Flash Frost:
LOL You completely made my day. I'm so glad you like it!
ShayverideFan:
GB said that anything is possible in the Multiverse so I guess it could happen. But in my heart of hearts I want Cait to be with Barry but if that's not possible than Ronnie is the next best thing, sort of, maybe..
Earth one
What started as a dull throbbing behind her eyes had now developed into a full-fledged migraine and it was blurring her vision. Tired and frustrated she rubbed her temples and closed her eyes for a few seconds. Everyone was right, she needed sleep but as long as the team was still on the other Earth there wasn't a single molecule in her body considering taking a rest.
"Caitlin, are you okay?"
She looked up and saw Iris standing in the door of the medical bay. She smiled and forced a small smile.
"I'm fine. Just a little tired. Is there news?"
It was a question she already knew the answer to because if there was, someone would have called her back down already. As expected Iris slowly shook her head and pursed her lips.
"Nope. My dad promised to let us know the moment there is any movement but so far nothing happened. It's been two days since.." Iris' voice trailed off.
"Don't remind me" Caitlin replied with a small voice. "But we're not giving up hope yet. They are coming back. I know they will."
She looked Iris in the eye and gave her an encouraging nod. "We just have to keep believing that they will find a way back to us. I trust Barry. You should too."
Iris smiled back but she wasn't sure if she'd been able to convince her friend that everything would be okay. How could she when she wasn't even sure of that herself?
"Hey, have you seen Jay by any chance? He's not in the cortex and he's not down in the basement with my dad. I was sort of expecting him to find him here with you but clearly he's not."
Caitlin's forehead creased.
"He must be around here somewhere. Are you sure he's not monitoring the breach?" She tried to remember the last conversation she had with him but couldn't remember the details of where he said he was going. Mostly because she was simply too tired.
"I think he probably needed some fresh air. Jay feels responsible for what happened. Even though I've told him that it was their decision to go. I'm sure he'll be back soon."
She tried to make it sound as upbeat as possible but this wasn't the first time Jay disappeared in the middle of the day and now others were starting to notice it too. Jay didn't know anyone on this Earth so where would he go?
"Is that the Velocity 9?"
Iris' voice distracted her from her thoughts.
"Uhm, yeah. I'm still trying to find a cure for Jay and it seemed to be working for a while but now his cells have started to deteriorate again. Seems like the V9 is only a temporary solution to the problem and not a permanent cure. But we'll find one. I'm sure of it."
The frustration in her voice was noticeable and Iris picked up on it.
"If anyone can do it, you can."
A genuine smile broke on Caitlin's face.
"Hopefully. But how are you doing? I mean it must be tough on you too. I know we haven't talked a lot since Eddie.. And now all of this. If there is anything I can do for you, you know I'm here."
Iris looked down at her hands in her lap and paused.
"I think about Eddie every day and I still miss him. I don't think that will ever change. When Eddie died, part of me died with him. That's just the way it is. But Barry, he's not gone. He went to save Jesse and help his friends. That's what Barry does but I hope he hasn't run into any real trouble over there. Because there isn't a whole lot we know about Earth two."
That's when they heard a buzzing and Joe's frantic voice sounded over the intercom.
"Guys, you better get back down here. Now"
Adrenaline was coursing through their veins as they rushed down to the basement where the breach was. Joe was standing close to it, anticipation written all over his face.
"It started a few minutes ago. Changing shapes and, I guess you could call it gaps, sending images from another Earth. It has to be Barry trying to break through! Tell me how we can help them."
He grabbed Caitlin arms and watched her intently. Behind him the portal started to change shape again and all three watched closely with bathed breath for something to emerge. At the same moment Jay strolled back in but he took one look at the portal and his eyes widened.
"Stand back," he warned Joe and gestured the cop to move away.
"Once the breach opens the energy could suck you in so you have to keep your distance."
It was easier said than done because Joe was anxious to see his stepson and could barely contain himself.
Earth two.
"What the.." Barry mumbled as he glanced from Killer Frost to unconscious Zoom back to Killer Frost. She walked straight passed him to the cell in the back with the man in the iron mask and ignored his questions. Instead she used her powers to try to break the glass but no matter how hard she tried, the glass wouldn't break. It only angered her more. Inside the cell the man was trying to stand but in his weakened state it was taking a lot out of him.
