A/N: I love Julian's character, and I think this would have been a cool way to bring him back into the show. And of course that means Snowbert! This starts right when Iris, Felicity, and Cecile are leaving to face Amunet, and Caitlin decides to stay at the lab. Hope you like it!

"I can't go with you. If I lose control, I could become a liability." She tightened her arms around herself. "I can't."

"It's okay." Iris said. "We've got this."

Caitlin watched them go. She knew she should go after them, but at the moment, she was just happy she wasn't running. When things became too much, she distanced herself. Logically, emotionally, and if that wasn't enough, physically. She was sore from the beating Amunet had given her, and ashamed that she'd introduced her friends to the meta's world. Now they were involved, and they didn't know how dangerous Amunet really was. If she'd just gone on the flight, like she'd planned, she'd be on her way to London right now, and they would still be safe…

London.

The thought gave her some peace, and she realized she needed to talk right now. She needed help to focus, and have the courage to help her friends.

She pulled out her phone and dialed the number.

The phone dragged him out of sleep with its blaring ringtone, and he cursed himself for keeping the volume up so high. He'd always done it, in case someone needed him during the night, but he didn't have anyone to help anymore. Now it was just stupid, stupid habit. And if it was some solicitor, he was going to be annoyed.

He blinked hard to force his eyes to focus on the screen, and for a second he believed he was still dreaming. It had happened before.

Then the call ended, the caller id vanishing, and he sat up as he realized it wasn't a dream. He held the phone, staring at it, unsure.

It started ringing again, and he answered it before the first jingle had finished. "Hello?" he asked.

"Julian, I'm so glad you picked up!"

He closed his eyes as he heard her voice again, for the first time in months. He had almost gotten it out of his head. "Do you have any idea what time it is?" he asked, defensively turning back into a jerk to keep himself distant.

"Yes, actually, I do, and I wouldn't have called but… I really need your help."

"I tried to help you, Caitlin. You walked away, and you didn't come back. So I left."

"I'm sorry, but that's why I'm calling. I got the others into trouble, and I don't know what to do. It's all my fault, and I can't reach the boys, and the girls are going to try to fix it on their own…"

He heard the fear in her voice and hardened himself, making himself not ask what was wrong even though he desperately wanted to. "Even if I did want to help, there's no way I can. Not from here."

She was silent for a few seconds. "You're right." She said, and the sense of defeat in her voice made him hate himself. "I'm sorry I woke you up."

And she hung up.

"Caitlin!"

He exhaled in frustration and threw the phone down. He was right to have been cold. There wasn't anything he could do, and he'd walked away from that team.

Yet he'd answered. You didn't answer a phone call in the middle of the night if you didn't care about the caller. It was Caitlin, for goodness sake.

The way her voice had sounded when she asked for help, timid and afraid… and the silence that had been worse, because he could imagine how her face had fallen as he shut her down… she really needed help.

"Caitlin, I don't know what to do for you." he said as he picked the phone back up. If he was there, he could find her, but the fact that he was so far away… He sighed and dialed the number, knowing he was risking getting hurt again, but finding that he didn't quite care. If she was in danger, it didn't matter if he got hurt. He had to see if he could help from here.

"Caitlin." He said when she answered. "Listen, I'm sorry. Please, tell me what's going on."

She told him everything.

How she'd gone to Amunet for the device to help her keep control, and agreed to work for the meta in exchange. How the device wasn't working, and she kept losing it whenever she was scared or in danger. She told him how powerful Amunet was, and about their fight earlier that night.

She touched her arm where she'd stitched herself up from Amunet's attack, and knew what she had to do. Though she desperately wanted to hide instead. From Amunet, and the team. Herself.

"I have to go after them. There's no way they can beat Amunet."

"You can do this, Caitlin. I believe in you."

It gave her the courage she needed. But before she hung up she closed her eyes and allowed herself a moment of weakness, voicing the fear that was always on her mind while the one person who really understood was listening. "I've been slipping more, becoming her more easily and struggling to come back. What if Frost puts them in danger? What if I can't come back to myself?"

He was quiet for a few seconds. "Then I'll bring you back."

Her eyes opened. That hadn't been what she expected at all. "What?"

"If you lose yourself like you did before, I'll be there to bring you back. But you won't. You're too strong to be that lost again."

She stared straight ahead, her thoughts both drifting and racing.

"Caitlin?"

"I've got to go, before they get into trouble." She said. Her voice shifted. "Thank you."

