Hi everyone! Thank you for the amazing support on Part 1. Hopefully now having the whole Pilot you can decide whether you wish to continue on this journey with me! Please review if you get a chance and I hope you enjoy!
Caitlin's eyes scurried across the room to her TV set, her high carbohydrate breakfast steaming in front of her as she heard the story she had been waiting for. Apparently, Keystone's news station hadn't heard of Killer Frost as the only word they used was 'unknown vigilante'. Someone who had ignored what almost everyone else would have done, and made a decision to help. Obviously, she expected some backlash simply because of the amount The Flash and the Green Arrow had received following their debuts, and she wasn't surprised to see the Police Chief arguing that she had put the man in the hospital, and that her recklessness will get someone killed. He was the one to make the comparison to Killer Frost. Perhaps the thing that surprised the bioengineer the most wasn't the ardent attack by the chief, but instead what the girl she had saved had said. She said thank you, over and over again, like Caitlin had been a saviour for her. Caitlin's lips upturned at even this little show of confidence. It really was everything she needed, the belief that she could be someone to make someone's life better.
Suddenly, a knock on the door reverberated around the room declaring someone's presence to her. With wide eyes, Caitlin moves to the door in silence, hand bellowing out mist as she readies an icicle in her grip, just in case. Once she reaches it, her pale hand grasps the handle and she pulls it open, coming face to face with a man with deep green eyes, messy dark hair and glasses as if he were going to a Harry Potter Convention. Only one man could ever hope to pull that off. Caitlin's icicle falls to the ground and shatters as she looks upon Hartley Rathaway.
"How the hell did you find me? Does anyone else know I'm here?" The flurry of questions was similar to that of punches thrown in battle, a stunned Hartley simply standing still, seemingly undeterred by Caitlin's multiple questions.
"No, I've come alone. And as to how I found you, well…" Hartley pointed to the television set with his right hand. "Can I come in?"
Caitlin's eyes followed his point and shook her head, exasperated. If it were Cisco or Barry or even Julian she would turn them away in an instant, because as much as she loved each of them, she couldn't deal with them right now. And whilst it was true that Hartley's personality was undoubtedly challenging, he was the only one out of all of them who wouldn't look at her with a memory of Killer Frost. She mulled her decision for apparently longer than she thought because Hartley had already slipped in past her svelte body to inspect the fallen icicle.
"So…you're still using ice to thwart your enemies, just not metaphorically anymore." The dark haired man stood back up. "You know, I was supposed to only be here for a meeting for Rathaway Industries but I was surprised to see you travel so far away from home."
"I don't have a home Hartley. At least not in Central City anymore."
"Why? Because of what happened with Savitar? You know they would…"
"They would what? Forgive me? Maybe they would, maybe they even have already, but you know what Hartley? That's not the issue." Caitlin's emotions were once again getting the best of her, feeling regret.
"Then what is?"
"I haven't forgiven myself yet. And until I do, I will notice every single look they give to me. The Wests, I'll never be part of their 'family' again. The new woman, Dr Brand, she will still think of me as Killer Frost after HR's death." She spoke quickly, almost trying to tear off the bandaid quicker.
"So if you don't want them to think of you as her why do you keep the hair?" Hartley asked thoughtfully.
"I'm also not Caitlin Snow anymore. I'm something else. And the hair reminds me of what I've been through." Caitlin spoke solemnly as if she were still in mourning.
"So you're on your own path of forgiveness and self-actualisation. I respect that." Hartley had a glint in his eye as he smirked, "got room for one more traveller?"
Caitlin was a bit stunned by the request but her response was as tactile as possible, "No. You said it yourself. My own path. It's just for me, only me. I have to do this by myself."
"And you think you'll be able to tell when you can forgive yourself? Caitlin, you will run yourself mad with loneliness before you do that. I know I once said that you don't like emotions because they are messy but I was wrong. Your emotions, your kindness and your love for people, even whom have hurt you, is what makes you strong. The powers only feed on that." Hartley tried explaining to her this truth through his hopeful expression, showing his belief in her abilities.
