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 struggles with her latest revelation, which is made twice as hard by Hunter's plans.


Chapter Eleven
The Saucepan


Caitlin felt a storm churning within, a wild throb of raw emotions - fear, confusion, and denial foremost among them - that threatened to tear her apart.

She couldn't be pregnant. She couldn't. She had been so careful about birth control.

Her mind raced with all the Earth-2 medical research she'd consumed. There was ample evidence suggesting that the robustness of metahealing was reflected in the reproductive system. That, and most metas had incredible metabolic variations that rendered the recommended dosages for most drugs obsolete, including hormone therapy.

But she wasn't metahuman. She didn't even have the meta-gene. None of that applied to her.

But it does apply to him.

She wanted to scream. Leave it to her to fall in love with a manipulative villain with super-sperm.

No. Even if she had gotten pregnant back on Earth-1, she had nearly died of hypothermia in Zoom's mountain lair. There was no way a fetus could remain viable after that; she would've miscarried.

Unless the baby is metahuman.

No, no, no. That wasn't how fetal development worked. Gene possession and gene expression were two different things. Both Barry and Cisco were born with the meta-gene, but neither became metahuman until the explosion at STAR Labs. Even then, the activation didn't translate to meta-abilities immediately. Barry spent months in a coma while his meta-healing gradually developed, and Cisco's powers didn't manifest for over a year.

There was no evidence to suggest that potential metahuman possessed meta-powers or meta-healing before the gene was activated. She had no reason to think that her baby had abilities in the womb.

Caitlin swallowed hard to clear the lump in her throat. She didn't want to accept that she was pregnant with Hunter's child, but as the endless torrent of thoughts washed over her, one thing crystalized for her: this was her baby - impossibly alive and hers.

She focused on her breathing, ignoring the fact that she as awkwardly splayed on the bathroom floor. With every inhalation, her mind discarded the denial and the confusion, and every exhalation, she release a small fraction of her anger.

Because, above all else, she was angry. Furious. Resentful. Her Earth-2 doppelganger was a literal ice queen and serial killer - or at the very least a murderer - yet, somehow, the multiverse gifted Killer Frost a child. And not just any child - Ronnie's son.

Cailtin was a doctor. She had fought all her life to do the right thing, doing everything in her power to be a good person. She had sacrificed for the greater good, hadn't she? So why was it that her murderous counterpart had her reward - a child with the man she loved - while Caitlin's baby had Zoom for a father?

That wasn't right. None of this was right. She deserved better than this, and so did her baby.

The fury inside her filled her veins like magma threatening to erupt, and she held that fire in her chest, basking in the power it gave her as she rose to her feet.

By the time she was standing, her rage had distilled into a palpable wrath, cultivated for a singular purpose: to protect her child.

She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror, and she was shocked to see that there was no outward indication of her turmoil. Instead, there was a chilling - nigh unnatural - calm to her features.

It was a familiar look for her. Caitlin was staring into the same face she'd worn for months after Ronnie had died - both times. She had likewise donned this facade when Jay "died."

You can do this. You've done it before.

That's right. She knew how to do this. She knew how soldier on, no matter how devastating the blow.

Her lips upturned slightly when she realized that she and Frost shared at least one trait: When things went badly, they both ran cold.


Hunter inspected his reflection, scrutinizing everything from his blue jeans to his semi-casual shirt. He had spent years snuffing out any part of himself that cared what other people thought of him, and now he was having difficultly reversing the effects.

He pulled on his leather jacket - the one Caitlin had gifted him on their three-month anniversary - and he revealed in the ego boost it provided.

He tried to imagine what she would think of him dressed like this. She'd rarely commented on clothing one way or another, which made guessing impossible.

As a person who prided himself on planning ahead and knowing everybody else's next moves before they did, he deeply disliked his current situation.

You look fine. You're just nervous.

Yes, that was it. He just needed -

Because you know that she knows you're a monster.

The intruding thought stung, and he reeled away from the mirror, hating that a handful of words had the power to hurt him.

