Summary: Iris - journalist for the CCPN - has been covering the exploits of the vigilante Frost for the last several months. As fear and prejudice against metahumans continues to rise, Frost protects metas who've been targeted by violence but cannot protect themselves. Some think Frost's a villain, but Iris rather sees her as a hero.
But after nearly getting killed in a fire caused by someone trying to shut Iris up in the weeks before the vote on state amendments that could enshrine protections for metahuman rights, Iris finds the fight against prejudice she's covering may be far more personal than even she'd realized...
Notes: For the Flash rarepair bingo B3 prompt - Fire and Ice/Water
Flame and Frost
Iris smiled for the camera, though she was turned towards Linda. She was still nervous about doing this interview, though Iris hoped her face didn't show it.
"And now for a special guest, CCPN's very own Iris West. She's our resident expert on metahumans and metahuman issues. Let's give her a big welcome, guys." Linda grinned and gestured to the small studio audience who obliged with a loud, cheery greeting.
Iris turned to them and waved. "Thank you everyone. And you Linda. I'm happy to be here."
"You almost weren't from what I heard. A few days ago you were nearly killed in a fire down at the docks."
"That's right. I was meeting with an anonymous contact for a story I've been working on looking into ties between white supremacy, neo-nazism, the Human's First movement and the growing online coalition calling themselves the Anti-Meta League. As you might imagine, a lot of people are not happy about my reporting on these topics." Iris shuddered minutely at the memory of the flames all around her. She'd seen plenty of racist sentiment hurled her way since becoming one of the CCPN's more prominent journalists. But nothing like the vitriol that was spewed towards her since taking up the torch of promoting metahuman equality since the first confirmed reports of metas - and their treatment - broke six months ago.
When they weren't accusing her of being a meta lover or a meta herself, the misogynoir Iris faced had been turned up to eleven. But Iris would never regret breaking the story about Bette Sans Souci's illegal incarceration at the hands of General Eiling or the inhumane experimentation Dr. Harold Hadley carried out on her on Eiling's orders. Bette was free today, honorably discharged from the army, and one of the biggest names in a fast growing movement pushing for enshrining metahuman rights in law. And she was a friend, one Iris had earned for life.
"I was locked in, surrounded by the fire everywhere, when Frost herself broke into the building through one of the upper windows and rescued me." Iris grinned at the sound of cheers from the audience. Seemed the studio had pulled a fairly pro-meta crowd for Linda's talk show today. "And I have to say, she's as beautiful in person as the handful of photographs circulating the papers make her look."
"You did great," Linda told Iris afterwards as they prepared to head out for lunch together after the filming was finished.
"Thanks," Iris replied. "I have to admit, I was pretty nervous being the one giving the interview instead of conducting it."
"I doubt anyone could tell," Linda assured her. "And this should help dispel some of those rumors circulating in the tabloids that metas were responsible for that fire."
"Rumors started by people who don't want to admit racists are the root of some of the biggest problems our nation faces at the moment. That fire was started by a bigot with an accelerant. I intend to find out who and put their name and the evidence proving it on the front page along with a picture of the police arresting them." Iris clenched her fists as a flicker of righteous anger burned through her.
Nearby, a guy on his cigarette break yelped as their lighter flared too brightly and he dropped it to the ground in a startled reflex.
"Well, I look forward to it," Linda replied.
Iris made an assenting noise, but she was distracted by the lighter on the ground not so far away and the man stamping out the small fire it had caused in the leaves that littered the parking lot. It was out in a moment, barely even a noticeable event. But Iris felt hyper aware of the flames in that brief moment before they were smothered out. Like an itch in her head.
"So I was thinking stromboli for lunch," Linda was saying as they headed for her car. "There's this new Italian place that makes them to die for."
"Sounds good," Iris replied, firmly shoving thoughts of fire from her head.
"You know, considering you saved her from the fire shouldn't she be the one swooning over you?" Cisco teased.
Caitlin blushed. "I'm not swooning over anyone," she retorted, crossing her arms and pouting.
"Sure you aren't." Cisco snickered and munched on a Red Vine. "You've just been sighing over her ever since she started writing about your exploits as a super hero -"
"Vigilante," Caitlin interjected, not that Cisco listened. As far as he was concerned, they had super powers and so they were super heroes. And, well, Caitlin did like the idea of being a hero.
"- and you've been obsessed with her eyes ever since you saved her from that building. And when she called you beautiful on live television I honestly thought you were going to do a dramatic Victorian faint onto the couch."
"I was just flattered, that's all," Caitlin grumbled, pouting harder.
"I think you should meet her as yourself," Cisco declared. "Ask her on a date. She's single, you know. I bet she'd go for it."
