If someone were to ask Laura why she didn't celebrate Christmas, she would have been able to answer them easily. The first answer that came to mind was that it was just a holiday that had become too commercialized. Her mother had always celebrated a simpler Christmas, even if that time of the year had managed to become a sore spot. She still cherished those days, of course, and the way she saw the holidays now just reminded her of how much her life had changed. The second answer was her father. But she never really got to explain the second answer. People were usually satisfied enough with the first, and they never paid attention for too long after that anyway.

Still, having become a literal superhero, Laura was definitely feeling a lot more festive than usual, as was the rest of her team. She smiled into her scarf at the image of Cisco decking out a tree with Flash-themed ornaments. The smell of peppermint that wafted throughout S.T.A.R. Labs didn't even bother her as much as it should have, and on a whim, she'd ordered the gingerbread hot chocolate at Jitters on her way to the lab, savouring the aftertaste long after she'd finished the drink.

And, as part of her new daily routine, Laura had taken up training. Her powers had proven more than effective in combat situations, but there was always the chance that they would stop working, or that she wouldn't be able to use them in public. Neither Caitlin, nor Dr. Wells, nor Cisco, nor Barry knew how to fight, so she had taken the initiative of enrolling herself in a self-defence class run by the CCPD. It was grueling, especially since they met up three times a week, always before sunrise. Still, the more classes she attended, the more confident she felt, and everything she'd learned so far was really paying off in the field.

"That's all for today. I'll see you guys next week."

Laura let out a huge sigh of relief as the instructor dismissed them, stripping off her gear as she made her way towards the bench at the far end of the gym. However, just as she was about to down the rest of her water, her phone lit up with a text message from Joe.

Need you and Barry at Mercury Labs. Now.

On my way.

Thirty minutes later, Laura was crouched beside Barry on the floor of one of Mercury Labs' many research labs, inspecting the corpses of the two guards that had been assigned to the room as Joe directed the other officers. The place had been packed when she'd arrived, and it still was, but it was easy enough for Laura to tune out the voices of the officers and focus on the task at hand. The scene was a bit gruesome for the holiday season, with both of the guards' necks having been snapped cleanly, but the wounds themselves were enough to pique her interest.

"Blood spatter on the floor indicates high velocity impact. And look at the bodies, how they fell."

"It's almost as if they didn't fight back."

"Or they couldn't."

"Hey, Allen, Sanders; thought you guys should hear this."

Both Barry and Laura were distracted from their little one-on-one over the two corpses as Eddie approached them. There was a certain glint in his eye that she didn't quite like – almost as if he'd finally caught his white whale.

"What is it, Eddie?"

"The witness just reported seeing a blur kill those two guards. Sound familiar?"

Barry and Laura shared a quick look between themselves. She could see that the new information had shocked her partner, so she gestured for him to go join Joe before turning back to the scene. Something fast, and human, if the deep purple bruises on their necks were anything to go by, had snapped the men's necks with enough force to nearly sever their heads from their spinal cords. And they had to have been fast – they stood side-by-side, as if two people had snapped their necks instead of just one.

Carefully, she grasped one of the victim's heads by the temples and moved it to the side to get a better look, but let go with a small gasp of shock as a spark of electricity snapped at her hands. Laura couldn't tell if she was seeing things, but she could have sworn that she saw a momentary flicker of red at the edge of her gloved fingertips.

"Laura, can I talk to you for a second?"

With a quick glance upwards, Laura met Joe's eyes, but she stopped short when she saw how disturbed he looked. She decided to oblige him, and abandoned the scene for the moment to stand up.

"What's up?"

"…the witness said he saw a yellow blur snap the guard's necks."

"Yeah, Eddie just told u-wait. Yellow? Like the man that killed Barry's mother?" Joe suddenly looked very uncomfortable, and he pulled her away from the rest of the officers with a furtive look.

"Exactly…and he's back in Central."

Jesus. That's why Joe looked so worried, and why Barry seemed so agitated as he hovered on the edges of the crime scene. Even from where she stood, Laura could see that Barry's mind was far from the present. He looked as if everything he'd been carrying around for years had suddenly hit him with the force of a bullet train.