"Don't just stand there. Help me get him out," she snapped at Barry but his head was still reeling from everything he was seeing. Besides, this was his chance to get rid of Zoom for once and for all. He knelt down next to Zoom and put his hands on either side of his head but then he hesitated. Part of him wanted to find out who was under the hood but another part of him just wanted to get it over with. Curiosity won and with one pull the mask came off, causing Barry to tumble back and gasping for air as soon as he saw the face of the man that had haunted him for months. The face of Jay Garrick.
"No! This can't be happening. Not again. It's not Jay." He scrambled back and hid his face in his hands, trying to make sense of it all. He had to fight the urge to run as the gravity of his discovery dawned on him. They trusted him, told him their secrets. Jay helped him get faster and defeat the Metas that Zoom sent through the breaches. Metas /he/ sent himself. But why? Why befriend all of them, become a mentor of sorts and make Caitlin fall in love with him. Cait! Her name had a sobering effect on him. Caitlin didn't know that the man she fell for was in fact Zoom. The betrayal would kill her. Especially once she found out that Ronnie, her Ronnie, was still alive and had a thing for her doppelganger on this Earth. Suddenly rage was bubbling to the surface and for no particular reason at all it was now directed at the man behind the seemingly unbreakable glass. Barry flashed out of the cave until there was enough distance between him and the cell before doubling back at double the speed. Just before he reached the glass he held back and used the speedforce to create a sonic punch. The sound of the blast resonated within the small space, making everyone fall to their knees and covering their ears but even that didn't prevent his ears from ringing while the glass slowly started to break. First it was just a small crack but once Killer Frost froze it, it started to crack further and further and with a small tap the glass shattered. Barry was still on his knees and watched how Killer Frost rushed over to the masked man, freezing the lock that held his mask in place and then removing it with more care than he'd seen from her thus far. It would have been a really nice moment if it weren't for the fact that this was Ronnie.
He didn't quite understand why seeing Ronnie and Killer Frost embrace made him so angry but it did.
His fists clenched while he pushed himself up, looking away from the couple until Ronnie said his name.
"Barry, I can't thank you enough. Zoom..he's been keeping me here for weeks and I was starting to think that I was going to die here. How..how is Caitlin?"
He extended his hand but Barry looked at it with disgust.
"I didn't do it for you. You were alive all this time. You don't have the right to ask how she's doing. Do you have any idea what you put Caitlin though or do you even care? You died..twice. She mourned you, man. She was a wreck after the singularity swallowed you and she's been blaming herself ever since that day. But you..you never even tried to get back to her. I guess you found a replacement pretty fast." He now glanced at Killer Frost but her face was lacking any emotion, as usual. But Barry wasn't finished yet. He stepped closer to her.
"Just tell me why! You knew that he wasn't from this Earth but you said nothing. Not even when I told you about my Caitlin. I can't believe I felt bad for you when Deathstorm was killed because I've seen what it did to Caitlin and I didn't want you to go through all of that too. But you weren't grieving at all. Is that why you agreed to help me? Not because you wanted to get revenge for Deathstorm but because you thought it was the only way to free Ronnie? You used me!"
Killer Frost seemed more amused than anything else but once she started speaking he could hear a strain in her voice.
"It was the only way to get him out. Deathstorm and I had to pretend to be together so Zoom would think that I gave up looking for Ronnie. And I knew I couldn't tell you the truth so I did what I had to do."
"And kissing me, was that part of the plan too or were you just improvising there?" Barry retorted, his voice laced with sarcasm.
"You kissed him?" Ronnie asked surprised and slightly annoyed.
"Shut up" both Barry and Killer Frost snapped back at him while glaring at each other.
"You didn't seem to mind," Killer Frost simply stated and then shrugged as if it meant nothing. Maybe it didn't mean anything to her but it meant something to Barry and that bugged him. He let himself get emotionally involved when deep down he knew that he shouldn't have and now it was all a big mess.
They'd been so preoccupied with Ronnie that no one had noticed Zoom waking up until it was too late.
"You should have killed me while you had the chance, Barry. Now you leave me no choice but to kill everyone you've ever loved. On this Earth and yours."
Shocked they turned around to see Jay standing there with his Zoom mask in his hand and an evil grin on his face.
Instinctively Barry moved between his nemesis and the other two while locking eyes with Jay.
"How is this possible. I left you on my Earth. We closed all the breaches. How can you travel between two worlds?"