"I-I can't... I'd have to hide the fact that I'm Frost from her and I don't want to deceive someone I'm dating like that." Caitlin winced as she realized she'd basically agreed she had a thing for Iris West, the most outspoken pro-meta journalist in Central City.
Cisco looked triumphant, but didn't push it. "Alright. That's fair. Anyway, I got word from Bette today. Tony has decided to go through with the lawsuit. We're going to need to keep a closer eye on him in case the Anti-Meta League tries to pull something. He can resist a lot by turning into metal, but he's not totally invulnerable."
Caitlin nodded. Tony was a little on the misogynistic side, but it was something he was aware of and trying to fix in himself. The night the accelerator at STAR Labs exploded, changing thousands of lives in an instant (many who weren't even aware yet of what they were), Tony Woodward had been working overtime at an ore processing plant. He'd been trying to, quietly, help get the place unionized and was confronted by his manager that night who'd fired him. When Tony had gotten in his manager's face about it - Tony also had anger issues, though he'd only yelled at the man and kept his fists to himself - the manager, a Mr. Keller, had shoved Tony so hard that Tony had stumbled back into the railing which broke on impact. Tony fell nearly half a story into a vat of molten steel.
Listening to Tony talk about the ordeal had been... horrifying to say the least. If, at the moment he'd fallen, he hadn't also been inundated by dark matter... Tony Woodward would have died and the factory would have covered it up. As it was, they'd spent the last several months working with a private investigator to build a case against the company and the manager in particular. Cisco's contact in the CCPD had helped to build an attempted murder case against Keller while Caitlin's ex girlfriend - amicably exes - Laurel Lance would be handling Tony's civil suit against the factory. Unsafe working conditions, illegally firing Tony for his union activities, their attempts to withhold his final two paychecks from him... this was going to be the first, of what would likely become many, lawsuit in the city where the plaintiff was a meta human. It was going to generate a lot of noise.
Certainly there were already other lawsuits waiting in the wings for Laurel's firm to take on. At least two wrongful dismissals - was that what they were called? - where metahumans had been fired because of their condition. And while it wasn't Laurel's case, in a few weeks General Eiling's appeal of his court martial would begin.
"Have you vibed anything since the fire?" Caitlin asked.
Cisco shook his head. "No, but I've got a feeling something's on the horizon. Just... not sure what."
She nodded. "If you see anything at all..."
"You'll be my first call," he promised. He sighed and balled up the remains of his lunch. "Guess it's back to the daily grind?"
"Back to work," Caitlin agreed. "After all, super heroing doesn't exactly pay well. Being a scientist does."
Caitlin and Cisco had worked together at STAR Labs before the explosion, which cost the life of their dear friend Ronnie. His body, in the wreckage afterwards, could only be identified by DNA comparison. It had been utterly devastating.
Then STAR Labs was closed, essentially flooding the job market with desperate scientists who were not starting the new year off on a good note. Caitlin and Cisco had been fortunate enough to pick up jobs at Mercury Labs, but then things got weirder.
Rumors started popping up about people with unbelievable powers. Caitlin began to exhibit the ability to cause instant freezing. And then the news story about Bette Sans Souci broke. As Caitlin's powers grew, she knew she had to do something to make up for the part she'd played in creating metahumans.
When she used her powers, Caitlin's hair turned shock white, her eyes blue, and her voice even changed. All she'd needed to do was add a mask and specialized protective gear and Frost was able to take to the streets to protect new metas from violent acts across the city with no one the wiser to her real identity. Eventually Cisco had begun to have visions - or vibes, as he preferred to call them - of attacks before they happened. Together, they made an excellent team.
Though Caitlin didn't feel like she'd ever truly make up for the pain the STAR Labs accelerator had helped cause, she felt fulfilled by her alter ego Frost in a way she never had before. It was exhilarating. But it was a little lonely too. And dangerous, given that she'd made herself a number one target for groups like the AML. Though Iris West was likely tied with her and was in more danger for having her identity tied so directly to the news stories she published. When Caitlin's mask came off, she could go home to the safety of her own apartment.
Speaking of which... Caitlin shut the door to her apartment and dropped her purse on the floor after retrieving her phone. Her shoes were kicked off next and then she went to slump onto the couch with the local news channel on.
"And in other news, election day edges closer and this year there will be a number of interesting additions to the ballot. Proposition 52, also known as the meta rights bill, will be put to the vote and the outcome will likely affect Central City the most, though repercussions will be felt across the state. Last year in December, the STAR Labs accelerator was activated for the first, and last, time. A lightning strike during the demonstration caused a fatal overload that nearly destroyed the city but, thanks to the late Ronald Raymond, an engineer working at the labs, the majority of the explosive energy build up was released into the storm, saving potentially thousands of lives at the cost of his own. However, the energy released into that storm continues to have repercussions even now, nearly a year later.