"So, he's back? This man in yellow?"

"Looks like it, and knowing Barry, he's going to do everything he can to stop this guy."

"…there's something else, isn't there?" Joe hesitated, his entire body tensing up as soon as she spoke, which he tried to hide. Still, Laura could tell that there was something more.

"He came to me, about six weeks ago."

"What? Why didn't you tell anybody?"

"He threatened Iris, Laura. I couldn't risk that. He took all of the case files, everything's Barry ever worked towards to catching him."

"Okay, so what do you need me to do?"

"Keep an eye on Barry, Laura. He has a…a habit of rushing into things without thinking first. I don't want him to get hurt. Or killed."

"Of course. I'll do my best."


It turned out to be a lot harder to keep track of Barry than she thought. After meeting up with the others at S.T.A.R. Labs to discuss their next move, Barry had gone off with Dr. Wells, with a look that only solidified Joe's concerns, and her own. The scientist from the crime scene had been working on Tachyon particles, under direct orders from Dr. Christina McGee, so it was reasonable to believe that whoever this man in yellow was, he might try to get them again. So, while Barry and Wells were off to spirit away the Tachyon particles from Dr. McGee, Laura found herself helping Cisco brainstorm the trap they were going to use to trap the man in yellow. Concern for her partner still lingered, but with Dr. Wells around, the chances of Barry doing anything too rash were pretty slim.

At least she hoped that was the case.

At the moment, Cisco was poring over his tablet while Caitlin went off to do Lord's know what, a candy cane sticking out from his mouth. It was common knowledge that Cisco liked to have candy on hand while he worked, but at least he was doing so in the holiday spirit.

"Cisco?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you…do you think Caitlin's acting weird?"

"No, not really. Why?"

"It's nothing, I guess. Did you see her after she left the lab yesterday?"

"I don't think so. I know she was going to the mall to get a gift for Dr. Wells."

"Really?"

"Yeah, you know how worried she gets about him, being on his own and everything. By the way, how well do you think an electron barrier would work?"

"Cisco, my degrees are in biochemistry and microbiology. You're asking the wrong person."

"Gotcha'."

"By the way, I have to ask, what did you get Barry for Christmas?"

"Just some chocolates. Why?"

"I might've forgotten to get him something." Laura knew it sounded bad, but with all of the work that had been piling up recently, she just hadn't had enough time to find Barry something. She'd even had to bring some of her unfinished paperwork to S.T.A.R. and to her apartment, which she was currently doing her best to finish on time. At least Cisco didn't seem too concerned about her dilemma.

"Come on, I'm sure you'll be able to think of something. Fair warning, Caitlin's already got the 'sentimental gift' idea locked down."

"Damn, she's good."

A comfortable silence followed soon after, interrupted only by Cisco finishing his candy cane and replacing it with a fresh one. As he worked, Laura took the time to trace patterns of frost on the desk; she'd recently found if she relaxed and let small bits of cold seep out from her fingers, they formed patterns that reminded her of snowflakes. However, after what could have been hours, the pair were alerted to Caitlin's return only by the rapid clacking of her high heels in the corridor. Laura only caught a quick glimpse of her friend before she disappeared into the room where they kept Barry's treadmill, but both she and Cisco were already on their feet. By the time they made their way inside, Caitlin was sitting on the edge of the treadmill, fidgeting with her hands in a way that told her something was wrong.

"Caitlin? What's wrong?"

It was terrifying to see how distraught Caitlin looked as she met their eyes. Laura was reminded of the expression on her friend's face when Barry had been affected by Bivolo, only this time it seemed to be more fright than sadness. There was something about the way she looked at them that let Laura know her friend had something to say.

"Caitlin, you okay?"

"Ronnie, he's – he's – Ronnie's alive."

Wait, wait, wait, wait, waitwaitwaitwait…

"What?"