No... Caitlin could've refused to operate, let him die on the operating table, or even killed him in his weakened state. Yet here he stood, alive and well, because of her. Whether or not she thought he was a monster, she saved his life.

Caitlin might side with The Cause but that doesn't mean she'll ever trust you.

Hunter felt a chill run down his spine.

She'll never love you.

Caitlin would help The Cause; of that, he had no doubts. Now that she knew the atrocities of the so-called governments of Earth-2, she couldn't side with them or their law enforcement agencies. He had gone to great lengths to ensure that her experiences during the siege guaranteed her allegiance.

But that didn't mean she would be with him. She could fight by his side and pull him back from the edge of death a thousand times over, all the while spurning him.

Of course, she'll reject you. You wounded her family and abducted her.

Panic surged. Despite all the terrible things he'd endured, he couldn't imagine surviving a future filled with Caitlin's rejection. He needed her in a way he'd never needed anybody else in his life.

He turned back to the mirror, fearing he might lose his temper and shatter the fragile surface. And when he peered into his own eyes, something else slithered across his mind.

She'll never forgive you, no matter what lies you tell her.

Normally, such an idea would throw him into the rage and send him running for relief, but this time, it made him smile.

It's true. There were no lies he could tell her that would convince her to forgive him. The only way to earn her forgiveness was with the truth.

Well, most of it, anyway.

Liar.

Hunter had planned on giving Caitlin something of a history lesson of Earth-2, lest she believe that the MTU rose to root out criminal metahumans. No, the MTU was just the latest name for those seeking to exploit, dominate, and destroy powered individuals.

Yes, that was important for her to know, but anyone could tell her about that part of Earth-2's past. He, on the other hand, was the only one who could explain Zoom and Jay Garrick. No one else knew.

Someone else knows.

But not someone who would ever the chance to tell Caitlin. Not someone who could ever show her everything.

The voice in his head went silent, and Hunter felt a surge of something unfamiliar.

That made his decision quite simple.

With that, the bathroom filled with blue sparks before he raced back to The Comet.


Caitlin had returned to her room and dressed in fresh clothing, selecting the most conservative articles available. She ended up in a pair of slightly baggy black jeans and a blue, long-sleeved turtleneck.

She ate a granola bar as she looked over her outfit. It covered nearly every inch of her skin. Yet it was also incredibly flattering, no doubt because Hunter had procured her entire wardrobe. She missed her own clothing and her closet back on Earth-1.

She grabbed the last granola bar out of her bedside table. Less than an hour ago, there had been four, and she had only planned to eat one or two. But she hadn't eaten dinner, she reasoned, so she made quick work of her last snack.

She loathed the idea of asking Hunter for anything, but now was the time. There was no doubt in her mind that he knew she was pregnant. If the four blood tests weren't an indication, then his behavior at breakfast certainly was. He had been trying to paint himself as a father: having the meal prepared, handling RJ, insisting on a nickname to protect his identity...

It was a well-played manipulation, but he should've known that she'd see it for what it was as soon as she discovered she was pregnant. Maybe he assumed she wouldn't care or that it didn't matter if she cared, one way or another.

She would make him pay for it, for everything.

Caitlin put the thought out of her mind as she checked on RJ, who was fast asleep in his crib. She watched him for a few minutes, wondering if this was how her baby would look.

No, RJ looks just like his father.

That dredged something up inside her; something ugly with claws, fangs, and melodious breath. It nearly cracked her cool veneer.

Yes, Hunter had to know she was pregnant, but he didn't know that she knew. Not yet. Which made now the perfect time to make demands. If she could convince him to collect her clothing from Earth-1, then he'd have to traverse a portal, and she knew that Cisco would be monitoring for that. She could get a message through, maybe even make contact with her friends.

But she couldn't ask him outright for what she wanted. She needed to make him think it was his idea.

He's been manipulating you for your entire relationship. It's high time you return the favor.

A plan quickly formulated in her mind. She wondered if she had always been adept with such maneuvers or if she had learned from Hunter.

