"Now, Cisco, remember - no lasers."

"Aw man, I never get to use my lasers."

"And if you think hard enough, I'm sure you'll find that there's a valid reason for that."

Laura smirked despite the dirty look Cisco gave her. Ferris Air's abandoned airfield had become their regular training ground in the past few months, and now that the holidays were over, it was back to the grind. Both she and Cisco watched Barry send the missile one of his drones had fired flying right back at it, the force of the explosion making them cringe a bit. Cisco seemed especially upset, but probably only because another one of his carefully crafted drones had bitten the dust. His expression changed to one of indignation and he stalked away, mumbling under his breath that probably wasn't very flattering towards Barry.

"Nice job, Flash."

"Thanks. Cisco, did you have to cut it so close on that last one?"

"Well, I didn't see you doing anything to not destroy it." The two of them just shared a grin at the unbridled annoyance in Cisco's voice as Laura slipped on her jacket and pulled on her goggles. While it was easier to test Barry's speed by just shooting missiles at him, Cisco had had to rig up something else for her to test her abilities. Two ground drones, both armed to the teeth with paintball bullets that left bruises for days. A real challenge, sure – but hey, at least they weren't missiles.

As the drones began shooting at her, Laura froze the first wave of bullets with a wave of her hand. She'd learned that if she moved her hand while sending out a blast of cold, it could cover a whole lot more area. The bullets fell to the ground, but they were quickly replaced by another wave. Laura ducked behind a cluster of barrels as the drones aimed at her, and she winced as she heard the bullets strike the barrels. Cisco really had amped up the danger on this one. But Laura had just the trick. With a grimace, she planted her hand on the rough asphalt and let a layer of ice form across the strip, just enough that she could slide one of the barrels out in the line of fire. Bullets battered the plastic, and Laura took the opportunity to blast two beams of cold at both drones while they were preoccupied. It took a few seconds, but they eventually stopped moving altogether, and Laura stood up, giving Cisco a thumbs up.

"See, this is how you treat someone's babies. I mean, you could have held back on the frost a little bit, but at least you didn't blow them up." He sent Barry a dirty glare as he spoke, but there was little venom behind his words as she approached the trailer.

"Well, excuse me if I didn't want to end up splattered with paint. But, if it makes you feel any better, I'll help you fix them later." Laura offered, and the annoyance on his face faded minutely. Cisco was always sensitive about the machines he built, calling them his babies on occasion if he thought he was alone, and when it came down to it, he really did cherish his creations. Laura slid her goggles down around her neck as she made her way over to Barry, who had just started on a large pile of Big Belly Burger. When she shot him her own dirty look, he simply smiled up at her with mock innocence, as if he didn't know how much she hated his ability to not gain a single pound of fat. She noticed that Dr. Wells was looking at her in an appraising manner.

"Very impressive, Dr. Sanders. You're certainly getting more creative in your abilities."

"Won't be very effective against the Reverse Flash."

"Cisco, again with the names?" Cisco looked a bit taken aback, but he quickly recovered.

"Hey, he said it, not me. Besides: yellow suit, red lightning, evil? It makes sense if you think about it."

"Actually, I kind of like it." The amusement in Dr. Wells' voice shocked Laura, and Cisco looked a little too pleased with himself. There was something in his expression that almost had her doing a double take, but she ignored it as Barry finished his lunch.

"Well, I'm still up for another round. Cisco, how many drones you got left?"

"Two. And, they've got lasers."

"Cisco, no."


Hours later, Laura was crouched on the floor of Cisco's workshop at S.T.A.R., replacing the plating on his precious drones as he tinkered with something she didn't quite recognize. She didn't mind helping him out, especially since she'd be the one to damage the machines in the first place. When she was done, she snuck a glance to see what Cisco was working on, and was mildly surprised to see that it was an earpiece.

"Is that for me?"

"Yeah. You don't wear a suit like Barry does, so I thought I might be a good idea to attach one to your goggles, especially since you keep losing them." Laura shrugged a sheepish apology and stood up to get a better look at the earpiece as Cisco leant back, examining it closely. It matched the rest of her gear, and she tugged her goggles out of her bag before tossing them to Cisco. However, he paused as he looked at the goggles, and twisted it around in his hand as his signature thinking face slid on.

"Cisco?"

"Yeah, I'm just thinking. Are you going to need these for a while?"

"Probably. Why?"

"I have an idea."