Zoom maniacal laughter filled the room.
"Always the scientist but you're not as clever as you thought, Barry. I've been travelling back and forth the whole time, right under your noses."
"Why?" Barry shouted back, "why would you do this to us? I thought we were friends. We trusted you."
"To get your speed, of course. But I needed to make you faster first and to do that I needed to gain your trust. Yours and everyone else at S.T.A.R. labs. Wells was a challenge because let's face it, he hates the Flash. But you were all so needy," Jay said sarcastically, "all of you. You practically begged me to be your mentor after the Reverse Flash betrayed you and Cisco is so gullible. Wells was a challenge though. And then there was Caitlin. Sweet innocent Caitlin that lost her husband not once but twice. I really had fun gaining her trust and wrapping her around my little finger. What is it with women and broken hearts.."
"You sonafabitch," Ronnie scowled and stepped closer but Barry leaped forward with his clenched fist aiming at Jay's nose but the speedster easily moved out of range and mocked Barry's attempt.
"Still not fast enough to catch me."
He slowly turned his attention to Ronnie and Killer Frost.
"You know the penalty for betraying me. Deathstorm is dead and now you can join him." He grabbed Killer Frost's neck and picked her up as if she was nothing but a ragdoll. Her feet were kicking while her hands tried to peel him off her. Her face was slowly started to turn as blue as her lips and they could hear her choking sounds. As angry as Barry was at her, he couldn't let Zoom kill her.
"Put her down" he yelled but Zoom ignored him. Even when Barry punched him he didn't so much as flinch and squeezed Killer Frost's throat even harder.
"Ronnie, turn your heat on" Barry begged but his old friend dropped his shoulders and looked down.
Zoom started laughing and slowly put Killer Frost down. As soon as he let go she reached for her throat and coughed between gasps for air.
"He can't. Ronnie here is completely useless without his counterpart, Dr. Stein. And since he's still on your Earth and moved on with another partner, where does that leave Ronald? Oh yeah, nowhere. Well, there is still some use for him. You see, without someone to merge with the tachyons in his body will start to overheat until…Boom!" Jay's hands mimicked an explosion.
Barry remembered something similar almost happening to Martin Stein after Ronnie supposedly died so he knew Zoom was telling the truth.
"That's where the helmet came in. It stabilized him until the moment I was going to use him but now you've ruined the surprise."
Jay glanced at Killer Frost and smirked. "You can't seem to win on this Earth or any other. I guess that's punishment enough for now just to see you lose someone you care about."
For a split second he could see the hurt in Killer Frost's eyes but then she composed herself again and put up her cool façade he'd come to know so well.
Jay turned her back on her and was now closing in on Barry again.
"Let's get on with it then. Your speed, mister Allen. And maybe I'll consider leaving your friends alive once I return to your Earth."
Because Jay was so focused on Barry he didn't see Ronnie coming from behind and hitting him hard with the metal helmet he'd been wearing. It was enough to bring Jay down but they all knew it was only for a few moments.
"You have to help him"
Barry stared at Killer Frost as she hinted to Ronnie.
"Take him with you back to your Earth and fix him. He will die if he stays here."
Ronnie closed the distance between himself and Killer Frost, pulling her closer.
"Cait, no. I'm not going anywhere without you. Going back to that world isn't an option. Not anymore."
She smiled faintly and broke free from his embrace.
"I'm not asking, Ronnie. You have to go. Let the other Caitlin find a way to make you whole again if she's as smart as everyone says. I don't want you to stay here."
Barry watched the whole thing with a knot in his stomach. He wasn't looking forward to taking Ronnie back with him knowing what it would do to Caitlin. Plus seeing the two kiss wasn't sitting very well with him either.
As if Killer Frost read his mind she turned to him and gave him a seductive smile.
"You can do a girl a favor, can't you, handsome?" Even if he didn't want to a smile still crossed his face.
"Ronnie is right. If you stay here you're as good as dead. So you have to come as well."
She opened her mouth to voice an objection but he caught her off quickly.
"I'll take both of you with me or none of you. It's your choice and since Jay is waking up, you better make it fast"
All three looked at Jay who was rising to his feet again but still finding his balance.
"Screw it, you don't have a choice" Barry muttered and grabbed both Ronnie and Killer Frost before bolting out of the cave in a flash.