This takes place in an AU where Iris and Caitlin are good friends, and is set after episode 3x19.

The main characters in it will mainly be Iris and Caitlin. It has hints of Snowest in it, but it can be read as a gen fic, since the story essentially revolves around Westallen and the canon storyline where Savitar kills Iris to emotionally traumatize Barry.

Iris bit her bottom lip and shivered against the chill that had coveted her's and Barry's loft as she worked, before rising from her desk to go raise the thermostat, again.

Caitlin.

The sun had set in Caitlin's life, giving way to darkness.

Iris's friend was gone now, and in her place was a metahuman who sought to make everything cold, haunted and bare.

Iris had seen terrible, terrible things in her short life. She'd watched her father juggle his hectic life as a detective alongside his responsibilities as a single father, and she'd lived in fear every day, wondering if something horrible would happen to her father in his line of duty and he wouldn't be able to come home to her.

She watched behind darkened plastic windows, unable to do anything, as doctors operated on Barry when he slipped into his near-fatal coma at the hands of a lab accident.

She'd screamed in sheer horror when Eddie purposely put a bullet through his chest, she'd watched in pain as Zoom took her brother, then her father, away, and now she was left worrying about what would become of her friends after she was violently murdered by the God of Speed.

At least she knew how she felt about those events.

But nothing that ever happened could compare to how she felt about Caitlin's demise and sudden return as Killer Frost.

Caitlin was simple woman with a distant, but sunny smile. They were never close, initially, but they had both fought to protect their friends together, they had both cried over the deaths of Ronnie and Eddie together. They'd checked up on each other when Barry had pushed himself away in the aftermath of Eobard Thawne's death, they were two women who counted on one another, who watched cheesy chick flicks and made each other smoothies when the other was feeling down or alone, who endlessly supported their friends through trials of danger and tribulations, they were friends.

After Flashpoint, Caitlin struggled to stay good in the face of Killer Frost's inner evil, and it hurt Iris to see her friend go through that kind of torture, Caitlin having little to no control over her phases as Killer Frost.

And now Iris was left with the news that her friend was dead, and that same evil being had taken control of her body. Killer Frost was a witch, with skin that became hard and decayed with layer of ice permanently glazed over it. Her delicate hands now resembled icy claws, her blue fingers curled into talons, and Caitlin's hair, which had once been straight and warm brown in color, was now shriveled into disgusting white curls.

The eyes and the smirk hurt the worst.

Caitlin's knowing brown eyes, filled with intelligence and compassion, were now a bloodthirsty and shrill shade of blue, trained to search for their next murder. And that sickeningly proud, hungry smirk that Killer Frost wore on her icy lips every time she attacked someone she once cared about-

Iris trembled again, and brought her sweater tighter around her body.

There had to be hope for Caitlin.

But could there be hope for someone who didn't exist anymore?

Barry had gone into the future - but he wouldn't share what he had seen. Maybe he had seen a cure for Caitlin... Maybe he knew she would be saved, which was why he was more worried about Savitar.

Iris frowned at how cold it was in the room, as she typed at her computer. Only minutes ago, she'd upped the temperature into the nineties. But now it felt like winter inside the walls of her room.

She chided those thoughts away, and faced outside the window, where harsh white snowfall glinted in the face of the usually warm afternoon sun.

It was just the weather... It couldn't be an actual threat.

Killer Frost's powers were stronger than normal, so the temperature seemed to be spiking downwards every few minutes, anyway.

It surely was giving the weather crew at the CCPN a run for their money, Iris remembered sadly, before she noticed the thin layer of ice on the walls, and on her laptop.

Iris scowled, and wiped at the screen with the side of her fist, wondering whether she should alert Barry and the team about any dangers the weather's intensity could pose if it was seeping into homes now - before Killer Frost's reflection glimmered in her laptop screen.

Iris's throat felt paralyzed as fear-filled adrenaline pierced through her veins.

"I'm not here to hurt you," the witch's cold voice drawled quietly, as if apologetic, and Iris slowly turned around to find Killer Frost with her arms folded over her chest, expressionless, dressed in leather.

Iris swallowed, and forced herself to breathe. "Then - then why are you here?"

Killer Frost's gaze dropped to the ground. "I - I don't know, Iris..."

"Do... do you want me to help you, Caitlin?"

Killer Frost narrowed her eyes, and balled her fists, but said nothing.

Iris studied her sympathetically, before getting up from her chair. "Caitlin. Do you want me to call Barry?"