I saw him, you guys, last night at the mall. I'm not sure why he was there…but I think he was following me and-"

"Caitlin." The soberness in Cisco's voice startled both them, and Laura saw the emotional turmoil that her friend was experiencing as she was forced to look up at them.

"Ronnie died," Cisco continued, "he was vaporized when the accelerator went critical."

"I know what I saw, Cisco." Caitlin's voice was sharp and cool. "He's alive, and he's out there. Alone. Scared. I'm not crazy, you know I'm not."

If there was one thing that Laura knew about Caitlin Snow, it was that she never made a mistake. If she said she saw Ronnie, then she had probably seen Ronnie. Or someone who looked remarkably like him, considering that Ronnie was dead. But if there was a chance that he had somehow survived death, as she and Barry had – if there was a chance for Caitlin to see him once again – Laura would do whatever it took to bring him back.

"So, why tell us?"

"…because I need your help to find him."


Mall at 12 tomorrow?

Sure.

Ronnie was possibly alive. That was new. Cisco was still in doubt about the entire thing, even though he refused to say it out loud in front of Caitlin. Still, Laura couldn't blame him for thinking that way – she'd learned after waking up that rescue services hadn't been able to find a body after the incident. Since Ronnie had been at the center of the explosion, it was only logical to assume that he had been vaporized, but now it appeared that they had jumped to conclusions too quickly. Still, the possibility that he was alive – well, it wasn't the weirdest thing they'd seen so far, right?

With a rueful smile and a shake of her head, Laura exited the elevator, already digging her keys out of her purse. However, the moment she unlocked the door and stepped inside her apartment, the thick air of static in the room told her immediately that something was not right.

"Doctor Sanders. I've been waiting for you."

Laura's heart seized painfully as the distorted voice clicked in her mind. Standing in the middle of her apartment, looking as if he owned the place, was the man in yellow – at least he had to be. He was vibrating himself, just like Barry did to disguise himself when out in the field, and it was hardly difficult to miss the crimson glint in the dark eyes of the blurred figure that stood before her. When she finally found the courage to speak, it took everything in her power to keep her voice from shaking.

"It's you – you killed Nora Allen."

"Your intelligence is not wasted on your endeavours with the Flash, I see. Close the door."

He knew that she worked with the Flash. Wonderful. Laura obeyed his orders with shaking hands, gritting her teeth in anger as she did so, and the light from the hallway disappeared, leaving her standing face-to-face in the dark with a murderer. The red of his eyes seemed even more sinister in the dark, and sparks of red lightning danced around the edges of his form as he stepped forward. Her fingers itched to freeze him in his place, but from what she knew about him, he could move much faster than she could freeze, so she stayed put and kept her eyes on him.

"What do you want?"

"Nothing in particular. Just for you to stay out of my way."

"Why? So you can kill the Flash too?"

"You're more powerful than you realize, Doctor. You're an unknown variable of sorts; a risk. And I don't like taking risks."

"I'm not going to stand by and let you kill Barry. We are going to stop you."

"Oh, I know all about your little trap. What an admirable idea, force fields. Mr. Ramon is worth more than he thinks, but he's not that original."

"How-"

"I have my methods."

Suddenly, Laura was violently pushed up against the door, the speedster holding her there by her throat with one hand. The cry that erupted from her throat was quickly silenced with a bit of pressure, and all Laura could do was stare up at the villainous speedster in mute horror. She could feel the lightning that surrounded him crackling against her skin, and she forced herself to look him in the eye. His eyes glowed red as her vision started to darken, and Laura let out a small, choked gasp as his hand tightened, cutting off her airway further. The whole world blurred and the man in yellow laughed, but all Laura could do was look him in the eye as the world faded away.

"Now, don't scream."

And as the man in yellow slammed her hard against the door, Laura did just that. The last thing she knew was a burst of pain in her head and her own voice before everything went black.

Hi guys! I hope you enjoy these next few chapters because we've got some big stuff coming up! I've also been thinking about setting up a prompt story, so if you have some ideas, send them in and I'll include them as best as I can.

Keep on reading and leave some reviews!