Spoilers: Orion references characters, events, and themes from all episodes of The Flash through 02x22 Invincible, all comics featuring Zoom/Hunter Zolomon, and various comics released under the New 52.
Warning: Orion contains adult content, graphic description of violence, and dark material that exceed canon-typical levels. Please mind the M rating.
Chapter Summary: Caitlin has her first encounter with Zoom as his captive. Hunter attempts to create inroads to their previous relationship.
Chapter Two
Nair al Saif
Earth-1, about seven months ago... Jay arrived at STAR Labs at six in the morning, gravitating immediately to the coffee machine. He kept things would become easier, yet the distance between him and his first caffeinated cup seemed endless.
This was life without his speed.
Jay did a double take when he saw a freshly brewed pot waiting and ready.
"I hope you don't mind dark roast," Caitlin said as she came in, two mugs in hand.
"I, uh, wasn't expecting anyone here so early."
She handed him a mug, and he watched her take the first pour of the pot.
Jay was taken with her. At first he thought it was his curiosity, for, by the time he figured out that the Earth-1 Flash worked with STAR Labs, she had already started working at Mercury Labs, so he hadn't observed her as much as the others.
She smiled at him, and his heart rate elevated slightly.
No, it wasn't his curiosity.
"You're the only person who's gotten here before me," she said.
"I was never much of an early riser until I came through the singularity. Now I can't sleep past five."
"Huh. Do you think that the environmental stimuli on this earth are different enough to affect autonomic function?" she asked. "Or maybe the singularity altered your circadian rhythms when you passed through it."
"You think I have multidimensional jet lag?" he asked.
They both laughed, and his heart rate went up again. There was a brief and awkward silence that he desperately wanted to fill, but he couldn't think of anything to say.
Caitlin was incredibly distracting.
He fidgeted with his hands and realized he was still holding an empty mug, so he poured himself some coffee.
"I thought that, since the Snart family dilemma seems to be over for now, maybe you could use me," she said. She seemed flustered for a moment before she added, "I mean, on the Speed Canon. You said a second pair of hands would be helpful."
"That would be great."
They spent the next hour or so discussing the mechanics while polishing off the entire pot of coffee. He was exhilarated by the conversation, which he had only intended to be a ten-minute overview, but it had gotten away from him as he became hyperaware of everything he said and did, overanalyzing every second of it.
Jay had always been highly self-aware around people; that was one of the reasons he preferred to work alone. But this was different. He didn't just want her to have a positive impression of him. No, he wanted her to like him, as in a reciprocation of his own feelings. He felt ridiculous. He couldn't remember the last time he tried to impress anybody, and he was absolutely certain it showed.
Maybe it was his imagination, but she seemed to see right through him, like she could tell things about his character by how he sipped his coffee or how close he stood to her while they spoke. He felt exposed and disarmed, more so than the days of invasive medical testing she performed.
Yet, despite that, she smiled. She saw through him and smiled.
Jay knew he was in trouble before they even reached the Breach Room.
He was no fool. He knew he was a good-looking man, and more than one woman had ignored darker, negative aspects of his personality in favor of physical attraction. But Caitlin hadn't shown that kind of interest in him, not until he started talking about his lab and his research.
She was a beautiful genius from another universe, and that was a problem. When people talked about 'long distance relationships,' they meant couples who lived in different states, countries, or continents, not separate universes. He could enjoy her friendship and their little flirtations, but it couldn't go any further than that.
A beautiful genius from another universe saw right through him and smiled at what she saw? No, it wasn't meant to be.
...
"Like this?" she asked as she adjusted the damping mount.
"You're off by about ten degrees," he replied. "They need to be perpendicular to the floor."
She nodded and shifted in the wrong direction with a ferocious determination in her eyes.
Jay came up behind her. She was tense, and he wondered if it was because she was nervous. His stomach tightened in knots when he considered that it could be for the same reason he was.
"I've done this so much, sometimes I forget," he said as he brought an arm up and under hers. "I hope you don't mind."
"Not at all," she replied.
"Since we're not working on a standing structure, you have to visualize," he explained. "It might feel wrong, but that's normal. I have to resist the urge to check the diagram over and over again. Because you need to trust yourself. You already know where this belongs. The mount needs to be perpendicular to the floor for the vibration dampeners to have full effect."