Knock, knock.

Caitlin's head turned from the crib to the doorway. Hunter stood, staring at her as he waited. She bit back the bitter words threatening to spill out of her and tried to conjure a smile.

She failed.

"Are you all right, Cailtin?" he asked.

"I - uh," she said. "I just... miss my clothing."

"You have clothing."

"It's not mine."

"It's for you, of course it's yours," he replied.

"It's not mine," she repeated. "Never mind, it's not important."

"If it's bothering you, then it is important."

"You said you wanted to show me something?" she asked, changing the subject.

He paused for a moment, his expression oscillating between stubbornness and concern before finally shifting to determination.

"Totem made arrangements for Frostbite," he began.

Ever the manipulator.

"Blink is waiting downstairs for us," he continued. "You'll need a coat. It's cold where we're going."

She plucked a gray overcoat from the closet and pulled it over her shoulders, happy to have another layer between her and Hunter's prying eyes.

He led the way downstairs. She thought they would stop in the kitchen or living room, but they continued into the basement. In a flash of blue, Hunter donned his Zoom suit and waved her into the elevator.

The ride to the first floor of the Comet had never felt so long.

As soon as the doors opened, she felt a hand on her shoulder, and the world dissolved around her.

"Return to the Comet and wait for my call," Zoom ordered.

Blink nodded curtly before she vanished into the night sky.

A chilling wind drove her to flip up the collar of her coat as she took in her surroundings. They were halfway up a mountain, though it was too dark for her to be certain.

Hunter's arm came up and around her shoulder, protecting her from the worst of the wind. She wanted to shove him away, but the cold cut down to the bone.

Before she could ask what they were doing in the middle of nowhere, her feet left the ground, and the scenery turned into a blur of blue lightning.

Hunter put her down inside a warm, dark cavern with an oddly crafted interior. It was as if somebody had built a log cabin inside a cave. It reminded her of the first place he held her captive on Earth-2.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"A hideaway no one knows about," he replied as he yanked his cowl off.

"And we're here because...?"

"Because you asked me why I brought you here," he explained.

"You told me I wasn't safe," she said, unable to conceal the scorn in her voice.

"You weren't, not on Earth-1," he said. "But you obviously didn't believe it - "

"Don't believe it," she corrected him. "I don't believe that you brought me here because I wasn't safe on Earth-1."

Anger briefly flashed across his features, but it quickly dissipated.

"I deserved that," he commented.

He seemed calm, but she could hear the edge in his voice.

"And it's true, I hadn't planned on bringing you here. Not yet," he continued.

"Not yet?" she repeated. "What does that mean?"

"I was supposed to wait," he said. "But, the things you said to me... the way you talked to me... I couldn't wait any longer. I couldn't leave you there."

What was he talking about? Did he really think waiting a month was a long time? That was, after all, how long Jay had been 'dead.' The strain in his voice made it sound like it had been a lifetime.

He walked over to a large metal door and phased his hand through a metal panel.

"A lock only a Speedster can open it," he explained.

The door opened when with a heavy clank, revealing a dimly lit room with a high ceiling.

She hesitated. The anger brewing from earlier in the evening made her feel strong, but it also made her impulsive. The urge to lash out grew stronger by the minute, and she needed to keep it in check, at least for now. Whatever Hunter was about to show her, it was either a half-truth or a manipulation, and she couldn't risk cutting him short, not when it might provide insight on his plots.

So before she stepped inside, she promised herself that she would let this play out. It was the only way she could ferret out whatever scraps of truth existed in this room.

He stepped in right behind her and waved a hand, causing the lights to brighten ever so slightly. It was enough to reveal that the walls were covered from floor to ceiling with clippings, photos, and handwritten notes. Only about a dozen were clear and large enough to read, and they all shared a common topic: Caitlin Snow.