Caitlin looks at him and sighs, shaking her head. "Then why did those same powers hurt those I love?"
Hartley doesn't respond, eyes remaining trained on her, struggling with a response, but before he can open his mouth again, Caitlin derails his train of thought, "Look I've got training with someone who doesn't like to be kept waiting. I'm sorry, I've made up my mind."
Hartley looked at her with a smile as he walked out, "I'll be here for a few more days, so…please think about it."
Caitlin's eyes told him that she wanted help, needed it. But her actions didn't follow what they were expressing as she nodded silently before closing the door.
Finally, Eve was about to get some further traction on evidence for the case, or at least she told herself that. As she moved her straightened hair back into a ponytail, she began to walk up the stairs quietly, hoping not to wake anyone as she moved on her black flat leather shoes. She wanted to make this quick and hopefully discover who exactly had killed Torres now because she had a lunch with her cousin soon. Once she reached Petrov's door, she knocked softly against it, and told him who she was. She heard trudging steps moving towards her, before the door was suddenly opened and the officer looked upon the new detective. His messy blonde hair had obviously been untrained and his face seemed to have been shaved quickly, patches of stubble still remaining. The little of the room she could smell wreaked of alcohol and the apartment's paint job was peeling at the edges. Alexander wore a smile on his face as if he had nothing to hide, yet Eve could tell that there was something more going on than he was letting on.
"Officer Eden. What are you doing here? I've already given my statement." Petrov spoke as if she was invading his privacy and that she wasn't allowed to be here. Eve had news for him. After she walked in she opened her mouth to speak again, "The chief sent me. He wanted me to interview you myself with the new evidence which has come to fruition."
"Wait, you mean you think Killer Frost didn't do it? Just because she didn't kill that man last night?" His questions seemed almost rhetoric in the way they were spoken, but Eve wasn't taking anything for granted.
"Petrov, I never said that. Frost is still the number one prospect, it's just that it doesn't make a whole lot of sense for her to save a woman in the same day that she killed a detective." Eve spoke calmly, trying to get off on the right foot with this man.
"She's a psycho. What other explanation do you need?"
Eve looks at him with a raised brow, trying to work out Petrov's motivation at that exact moment. It was almost like he was figuring out ways to incriminate Killer Frost, and after having the woman's file be sent over from the CCPD, she realised she hadn't even killed anyone.
"As much as she does deserve to be locked up for what she did in Central City, you know up until now Killer Frost hasn't killed anyone yet."
"Yes."
"So why would she kill Detective Torres?" This was the question she truly wanted an answer to, but instead, Petrov continued upon his same stance.
"Officer, forgive me, but didn't we just go over this? She's a psycho." He shook his head speaking quietly to himself, just out of the earshot of Eve (or so he thought), "I should be the one doing questioning, I'm the one who got the promotion."
The second Eve heard what he said she widened her eyes.
"You got the detective job?"
"Yeah, I did. What's it to you?"
Eve started putting things together in her head, eyes still wide as she tried to hide the fact that all of this suddenly made sense. Petrov killed Torres to get his place within the force, and with his new position, he could incriminate whomever he wished for it, his word would be law. As much as the chief gave her control of the case, it would be out of her hands if he had have come back prior to her discovery. Petrov saw that look on her face as everything seemed to just crumble down around him, with only one thought in his mind. She knows.
"No further questions" Eve said as she stood up, walking to the door, surprised at what she had just discovered. Of course, it wasn't enough, yet. But, she would be able to find out more about him and eventually find out exactly how he froze a man without powers or Captain Cold's gun. As she was about to step out of the room, she heard a gun raised and loaded behind her.
"You might not want to take anymore steps, Officer Eden" Eve raised her arms at his words, having left her weapons in her car not expecting any fights to occur in a conversation about a mutual friend. Apparently, she was wrong.
Today, Ted wasn't standing in the middle of the ring, ready to practice boxing skills with Caitlin. Instead, there was a maroon punching bag attached to the ceiling ready and waiting for her to train with. Caitlin's dark eyebrows raised in surprise at it as she walked in, her dark blue workout shirt and black tights hugging her curves tightly. Ted stood to the side of the ring looking at her look of shock with a smile, opening his mouth to speak, "I told you. I can't train you if you don't let up your walls for me."
