No new warnings or anything here, just some more setup before the action kicks into gear again!

Enjoy!


As much as she wanted to, Caitlin couldn't separate this planning from the planning that had gone into the last botched Eiling rescue attempt.

All of the fervent talking, the circles of bodies, the crossed arms, the buzzing computers and frantic typing, was too reminiscent, and she had to work hard to keep herself grounded. Last time, she had come forward with her plan, and it had been a decent one in her mind—the knockout gas should've bought them the room to navigate Eiling's facility, and Barry's speed should've guaranteed an exit.

A flawless plan. Until it wasn't.

Until she'd been strapped into a chair in the same room as Jason and injected with the first dose of that serum. Until Barry had been incapacitated, the facility set to flames, Rose Canton shot in the gut.

She tried not to let such thoughts invade during these planning sessions, because she knew if she dared say a word against it, she would jinx the entire operation.

After some of the initial brainstorming with Barry and Cisco, she found herself too exhausted to do much else, and all of the talking made the inside of her mouth feel like cotton. While she didn't finish her soup, she accepted a glass of juice and an over-the-counter painkiller, just enough to take some of the edge off of her body aches.

She lay dazedly in her hospital cot, half-awake and less cognizant, but still listening to the voices that dominated the cortex. Once Joe and Iris returned, the planning got more excited, more vibrant, and the addition of Rose Canton tempered it only slightly.

None of them bothered Caitlin as she lay there shivering, dipping in and out of sleep, and for that she was somewhat grateful. The hours of being back at STAR still took their toll on her in small, unexpected ways, and she needed the isolation and the stillness to try and come back to herself.

When she finally willed herself to sit up and shuffle back into the cortex, nobody objected. She found a chair and eased herself down into it, like an old woman. She found that she constantly wavered between the two: feeling old, and being treated like a fragile young thing.

"We were just talking about the logistics of the facility," Joe told her.

She nodded and waved him off. "I've been listening. Where's Iris?"

The look Joe gave here told her that apparently she hadn't been listening closely enough. "She's grabbing your old clothes from downstairs. The, uh…"

"The military clothes," Canton said bluntly. "Cisco's going to vibe on them to try and get an exact location."

At that moment, Iris reappeared, holding the clothes in question. Caitlin stiffened, and Iris measured her steps, keeping the clothes bundled up in as small a package as possible. "Got them. How do we know this is going to work?"

"Well, we have five possible locations," Cisco said. "Based on known underground bunkers and abandoned facilities in a 500 mile radius. So if I can't figure it out based on this, it'll have to be trial and error."

"What if it's not in a 500 mile radius?" Caitlin said. Some of the Killer Frost memories nagged at her—bank robberies in cities that were definitively unfamiliar, in climates radically different than that of what she knew of the area surrounding Central City.

Cisco considered this. "We'll cross that bridge if we come to it." He set his jaw and looked at the bundle of clothes like it was roadkill. "Man, sometimes I hate my job."

Iris stepped away from the bundle, as if that would somehow make it easier for Cisco to vibe. With a five foot radius around him, Cisco stepped toward the clothes and, unceremoniously, sunk his hand into the pile.

It was always a fascinating experience watching Cisco vibe. If she didn't know what was happening, Caitlin might not have even noticed. To the casual passerby, Cisco might have been fighting off a headache, or deep in thought, or on the verge of a sneeze. His eyes rolled back, his face scrunched, and his lips parted. There was no physical sign aside from that, not like Barry's lightning or Canton's protruding nails.

The episode passed quickly. After a few seconds, Cisco wrenched his hand backward, stung. His eyes met Caitlin's, ever so briefly, but she could tell that it was an involuntary response. The look pierced her to the bone, a look of horror, pity, and something else. Revulsion?

The look was gone as quickly as it had come as Cisco tried to compose himself. He gulped in some air and leaned against the counter.

"Yep, got it," he said without prompting. "Definitely got it. Yep. Jesus, that never gets any more fun, does it?"

