Of course, some part of me knew that this moment would not last long. This moment with the man I'd realized I'd fallen in love with a short while ago, and that I'd probably loved as Killer Frost when I didn't remember what love was supposed to be-Ronnie, and the man who'd became who I considered to be my best friend-Cisco.
A feeling of dread filled my stomach and I stiffened, my body going ridged. "Caitlin?" Ronnie prodded, "What's wrong?" He gently moved me to sit on the bench again and crouched in front of me.
"I don't know." My eyebrows draw together both in confusion and concentration and I look around the park surrounding the large ice rink. I don't immediately see anything out of the ordinary of any of Zoom's minions that I had met or heard of before. "I don't know." I repeat, "Something's wrong. Something's very wrong." I look back and into his face, feeling my face contort into panic knowing that I would soon find out whatever was happening that I did not yet see.
Ronnie grabs my face again, running his hands along my head and then holding one at the base of my skull while the other rested on the side of my face. I leaned into his hand, feeling calmer already from his touch.
"It's going to be okay." He repeats softly to me, almost like a mantra until my breathing slows back to normal and I appear more or less calm again.
"Are you okay Caitlin?" Cisco asks, almost shyly from over Ronnie's shoulder.
"Yeah," I take a deep breath, "Yeah, I think so." I exhale slowly.
"I don't know what came over me- "I pause, "I just felt this overwhelming sense of dread in the pit of my stomach." I begin to explain but before I can say anything else an explosion rocks the ground and booms through the air. In an instant Ronnie yanks me to the ground and shields me with his body while he looks around for the source.
I peer around him and my eyes widen when I see Zoom himself surrounded by some random cronies that I don't recognize. Some of them are holding some kinds of weapons, like guns and electrified batons I think. I should have realized this is what that feeling meant, of course Zoom would want one of his best henchmen back. He would want me back on his team, or dead if that's what it came down to just to keep me out of the hands of the heroes.
Ronnie turns to me while Cisco moves to guard us, "Caitlin," He grabs my face, a frantic look in his eyes, "You have to run, get as far away as you can. Get somewhere safe. Now." His voice says there's no room for discussion, but there's no way that I would plan to leave them here. I begin to shake my head but he roughly pulls me to my feet and gives me a push behind the food concession stand near us.
Moving I crouch and pretend to look around for an opening to go, this satisfies him and both he and Cisco run out to fight. I wince when I realize that Martin Stein wasn't nearby. He and Ronnie can both use their fire-y metahuman powers on their own and Ronnie is actually very strong with them on his own too, but when he is fused with Stein he is even stronger. I've never fought Ronnie when he was fused with Stein, I have seen it happen though which is how I know.
Moving quickly, I find a new vantage point, the best one to get into the fight.
Preparing to jump in I let my frost spill from my hands, a defensive tactic of mine. Taking a deep breath, I utilize the cold and when I blow the air out an intense blast of air so cold you can see it hits the closest cronies and provides a bit of cover for me. The cold is a weakness to Zoom, and one reason he doesn't want me against him. As I move through the cover I freeze him as much as I can, thickening the icy prison surrounding him.
With Zoom debilitated I turn and focus my blows on those foolish thugs on his payroll that are attacking Vibe and Firestorm. I kick, I punch, and I flip; all the while making use of my icy metahuman powers and using that to my advantage.
Suddenly Zoom is in front of me and his hand is tight around my neck, cutting off my air and I gasp for breath.
"Cait!" I dimly hear Ronnie's voice call for me, surprise and worry mixed together as I see Zoom vibrate his hand and move it closer to me. He obviously intends to kill me for my betrayal today. I feel my heart clench, I'm not ready to die. I finally have people who care about me, not my metahuman abilities or what it is I can provide for them. But me, Caitlin Snow.
Gripping Zoom's wrist tightly, perhaps tighter than the grip he has on my neck, I cover part of his arm in ice and he howls in anger and irritation and drops me. Moving quickly, I stab his leg with a large shard of ice, and he screeches in pain before throwing me backwards. The second I hit the ground I look up to see fire hitting him square in the chest which throws him backwards.
Cisco, Vibe, joins in on the attacks and sends airwaves of some sort at him, keeping him down.
With the advantage of surprise and teamwork they manage to knock him out after a few blasts, and move quickly to contain him before he can get away and cause more damage.
With Zoom secured they call for someone, probably the Flash-Barry- to come take him to the metahuman prison they have hidden somewhere. I know it exists, but I haven't learned anything beyond that.
Finally, I relax, knowing that both Ronnie and Cisco no longer require help and are as alright as they can be under the circumstances. With a small groan, I let myself fall onto my back, careful not to nock my head too hard on the ground. Cold overwhelms me again, as whatever heat I unintentionally absorbed from Ronnie had been spent. After around a month or so of not using my abilities it makes sense that I would feel drained and weak so quickly after forcing myself into a fight with Zoom to help protect people.
I take a deep, almost shaky breath as I feel my consciousness begin to drift away, blackness beginning to overtake my vision now. I blink slowly, the bright, harsh light of the sun glinting around me and blinding me a bit.
Ronnie and Cisco both pop up in my vision, directly above me, and I am hit by a wave of déjà vu, except I know why. This moment is reminiscent of when I saw Ronnie and he saved me after the blast.
Knowing that even if they no longer trusted or wanted me, I'd still be safe with them I don't fight to stay awake any more. And I hear them calling for me, trying to get me to stay awake.
