Author's Note: Hey, guys! And girls (if you don't like being called a guy). I had this random idea, and I decided to write it down. (cough story of my life cough) I'm seriously unprompted for these two- seriously! I totally love prompts! (cough as if I don't have enough to write already cough)
I'm going to attempt to make this well written. Key word being attempt.
Caitlin was halfway to her car, heading home for the night from work, when it hit her.
No, it literally hit her. Her hand shot to her neck, her first thought that it was a late-dying mosquito, come to take it's revenge against the approaching winter. But unless mosquito's had suddenly adapted into a dart shaped body, and had taken on the ability to make their targets dizzy, it was most definitely not a mosquito.
Caitlin staggered to the side, vision tilting, and knocked over an empty tin trash can, resting on the side of on alley. It fell to the ground, the tinny crash echoing around... around... around...
She was out before she hit the ground, sprawled haphazardly, one hand still clasped to her neck. It fell limp before long, resting against her body.
A young man, his hair crazy and beginning to grey from years spent in Iron Heights prison, walked out of an adjacent alleyway. He smiled at Caitlin's limp form, like a scientist inspecting a new and exciting mineral he had created.
It didn't take long before the young man was joined by another- at least 30 years his senior, judging by the wrinkles and even grayer hair. He placed a heavy hand on the former's shoulder, smiling in pride.
They were a picture: Standing there, both looking slightly insane, with Caitlin's body stretched before them.
The older one spoke. "You've done well, my son." He laughed, suddenly, a high pitched, crazy laugh. "You've done very well."
When Caitlin's consciousness returned, it was a slow, creeping process. It started with her ears, and all she could focus on for a moment was a ringing, steady drip; water hitting a solid floor over... and over... and over again.
Smell came next, closely followed by taste. Both weren't very useful, but she would rather focus on those then the water. Everything around her smelled musty, like you're grandparents unused basement. Her tongue was dry and sticking to the roof of her mouth, but it didn't taste like she had been given anything to eat or drink. Hopefully, that meant there were no unknown poisons in her system- or at least not ones she had consumed.
Touch filtered in while she was having those thoughts. Caitlin felt her arms, pulled behind her by manacles, and her legs, numb from their position in her chair. She shifted, ever so slightly, and found her legs to be bound as well.
Sight came with her memories, and she blinked her eyes in the darkness, cursing their unusual un-helpfulness. There wasn't much to see: Grey walls, grey floor, grey ceiling, all slightly molded over, and a window. It was letting in the only light she had, small as it was. Thick iron bars stood in vertical lines down it's surface.
Caitlin attempted to move, and immediately gasped in pain. The second her ankles had shifted, and electric jolt shot up her body. She jerked, and, this time, cried out. Barbs, lining the inside of her wrist cuffs, had jabbed into her wrist's, sending signals of pain up to her brain.
She wasn't given much time to recover her wits before the door creaked open. Caitlin squinted in the sudden light caused by the room outside her own, and strained to see who had come in.
It didn't take long for her to recognize him as Axel, the Trickster's son/accomplice/predecessor. He grinned when he saw she was awake, but it was more unnerving then if he had plunged a knife into the wall by her head. "Dr. Snow." Axel greeted.
She didn't answer him, using the spare time to take another inventory of the room. The only escape was past Axel and through the door he had just come through. She didn't know what lay behind, just that there was a short, empty hallway that turned into the unknown. Still, if she could even get out of these cuffs (a tough job with the spikes and electricity charges), it would be her best bet of getting out.
Axel snapped his fingers in front of her face, and the short, choppy sound echoed quietly in the dank room. He smiled when Caitlin's eyes snapped to his. He could tell she was scared. "This will be so much easier- and less painful- if you cooperate." He told her, much too calm for the words he was speaking. "I need you-" A dramatic point at her chest, "To tell me-" The finger moved to aim at himself. "Who the Flash is."
Caitlin, once again, didn't speak. If he thought it was going to be that easy to get Barry's name out from her, then he was very, very wrong. Barry was her friend, and her partner. Someone could do whatever the heck they wanted to her. She wasn't going to betray him.