Cisco's ideas weren't usually that bad, so Laura nodded and left the room; whenever his thinking face came out it was always a good idea to leave him alone to work, otherwise you'd end up talking to yourself. Luckily, Cisco had a couple of spare goggles for emergency purposes, so she wouldn't have to worry about going into the field with her identity out in the open. In the main room, Barry was making some headway on one of the protein bars Caitlin and Cisco had engineered for him; Laura had learned that if Barry went too long without food, he just collapsed. That was one thing their team didn't need when fighting crime, and she knew for a fact that her partner would not appreciate extreme road rash.

"Hey, you got any plans this weekend?"

"Not really. I was thinking of trying out this new Japanese restaurant that opened up near my place. I heard they do a really good curry."

"You know, it's kind of ironic that the girl with ice powers would like spicy food."

"Says the man with super-speed who somehow manages to show up late for work every day."

"Hey!" Laura failed to fight back a chuckle as Barry petulantly scarfed down the rest of his bar, and she was just about to tease him further when her phone vibrated. A second later, Barry's phone did the same.

"Looks like we've got some work to do."

Lo and behold, barely an hour later, Barry and Laura were walking into a warehouse on the city outskirts, Joe waiting for them inside. The warehouse was apparently the current home to a couple dozen rare antique cars that were meant to be for a car show, but the moment she walked in, Laura could tell that something was off. None of the cars were missing, and judging by how expensive some of them looked, she was pretty sure that even she would have been tempted. There were two entrances into the warehouse, at either end of the building, but the door they were more worried about had been shattered into pieces by whatever had slammed into it, and apparently through it as well, judging by the skid marks inside. They went to work immediately, until Joe and Eddie walked over, the former looking more than a bit agitated.

"Owner says that there was nothing taken. Have you guys found anything?"

"Well, the breakage and the bending of the metal indicates that it had zero viscoelasticity when it hit the ground."

"In English?" Laura took the lead.

"It shattered, like glass. Usually, metal bends when it's hit by something, if there's enough weight and velocity behind whatever's doing the damage. Glass doesn't bend when you break it. It just…well, it shatters."

Joe huffed out an exasperated sigh and shook his head, but as he did, something among the shattered pieces of steel they'd gathered caught her eye, and with a furrowed brow, she fished it out. It was a small piece, almost too small to be anything significant, but as Laura looked closer, she could see the faint traces of frost lingering on the metal. Quickly, she nudged Barry to grab his attention, and handed him the metal, taking care to make sure that he didn't touch the area of interest. "You see it?"

"Yeah."

"What? What is it?"

"The metal's frosted over. Joe, the door was frozen."

"Snart." The word came out of Joe's mouth like poison, and for one second, Laura felt as if someone had walked over her grave. She quickly shook off the unnerving feeling as she and Barry stood, and as Eddie left, following Joe's orders to put an APB out on their suspects, she joined both Barry and Joe in the corner, away from prying ears.

"Snart definitely wasn't here to steal anything, or this place would be empty."

"You're right. He must have been setting a trap."

"For Barry?"

"Yeah. Well, not actually for me-"

"Yeah, we get it – listen, you two need to head back to the precinct, but get to S.T.A.R. Labs as soon as you can. I'm going to see if we can do anything to find this bastard." As Joe stalked away with determination that left her in a state of awe, Laura turned towards Barry, mulling over the turmoil of thoughts inside of her brain.

Snart was in Central City. He was back and he was active, which was a bit of surprise. Since she'd discovered his return, there had been little to no noise from him – Joe had kept her notified of any activity since she'd started working at the lab. Now, it seemed that he was finally stepping out from the shadows, and had his sights set on Barry, for whatever twisted reason.

"Barry, what...what does Snart want with you?"

It took a few moments for her to get an answer as Barry looked around to make sure no one was listening.

"I – honestly, I don't know. The last time we faced off, he beat me and got away with the cold gun. I honestly didn't think he'd come back after that. I guess I was wrong."

"So, Snart, the one man in this city with a weapon that could kill you, is active again, and it looks like he's setting traps to try and kill you. Again."

"Yup."

Crap.


"So, Captain Cold is back." Once they'd made it back to S.T.A.R. Labs, Laura and Barry had caught everyone up to speed. Cisco, out all of them, looked the most rattled; his hands were flying everywhere as he fidgeted with a small piece of machinery, and Laura had to resist the urge to sedate him just to get him to calm down.

"For someone without metahuman powers, Leonard Snart is proving to be quite the nemesis." Dr. Wells seemed a bit lost in thought, and Laura wished she were able to do the same.

"What do you think he wants this time?"

"We think it's the Flash. He didn't steal anything tonight when millions of dollars were sitting right under his nose, and that's not Snart's MO. He probably broke into the warehouse to get me to show up."

"Are you going to go after him?"