Of course, the news articles featured photos of her doppelganger, though one particularly disturbing article had both Snows pictured under the headline FROST FOUND DEAD WITH KILLER TWIST. It stated that the body of Killer Frost was discovered on the roof of STAR Labs. The official cause of death was blunt force trauma, but the author speculated that Frost died in an attempt to cure herself of "the meta-human disease." The photos served as a kind of evidence - before and after shots for "the cure."

It was dated October 2018.

Another article reported the last two bodies recovered from deep below the rubble of a leveled skyscraper had been identified as Killer Frost and Joe West. A second clipping was immediately beneath it: a statement of retraction, dated two days later, claiming that the bodies had been misidentified. Both were from January 2019.

There were a cluster of other articles about the capture and imprisonment of Killer Frost, dated February 2019. All of them openly discussed the fact that she was being tortured for information - and for her crimes. Her public execution occurred in November 2019 by electric chair, but the woman in the photograph wasn't Killer Frost.

"These are all from at least two years in the future," she pointed out. "Different universes?"

"No, they're all from Earth-2," he said. "The bylines... same journalists, writing for the same outlets. Different timelines."

Couldn't he come up with anything better than fake news clippings from 'the future'?

"You expect me to believe that all of these are real?" she asked.

"They are real, Caitlin," he replied softly.

"They're just pieces of paper," she said, unable to hold back.

Without warning, he closed in on her. Blue lightning rippled across his body, but that was nothing compared to the energy radiating off of him, a potent combination of anger and pain. Despite the wrathful fuel bubbling beneath her skin, as he crowded her space, she backed up until she hit a wall. It was only when his face was inches from hers that she noticed the panic, desperation, and bitterness hidden under his fury.

"Maybe they're pieces of paper to you," he whispered. "But not to me."

He backed away, but if anything, the tension increased.

"Each time, you were safe on Earth-1," he said. "Until the moment that you weren't."

"If that's true, then how did I die on Earth-2?"

He waved at the article about her body being found under a fallen skyscraper. "You were pulled through an unstable portal while attempting to save Joe West from a gunshot wound. You could've escaped and survived, but you refused to leave him to die alone."

He pointed to her body being found on the roof of STAR Labs. "The MTU was hunting metas, specifically the handful that escaped to Earth-1. They didn't care about collateral damage. Their troops dragged you through the portal, and when you resisted, they caved your skull in to prove a point."

"And this," he continued, pointing at the pages that detailed Killer Frost's imprisonment and torture. "You came to Earth-2 with Wells for some reason, and the MTU captured you, thinking you were Frost in disguise."

"That says I was in prison for months," she said. "If that had happened, someone would've come for me - Barry, Cisco, Wells - "

"Wells?" he cut her off. "Wells left you to die. He knew where you were and what they were doing to you, and he did nothing!"

"I don't believe that!"

"He had the chance to tell me," he said. "I let him live. He'd done what I needed him to do. I told him as much. He had plenty of opportunities to tell me the MTU captured you, not Frost, and he didn't. He left you to die."

"Maybe he thought it was better!" she shot back. "Maybe he thought leaving me at your mercy was worse than death!"

His face contorted into a hideous snarl, and for a moment, she thought he might lash out at her physically. But then he whipped away from her as he unleashed a scream.

When he turned back to her, his hands were in his hair, smoothing it down till they reached his neck.

"What do I have to do to convince you?" he asked.

It was almost a plea, like he was begging. Almost.

"You have no reason to trust me," he continued. "I understand that, but I swear to you, I don't have any reason to lie to you. Not anymore. I only brought you here this time because I couldn't watch you die again. Caitlin, I love you - "

"Don't," she interrupted.

For the briefest moment, she considered the possibility that he was telling her the truth, or part of it, at least. Maybe he had been to the future - or several futures - and seen her die in each one.

Or maybe he hadn't seen her die. Maybe he'd discovered something in the future, something she had kept from him for as long as possible.

That's how he knows about the baby.

A deluge of thoughts hit her. Did he suffer delusions of fatherly affection? Did he think he deserved to be part of her child's life?

Or did he find out your child will become a Speedster.