Axel leaned foreword. His breath was stale, and Caitlin resisted the ever-so-tempting urge to be snarky and recommend a toothbrush. Now wasn't the time to be rude. "Dr. Snow." He whispered, and Caitlin suddenly realized it was possible that he just didn't know her first name. Either that, or he was just trying to be polite, which seemed highly unlikely, considering the circumstances. "Did you hear me?"
"Yes." Caitlin whispered, her throat almost to dry to speak. "Loud and clear."
"Then answer. The question." He was staying remarkably calm for someone who was excited to learn that his father was a mass murderer.
Caitlin pressed her lips together, preparing herself for the worse. It came as Axel's temper exploded and her hit her across the face.
Her entire body jolted, and both of her cuffs did their jobs, zapping her and digging into her wrists. Caitlin forced her body still, breathing heavily.
Axel was now clutching his hand, whimpering in pain. He sent her an angry glare, one that couldn't quite match Caitlin's when she was angry, and fled the room.
Caitlin sagged back into her chair, her shoulders already beginning to ache from being tugged so violently backward. She didn't have long, only until Axel figured out there were more ways to torture an answer out of someone then using your fist. She took another quick glance around the room, hoping to spot something she had missed the first two times. Nothing popped out at her, and she sighed, having known that this was going to be the solution all along.
15 minutes of absolute agony later, Caitlin was forced to stop. Her arm manacles were slippery now, coated in red from her bleeding, torn up wrists. She was afraid that if she tried any harder to get her hands out, she might hit an artery. She would be dead before either of the Tricksters could get there.
Caitlin wasn't sure what was better: Dying, after a long and painful process of extraction because she wouldn't give up Barry's name, but still with the possibility of escape (at least at the start), or dying quickly because she was trying to get out of her handcuffs, but without with the chance to get out.
She decided on the former, at least for now, and leaned her head back against the chair. It couldn't hurt to get some rest while she could. Maybe, just maybe, she would wake up and someone from her team would be there to rescue her.
A girl could hope, right?
Her "rescuers" were in a frantic mess. Cisco was at his computer, typing like his life depended on it, and Julian was frantically trying Caitlin's number over and over again. Barry was doing his best to help, flashing out of the Cortex every 5 minutes to search nearby areas for his friend.
Iris watched them from the white board, attempting to get them all to slow down and think clearly. They were mostly ignoring her, Cisco with grunts, Julian with glares, and Barry with simply running back out of the room.
Enough was enough. Iris might not have been the closest to Caitlin, but she understood the heavy worry that everyone was feeling. Panic, however, was not the way to deal with it.
That thought in mind, Iris raised one hand and slammed it against the wall. It was slightly painful, but effective. The chaos in the room came to a stop and even Barry, who had just rushed suddenly in, his entrance announced by the burst of speed-air, skidded to a standstill.
"Look." Iris said in her most commanding 'I'm-a-reporter-and-I'm-in-control' voice. "I understand that you're worried. I am, too. But we need to keep our heads if we're going to help Caitlin." She turned to Cisco, keeping her eyes and face calm in the hopes that it would help him. "You said you couldn't reach her this morning, and that you can't ping her phone?"
Cisco shook his head, bitting his lip. "No, something's blocking the signal. I'm trying to get around it, but..." He trailed off, his mind probably latching on to some new idea of how to get solve the problem at hand.
Iris looked next to Barry, avoiding Julian's hard gaze. It was a little scary to look at- the worry walls building up inside of him faster and faster, brick by fearful brick. He seemed way more concerned then a simply friend should be. "Could it be that her phone broke, somehow? She might not be able to return your calls, and for all we know, is at home, or even getting a new phone."
Barry's eyes lit up, and, just like that, his mopey posture was gone. It was replaced by a straighter back, eyes bright and hopeful like they had been when he had come in to STAR Labs that morning. "Great idea, Iris!" He said, ever loyal to his girlfriend. "I'll go look around some more."
Before anyone could stop him, he had flashed off, sending papers tumbling like pinwheels across the room.
Julian finally put away his phone and took up the job of wearing a hole in the STAR Lab's time floor. Iris let him do it, preferring that to him tearing out his hair or breaking something.
Barry was back before it actually seemed like a logical amount of time, considering just how many places he could have searched for his friend. His shoulder's were back to being slumped and his face was downcast. "She wasn't at her apartment, and no one around had seen her." He muttered, hating to break Cisco's tentatively hopeful face.