Caitlin rolled her eyes at that as she stepped through the ropes in front of the ring, "Fine." And with that, Caitlin picked up the boxing gloves which sat in front of her, sliding them over her hands and fists adeptly as she began punching the the bag in front of her, ignoring the fact that Ted was even there. She closed her eyes and went to a better place, green pastures and sun blaring down on her as she chased her father around the background. The grass rustled softly as her small feet made their way through it, catching up to her father. Smiling, she touched his side to let him know that she had caught him, hoping to get some extra time on the swing set. Yet, who turned around wasn't her father, it was the scarred face of Savitar. Her eyes widened as she was all of a sudden back in that cold warehouse, his metal hand wrapped her around neck once again, cutting off her breath. In response, she urged up the courage to fire a cold beam directly into his chest.
"Caitlin! Caitlin!" Ted's voice cut through her vision returning her back to the real world in which the punching bag she had been focused on was iced over completely, her right boxing glove back on the floor where it had been before. Caitlin's breaths were full as she tried to ward off the panic which was rising within, lungs closing up. Sweat and tears met on her face as she dropped to the ground, not even trying to compose herself noticing every good thought she had seemed to be replaced with a horrible one. Ted was right next to her in an instant, dropping to his knees to look at her, trying to calm her down with both touch and words, "Hey it's ok, Caitlin, it's over, it's ok."
Caitlin's brown eyes looked at him and she finally opened herself to him. "Do you know what it's like to lose your husband? And then to open yourself back up to love and have that man be a super villain? And then completely lose your sanity and let all the anger and hurt you had been hiding out as you hurt those you love?"
Ted's eyes filled with sadness at the question's she was asking. He had known from the moment she had walked in that she was broken, but it had was simply worse than he ever could have expected. The man shook his head as he responded, "No, I don't know what that's like. I don't know that suffering. But Caitlin, listen to me, you're still here and you still want to help people." Caitlin's eyes were locked on his as he continued, "So many people would give up on others, but you are driven by it, and now, you won't be alone. Now I know how to train you."
Caitlin lets a teary second of laughter out of her lips as she gives Ted a hug which is reciprocated.
Caitlin knew that, as difficult as it had been to open herself up to Ted, her fight against all the pain will be easier with an ally. Maybe Hartley was right, having people around her would make her stronger than she could imagine because of their belief. She reached onto her bedside table, feeling the rough surface of wood underneath her fingers as she picked up her phone, getting ready to call Hartley, but before she could type his number into her phone, a call from Ted appears on her screen. Surprised, she answers the call, "Hi Ted, is everything ok?".
"No…its not." Ted's voice was filled with worry, something Caitlin had never heard from him before because of his relative cleverness of dealing with situations like these.
"What happened?" Caitlin asked, trying to not worry herself just yet.
"My cousin that I told you I was meeting with for lunch, well I tried to call her because she wasn't here on time like she normally is, and there was this man on the other side of the cell who told me I had to come, and come alone if I wanted my cousin to live." Ted spoke quickly through the phone, trying to relay the information as fast as possible, obviously trying to get to the important information about why he called her.
Which was exactly what she was still trying to find out, "Then why are you calling me? If he's going to kill her, then you have to go and save her."
"We both know why I called. Caitlin, I need you to save my cousin. And I trust you to do it. You have already overcome so much mentally and emotionally, I know you can do this." Ted spoke with belief in his voice, as if the worry had disintegrated with the knowledge of Caitlin being able to help.
"Thanks Ted, but are you sure?" Caitlin's voice still wasn't convinced. Ted knew that belief was what she needed though, so he continued, "Positive. Now go be a hero."
Caitlin smiled following that, saying that she would save Ted's cousin to him, before hanging up the phone and walking over to her closet, picking out the same suit she had worn as Killer Frost. Without Cisco, she couldn't make any improvements, like a hood to conceal her identity, so she had to just go with what she had. The leather suit felt soft in her hands, and felt it inside at that moment, just like a fire rising. Ted was right. She could be a hero. And with that, she ran to the bathroom to change.