With one arm, he continued to support hers while the other extended out in front of her, using the long wrench he'd been using to illustrate his point. He had to move forward slightly, pressing his chest against her back, to reach out far enough to show her what he was talking about. He continued to explain things in a calm voice, despite the fact that his mind was reeling from the physical contact.
"Right now this seems like it's the top of the structure," he continued. "But once we finish this, it'll be connected to the bottom of the stabilizer ring's leg, toward the floor. Right now you're seeing it like this, but it's actually like this."
He moved the wrench so that it represented where the floor would be in relation to the mount.
"So, down is left," she said quietly.
Before he could answer, she adjusted perfectly and tightened it in the right place. Without further instruction. Without clarification. Without question.
He bit his lip before reluctantly stepping away from her. Smart was sexy, and brilliance elicited a physical response he wouldn't be able to conceal from her at such a proximity.
"Perfect," he said.
Earth-2, now... Hunter relished Ascension Cliffs. Not only did he have an established keep there - a place he called the Roost - but it was one of the few hideouts he had kept secret from nosy meta-humans like Reverb. That was why he kept his most valuable bargaining chips and long-term prisoners there.
So you decided to keep the woman you think you love, with all your other prized possessions.
He shook his head. Hunter didn't think he loved Caitlin, he knew it. That was the only possible explanation for why he couldn't stop thinking about her and why he was constantly worried for her safety. He loved her. She would see that eventually, if she didn't already. She was a smart girl, after all.
You're insane if you believe that. Caitlin won't see you as anything but a monster. She won't forgive the things you've done.
Luckily, Hunter required her safety, not her forgiveness.
Of all his secret locales, the Roost had the best security. The only others who knew about its location were Team Flash, who were stranded on Earth-1 with no means of traveling to or communicating with Earth-2.
Untrue. Cisco was able to vibe across dimensions and contact you, and he's just scratched the surface of his abilities. It won't be long before he can contact anyone, anytime on Earth-2.
Hunter considered the implications of Vibe's intrusions, but he concluded that they wouldn't be a problem. Not yet. He'd worry about it later. Right now, he had someone important to check on.
Zoom rushed to Ascension Cliffs, making short work of the day's chores: checking on the prisoners, depositing food inside their cells, and inspecting the containment areas. There were no surprises.
There were never any surprises.
He took a moment to compose himself before entering his lab at the back of the cavern. It wasn't exactly cozy, but it had all the makings of a real world living space - flooring, insulation, ventilation, and running water - despite its location. On those rare occasions when Zoom had experienced injury, this place acted as his refuge and recovery room. No one else had ever been inside.
Not until Caitlin.
She's a smart woman. Smarter than you.
Zoom darted inside and found Caitlin curled up on the cot, facing away from the door. The food he'd left for her - her favorite granola bars - were untouched on the table. The same was true for the bottled water.
"Caitlin, you need to eat," he said in his modulated Zoom voice.
She didn't respond.
He zipped around to the other side of the cot, and she flinched away from him.
"You haven't had anything to eat or drink in twelve hours."
She sat up and moved to the opposite side of the cot, hunching her shoulders and glaring at him.
"If you want to talk to me, take off that mask."
She couldn't see it, but he smiled at that. He loved the ferocity inside of her. He raced out of the room, donned his Jay attire, and returned in less than a second.
"Does this make you feel better?" he asked in his normal voice.
"Nothing you do could ever make me feel better."
"I know you think I'm a monster," he said. "I understand why, but Cait - "
She interrupted, "Don't call me that."
"Why starve yourself, Caitlin?" he asked, not so much as batting an eye at the command in her voice.
"Why am I here?" she asked. "You're cured. You don't need me for anything."
"You're here because I love you," he replied, getting a little closer to her. "And because you weren't safe."
"Safe?" she repeated in disbelief. "You call this safe?"
"I won't let anything happen to you."
"You mean besides being abducted and imprisoned by a mass murderer?"
"You don't have to be afraid. I won't hurt you. I'd never hurt you."
"You'd never hurt me?" she asked. "You already have!"
In an effort to put distance between them, Caitlin got to her feet and moved away, but her knees buckled, throwing her forward.