The tech wiz nodded shortly, and returned to his hacking. Iris had no idea how that all worked, but it seemed like there was an inordinate amount of clicking and typing and cursing going on.
She moved toward the window, anxious for something to happen. The common misconception about being a superhero was that, especially when you had a man who could run faster then the speed of sound on your hands, things happened quickly.
It wasn't true. In between the fighting, there was the discovery and the research and the inventing and the ideas and the mistakes and the trying time and time again to get everything done. Iris didn't really fall into any of those categories, more finding her place on the team as the motivation. Unfortunately, that usually only took place before a fight, or after a lost one.
Barry had taken a seat, and his foot was tapping so fast that it was a blur, the thuds on the floor melding together: Tapapapapapapap. His foot froze as he spoke. "Cisco? You got anything?"
"Not yet, man." Cisco muttered, mind mostly elsewhere.
Barry nodded, but it only took a minute or two for him to break the silence again. "Anything?"
"Still no."
Again, the speedster couldn't wait long. "Any-"
Cisco actually spared him a glance this time, his fingers stopping their movement for the briefest of moments. "Barry, man, I promise to tell you the second I find her."
"If you find her." Julian muttered darkly. He had stopped pacing to listen to their conversation, but Iris could see true fear in his eyes. He masked it well, covering it up with icy uncaring. "Isn't there anything else you could try?"
Cisco sat back, seemingly having given up. His fingers tousled his hair in a way that looked painfully rough, but he didn't seem to notice any extra pull. "The thing is, we don't know who took her. If we could find out it was a certain meta, I may be able to scan for frequencies specific to their power. Or at least figure out where they were last seen. Something."
"What about traffic cams?" Julian was more in his element now, leaning foreword as he sat in a chair and resting his forearms on his knees. "If you could find the specific moment when she was kidnapped, you might be able to find her kidnapper, too. Or even where they took her!" He jumped to he feet, on a role. "You could just, follow the car or something. Trace it to their exact location, and we could find Caitlin."
Cisco was starting to nod, his fingers back at work. "I'm going to have to search all the traffic cams from STAR Labs to her car, and then her apartment, and the path her car took..." He trailed off, and Iris was relieved that he had found something to keep his mind occupied, instead of the overpowering worry for his best friend.
Julian wasn't satisfied yet, his mind still racing to still more possibilities. "Ok. Ok, what else? What do we know that could help us find Caitlin?" He fell silent for a moment, searching his brain for answers that weren't there.
Barry picked up the slack. "We know that she's going to try to escape." He stated. "She did when she was kidnapped by Zoom, right?"
"Well, he let her go." Cisco corrected, showing that that he was, in fact, focused on the conversation. "And we rescued her from Snart."
Julian frowned. "Just how many times has Caitlin been kidnapped?"
Barry ignored his question, choosing to continue his own thoughts instead. He seemed calmer now, and his foot had stopped it's frantic tapapaping. "But she's smart. If there's any way to contact us, she'll figure it out."
"Where does that leave us?" Iris asked. "Should we just wait for her to find us?"
"At least while Cisco tries to find her on video." Julian agreed, nodding. His entire body was tense, like a string on a guitar that was about to snap. Just one more twist of the tuner...
Iris sighed, and resigned herself to the wait.
We're coming, Caitlin. She thought. Hopefully.
Caitlin hadn't dropped off for long when the consistent dripping that had been reverberating in her mind was covered up by another steady sound- footsteps. She attempted to open her eyes, succeeding faster the before, in time to see the elder Trickster, James Jesse, filling up the doorway.
He hadn't changed much. His grey hair was grayer, his berth a little wider, but that same, distinct glint in his eyes still shone. It overpowered his calming smile, belying his attempt at a friendly posture.
"Good morning, Dr. Snow." Jesse's voice was the same, too: A little higher pitched then you're average man, and scratchy. It grated in her ears, adding to her headache. "If heard that you gave my son some... trouble."