Eve could feel Petrov's snicker on the back of her neck as he concluded tying her up on the chair following his talk with Ted on the phone. The ropes were tight, forcing her hands to remain in their forward position and any attempt to flee using her legs as a beginning seemed impossible with the rope around her ankles. A piece of fabric was wrapped around her neck, and she knew the only thing it could be.
"Why are you doing this?" Eve knew why he was doing it…but she needed to by herself time.
"My friends have incredible power in this city because of the ignorant population of this city. My movement was only to further establish our dominance, as it will remain" Petrov spoke as if he were an incredible person for doing what he was doing, believing he truly was being revolutionary.
"Your…friends?" Eve continued her questions just as she had before this, trying to make him want to keep talking.
"Yes. We're called the Injustice Society, and we are feeding pain in both political and executive avenues, destroying any hope of economic regrowth. However, people like you always ruin it. So that's why I'm going to crush you in the best way I know how to."
Eve didn't speak, steeling her eyes to look directly at him without any emotion, trying to remain calm and believing she would find a way to escape. Without any response, Petrov continued,
"When your dear cousin walks through those doors, he will be shot. And then, I will shoot you, and put the gun in his hand. People love that estranged family relationship which leads to both people's demise" Petrov smiled villainously at Eve, as if he were a predator sizing up his prey, getting ready for the kill. Before he could however, cool smoke began to fill up the room and it became extremely difficult to see anything, the coughs of both occupants filling the room. Suddenly, Petrov heard other movement in the room. Cocking his gun, he moved slowly, trying to relocate Eve through the sea of mist, however when he finally found the chair, Eve was still in it, no matter how much she squirmed and tried to break the ropes. Petrov's mind suddenly turned to the realisation that someone else was moving around in his home.
"Looking for me?" Caitlin spoke, using the same icy voice Killer Frost had to conceal her identity further. As soon as Petrov turned to see who had spoken, a fist hit him directly in his cheek like a bullet, dropping the gun. As he scurried across the floor, trying to find his gun in the smoke, Frost moved across the room in her high heeled boots with ease and quickness towards Eve. Creating an icicle in her hand, she crouched to rip the rope off of Eve's arms and legs quickly, before turning to the right to see Petrov standing in front of her with his gun pointed at her. Her long jacket ran down to cover her hands as she concocted a small icicle in her right hand, blue eyes from the contacts she had placed in her eyes focused upon Petrov's figure.
"Wow…l never thought I'd meet you in person Killer Frost." Petrov genuinely seemed starstruck as if it were surprising to him that she would spend any time with him.
"It's just Frost now." Frost responded quickly and easily explaining the changed name.
"Oh really? So you're a hero now? Too bad really, I had a speech prepared to convince you to join the Injustice Society…but I guess that will just have to wait." Just as he cocked his gun back, Frost launched the icicle directly into the muzzle, breaking it before he could launch a bullet. With a smile on her plum lips, she got up out of her couching position and used a hand as a thruster to get over to him before he could make any escape attempts. Petrov attempted to use his broken gun as a weapon, throwing a roundhouse punch at the platinum haired vigilante, but she blocked it swiftly with her left arm. With her right she landed a punch into his stomach to knock the wind out of him, before punching him in the head to knock him out as he fell to the ground. She turned back to Eve whom picked out her handcuffs from her pocket and moved closer to Petrov with them. After handcuffing him, the officer turns to thank Frost, but she had already disappeared. With a roll of her eyes, and a grin on her face, she picked her phone out of Petrov's pocket to call the police chief.
Eve walked into the police station with Petrov in toe, his wrists handcuffed behind his back, still shocked by what had occurred just moments ago. She saw people all around her, standing up and clapping about her capture of this murderer. Of course, they wouldn't believe her when she said that Killer Frost had helped her, so she decided to keep that to herself. The chief stood in front of the door to lock-up, holding the detective badge Petrov was to receive, until now.