He caught her, scooping her up in his arms and putting her back on the cot.
"Put me down!" she yelled. "Don't touch me!"
He put his hands up and stepped back.
"You need to eat," he repeated.
She wouldn't look at him.
"You're angry. It's understandable, but I know you, Caitlin. You're not self-destructive," he said. "You should make yourself at home. You're going to be here for a while."
He changed into his Zoom suit before leaving the lab in a whirl of blue lightning. He raced down the cliffs and deep into the wilderness, letting the rush chase away the nagging doubts that were quickening into anger.
He hadn't expected her to return his declaration of love, but her reaction cut deep, right down to the part of himself he tried to bury with his mother. She had acted like he was... he was...
An insane monster.
He roared, letting the fury coursing through his veins erupt from his mouth and echo through the mountains. A long time ago, he had taken measures to protected himself, to ensure he never felt pain like this again, but Caitlin circumvented every precaution, scaled every wall, and climbed into his heart.
Caitlin hasn't done anything wrong.
Hunter stopped at the top of a mountain and tore off his cowl, letting the wind buffet his skin. He couldn't let his anger take control. He closed his eyes and dug into those memories on Earth-1, recalling every moment with her. It washed over him, quelling the biter ember that had flared inside of him.
She loved him. She hadn't said the words, but she told him in other ways: every smile, every concerned glance, every touch, every promise, every time she trusted him. She was furious with him, yes, but she loved him.
She won't forgive you.
Grodd, the giant telepathic gorilla, had attempted to kill various members of Team Flash, and she hadn't had any issues forgiving him after he abducted her. Why wouldn't she do the same for him?
Grodd didn't betray her deepest trust.
That brought a smile to his face. The reason she was so upset now was because she loved him.
He donned his mask and charged to Central City. His revelation had also given him an idea on how to handle his future Vibe problems.
Caitlin exhaled when he left. She was enraged and terrified, shaking from the adrenaline coursing through her system. She sat up straight and closed her eyes, but she couldn't focus. There were too many emotions battling inside of her, all jockeying for control.
He said he kidnapped her because he loved her, because he needed to protect her.
Oddly, the feeling that came to the forefront was bitterness. Five weeks ago, an 'I love you' from Jay Garrick would've induced euphoria. She had been in love with him, but she hadn't told him. She hadn't been ready, but she knew she loved him. She had simultaneously longed to tell him and feared speaking the truth, worried about his reaction, even though she knew - or thought she knew - that he felt the same way. So she waited for him to say it first.
But Jay never got a chance to say those three little words because Jay never existed. He was a persona Hunter used to get close to her. The declaration of love she thought she'd never have a chance to hear came from Hunter after he abducted her. Did he think that because he made her believe he loved her as Jay that she'd be stupid enough to fall for it again, or was he honestly delusional?
No, not delusional.
The one benefit of spending so much time with Jay - Hunter - was that she had observed his behavior more than anyone else, and she had never seen him display any sign of delusion. The only red flag she'd witnessed was him ruminating, which she attributed it to the trauma of his previous battles with Zoom and losing his speed.
Her stomach growled loudly.
She cast a glance over at the table, which was filled with Granite Granola bars, her favorite. He'd gone so far as to remove the one flavor that she never ate but always had around her apartment because her favorite kinds were only sold in the variety pack.
The downside to spending so much time with Jay - Hunter - was that he had plenty of opportunity to study her.
She picked up a bottle of water and examined it. If Zoom wanted her dead, he wouldn't resort to poison, but that didn't mean she could trust anything he gave her. He could've laced the water and food with any number of chemicals to affect her mood and behavior.
She glanced around the room. The cot and table were in the far back next to a bathroom and kitchenette. The corner occupied less than an eighth of the entire room. The rest was a science lab outfitted with a medical bay.
She hadn't noticed before because of the dimness, not to mention the sedatives. If Jay - Hunter - hadn't come in and triggered an adrenaline rush, she would probably still be in a fog.
Caitlin looked over the equipment at her disposal: scalpels, syringes, pharmaceuticals, beakers, flutes, an array of chemicals, Bunsen burners... it was no short list.