"Where is it?" Joe asked.

With another grunt, Cisco pushed himself away from the desk and circled around to the computer bank. On one screen was a map where they'd plotted out the five closest underground facilities in the area. Some of them were considered urban legends. Caitlin was half-inclined to believe those theories, feeling as though her experience itself might have been a delusion, but Cisco pointed resolutely to one of the red dots.

"There," he said. With a few deft strokes, he pulled up some of the reference images they had scrounged up from their internet searches. "Yeah, that's the one. That's what I saw."

"Looks like it's long-abandoned," Joe said with a frown. "I don't know how Eiling even got access to it."

"However he did, he somehow got past all of the preliminary scans we did back when Cait was first taken," Cisco said.

"Either that, or he started out at facilities way past our scanners and kept gradually moving back toward Central City every few weeks," Canton said. "You said you were moved to a new location a few times, right?"

Caitlin started at the realization that the question was addressed to her. "Yeah," she said. "But I don't know how often."

"This is it, I'm telling you," Cisco said, plopping down into the extra computer chair. "I can pull up schematics now. I should be able to dig out floorplans."

"And the alarm system," Iris said. "So I can access it from here."

"Alarms?" Caitlin said.

"Once Cisco creates the earthquake, the facility is going to start coming down," Barry said. "We're going to give everyone inside a little added incentive to get out of there. The more confusion, the better."

"So while you and Barry are inside getting all of the prisoners out, you won't be running into hordes of soldiers," Joe said.

Again, Caitlin's stomach turned. She ran a hand through her short hair, not quite used to the length after all this time. Her heart betrayed her. Barry set a hand on her shoulder.

"You don't have to do this," he emphasized. "I can go in there by myself. Cisco and Rose will be there keeping the soldiers at bay outside."

"You're not going in alone," Caitlin said. "You need me to get the doors to the facility open. And I know the inside better than you. I know where the cell block is." She paused. "It just feels a lot like last time, is all. I have a bad feeling about it."

"It would be worrying if you didn't," Iris said. "This is a government facility we're breaking into."

"But," Barry interjected, ever the optimist, "Eiling has lost a lot of his followers. We know that based on what we saw at the last facility. This place isn't big."

"No, it's not," Cisco said, rolling away from the desk and cracking his knuckles. "But from what I can see, there are three levels. Three sets of stairs are going to slow you down, Bar."

"Not by much." Barry scratched at his neck. "If I take two prisoners at a time, I can get the them out of there, into the pipeline, and be back for more in, what, thirty seconds?"

Thirty seconds where I'm alone in there, Caitlin thought. "Thirty seconds is a lot of time when you're in a warzone," she said.

"I can make it faster," Barry said determinedly. "I know I can. And my arm is almost healed, so I can definitely carry two. I won't have to make many trips out, depending on how many people Eiling has locked up."

"The longer we wait, the more likely Eiling is to be proactive and come after Snow himself," Canton said.

"We'll have to act fast, then," Barry said. "Tonight."

The rest of the team nodded like it was the simplest thing in the world. Somber, but simple. Another enemy to conquer. Another life to save. Another day on the job.

Caitlin felt herself sinking, deeper, deeper, into her chair, until she felt like her bones were crushing inward.

But eventually, and out of obligation, she, too, nodded.


Two hours later, Caitlin was staring again at the pile of dirtied, bloodied military garb, waiting for it to spring to life at any moment.

"You don't have to wear it," Iris said half-heartedly. "Really, Cait. If it's too hard…"

"I do have to wear it, though," Caitlin said. "If we're giving off the impression that you've been holding me prisoner, it doesn't make sense for me to be wearing the STAR stuff."

Iris bit her lip. "Well, yeah, but…"

Caitlin offered a tight smile. "My comfort is not really at the forefront of our concerns right now."

Off to the side, Barry was shrugging into his Flash suit, and Cisco into his Vibe outfit. It had been modified a bit since Caitlin had last seen it, but not by much. She wondered how much Cisco had actually been out in the field since she'd been gone. Something told her it wasn't much. A new wave of fear washed over her, and she looked away.