Unlike Axel, he didn't even wait for her to respond. Instead, Jesse grabbed her chin, not roughly, exactly, but with a firm grip that told her there would be trouble if she tried to break away. He glanced down at her wrists. "I see you've been attempting to escape. Trust me, it's not possible. I've tested those two cuffs, as well as many other prototypes, on many a captive before you."
"And here I thought I was special." Caitlin muttered, unable to control herself. When she was scared, she tended to get a little sassy, especially when her kidnapper was someone like James.
The Trickster laughed, showing off nearly all of his disgusting teeth. "Why, of course you're special. Do you know why?" He leaned closer, there noses just millimeter's apart. Caitlin broke eye contact, finding his stubbly chin an easier sight then his glinting eyes. "Because you are going to be the one who tells me the Flash's real name."
He let go of her chin, seemingly satisfied with his statement. Caitlin sighed, resigning herself. There was no more stalling. "You can do whatever you want to me." Her voice was flat. "I'm not going to tell you."
"Oh, we'll see about that." The Trickster gave her a smile, scarier then even his son's, and moved back to the hallway.
His lack of presence didn't give her time to relax for long, because soon he was back, holding a few tools loosely in his left hand. They were the kind of tools that would be used for basic household repair, but, looking at them now, Caitlin's skin began to prickle. She had to physically restrain herself from twisting away from Jesse as he moved closer, and brought one edge of a pair of pliers up to her chin.
"We will see about that."
Caitlin woke up in a considerable amount of pain. Every part of her was aching, from her bloody wrists to to numb arms to her bruised cheeks and ribs. She shifted in her chair, whimpering as she tried to get feeling back into her arms.
It seemed that the Trickster had given up after she had passed out. Either that or she had told him... she fought with her mind, attempting to dredge up memories that it was already starting to block out. Had she given up Barry's name? She didn't think she had... and, if she had, would she really be alive right now?
The thought made her shudder, but it added new resolve to her cause. Not only would she withhold the information for Barry's sake, but for her own, and everyone else whom Barry cared about.
She had had the idea, partway through her torture, that she could give them the wrong name. Now she was glad that she hadn't. For all Caitlin knew, the Tricksters had a source that told them of all the names in Central City, and they could cross reference it with her information. She would have to use the name of someone she actually knew existed, and that would put them in danger.
Her best bet was to stall until Team Flash could find her. Maybe she could fake herself passing out, could bite back the scream scrabbling in her throat until the Trickster had given up and left her alone again.
What if she stalled too long, though, and they got rid of her? What if they decided that they could simply get another member of Team Flash, one that would break easier? Then what?
Caitlin pulled her mind out of those thoughts before they could go places so dark that she could never find her way out. If the Tricksters were trying to break her, she would resist. She could bend and bend, more then anyone thought, but Caitlin did know that, eventually, she'd snap. And she had already broken before- after Ronnie's death, after Jay. How much more could she really take before she couldn't be fixed again?
The thought scared her more then Caitlin would care to admit. She closed her eyes against the dim room, shifting once again in an attempt to get comfortable without moving her feet. All she could do now was wait.
Where are you guys? She thought, her heart sinking. Where are you?
Julian found himself hiding.
When he was scared, he did one of two things: He ran, or he hid. He certainly wasn't going to run if staying meant saving Caitlin's life. So he went to the next best option.
Julian shut himself in Cisco's lab, grabbing a thick book about physics or something mind filling, something else he could focus on. Even as he tried to read, his brain was flooded with Caitlin.
She had been his anchor every since he met her (the real her, not the Killer Frost tainted side). She had waltzed her way into his heart, smashing his walls to pieces in a way only someone who had walls themselves could. She had warmed him with her smile, made him feel loved with her returned advances, and now that she was gone... he was just too worried to function. Losing Caitlin would most likely be the last straw for him.
An hour later, Cisco found him still in the lab, his head pressed into the soft pages of the book he had been trying to read, fast asleep.
Cisco hadn't been able to sleep, either, and had stayed up until an ungodly hour scanning through traffic cam feed. He had forced himself to stop when the time strips and images began to blur too much to see, and had finally turned off his computer, eyes glazed from the bright screen.
Too wired to try and rest, Cisco had taken to wandering the halls. His feet had made their way unbidden to his lab, and now he stood in the doorway, sighing as he saw how broken Caitlin's disappearance had made the members of their team.
