Accountability
A/N: I just watched the most recent episode of the Flash 3x12 Untouchable, and this little tag oneshot was begging to be written, so spoiler warning for this latest episode. I own nothing. The Flash belongs to DC and CW. I'm just exploring. I'll put it back just like I found it I promise.
Wally
He sees Iris in the medbay. He is the first one...next to Caitlin and Julian to truly see the extent of the damage Yorkin caused, but he can't...he can't stay. He screwed up. He knows he screwed up. He wasn't fast enough. Barry's look, his words, his own fear, Dad's fear. It's all too much. He wasn't fast enough to save her, but you can bet your ass he can make a fast getaway. In a blur of light and electricity and wind he is in the speed lab. He's locked himself in, not literally. Cisco, HR, they would notice that in a second. Or maybe they wouldn't considering the circumstances, but he doesn't want to take that chance so the door to the speed lab remains unlocked. And Kid Flash runs. Next time he will be fast enough to outrun any mistakes before he makes them. He will be the hero they believe he is, and next time, he will not fail to save his sister.
Barry
He's dealt with grief before. He's dealt with guilt before, but Thawne's betrayal, the singularity, losing his father, Flashpoint, it all feels so small, so far away compared to this moment. The now. Iris in pain… so close to dying, seeing Joe the man who seems so unbreakable in his eyes. Barry is seeing the moment that most kids never notice. He knows he's not a kid anymore, but he's Joe's kid as much as he is Henry Allen's, and their deception and the anger it caused hurts him as much as it's hurting Joe. He's seen Joe angry, but never in that way. Something was different about this time. Barry thought he was doing the right thing, the heroic thing protecting his dad from the pain of losing his daughter. But he wasn't protecting Joe. He was protecting himself, trying to protect Iris. He shouldn't have agreed. But he knows why he did. The same reason Iris didn't want to tell Joe. Protection. They sure had an insane way of protecting each other. Next time, he resolves, he will be honest with everyone. Sometimes to protect someone you love, you have to make tough decisions. Even if those decisions are as deceptively simple as being honest with your friends and family.
Caitlin
Iris needs cold. She needs Frost, but Caitlin doesn't think she can keep control. She knows she can't. Even as she begins, she feels Killer buzzing in her ear, hears the switch in her own tone as she addresses her friends and she is horrified.
"You're stronger than I was." But she also hears the gentleness of Julian's plea. Feels his grip securing her to reality, to friends and family and care and kindness, that even someone like Julian Albert, who was once only the jerk that shared an office with her best friend, can possess if they really search for it. And she knows that Julian is right. She is strong, because she may have parts of Killer Frost within her, but she also has what the other Killer Frost didn't. She has friends that will keep her where she belongs, and thaw the ice before she freezes over.
Julian
The meta that was killing these innocent people. It was one he created as Alchemy. He was Yorkin's sire, and that makes him want to throw up on the corpse. He means what he tells Caitlin. He does believe that they are responsible for their own actions, but he is not blaming Caitlin, contrary to what she believes. He's blaming himself. Team Flash says he was possessed, that it wasn't his fault, and perhaps he was, but he also knows that half of possession is desire. So, it was indeed his fault. How else could Cisco have opened that box? He wanted to be with his brother. It was the same principle. Some perverse part of his soul had wanted to be Alchemy, to gift that power, to play the role of a god upon man. And he had. He knew he could atone, he could work with Allen, he could use that knowledge of his time as Alchemy to be an asset. Whatever he did, it wouldn't erase his role in this genesis, but it could help him to not forget, to hold himself responsible. Because he didn't want to forget. He didn't want to repeat his mistakes.
A/N: So, thoughts? Warning, this is my first time writing Julian so he may not have been entirely in character. Please give me a friendly nudge if anyone seemed OOC. I'd love to know how I can improve. I hope you enjoyed reading it. I really enjoyed writing it.