Warnings: canon typical violence.
Chapter Three.
Caitlin stiffened as General Eiling looked down at her. Though her body felt frozen, her tongue was not.
"This is illegal, you can't just kidnap me at gunpoint, you can't keep me here," she snapped, pulling again at her bonds. Even though Eiling only had one man with him, they were both armed, and she was only a scientist. Even if she could get free...it's not hopeless, it's not, oh God, it's Eiling. Even if-when-Barry came, what was to say Eiling wouldn't be ready, with another of those spike grenades or the burning foam missile?
"You'd be surprised what I can and cannot do, Doctor Snow, particularly given some of the more recently passed acts and bills, so really, let's not waste time with that nonsense."
Caitlin glared. "What do you want?" she asked, hoping she sounded defiant and angry but knowing there was too much fear in her voice.
"That's more like it. You already know what I want. Ronald Raymond." Eiling circled her, and she tensed.
"He's in hiding," she spat, suddenly so glad that he didn't tell her where. Eiling could do what he liked, but she couldn't give up a location she didn't know. "He's been in hiding for weeks, hiding from you."
"Yes, but you, Doctor Snow, still wear the ring he gave you."
Caitlin's hands, limp in the cuffs, curled instinctively, and she could feel the band around her left ring finger. She'd stopped wearing it, but then when he came back, when he wasn't dead or worse-her hand had felt so naked without it. Eiling chuckled.
"And I'm guessing you have some way of contacting him. We went through your phone, clever, only having numbers and no names for most of your contacts," he finished the slow loop standing just beside the table, holding her phone in one hand. "We can do this the easy way. You call him. Ask him to meet you at...let's say that coffee shop, what was it-Jitters, yes? Nice and public. Lots of civilians so he can't risk blowing everything sky-high."
"No." Caitlin said, shaking her head before he could even finish. "I won't. Kill me if you're going to, but I'll die before I betray him to you." She lifted her chin, glaring with all the fury and ice she could muster. She'd said similar to the Rogues when they'd wanted to hurt Barry. She meant it then, and now. Eiling met her eyes, the tiniest hint of a smirk on his face.
He didn't bother to say anything, just tapped a button on a radio at his belt. Caitlin trembled, pressing her lips together tightly.
The door opened, and two more soldiers entered with faces like stone, shoving a third figure in front of them, sending him crashing to the floor. His hands were pulled behind him, bound there with too-tight plastic cuffs, and his hair hung in his face. Caitlin knew who it was even before she registered the slightly bloodstained "Browncoats" tee-shirt, and a strangled cry escaped her.
Cisco's eyes, when they met hers, were wide and dark with pain and fear, and there was bruising around one, a gash on the side of his head. As soon as he saw her, a cry of his own echoed hers, and he struggled to get to his feet, trying to lunge forward while still on his knees. Heavy hands clamped down on his shoulders, but the struggling continued.
"Caitlin! Leave her alone, you son of a-" a fist slammed into his jaw.
"Cisco! Stop it, you're hurting him, stop!" Caitlin shrieked, panic like icewater singing in her veins.
Eiling held up a hand, then moved out of Caitlin's sight again, bending down to free one of her wrists. He put the phone in her hand. "Call Mr. Raymond, now, and tell him to meet you at Jitters at five." Caitlin hesitated, still staring at Cisco, who shook his head at her. "Unless you really don't care about your friend here."
There was the click as one of the goons holding Cisco down pressed a gun to his head.
"Don't," Cisco whispered as Caitlin's eyes darted between Eiling, the phone, Cisco. "I'm not worth him." The second creep grabbed a fist full of his hair and yanked.
"Five," Eiling counted with the air of an annoyed parent teaching a particularly willful child a lesson. "Four. Three."
Caitlin snatched the phone from the table. "Alright! Stop! I'll do it."
Ronnie glanced at the burner phone he'd set up for use with Caitlin. The Professor and his wife had opted for leaving ads and the like in several obscure newspapers to communicate, but Ronnie had preferred the idea of a phone. If something went wrong, he wanted to hear about it sooner rather than later, and he missed hearing her voice. He picked up before the first ring had died away.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Ronald." Caitlin's voice was bright, cheery, and instantly Ronnie felt himself on edge, getting to his feet to find Martin Stein. "How are you?"
"I'm alright," he said, cautiously. "How are you, is everything-"
"Everything's fine. But I miss you. Is..." He voice cracked, and Ronnie saw red. "Is there any way you could...come back? Just for a little while? I need to-to see you, Ronald."
Martin Stein stood in the doorway, watching him with a puzzled and worried expression. They couldn't read each other's minds while separated, but powerful emotions telegraphed easily. Ronnie met his eyes and nodded. Caitlin never called him by his full name, not ever, so clearly she was in trouble, bad trouble. Worse still, the only time he'd ever known Caitlin to lie this well was...well, never. She was a terrible liar, unless something desperate was happening, unless lives counted on it. And she was lying, he felt that as surely as he felt Martin's unease.
"Where? And when?" he asked without hesitation. For her to be lying, for her voice to sound the way it did, he knew this had to be some kind of trap, she'd called him Ronald, their code for stay away, danger. But he couldn't.
"Jitters, tonight? Five-if you can make it by then, I don't know if-" it sounded almost as though that last was not aimed at him, but he answered anyway.
"I'll be there, Cait. I'm coming." He paused, wishing he could speak directly to her mind-No matter what, I'm coming, I won't let anyone hurt you. "I love you."
"Love you, too," she whispered. "I'll-I'll see you. I have to go."
"What was that about?" Martin asked, anxious. "Caitlin, is she alright? What about Clarissa, or-"
"I don't know," Ronnie shook his head. "But we've got about four hours to get to Central City. Something bad's happened."
"Then I suggest we fly, and quickly."