There was no delineation between medicine and other chemical experiments, probably a result of Jay's - Hunter's - work on Velocity-6 and its precursors, and about a third of the lab space was dedicated to engineering and physics. Everything was safely stored, sterilized, ventilated, and labeled in Jay's - Hunter's - handwriting.
She found the familiarity comforting.
Earth-1, about four months ago in January... Caitlin parked outside an older, partially renovated building.
"You live here?" she asked.
"I told you, it's not a typical home," Jay replied.
He led her inside through a heavy storm door.
"I forgot to mention, there's a lot of stairs... and no elevator," he said apologetically.
Caitlin looked up and saw thirty flights in the stairwell. He wasn't kidding.
"So, how did you find this place?" she asked as they began to climb.
"When I woke up here, I had no idea I was on a different earth," he began. "I was disoriented and confused, but I knew something wasn't right. Besides the fact that I wasn't healing, I mean. I snuck out of the hospital but didn't get too far. I was walking down the street when this little boy - must've been six or seven - ran out in front of a pickup truck. I got him out of the way, but..."
"You got hit by a car?" she asked, concerned.
"Yes, which was actually a good thing. The boy - Roger - his mother is some big developer who owns tons of property all around Central City."
"Ester Silverton?" Caitlin asked.
"Yes, that's her," he replied.
He stopped at a door labeled "#14," and he held it open for her, a perfect gentleman.
"Thank you," she said.
"She told me, if I ever needed a place to stay, she'd help me out," he continued. "I jokingly asked if she had any place that'd double as a lab. Apparently renovations on this building have been halted indefinitely."
He stopped by a large door and unlocked it, stepping inside and flicking a switch. All the lights came on overhead, revealing a large, wide-open space that had been converted into a dual lab for physics and chemistry.
"Wow," she said. "You live here?"
"Technically, I live over there," he said, pointing to the other side of the room.
She followed him through a pair of glass doors and found a medium-sized kitchenette, the kind that would serve as a work-place break room, and a small bathroom.
"This place is amazing, Jay."
"It's, uh, not much of a living space," he said. "But it does have some perks besides the short commute."
"Like what?"
Jay turned off the lab lights, leaving them with the much softer lighting used in the living area.
"Let me show you," he said as he held his hand out to her.
She took it, and he led her to a ladder. They both climbed up to a short hallway that ended in a large, lofted bedroom on one side and an enormous, floor-to-ceiling window on the other. There was a gap between the floor and the window, so they could see up and down through both stories.
He dimmed the remaining lights before he joined her and wrapped his arms around her.
"The view," he said in her ear.
The entire city was lit up, stretching out below them, save for the downtown skyscrapers, which rose up in the distance. Above that, the stars shined down, somehow visible despite the city's light pollution. Caitlin felt dwarfed by it.
"It's the stars that get me," he confessed. "There's no place in my Central City where you can see the skyline and the stars like this. Trust me, I've looked."
They stood there for a long time, staring out at the view. His arms brought her closer, and he put his head on top of hers. Her hands covered his forearms, one sliding down to one of his, where they clasped together.
Caitlin relaxed into his embrace. She felt safe here, even though it was new and unknown to her. Jay made her feel safe in a city full of rogue metahumans and Zoom on the horizon.
She turned around and kissed him, her lips hard and wanting as her hands came around his back. He reciprocated. His hands wandered up to her hair and down to her lower back.
His kiss was like exhaling after holding her breath a second too long. She reached up around the back of his neck, and he lifted her off her feet, spinning her so her back was against the hallway wall.
She wrapped her legs around his lower back, gasping as she felt his erection against her. She felt a rush of warmth flood her skin as wetness pooled in her center, Jay's teeth tugging gently at her bottom lip.
Jay carried her into the bedroom, holding her like he'd never let her go.
Earth-2, now... Caitlin felt her body relax, the tension in her muscles releasing as her heart rate returned to normal.
You're safe here.
The thought jolted her from her lull. She was not safe here, in the lair of a madman with super-powers. However she felt about Jay, he wasn't here. He never was. Jay was Hunter, and Hunter was Zoom.
Get the Hell out of here.
The scope and layout of the lab was impressive and, given the lab's owner, terrifying. But Jay - Hunter - had underestimated her, and Caitlin was ready to make him regret that error.