"Just help me into it," Caitlin said hoarsely, and she began tugging off the STAR t-shirt and sweats that had offered such fleeting reassurance. All reassurances, all comforts, were momentary.

She struggled as quickly as she could into the military garb, still self-conscious of the hollow of her stomach and the bruising around her ribs and wrists. After the soft, loose-fitting clothing she'd gotten used to, the stiff material of the coat and pants might as well have been a cheese-grater.

The tremors began in earnest, and she felt herself going faint—but there was no time for flashbacks. She couldn't afford to entertain them now, not when her mind was most needed. Not when it was so essential that she stay calm and clear-headed.

So, instead of passing out, she did the next-best thing: she leaned over to the trash can and threw up all of the soup that had been in her stomach.

"Okay, that's enough," Joe said. "This is ridiculous. You're not going out there, Caitlin."

Iris rubbed circles on Caitlin's back and helped her straighten. Caitlin wiped at her mouth. "It's nothing. I'm going."

"Seriously, you look a little green," Cisco added from across the room, where he and Barry watched with pained expressions.

"It's not up for discussion," said Caitlin. She buttoned up the last few buttons of her shirt and swallowed hard. It was a bitter taste. The others wore looks that clearly said they didn't trust her, but they allowed her to finish getting ready without further comment.

Once she was dressed, Caitlin accepted the gun that Joe offered, albeit reluctantly. She tucked it into her boot.

"As a last resort," Joe explained.

Caitlin needed no further explanation. The last thing she wanted was a weapon. In those periods of time when she would be alone in the cellblock while Barry was transporting the prisoners away, she wasn't sure she would even be able to use it.

Canton appeared then, dressed in nothing more special than her usual clothes. No disguises, no supersuits for her—although she was certain Joe or Cisco had given her some kind of body armor beneath it all. She could see it in the tight-fitting sleeves, the strange lumps at the shoulders and torso.

"Are we ready to move, or what?" she said, wrestling her mass of red hair into a bun.

Barry pulled down his mask. "Ready when you are."

Joe clapped Cisco on the shoulder somberly, offered Canton a tight-lipped smile. Then they were gone in a blur of light. The yellow of the lightning seared into Caitlin's vision.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

Blinking, Caitlin turned to Iris. "Of course I don't want to do this," Caitlin said. "But since when has what I wanted to do had any bearing on anything?"

Iris exhaled sharply, shaking her head sadly. "You don't have to," she said. "Not this time. Not ever again."

Caitlin wanted to say something, some unformed words that lingered at the back of her tongue, but in that moment the yellow flashed again, and Barry was back in the cortex. The air crackled, and Caitlin swallowed the unspoken.

"Cisco and Rose are in position and hidden," Barry said, panting. "There's no reason to believe anyone saw us. I don't want to leave them there alone much long, though." He addressed Caitlin then. "Are you ready?"

Iris' face was still twisted, still pleading, willing Caitlin to understand. Caitlin took it all in, shoved back her emotion. It would have to wait until later.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

Iris was the first to reach forward, enveloping her in a warm, earnest hug. Caitlin wasn't sure she'd ever been hugged so tightly in her life. While the contact still made her tense, she found it in herself to raise her arms, return the embrace in whatever measure her strength allowed.

"Be careful," Iris whispered, and only when Caitlin felt wetness on her neck did she realize that the other woman was crying. "You're coming back, okay?"

Caitlin nodded numbly. Joe took Iris' place with the hugging, a brief, enveloping experience that gave a temporary illusion of comfort. Then she was face to face with Barry, who had adopted, if possible, a much more grim expression.

"You might want to close your eyes if you get dizzy," he said. He held out his hand, waiting for her to make the first move. She did, and the moment she took hold of him, she was whisked away.


Thanks so much for reading! Please leave a comment below if you feel a strange sense of disquietude about what's coming next!

Till next time,

Penn