Eiling took the battery from Caitlin's phone, pocketing both. "There, now. That wasn't too hard, was it?" He twitched a hand, and the man with the gun lowered the weapon so it aimed at the floor, still too close to Cisco for comfort. Caitlin's eyes burned, but she didn't duck her head, refusing to let the tears fall. She couldn't meet Cisco's eyes as Eiling cuffed her again, the metal digging against the raw place where she'd been bound before. It wasn't until Eiling had stalked from the room that the men holding Cisco released him with a hard shove and left themselves, locking the door audibly behind them. In moments, Cisco lurched upright, managing to get to his knees again but no better.
"Are you ok?" Caitlin asked in a rush, knowing it was a stupid question, he'd had a gun put to his head, he'd been hurt, of course he wasn't ok. He shook his head slowly.
"You shouldn't have," he said, and his was voice too soft, almost alien. "You should have just-"
"I couldn't just watch them kill you," Caitlin managed, her stomach revolting at the thought, and she was glad she'd only had a few bites of her pastry, no matter how hungry she felt now. If she'd had anything to vomit, she might have then and there. "I couldn't just-they were going to-how can you say I should have let them?"
"Ronnie," Cisco looked down and away, and Caitlin pulled uselessly at the chair. "He's your fiance, your family, I'm just-"
"You're family, too." Caitlin interrupted him. "And don't you dare think otherwise. We don't have time for that, we've got to get out."
Cisco nodded, scooting closer until he had the table between him and the door. Up close, his injuries looked even worse. "I don't think they got all my clips," he said, softly, in case there were any bugs. "But I can't reach. If you can get one, maybe…"
Caitlin thought of the multitool hair clips she, Barry, and Dr. Wells, before he'd revealed his true colors, had gotten Cisco for Christmas, and nodded.
"Ronald."
"It's Ronnie, professor." Ronnie was usually a bit more patient, but now was not one of those days.
"Ronnie," Stein said, and the younger man stopped, surprised. The professor had never given in that easily before. "We need to be careful about this. If Caitlin is in danger-"
"She is. I know she is."
"-and she hasn't been saved by... other means, then reason suggests that STAR Labs and our compatriots may also be compromised." Martin Stein sighed loudly. "Which may mean that this is all a tr-"
"Of course it's a trap," Ronnie burst out, glad they'd landed and separated in a secluded area outside of the city. "I. Don't. Care."
The professor removed his glasses, rubbing them on his shirt absently. "I know. But we cannot go in blindly and simply hoping for the best. I realize that plan may have worked before, but we owe her a real rescue, not a-what's the phrase? 'Half assed attempt'?"
Ronnie nodded. "Call STAR, from a safe place. Tell them what's going on if you can get hold of anyone, if not," he swallowed hard, a pained look in his eyes. "If not, assume the worst. I'll go meet Cait. If it's a trap, the last thing we want is them getting both of us."
Martin Stein nodded, grim faced. "I'd rather not get Clarissa involved in this if she hasn't been already. I'll go for the city library first, if I'm spotted, well, some of my coworkers and I have-had- a storage space on 15th. I don't think they'll have changed the codes."
Ronnie nodded. " Stay safe, professor."
"And you, Ronald."
Ronnie didn't bother correcting him. It was getting to close to Cait's deadline as it was.
Jitters wasn't as full as the last time Ronnie'd been inside, date night with Cait, asking her to skip down with him. She'd refused, and he knew why, now. Still-if they'd both run off, would she be safe? He scanned the room, searching for threats, searching for her.
There wasn't any aura of evil, but something felt off, for certain. Ronnie glanced at the clock on the wall, and frowned he was early, but Caitlin would have been as well, she was always early. There were a few empty tables, so he chose the one nearest the door, one here there wouldn't be much traffic if he had to grab Caitlin and run.
A waitress-barista?-stopped by to ask what he wanted; he ordered a black coffee, which he mostly drank to annoy Stein. He was waiting for it and for Caitlin, glancing down at the burner phone. Someone sat down across from him.
"I'm waiting for someone," he snapped before looking up. His gut roiled, then, and he wished he'd merged with Stein so he could barbeque this man's face. He'd hoped never to see General Eiling again, after that February night.
"Mr. Raymond, Professor Stein. We have something to discuss. You have something of mine." General Eiling smiled a predator's smile. He set something small down on the table.
Ronnie's heart pounded in his chest, hard and fast, and he swallowed. Something of the General's? Unless Eiling meant himself-themselves, him and Stein...but that probably was what he meant.
"I-" Ronnie hesitated, itching to blast the man but lacking the ability to do so. His breath caught when he saw what lay on the tabletop, a slim silver band with a diamond. He knew the ring. It had belonged to his grandmother. Fury pulsed through him like flame. "I could say the same thing. Where's Cait?"
"She's alive and safe, for now," Eiling said, shrugging faintly. "Whether or not she remains that way is up to the two of you."
Ronnie clenched his jaw so hard he felt-heard-his teeth grinding together. "Let. Her. Go."
Eiling glanced around, but his eyes were light, as if he was merely interested. "Don't make a scene. It won't end well for you or for any of these people. You're in no position to make threats. There's something I want, and I will have it."
"What?" Ronnie knew already, and he concentrated hard, wishing he could communicate to Stein, warn him, but knowing he couldn't.
"Don't play dumb. There's a van waiting. For the girl's sake, I suggest you come quietly, but...it really doesn't make a difference to me, you understand. There will be consequences, but it won't be me paying for any tricks the two of you have."
Ronnie tore his eyes from Caitlin's ring and nodded slowly.
"Wise choice. After you." Eiling rose slowly, his smile harsh and smug.
:) slowly picking up speed. Comment if you feel like it, Capslocks and keysmashes welcome. :)