She shuttered at the thought, yet it was the only thing that made sense. Zoom had to be the fastest man alive, and anybody who threatened that title - even his own child - had to be eliminated. Assuming he let it get that far... he could just as easily cultivate the SpeedForce and steal it for himself, like he did with Barry.

Caitlin struggled to maintain her composure with her mind reeling.

"Don't," she said finally, her voice shaking.

That pissed her off. She wasn't crying, she was furious, yet it sounded as if she was bawling her eyes out.

"You don't get to say that," she said. "You don't get to say those words."

"Caitlin, I - "

"No!" she shouted. "You thrust a hand through your own chest and pulled yourself through a portal. And you made me watch! You made me watch you die! So you don't get to say that to me! And you don't get to complain about watching me die!"

Silence followed her words, and her mind seized upon the opportunity to fill her head with worst-case scenarios. A cascade of horrible possibilities drowned out everything around her. Everything from using her to control her child to these stories being the truth - that he was trying to 'save' her in his own, sick way, and trapped her in this hell to do it.

She closed her eyes and put her hands to over ears, though there was no point to it. Her thoughts were so loud that they blotted out the entire world.

Yet his voice somehow got through to her.

"Caitlin?" he said gently. "Caitlin?"

She opened her eyes and saw how close he'd gotten to her. He put his palm on her cheek, and for some reason, she leaned into it, desperate for comfort, even from all the wrong places.

His eyes softened, and then his lips came down over hers, supple and feather light, delivering a kiss so tender that it begged to continue. She was swept up that she returned the kiss in equal measure.

And a flood of memories came with the kiss: standing under the mistletoe with nervous anticipation, comforting him as he told her about his confrontations with Zoom, holding him after his nightmares.

She pulled away and slapped him hard enough to bruise.

"You're angry," he said, unfazed. "But that doesn't change the fact that I love you."

"You told me your mother used to take you the train," she began. "That's why, whenever you needed to clear your head, you'd take a train. And what about your nightmares? The ones about Zoom stealing me from you? Me disappearing in a blur of blue lightning? All the times you told me about how afraid you were of Zoom and what he'd do..."

"All of that was true," he replied. "All of it. My mother did take me on trains when I was little, before she died. She'd point out something new to me every time. And I did have nightmares about Zoom taking you. And I was afraid - "

"Stop lying to me!"

"I'm not lying," he insisted.

"You expect me to believe you were terrified of yourself?" she snapped.

"I didn't know!"

His words echoed. Hunter seemed cowed, like he hadn't meant to say what he'd just said. Caitlin didn't know if she should laugh or cry at his pathetic defense, but she didn't have to decide, her body chose for her. Her eyes welled up with fury.

He reached out to her, and she lashed out, desperate to return a tiny fraction of the pain he'd dealt her. The bottom of her fist made contact with his chest, and he didn't try to stop her as her other hand came down next to it.

She wailed on his chest, and the tears began in earnest as she realized that he was letting her. He wasn't even trying to stop her from venting every ounce of her anger on him. That only served to spur her on.

"Stop lying to me!" she started to repeat over and over again, punctuating her shouts with her strikes. It didn't take long for her throat to become hoarse. "Just - stop! Stop lying! I can't - I can't. Just stop lying... stop..."

She continued pounding against his chest until she couldn't lift her arms anymore and she collapsed into him.

"I'll do anything you want, but I can't take the lies anymore," were the last words she managed to speak.

The worst thing was how true that statement was. It made her cringe.

He gently tilted her chin up, and she saw something pass over his face.

He sighed, long and deep, before he spoke again.

"No more lies," he agreed. "Caitlin, when we were together, I didn't know I was Zoom."


End of Chapter Notes


Chapter notes: The title of this chapter, the Saucepan, is from the Australian name for the constellation comprised of Orion's belt and sword.

Author's note: I hope you've enjoyed the latest installment! You might have noticed that the total number of chapters has changed from twenty to thirty. Some of it is plot expansion, but I'm working on making the chapters a bit shorter so I can write and proof them on some kind of schedule. The next chapter is already in the works!