"Hey, if he wants a fight, I'll give him one."

"Barry, Laura, if I may?" Laura was caught off guard by the uneasiness of Dr. Wells' voice, almost as if he wanted to argue with Barry's statement. And by the look on his face, she had guessed right. With a look shared between all three of them, Laura and Barry followed Dr. Wells into the hallway, until they were out of hearing range of Cisco and Caitlin. When they finally came to a stop, pinned by Dr. Wells' hard stare, Barry was the first to speak.

"You don't think I should fight Snart."

"Barry, as fast as you are, you can't be everywhere at once. That's fine on a normal basis; but now, it's a question of priorities. This past month, both you and Laura have been working towards getting faster, stronger – and it's been working. Both of you are the best you've ever been, but there's still so much you need to do."

"I can't just ignore Snart. He's got blood on his hands. What if he kills again?"

Laura's heart stopped beating for a second as she processed those words. That was one thing she'd had a hard time avoiding thinking about since she'd first looked at his files – Snart had killed. He had killed a man in cold blood during his and Barry's initial encounter, and by the sounds of it, it hadn't been the first time he'd done so. The thought made her stomach churn, and she fought hard to distract herself by focusing on the present.

"The last time you fought with Snart, a train derailed. You were lucky enough to get all those people to safety. This time, you may not be so lucky. If you don't give him that fight, if you don't give him that chance to do harm…"

"…he may just back off. And there won't be any casualties." Not like the last time, went unsaid. The tension Barry had carried about since the day started seemed to leave him then, and Laura watched carefully as his shoulders slumped and his gaze became distant, his tone quiet and resigned. She could tell that he was weighing his options, and by the sound of it, the 'don't fight and don't have people die' side of him was winning.

"Laura? What do you think?' Laura was a bit startled at the mention of her name, but she quickly came back to reality as Barry's gaze focused on her. She could sympathize with her partner's urge to simply end Snart's reign of terror. But he hesitated; he was unsure, and he had a good reason to be, considering what was at stake. It took a few seconds for her to collect her thoughts.

"From what I've heard, Snart's dangerous; he's willing to kill anybody who gets in his way to get what he wants. But, the Reverse Flash – Barry, I'm honestly terrified of what might happen if he comes back. Whatever you choose, I'll support you. I'm just not sure Snart's worth your time right now." She spoke truthfully, meeting his eyes and she prayed silently that he didn't see the other side to her argument beneath.

"She's right. The Reverse Flash poses a greater threat to all of us, Barry, to this city. The police will take care of Snart. We'll make sure of that."

"…alright. You're right. I won't do it; I won't fight him."

"Good. Cisco and I will head to the station in the morning to do what we can to help. In the meantime, you two should get some rest." And with that, Barry and Laura were alone, the faint sound of Dr. Wells' wheelchair fading into silence as he moved further away from them. As they re-entered the room, Barry's eyes drifted towards the suit, resting in the mannequin Cisco had rigged up, and Laura could tell that he felt torn. It was his nature to end fights, to see things got done and make sure that no one got hurt. Even to her, it felt wrong to let the police handle Snart, when they could take care of him in seconds, and with far less chance of collateral damage. But there was a part of her that wanted to defeat the Reverse Flash more than she wanted Snart behind bars, no matter how many innocent lives he'd taken, or how many more he'd take.

Still, Laura couldn't help but wonder if they had made the right decision.


The next day was like watching a C-list movie - or at least acting in one.

Since Cisco had designed Snart's weapon in the first place, he had reasoned that it was only natural that he devised a way to stop him. While Cisco had honestly tried his best to convince the precinct that the protective shield he'd created would be useful against Snart's cold gun, or at least a lesser version of it, there had been little enthusiasm or support from her gun-toting colleagues, and she felt a pang of sympathy for him as they snickered at him. Captain Singh even had the nerve to imply that they didn't need his help, but she could tell he was only worried for the safety of his officers. Granted, the accelerator exploding had caused a lot of pain in the city, and from what she could see there were still a lot of resentment hiding beneath the surface.

"Well, that went great." Cisco muttered to himself as he packed up 'Cold Gun 0.5', as he had nicknamed it, and Laura frowned at the amount of self-deprecation she heard in his voice as she joined him.

"Don't listen to them, Cisco. You did fine."

"I know – it's just – they have a good reason not to trust me, Laura. I created that cold gun in the first place. I'm the reason Snart's hurt all those people." He looked sick and irritated and utterly defeated, which was honestly an expression she wouldn't mind locking away from the world and erasing from her mind for the rest of eternity. With a sigh, Laura turned him around to face her, despite the stormy look on his face.