Cisco walked over to Julian, gently taking the book out from under his head. The motion, though not intentionally, woke him up, and Julian blinked a few times, taking a moment to remember where he was.
His gaze focused on Cisco, and he immediately looked more alert. "Is there news?"
"Not yet." Cisco murmured, closing the book and placing it heavily on the table. He leaned on it for a second, taking strength from it's solid form.
Cisco could tell that Julian was itching to tell him to get back to work, to not stop until they found Caitlin and could go rescue her. His face twitched like he was about to speak, but then he stopped himself, noticing Cisco's dejected posture and haggard appearance. They all needed a break from their worry tonight.
"You should get some rest." Julian suggested, standing and laying a hand on Cisco's shoulder. Just heavy enough to give some comfort, but not enough contact to cross any unspoken, unwritten lines.
"I don't think I can really go home to tonight." Cisco responded with a laugh that was made more of harsh reality then anything else.
"Don't." Julian said simply. "Take the bed in the Cortex."
They began to walk slowly in that direction, each heavy thump of their feet echoing around the silent building. Barry had gone home with Iris, promising to speed them both over the second their was an update on Caitlin's situation. Cisco didn't think it was going to happen tonight.
They reached the Cortex, and Cisco barely even argued as Julian nodded toward the bed. Julian took a chair for himself, and Cisco took pause. "Hey, man, you should crash in Harry and Jesse's old room. 3rd door on the right, just down the hall."
Julian nodded his thanks, stumbling back up to his feet. He made sure that Cisco had laid down before he left, not wanting the hacker to get back the search before he had had some good rest.
Julian entered the 3rd door on the right, and collapsed onto a mattress. Even with his overworked brain, even with Caitlin's face engrained in his memory like an after image, he was out the second he closed his eyes.
The Tricksters brought a new kind of torture to Caitlin's room the next night. It was handed to her on a silver platter- literally.
She blinked open her eyes blearily at the sound of voices in the corridor. They were muffled by the heavy weight of the door in between, but for once she was thankful for it. Not having to hear the Trickster's voices for even a second longer then she had to was a blessing, in her opinion.
The blessing didn't last long, as Axel walked through the door. Caitlin caught a glimpse of Jesse's wide berth bumbling back down the way he had came, but then the door slammed shut, blocking her view. Her gaze slipped to Axel, and she immediately wished she hadn't looked.
He was standing with a smug little smile on his face, very proudly holding out a place. On it was a lightly toasted sandwich, and a bowl of visibly steaming soup. In his other hand was a glass of water.
Caitlin couldn't hold in her whimper as her stomach grumbled audibly. She hadn't eaten since... lunch 2 days ago, she thought. That was about 7 skipped meals, and no water at all. If dying was an option right now, it would probably better then this.
Axel pushed the plate into Caitlin face. "You want this?"
"Yes..." Caitlin whispered, her voice cracking. "Yes- please."
"Then." Axel leaned foreword, and even the smell of his beer-soaked breath couldn't take away her appetite. "Tell me who the Flash is."
Caitlin squeezed her eyes shut and looked away, her stomach's hungry protests making her feel faint. Her throat was so dry that she couldn't swallow. Why did it have to be her? Where was the rest of her team? Would they ever come?
When Axel finally figured out that he still wasn't going to get an answer from her, he let out a growl and picked up the sandwich himself. "Fine. No reason to waste perfectly good food." With that, he began to eat his lunch, right in front of his starving capture. Caitlin held it together until he finally left, but then the tears came.
She hadn't thought that she had an moisture in her body- much less enough to create the amount of tears that were streaming down her face now. She licked them off her cheeks, but it only served to make her thirstier, the tiny drops of salt water absorbing into her unnaturally dry tongue and causing it to stick to her mouth.
Caitlin shut her eyes again, trying to get her body to shut down and head back to sleep. At least then she wouldn't have to feel anything. No pain, no hunger, no thirst, no fear, nothing but the blackness of her dreams
When that didn't work, she squeezed her eyes tighter. Happy thoughts. She though. Who makes you happy?
