A/N: *wheezing* One juicy chapter down, two more to go! If anyone recognizes the phrase that Caitlin says, I'll give you all cookies! I'm thinking of doing another SnowBarry one-shot, but this time, with Kid Flash and Jinx from Teen Titans ( does anyone remember that show? ). I'll post that story once this one is finished, so keep an eye out!
Something isn't right. Her gut rings the itty-bitty panic bell. Caitlin's sense that something is wrong only increases when she reaches the apartment door. It is unlocked, hanging slightly open, spilling a wedge-shaped shaft of light onto the landing. With a feeling of increasing panic, she pushes the door open.
Inside the apartment the lights are on, all the lamps, everything turned up to full brightness. The glow stabs into her eyes.
She tip-toes into the living room. The lacy white curtains, which frame the French windows like snow, have been ripped to shreds. Cushions have been ripped from the sofa and are scattered around the room. Some are torn lengthwise, cotton innards strewn about the floor with colorful abandon. The bookshelves have been tipped over, their contents scattered.
She is at the door to her own bedroom now. For a moment it looks as if this room, at least, has been left untouched. Rumpled blankets cover the massive sleigh bed like an inviting nest. The fuzzy white rug tickles her feet. Ronnie and her own face smile back at her from the top of the bedside table, posing in ugly Christmas sweaters.
The door creaks open. Stomach contracting in terror, Caitlin scrambles to her feet and turns around slowly.
It's Tony. And he does not look happy. His eyes roll white and wild, his once handsome features contorted into a mask of pure fury – all of which is directed at her.
She is definitely going to be sick now. There is pain coming, she can see it in his eyes. Her knees begin to shake, and she is afraid she'll going to fall. All her instincts scream at her to run. A shriek tears itself out of Caitlin's throat. She staggers backwards, trips, and falls, just as he lunges at her. She rolls to the side and he misses her by inches, sliding along the wood floor, and crashing into the bedside table. A low growl bubbles from his throat.
She scrambles to her feet and runs toward the hallway, but Tony charges again, with the speed and certainty of a missile, arms outstretched to prevent a rolling escape on her part. With his bigger mass and higher top speed, he can achieve a greater momentum than her any time of day – and knock her over like a bowling pin. Caitlin veers to the right seconds before they collide.
"You lied to me!" He spits the words with venom. "You're working with him, aren't you?"
He knows.
He steps towards her, looking as though he'll beat the answer out of her. Some part of Caitlin has passed beyond terror into a sort of icy stillness. She fumbles for her phone, but in a too-fast movement, he has secured her wrist in an iron grip, squeezing so hard that it feels like her bones are crumbling to pieces. Caitlin bites back a scream as spots of fire dance along her wrist. Her phone clatters to the floor, a long crack visible across the front.
"Tell me who he is, and I'll let you go." Tony tightens his grip on her wrist, and Caitlin exhales through clenched teeth, wishing she can modify the haughty curve of his nose with her fist.
"You can break my soul, take my life away, beat me, hurt me, kill me." Caitlin channels her pain into muscle tension, and a scowl that wills Tony the very pain he is inflicting on her. "But for the love of God, don't touch him."
Tony's expression closes and darkens. A crushing blow strikes her chest – Caitlin feels herself flying backwards, and then hears the crunch as her head bashes into the door. As if from a distance, she hears herself screaming.
For a moment, she lies in a crumpled heap, trying to remember how to breathe. It feels like several of her ribs have swapped places. She may have also bruised her brain. And then the warm wetness begins to spread through her hair with alarming speed. She can feel it soaking the shoulder of her dress, hears it dripping on the wood below. The smell of it twists her stomach.
"Barry . . ." Caitlin mumbles, as the flow of blood from her head sucks her consciousness away with it. Her eyes are closing. "Barry."
Caitlin releases her grip on consciousness. Everything dissolves like spiral galaxies through an unfocused telescope, everything except a smile that chases the pain away and two specks of emerald that sparkle with biting pleasant humor.