"Cisco, whatever happens because of your inventions is not your fault, no matter what anybody else says. Think about it: Snart would've probably kept hurting people even if he didn't have the cold gun. You aren't the bad guy here, Snart is. And anyone who thinks otherwise is an utter moron – got it?"

"…you're really good at this stuff." Cisco mumbled after several long moments, and Laura smiled as the edge of his mouth quirked up, his hand swiping at his eyes. When he pulled away to pack up the gun and the shield, Laura's mind started to wander down a different path as she watched him. Cisco had done so much for her, and for Barry as well. He'd looked after her during her coma; he'd done his best to befriend her despite their distance before the accelerator exploded, and he still managed to find the strength to smile, even after being beaten down by the very people he was trying to help. Maybe – maybe she could trust him. Maybe she could tell him her secret. Maybe he would understand.

Or maybe not.


When the call came in later that night, Laura was sitting in her living room, watching the local news as she cleaned up some of the leftovers in her fridge. Less than fifteen minutes later, she charged into the police station, abuzz with activity, police officers milling about with dark, murderous looks that made her hesitate, even if for just a second, to enter. From the chatter that was travelling through the room, Snart had struck again, and apparently, this time he'd had a partner with him. Some of the officers' uniforms and vests were charred by what she could only assume was fire, and she quickly found Barry in the crowd, who was conversing with Joe away from the others.

"What happened? Is everyone okay?"

"Not exactly. Snart's stepped up his game. His new partner's got a handheld flamethrower of some kind. Cisco's shields helped, but we've got two officers holed up in the burn unit. There's no telling if they're going to make it." Laura felt her stomach drop to her feet, and she could see the guilt as clear as day on Barry's face, knowing that he was blaming himself for allowing for this to happen. The expression made her want to comfort him, but she held back for the moment. She felt guilty too, that she hadn't realized how ruthless Snart had become, that she hadn't pushed for Barry to just end it. As Joe left to talk to the rest of the officers, Laura turned to Barry, who looked as if he had aged decades in the span of a single night.

"Barry-"

"I let this happen. I should have just taken him down."

"None of this is your fault. You didn't know."

"But I-"

"You didn't know. You didn't know Snart was willing to go to such extremes. We can fix this. We can make sure they don't hurt anyone else. Okay?" As she spoke, Laura was encouraged by the change of Barry's expression, and by the time she stopped, he looked more determined than she had ever seen him.

"You're right. We have to end this."

"Then let's."


Laura was absolutely exhausted. After finalizing her plans to meet up with Barry at S.T.A.R. the next morning to begin their pursuit of Snart and his partner, she had hailed a cab home. Snart was out there in the city, and he was a viable threat, especially with this new 'partner' by his side; if by chance he recognized her, if he still remembered her, she didn't want to be anywhere near either of them. The thought left a bitter taste in her mouth, but she knew that mulling over it endlessly wasn't going to do any good. She stuffed away her gear in her bedroom closet and brushed her teeth a few times, rinsing her mouth endlessly with the alcohol-heavy mouthwash to get the sour taste out of her mouth, but as she was starting to change into her night clothes, her phone rang. A quick look told her it was Caitlin, and she answered it without a second thought.

"Caitlin? What's up?"

"Laura, I think I've found a way to find Ronnie. Can you meet me down at Jitters?"

"Wait, really? How?"

"I shouldn't tell you over the phone. How soon can you get here?"

"Give me half an hour."

Almost fifteen minutes later, as she approached Jitters from the front, Laura could already see that the store was shut down for the night, one unfortunate employee lingering inside to clean up. Caitlin was nowhere in sight, but there was a parking lot for customers behind the building. She made her way there as quickly as she could, and it wasn't that hard to locate Caitlin's car among the few still parked. However, as she got closer to the vehicle, Laura was shocked to see that the entire left side of the car was frozen over. The realization of what had happened dawned on her just as her heart dropped down into her stomach.

"Caitlin?"

Laura regretted calling out immediately, as something moved behind her, and she spun around, cold just barely starting to gather in her hands to defend herself. However, when she saw the bruise on Caitlin's face, the fear in her friend's eyes, and the two weapons aimed at her on either side of Caitlin, every ounce of fight she had in her disappeared.

"Dr. Sanders, I hear you're close with the Flash." Said the man in the blue parka, sporting a smile that she knew all too well.

"Let's talk."

I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter. I know a lot of you have been excited to see Captain Cold. Fair warning, we're not going to get some serious insight into the relationship between Snart and Laura until 1x16: Rogue Time, so please be patient and keep reading!

Reviews are loved!