The first person to pop into her mind was Julian. That seemed good enough to her, so she got a blurry picture of him in her mind and focused on that. She thought of his smile. She thought of their drinks together. She thought of how he brought her coffee, and sent her these random, late night texts when they both knew they wouldn't be able to sleep, but also didn't want to admit it by calling. She thought of how Cisco, Julian and she had become three close friends, working together, talking together, solving meta human problems together...
Her heart beat slowed down, taking her away from the edging possibility of a panic attack. With Julian's face firmly planted where she could see it, she slipped off to a restless sleep.
Cisco had found her.
It had taken another night and a day to do so, but he finally got her image up on his screens. Barry arrived quicker then Cisco could end the call, and Julian was already in the Cortex, ever present rings dark under his eyes.
They watched the fuzzy camera image, Cisco quietly cursing himself for not remembering that Caitlin had gone home early on Monday. Monday. Just 3 days ago. It felt like it had been a year.
Barry and Julian crowded around Cisco's chair, Julian's grip on the back of it so strong armed that the techie couldn't have swiveled around even if he had wanted to. They watched in a strained silence as Caitlin crumpled to the ground, and two shadowed men walked to stand around her.
"Jesse..." Barry growled, his face turning dark with rage. "I hate that guy."
Cisco had a moment of pity for the two Tricksters, seeing the darkness inlaid in both of his friends features. It only lasted until he saw how roughly Axel dragged Caitlin out of the car they stuffed her in. Then his fist tightened around his mouse, itching to drain their bank accounts (thank you, Felicity), or maybe just give one of them a solid punch to the face.
"Cisco." Barry slammed his hand on the table. "Give me a location, now."
Cisco clicked a few more times, hurriedly scanning footage, looking for what he needed. It wasn't as easy as it looked, and by the time he witnessed their car pulling up, Barry was fidgeting nervously. "Old rental house. Corner of Dawsens and Creek Road." He said shortly.
Julian grabbed hold of Barry's arm before he could run off. "Take me with you."
"What?"
"Take me with you." Julian repeated, his voice more urgent, and raising in volume. "You can't get Caitlin out and fight the Tricksters at the same time. You're going to need someone else in there."
Barry's gaze shot to Cisco, and he nodded. It was the best half-baked plan they had- they might as well go with it.
With that, the men whizzed out.
For what felt like the millionth time in the past few days, Caitlin was awakened by the break in her steady background drip-drip-drip of the water to the floor. Once again, footsteps were pounding down the hall.
These footsteps were different, though. They were lighter- definitely lighter then Jesse's heavy pounds, and even Axel's tread. They were faster, too, and jerky, like the person making them was trying to be quiet, and not quite succeeding in his or her haste to get to her room.
The doorknob rattled. Caitlin was fully awake now, her heart thudding in her chest in anticipation. More then anything, this confirmed that it wasn't the Tricksters. They would have unlocked the door and burst dramatically in by now, holding their newest form of torture.
Finally, the person on the other side of the door got fed up and Caitlin heard the crack of a doorknob breaking. The door creaked open, and there stood Julian Albert, in all of his rescuer glory.
Caitlin's eyes filled with uncontrollable tears as Julian stumbled to her side and crashed clumsily to his knees, never breaking eye contact. "Caitlin..." He breathed, one hand coming up to stroke her face, before he raised himself higher on his knees and pressed there lips together.
He pulled back before she had time to respond, but she leaned foreword, instinctively chasing his lips and the human contact she so desperately needed at that moment. He reciprocated, kissing her with everything he had, his hand shifting to cup her cheek, and the other one joining it to do the same, on the other side of her face.
They kissed until her already dizzy head was made even dizzier- by both emotions and lack of air. Then Julian reluctantly pulled himself away. "I was so worried." He breathed, his forehead furrowing in concern. "Cisco wore himself thin, looking for you."
He moved around to her back, pulling out a heavy duty wire cutter, then, on an afterthought, his phone. Caitlin blinked, and looked away from it's flashlight, not wanting to add to her headache, or force her eyes to adjust any more then they already had had to, lately.
Julian snipped through the metal relatively quickly, catching them before they hit the ground. Both were afraid that if Barry hadn't yet taken care of the Tricksters, any loud noise could alert them to Julian's presence. He let out a soft curse when he saw the state her wrists were in. "Blimey, Caitlin..."