She marked down the location the girls had gone to and left the lab, grabbing Frost's – her – jacket as she did. She would try to save them as Caitlin first, though she was expecting Amunet to fight. But she wasn't as scared anymore. Julian had said he would come for her, if she got lost.

The only slightly scary part was when she did become Frost again, once she faced Amunet. What scared her was the forcefulness of the transition. As if Frost had known she was in danger, she had forced Caitlin back in an instant, taking over with a scream.

Frost created the dome to keep them safe and then sent it out in a burst. Once the magnet was on and Amunet couldn't use her powers, Frost made an icicle and walked towards her.

"Not so tough without your powers." She said, raising the icicle and preparing to strike.

"Caitlin, stop!" Iris said.

"I'm not Caitlin. And this is the only way I can be free of her."

"It's just the opposite. If you kill her, you'll be a killer for the rest of your life. You don't have to be just Caitlin or Killer Frost. You get to choose who you are."

Frost knew that when she was awake, Caitlin was essentially asleep, but she sensed her more once Iris said this, as if Caitlin were fully alert. She knew that Caitlin didn't want to kill anyone.

Part of Frost knew that by letting Amunet walk away, she was putting them all in danger again. She knew the meta was serious when she did business, and Amunet was not happy to lose business. Or to lose at all. Killing her seemed like the safest bet.

But she had to admit to herself that she was sort of like Caitlin. She didn't really want to go through with it, for all her talk. She would kill her without concern if she had to, but otherwise…

She wouldn't mind repaying Amunet for the beating she'd gotten earlier, but she knew she would have another chance.

She dropped the icicle and told Amunet to get out of there.

"You've ruined this for me," Amunet said as she walked away, "and I'm going to ruin something special for you."

Frost watched her disappear, calm on the outside. Inside was a different story. Caitlin was pushing for control now, and Frost knew why. She was scared for Julian.

If he was open to coming back, like he'd said, Amunet would be able to use him to hurt her. It wouldn't hurt Frost. She had no attachment to the scientist, though if she were being honest, she had no real attachment to anyone Caitlin did. Not before tonight, at least, when Iris started reaching out.

No, if Amunet targeted Julian, it was Caitlin who would suffer. Frost had made her walk away from him once, but Caitlin cared for him.

She made Caitlin wait until she'd seen Team Flash to take control. It was time they knew the truth of the situation. Once the team had seen that Frost could willingly let Caitlin take control, Frost let it happen.

Caitlin usually didn't remember much of what happened when Frost took over, but she knew everything that had happened when fighting Amunet. Especially the meta's warning about ruining something important to her. She was slightly paranoid that Amunet would know she had booked a flight to London, and find out her connection to Julian. If they started to get close again, Amunet would find out.

So once she was alone again, after saying goodnight to Iris in the parking lot, she sat in her car and dialed the phone. He answered immediately.

"Caitlin? Are you alright?"

"I'm okay, Julian. Everyone's safe."

She heard the relief in his voice when he chuckled. "That's fantastic news."

"I just wanted to thank you, for helping me before. I don't know if I would've been able to go if I hadn't talked to you."

"Of course you would have gone. I know you."

She smiled thinly, her emotions mixed. "Yes, you do."

He hesitated. "Is there something wrong?"

Amunet's threat echoed in her mind, and she closed her eyes to try to force it away. "No," she lied. "I'm just drained. It's been a tough day."

"Right, of course. I should let you get home and sleep." He hesitated again. "Should I call again, later?"

Yes, she wanted to say. I miss you.

"Goodnight, Julian." She said, and hung up the phone quickly.

Caitlin sat in the parking lot for a few minutes after that call, her hands stiff on the steering wheel. It had to be done. If Amunet knew how much he meant to her, he would be in danger.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered, knowing he was probably feeling hurt all over again at the abrupt dismissal. Maybe she would drive him away for good this time.

It was the last thing she wanted, but his life was more important than her feelings. Until Amunet was taken care of, she couldn't contact him. She probably shouldn't have called him at all.

When Caitlin hung up on him, Julian didn't know what to think. Had he just been used and then tossed aside? Was there something wrong that she just wasn't telling him? And if there was, was there any way he could help her through it?

He'd felt more, in the last few hours, than he had in months, just because he'd talked with her. And from the tightness in her voice in that last call, he felt worry. She was keeping something from him, he was sure of it. Trying to push him away.

It had worked last time. He'd left. But here they were, six months later, and she had reached out to him. That had to mean that she needed him, in some way wanted him around. Even if she wanted to pretend she didn't, for whatever reason.

He opened his laptop and bought a plane ticket to the US.

She had called him, after all.

He was answering.