She had everything she required to escape. There were a dozen ways to bypass the electromagnetic lock on the door. She could fashion herself a handheld flamethrower and a few other chemical weapons to breach any barriers she encountered.
As Caitlin ran the calculations in her head, something else occurred to her. This lab had terrible lines of sight. With the chemicals at her disposal, she could craft and disperse improvisational incendiary devices that would ignite on contact with a speedster's friction. With the right positioning, she could turn this lab-dungeon into a fiery conflagration even Zoom wasn't fast enough to escape.
But then what will you do? You could be stuck in the mountains with no way down, and you'd be stranded on Earth-2.
Barry and Cisco had told her that Zoom kept his prisoners in a place only a speedster could reach, which meant she couldn't leave without Jay - Hunter - taking her. Even if she could descend on her own, she'd be stranded on Earth-2, where her doppelganger was a murderous metahuman.
There was no life for her here, and Zoom was her only way home.
She considered blowing the lab up anyway. It might kill her or maroon her in a universe where she'd probably be arrested and jailed for Killer Frost's crimes, assuming she wasn't killed by one of her counterpart's enemies. But if she stopped Zoom in the process, it would be worth it.
Ronnie would be so disappointed in you.
It was true. He'd never want her to throw her life away in a desperate attempt like that, not unless it was her very, very last resort. Cisco, Barry, Wells, Joe, Iris, Jesse... everyone back on Earth-1 would want her to live. They were probably working on a plan to rescue her. They needed her to hold on, to give them time.
Hunter had taken enough from her. She wouldn't let him have her life, too. Not if she could help it.
The way he spoke about his plans for her, it was clear that they were long-term. She had time to devise a strategy, hopefully one that would take down Zoom and allow her to escape with her life. And if she was truly stranded in this universe, than Earth-2 Iris and Barry could help her because, somehow, they were good people in every universe.
That made her smile.
Caitlin gathered a random sampling of granola bars and water bottles and brought them to one of the lab counters. It would take a few hours, but she had everything she needed to test for contaminants and drugs. If she didn't find anything, they'd be safe to eat. If she did find something, then it could indicate what Hunter had planned for her.
So she went to work on her plan, phase one: information gathering.
Zoom was pleased with his day's work when he returned to the Roost. As always, there were no surprises with his prisoners. He changed into his Jay attire before zipping into the back lab.
And what he found there was surprising.
Caitlin had been using his equipment, so he inspected the room, filling it with blue lightning as he covered every inch of the space in the blink of an eye.
There were no booby traps, no weapons, nothing. Whatever she had been doing, she hadn't armed herself. Neither did she attempt to escape. She hadn't even tried to unlock the door yet.
She had stayed. It made his heart flutter.
He stopped by the littered lab counter.
"Someone's been busy," he commented.
Caitlin looked at him, and he saw the fear hovering behind her eyes, though she tried to conceal it with anger.
That was when he noticed the wrappers, and he realized what she had been doing.
"You thought I'd poison you?" he asked in disbelief.
"Not poison, no."
"Then why did you test the food I left for you?"
"It wouldn't be the first time you drugged me."
"I sedated you so I could safely carry you through the breach," he replied. "I didn't drug the water you were drinking. I used a syringe."
"So I can trust the food and water you give me because, if you wanted to drug me, you'd inject me?" she asked.
"That's exactly what I'm saying."
Her expression changed from fury to disgust and then to frustration.
"I can be honest with you now, Caitlin," he continued. "I said I brought you here to protect you, and I meant that. You weren't safe on Earth-1."
"How can I believe anything you say, Jay? You lied to me about everything!"
"Not everything," he said. "Not about what's important. Not about us."
She scoffed in disbelief. He needed a way to break through to her, and he needed it now.
"So, what?" she asked. "You're just going to keep me here?"
She's a smart woman.
The best way to get through to Caitlin was to show her that Earth-2 needed her just as much, if not more, than Earth-1. He had just the project to illustrate that need.
"No," he replied. "This world needs you, Caitlin. You have valuable skills - "
"To help people," she interrupted. "I help people, which is the opposite of what you do."