She shook her head. "It's o-" Her voice, instead of coming out, caught in her dry throat, and she coughed. Pain ripped through her, and it felt like a cheese grater was being taken to the soft, sensitive areas that a cheese grater should never, ever touch.
Julian's hands were at her face again, there cool softness soothing her, and causing her gasps return to normal breathing. Once she had calmed down a little, she rolled her shoulders foreword. An almost painful tingling overpowered her limbs, and she hissed as blood rushed back into them.
Julian reached up to her back and gently started to rub out the knots and sore areas. Caitlin had to bite her tongue to keep in her pleasured moan, and instead simply slouched foreword. She was too tired to sit upright, much less keep herself in her usual pencil postured position.
She patted his hand after a bit, letting him know she was ok, and he moved to her feet, reaching through the loops with his wire cutter.
She didn't get the chance to warn him, and an electric charge ran up her body. Julian's hands flew away from her ankles, and he even fell back a little bit in shock. His face creased with horror, followed by unquenchable rage. "Julian-" Caitlin whispered. "It's alright."
The anger simmered down slightly when their gazes met, but Caitlin could still see it, lingering behind his eyes, dark and intense. It frightened her a little, his protectiveness.
Julian turned his face back to the cuffs, and, after only a few more zaps, he got her them off. Then he was back on his feet, one arm around her shoulders, helping her stand.
Her legs trembled violently as she struggled upright, partially from their numbness, partially from their un-use, but mostly because of how much she thought she would pass out. Julian's arm threaded around her waist, secure and steady, and she leaned into his chest and let him support her.
They made their first steps toward the door just as it burst open for the second time. The light from behind the person made his features difficult to make out, but once Caitlin could see who it was, she flinched backwards. Julian took a protect step foreword, partially blocking her from Axel.
"Move." Julian growled, and Caitlin could feel every muscle in his body tense, like a cat about to spring.
Axel just kept glaring, not saying a word, but there was fear evident in his eyes. Julian took one threatening step foreword, and the loud sound of a cocking gun echoed in the room.
Caitlin gasped, grabbing hold of Julian's arm as Axel swung an iron pistol up to aim at Julian's chest. Caitlin pressed her face into Julian's shirt, sick of being threatened, sick of the Tricksters, sick of being scared, sick of being in pain, and wanting more then anything to just go home.
He barely waited before pulling the trigger.
Caitlin's scream barely had time to rip itself painfully from her throat when the distinct sound of speed lighting filled the air. The next thing she knew, Barry was in the room, Axel's pistol in his hand, pointed at the younger Trickster, who was cowered on the ground. His left hand was clenched on what Caitlin presumed to be a bullet.
Relief flooded through every fiber of her being, making the black hovering in the edges of her vision come rushing in from both sides. She staggered, clutching onto Julian's shirt.
By the time he caught her and picked her off of her wobbly legs, she was already unconscious.
Caitlin woke up warm and secure. She blinked a few times, clearing her blurry vision. She didn't feel like she had been out for very long, and the view that greeted her confirmed that.
Glancing past Julian's face, smiling to see her awake, she saw a decrepit house, peeling paint covered by the shade of giant, overgrown trees. A falling apart, "For Rent" sign was stuck at a haphazard tilt into the brown grass.
Barry flashed up beside the two of them, tucking his phone awkwardly into his boot as he hopped along. His face lit up at seeing his friend. "Hey, Cait." He greeted happily. "I just called Joe, and CCPD is on it's way to pick up the Tricksters." He paused, reached out to rub her shoulder. "I'm glad you're ok."
"Me too." Caitlin murmured, her voice still hoarse and dry, but now a bit more used to speaking. "How did you find me?"
Julian answered for him. "Cisco searched through all of the traffic cams until he found when you had been taken. Sorry we couldn't get here earlier."
" 'S ok." Caitlin said. "You're here now."
Julian's grip tightened around her, squeezing her more firmly to his chest. "Barry's gonna take you back to STAR Labs, ok? I'll be following close after."
She nodded, letting herself be handed off, and not even attempting to put up the argument that she could walk. Barry took off, and Caitlin pressed her face into his shoulder, trying to block out the dizzying speed.