"No-," Killer Frost snapped immediately, a small flurry of snow suddenly tornadoing in the room, before her expression softened as she shook her head. "I'm - I'm sorry... No. Please don't call Barry."

Iris shuddered again as clumps of rocky snow collected on the ground, and she bit her lip as she wrapped her arms around her own figure, stuffing her next-to-numb hands under her armpits.

"Iris... I'm here to apologize," Killer Frost confessed carefully, as if testing each syllable, and she reached her dead knobby hand out to Iris, and Iris wondered if those were real tears in Frost's eyes. "It's wrong. This is wrong. There are other ways for Savitar to get what he wants. I'm sorry he's going to-"

"He's going to what, kill me?" Iris scorned, her teeth chattering and fury rising in her chest as she glared back at Killer Frost. "I don't know who you are now. But you're not my friend. My friend cared for me - cared for us, for our team. She helped us, offered us solutions. You only offer murder, and hatred. Get out."

Killer Frost's bottom lip quivered, and the ice in the room thickened.

"Listen to me," she entreated, ashamed, "I know who Savitar is..."

Iris glowered at her, forcing herself to stay ready in case this was a trick. "Who is he?"

Frost looked back up at her with shameful eyes. "Trust me... If I tell you, you'll wish I hadn't-"

Iris was blatantly shivering in the face of the raw cold in the room, but she was resolved in anger. "So, what, you're here to intimidate me? Y'know, Caitlin would never have done that-"

"Caitlin isn't here," Frost denounced weakly, willing the snow to stop as she finally noticed Iris's shaking. She held her hands up in surrender. "Iris. You've got to believe me. I have no choice but to do as Savitar says-"

"That's not true. You said you wanted a cure, yet you seem to be in full control of your actions and choices-" Iris persisted, grimacing at the supervillain, "Aligning yourself with Savitar is going to get people hurt-"

"And it's going to get you killed," Frost agreed gravely, nodding.

"That's not the point," Iris rejected, stepping forward to look Killer Frost in the eyes, "There's enough good in you left for you to be in my room, knowing my death is wrong so you're apologizing to me. There should be enough good in you left to know this isn't the right path-"

"I have no path left, Iris. This is who I am now."

"Don't give me that bull," Iris muttered, glowering, "You're a doctor. And an engineer. And a friend-"

"None of that's true," Frost replied flippantly, slipping her hands into his pockets, "I'll be considered a fake in all of your books now. I'll be helping ensure that nobody gets a happy ending. Not Barry, not Cisco... None of them. But you-"

Killer Frost reached a hand up to touch Iris's cheek, and Iris slapped her hand away, a sad look of surprise in the other woman's dark blue eyes.

"I can still feel some of the memories in Caitlin's mind," Frost explained drily as she carefully took Iris's hand in hers, Iris fearfully catching her breath at the gesture.

"Caitlin may have been distant. She may have been cold, and at times selfish, but you were always a constant source of warmth and support in her life. Even now, you're asking me if I want help, even though there's no going back to who this used to be..." - and Iris knew those were real tears in Killer Frost's eyes, because she reached her free hand to wipe drops of ice away from the corners of her eyes, her voice cracking as she spoke - "And I, with whatever lack of morals or 'goodness' or what have you, can still tell that you don't deserve this. So I'm going to tell you something Savitar doesn't want any of you to know."

"And what would that be?"

Killer Frost paused and turned around. She canvassed the room before slowly walking a few steps away to the nightstand by the bed. She picked up the small framed photo of Iris that Barry kept by his bedside, and studied it as she mulled her thoughts over in her head.

"You should leave the city," Frost advised seriously, her voice soft, "I can work Savitar's plans around, if you aren't in the picture. You won't have to die if Savitar can't find you, because he has no use for you, and he'll have to figure something else out. Really, he's only using you to get to Barry - he wouldn't even have cared for you if the Flash wasn't so dependent on you, Iris."

Iris searched Caitlin's face for any signs of dishonesty. "What do you mean?-"

A thin, but kind, smile split across Killer Frost's lips as she turned around to face Iris.

"It means I'm offering you safety, if you're willing to trust me."

So, what'd you think? :D

Do you think Killer Frost means well?

Or do you think she's lying in order to advance a secret - and more evil - plan of hers, meant to secure Iris's death now that she's won her trust?

(If you know me and my writing well enough, you'll probably be able to tell where I'm going with this...)

Please leave a message with your thoughts on your way out! I'd love to hear your opinions! :)

Till next time,

- DBV