He smiled, doing his best to ignore that last jab. He said, "There's someone just outside this door that will die very soon unless you can save her."
"What are you talking about?"
He heard the accusation in her voice. She thought he was implying that, if she didn't do as he told her, he'd kill someone.
"Not that," he replied. "I'm not in the process of hurting her, nor do I have any intention of doing so, regardless of what you choose."
"Choose?" she repeated. "If I can choose, then I want to go home!"
"That's not an option."
She turned away as she said, "Then just leave. Leave me alone."
He smiled faltered, but he forced it back into place. He had told her not to be afraid of him, and she certainly wasn't. It was simultaneously annoying and refreshing.
"We both know that, if you wanted to, you could've escaped," he replied as he slowly moved closer to her. "I only locked the door to see if you'd unlock it. You could've disrupted the power supply or burned through the hinges. You could've armed yourself."
"What makes you think I haven't?" she asked, her back still turned to him.
He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, and he felt every muscle in her body tighten as she inhaled sharply. She became even more tense as he stepped closer, pressing his chest against her back. His arm came up around hers, his hand finding her wrist, and he felt her heart rate erratically beating against his fingers.
"Because I know you, Caitlin," he whispered.
He watched her struggle to calm herself with a few uneasy breaths before she stepped away and wrenched her arm free of his grasp as she turned to look at him.
"Don't," was all she said as she backed away. "Just don't."
He acquiesced to her request and moved away. She visibly relaxed, but she wouldn't look up from the floor.
"I have lied to you before," he said. "But I don't have any reason to anymore, and I don't want to. I've never wanted to. And I know you don't trust me right now - "
"I will never trust you," she interrupted quietly.
"I'm going to show you," he continued, his frustration easily subdued by his admiration. "I believe that, at the very least, I have proven to you that I am a very patient man."
Caitlin shook her head and sat on the cot, covering her eyes with the palm of her hand. A few minutes passed in silence.
He wasn't sure what he had expected, but it wasn't this. He didn't like it. His offer should've been more than enough to entice her curiosity, but he knew pushing the idea any further would only make her more suspicious.
That left him one option.
"I'll let you think about it," he said, turning as if to leave.
"Wait," she prompted. "If I can save her, what happens to her then?"
His lips curled into a knowing smile. There was the Caitlin he knew and loved. He schooled his features before he spun around to face her.
He replied, "That, I'll leave to you."
"You'd spare her?" she asked. "You'd let her go?"
"If that's what you decide."
"That's what I'll decide," she said resolutely as she stood up. "I'm a doctor. I'll always want my patients to live freely."
"You have my word," he said. "Which I will prove to you is something I keep. So, Caitlin, what do you say?"
She nodded reluctantly, and he immediately donned his Zoom suit, though he left his cowl off.
"You don't need that."
"Oh, but you do," he replied. "No one can know you're helping me willingly."
"I am not helping you willingly," she snapped.
"No," he said, smiling at the fire inside her. "But you're not like my other prisoners. If anyone suspects that you know my true identity, they will come for you. It's safer if everyone thinks I'm forcing you to help these metas, especially if you plan on letting them go."
"I do."
"Good," he replied as he drew the mask over his head. He switched to his modulated Zoom voice and said, "Then I will dress the part. Time to meet your patient."
Caitlin clenched her jaw as he took hold of her and whisked her to the front of the Roost, where he kept his captives. Before he could make introductions, the prisoner spoke up.
"Why, hello, doppelganger of mine," the prisoner said.
Caitlin was shocked as she looked over her Earth-2 counterpart, identical yet so drastically different. He knew because he had catalogued those divergent characteristics as a pastime while waiting for Team Flash to find a way back to Earth-2.
She said, "You're... you're Killer Frost."
End of Chapter Notes
Chapter notes: The title of this chapter, Nair al Saif, comes from the name of the star Iota Orionis, and the name translates to 'the bright star of the sword.'
Author's notes: I hope you've enjoyed this chapter. I wanted to thank you all for the positive responses for this piece. Your reviews, follows, and favorites really make my day. I have plans to incorporate characters and events from the comic books as well as a few things of my own devising.
Also, I updated this chapter after a bit of proofreading on Orion in its (current) entirety, and some additional content was added to this chapter as part of that process.
