lead, "Trip's cancelled!"

Caitlin and Cisco, pulled Natalie along as they dove behind a car for protection, the sound of Joe firing gunshots along the way to cover them. The four ducked down as they heard explosions and screams, Barry speeding around trying to stop, at the very least, someone. Natalie gripped tightly onto Caitlin's hand as she watched Joe reload his gun so that he could continue to fire and keep the metahumans at bay. She tried to turn her head when she heard the sound of a motorcycle and didn't notice when Caitlin had cautiously begun to stand up.

Joe noticed her movements, screaming at her to get down, drawing Natalie's attention back to her cousin. The brunette yelped in surprise when her cousin leapt over her, attacking and trying to claw at Cisco, who had curled into a ball on the ground to protect himself from her. "You killed him! You killed Ronnie! It's all your fault! You killed Ronnie!" Caitlin screamed as she tried to harm Cisco. Joe moved around Natalie, who had frozen still, shocked by the events happening around her, and tried to pull the struggling Caitlin off of Cisco. Natalie stared at the mess happening beside her until she felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist and around her mouth, yanking her up off of the ground and back away from her friends.

She squirmed and screamed, trying any way to wriggle out of the person's grasp but to no avail. The brunette kicked and begged mentally as she tried to get Joe or anyone to notice, but everyone was already busy with another problem. Her panic elevated when she saw a bolt of lightening strike Barry, sending him to the ground. The person who had grabbed her used her moment of weakness to readjust their grip on her, moving her so that she was standing upright against their body.

"It's been a long time since I've gotten to hug my little girl."

The voice sent Natalie still, sending shivers down her spine as she instantly recognized the voice, anger and fear flooding her nerves. Her eyes darted up as she recognized the metahuman who shot laser beams out of his eyes and began to kick again, wanting desperately to get away from the two as he began to crack a smile at the struggling girl.

Natalie watched as his eyes began to redden, preparing to shoot, but quickly powered down when a bullet was sent through his body. She flinched as she saw the gun that was held in her father's hand, the smoke coming off the tip of the barrel. "You don't get to hurt my baby," her father hissed at the man's body that had slumped to the ground. Natalie whimpered as he began to stroke her hair, still holding the gun in his hand, "Only I get to control what happens I her. She's mine. My little Natalie Bug."

Her father moved the gun, slowly dragging the tip across her skull and nudged it under her jaw, forcing her head up. He tsked, "Now you have been a very bad girl. You didn't get rid of that dog you called a boyfriend. Now as your father-"

"You're not my father," Natalie spat in her flash of anger, quickly regretting it when she felt his grip tighten and the gun pushed further into her skin.

"Shut up, you little brat. You've just been corrupted. Too far away from your daddy," he cooed, beginning to stroke her hair again. "I told you I would fix that. Like I fixed Trevor."

Natalie's expression faded, "What did you do to Trevor?"

"Let her go, Garrett," Snart yelled, aiming his cold gun at the two. Garrett readjusted his grip on Natalie so that he was using her as a shield. He eyes met Barry's as he struggled on the ground.

"What I do with her is my choice, Snart. She's my daughter!" Garrett yelled back at Snart as he moved the gun against her temple.

Snart cracked a smirk as Lisa held her gold gun against the back of Garrett's head, "I'm sure that's not the ideal father-daughter relationship that she pictured. An you'd have nothing to play with if she was dead. So I'd just let her go." Her father removed the gun and shoved Natalie away from him as he held his arms in the air as surrender.

When she turned around, all of the anger flooded through her body when she saw his face, her arm instantly connecting with his hand, knocking the gun down while the other hand formed into a fist, connecting with his face. "You son of a bitch, you're sick. What the hell did you do to Trevor?" she screamed as Lisa held back Garrett before he could lunge at Natalie.

"Now play nice like the good little girl you are," Snart warned as he lightly pushed Natalie a step back. "I invited you here to join us, Garrett and you repay me by trying to defy me. Bad move," Snart scolded as he flashed his gun at the metahumans who were inching themselves towards the innocent. He raised his voice so that everyone could hear, "Just remember who helped make sure all of, well most of you, didn't get thrown on that plane bound for no where!"

As the metahumans went their separate ways, Snart's message in mind, Natalie ran over to Barry who was still reeling in pain on the ground. "Barry. Barry, are you okay? Oh god what am I saying of course not," she rambled as she crouched down behind them.

"Natalie," Barry wheezed out. "Your dad."

The brunette shushed him as she tried to comfort him, "Doesn't matter. I think Snart has him under his reigns. For now.."

"And you would be right. For now," Snart answered as he sauntered over to the two.

"You sabotaged the truck. Why? Why did you lie?" Barry wheezed out as he tried to look at Snart in the eyes without bring in pain.

"I saw an opportunity to turn things to my advantage and I took it. I'm a thief, and a liar. What, did you expect me to not be who I am?" Snart said as if everything was obvious.

Natalie looked at him, mentally noting how calm she was when such a dangerous man was by her, "Why did you invite my dad? Why do you want him to be one of your..rogues?"

Snart smirked at her as he turned back to look at Garrett, "He has his use. His connection to you and yours with the Flash will fit into my plans quite nicely."

"Why did you not let him hurt me?" Natalie asked, her voice low in a whisper as if she was hesitant to actually ask.

"Well I guess now you and your boyfriend owe me like the others do. See you around, kid," Snart answered her as he hopped onto his motorcycle, Lisa climbing on after him. Natalie wound her hand with Barry's as as watched her father climb on his, sending her a kiss before he went on his way.

The remaining group helped Barry and Caitlin