"I believe this is yours, Detective Eden" Chief Bennett passed the badge to her with a grin on his more mature features, to which Eve simply nods and smiles back, placing the badge in her pocket.
As she walked into the lock-up, Petrov finally started talking again, "You know, I didn't join the Injustice Society because of getting the promotion. I joined because I enjoyed killing so much."
"You're a psychopath, and a cop killer. You aren't going to see outside of a jail cell again for the rest of your life." Eve spoke with ease, as she moved Petrov into a cell.
"Maybe…but everyone out there still thinks Killer Frost is a criminal. Maybe I'll share a cell with her." She couldn't see his smile as he still faced the other way, speaking as if he knew a secret that she hadn't yet been introduced to.
"Never."
"Well, you'd best hope you find her first, there's no telling what other people in this department might do to her if they find her first. Especially if they're in the Injustice Society." He stifles a laugh as he continues, "Even I don't know how many there are."
Eve locks the door on the cell and walks out, his sadistic laugh filling the air. Once she moved back to her desk, she pulled up the number Lena had called the police station with following Frost's saving of her purse. With a smile, she typed it into her phone and sent a text message to her reading 'It's Officer Eden, I'm in'
As Caitlin ran across the city on a different route due to a request from Hartley, she felt proud to be who she was, for the first time in months. She had heard the news about Petrov being locked up by the KCPD and the fact that Eve was going to be ok from Ted. On her first night of truly being a hero, she was successful. Maybe, just maybe, she had made the right choice of coming to Keystone and she could actually bring about change. The sun was out again, blaring down on her hooded figure as she finally reached her rendezvous point with Hartley. She halted in front of a warehouse she had seen workers travelling in and out of in prior days when she had believed she could find somewhere to be her base of operations.
"It's yours" Caitlin turned to see Hartley standing behind her with a smile on his face. Her brow raised when she heard what he said,
"How?"
"The warehouse was owned by my father's company, so since my parents and I have rekindled our relationship, I get to make decisions that I believe are in the company's best interests." Hartley spoke, lips upturned with every word, as he took a few steps closer to her so he didn't have to speak any louder than what was necessary.
"What about all those people who were working here? That was their livelihood, how are they going to feed their families?" Caitlin was genuinely concerned, knowing the state of the city, of what it could mean for their lives. Hartley understood Caitlin's concern, and even felt a greater affinity for her because of her caring nature, "Caitlin, look, it's ok. My dad is giving them all a job in the new facility we are opening in Central City, which means they can get out of this hellhole." Caitlin nodded, before she let a small simper come across her lips in realisation of Hartley's purpose behind all of this, "So what's the catch?"
"What?" Hartley responded coolly to Caitlin's question, but she continued, "I know you. There's always a catch. What is it this time?"
Hartley sighed as he shook his head before opening his mouth to respond, "The same one I had yesterday. Let me be a part of your crusade. Let me help. Let me show you how much I believe"
"Ok." Caitlin didn't even need to think about it this time.
"Ok?" Hartley was quite obviously taken aback by her expeditious response.
"Yeah. Last night, I realised how much more effective I would be able to be in protecting the people of the city with someone like you behind me, guiding me. And I suddenly realised, maybe I don't want to be alone anymore. So, yes, you're in, as long as you're ok with keeping my secret." Her voice was considerate, but shared an obvious undertone of warning in finality.
"Of course." Hartley agreed.
"Great! Ok, well I'm just going to go get my things to set up."
"Ok, see you soon." Caitlin walked off with a wave, ready to help even more people than she believed was possible
Once Caitlin was out of sight, Hartley took his phone out of his pocket, typing a message to an anonymous number with only one line of text:
'Everything is going according to plan'
Episode 2 Synopsis:
CAITLIN AND HARTLEY BEGIN TO PROTECT KEYSTONE CITY- After setting up her base of operations, Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) finds herself surprised by how much she is able to help people with the help of Hartley (Andy Mientus). However, when a new metahuman, named Volcana (guest star Amy Davidson), appears, she will truly be put to the test physically. Meanwhile, Lena (Katie McGrath) continues to search for any clues as to who the woman who saved her might be. The episode will air on on 26/7/2017