Sometime between the time he had found Caitlin's location and they got to STAR Labs, Cisco had called Iris. She was in the Cortex when they flashed in, and took Barry's hand as he set Caitlin on her feet.
She all but fell into Cisco's arms, and he hugged her so tightly she nearly couldn't breathe. Barry flashed off, returning in record time to drop Julian off next to the two friends.
Iris gave them a little more time together, before shooing the men out to help Caitlin change into a hospital gown. The outfit was rough, but it was loose and clean, and Caitlin was glad to see her once-nice outfit be taken out of the room to be washed. She wasn't sure if she'd ever be able to look at those clothes the same way, with the memories that were glued along with them.
Cisco and Julian helped her into bed, and she dozed in and out of a restless slumber as they attached her to everything she'd need to get her hydration and antibody levels back up to par.
Cisco took Caitlin's state remarkably well, averting his eyes from the worst of the injuries while Julian patched her up. He worked as quickly as possible, starting with wrapping her wrists in soft white gauze and ending with adjusting her sheets and pillows so she could be as comfortable as possible. Somehow, even with all of the bruises littering her face and body, her hair tangled and dirty, she was still the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
After what felt like hours, but was probably not all that long in reality, both men collapsed into chairs on either side of the bed. Iris rested her palm lightly on Cisco's shoulder, squeezing it show her support and sympathy. Barry didn't seem to know what to do, and kept fidgeting around until Iris led him out of the room to go get food (or so she said).
Caitlin truly woke up for the first time since she had arrived at STAR Labs about three hours later. She shifted a bit, first noticing the warm pressure wrapped around her hand, and then the tell-tale dip in the mattress near her left thigh. When she opened her eyes, she smiled as they fell upon Julian's sleeping form, his face turned sideways so it wouldn't be smothered by the mattress.
Caitlin settled more comfortably back on her pillows, content to just be still and peaceful for the moment. Her stomach disagreed, however, and let out a growl. Julian drowsily lifted his head, eyes still blurry, and red from lack of sleep.
"Hey..." He murmured, squeezing the hand that he was still holding. "How do you feel?"
"Better now that you're here." Caitlin whispered back, her voice rough but not as choppy. She knew it was a cliche response, but nothing else would have been as truthful.
A smile spread across Julian's face, and he sat up all the way. "Good to hear."
They sat, looking at each other, for a long moment. Caitlin wanted it to last forever, but her stomach was clenching in a hunger she couldn't ignore. "You wouldn't happen to have anything for me to eat, would you?"
Her words broke the spell, and Julian leapt up from his chair. "Right, right, yes, of course." He walked over to the mini-fridge Cisco kept in STAR Labs for late nights and emergencies, and pulled out a container of strawberry jello. "Cisco told me you don't like lime."
Caitlin smiled, taking the container and opening it eagerly. Before she could inhale it, however, Julian rested his hand on her arm. "Take it slowly, ok? Small bites, chew a lot."
"You can't chew jello." Caitlin pointed out, but she did as she was told. She was surprised to find that her hunger abated after about two thirds of the way through. Julian took the jello and set it on a side table. He had grabbed her a glass of water as she ate, and she consumed it in the same matter; small sips, quickly satisfying her thirst.
They moved back into silence, and Caitlin's eyes shifted nervously to her lap before she spoke. "Um... we should probably talk. About what happened."
"What do you mean?" Julian asked, shifting in his chair. His eyes looked like a horse about to bolt, but he kept his seat.
Caitlin rolled her eyes. "Don't play stupid with me." She scolded gently. "You kissed me."
"You kissed me back!" Julian cried defensively. Then he flushed, and lowered his voice. "You kissed me back."
"I know." Caitlin played with her hands on top of the covers of her bed. "So where does that leave us?"
Julian was silent for a moment, letting her words seep into his mind as he formulated his answer. Not quite answering it, he said, "I liked our kiss."
"Me too." Caitlin admitted. Her eyes flicked up to meet his intense gaze, letting him see deep inside of her, like only he could.
Julian smiled, and leaned foreword to, ever so gently, press their lips together. "Then I think it leaves us right where we want to be."
Author's Note: Yay! I finished!
Hopefully, my writing stayed consistent through the whole piece. Tell me what you thought!