"The energy released, which some scientists refer to as 'dark energy', tore through the city and altered an as of yet undetermined number of people. Bestowing upon them unimaginable powers. For some these powers are gifts and for others a burden. And some people have seen these powers as an excuse to turn to a life of crime."
Caitlin huffed in annoyance. Most metahumans were just every day people going about their lives. Only a small percentage of the hundreds of metahumans whose powers were active had become criminals. Technically her included, since vigilantism wasn't legal. But the news reports liked to talk up the 'criminal meta' aspect, like some horrible lurking boogeyman. Still... at least the realization that metas needed legal protection was being taken seriously by the entire state. People from all around the state - from all around the country, actually - had gathered in Central City for the accelerator's activation. While the highest percentage of metas in the US was definitely Central City, others had left to return home afterwards. And still more had moved out of the city afterwards, making new homes elsewhere.
Metahumans were still humans. Caitlin, and everyone else like her, deserved to keep being treated with the rights and dignity that the Constitution was supposed to afford them. They were victims, not monsters.
After a little more monologuing, the news anchor turned it over to a recording of a correspondent out on the streets of Central earlier that day, who'd been asking people on the street their thoughts on metahumans. And for every good opinion there was some overwrought parent who did want their child attending school with a freak who could kill with a literal death glare. Or a fence sitter who thought that there was neutral territory between respecting someone else's right to live and wanting people to die for the cardinal sin of being different.
Three weeks until election day. Three weeks until either enough people agreed that metahumans should be considered a protected minority class... or the people preaching that metas weren't really human anymore were given reason to believe the law would back them up.
Caitlin was terrified they wouldn't get the necessary vote.
Iris dreamed of fire.
Not exactly unusual these days. Ever since being rescued from the burning building on the docks, flames had colored her dreams every night.
But tonight she woke up from those dreams to find every single candle in her bedroom was alight. Which would have been concerning enough if she'd fallen asleep having forgotten to blow the four candles out. But she hadn't even lit them up before going to sleep.
Freaked out, Iris scrambled out of bed. She wanted nothing more than to put out the flames and then find out who'd sneaked into her apartment. Except... all four candles flicked out all at once.
Hands shaking, Iris grabbed the baseball bat out of her closet and then checked her windows in the bedroom. All shut and latched.
She checked every window and door in her apartment. All shut and locked properly. No one inside but her.
So had the candles really been lit or had she just imagined it because of her dream?
Iris rushed back to her bedroom and checked the nearest candle.
The wax was still warm and malleable near the wick.
So she hadn't been imagining it after all. What lit the candles?
Was it... her? Had she...
Iris closed her eyes and thought about her dreams. The building fire had raged around her, but the touch of the flames hadn't burned her. Instead of Frost arriving to save her, Iris had quelled the fires herself and then brought a little bit back to play with...
She opened her eyes. And the four candles flickered with little points of flame.
Iris did that. Iris made the fire with her mind.
She was a metahuman.
Okay, so Iris was a meta with fire control. Which was a problem because she was setting candles on fire in her sleep.
Iris needed training. And she also needed to keep her powers secret. If people found out she was a fire meta, then she'd get blamed for the fire at the docks. Though clearly the fire was what had triggered her powers.
She couldn't go to her dad. Joe West wasn't taking the danger Iris was in over her pro-meta stance as it was. And he was the lead detective on the metahuman task force. As far as he was concerned, there was no such thing as a good meta. Just a ticking time bomb poised to use their powers to cause harm eventually.
And while Iris wanted to believe her father would realize he was wrong on finding out she was a meta... part of her was afraid he wouldn't. Her mom walked out when she was a little girl. What if this made her dad choose to abandon her too?
Barry was still out of state getting his PhD. He'd been back for the accelerator activation, Christmas, and New Years, but then it was back to school. And he had a job at the university teaching undergrads. So while he'd be back for visits occasionally and certainly Iris could tell Barry then, he wouldn't be able to help her with the necessary trial and error to learn control.
But maybe... maybe Bette could help her.
Pulling on her cell phone, Iris bit her lip and debated what to say. Iris wasn't going to say she was a meta over the phone. She'd have to be a little evasive, but... well... she could explain to Bette in person and it'd be fine.
Too bad she couldn't just reach out to Frost somehow... Iris felt her cheeks flush at the idea of training with her favorite hero.
Shaking her head, Iris unlocked her contacts and called Bette before she could change her mind.
Bette answered on the second ring. "Hey, Iris. What's up?"
"I could use your help with something. Do you have time to meet with me sometime today?"
"Sure, it'll have to be this evening, but I could meet you for dinner if you want?"
Iris breathed out in relief. "That's perfect. Thanks so much, Bette."
"For you anything," Bette replied with a laugh. "Well, within reason, anyway. So, where should we meet?"
Iris and Bette wind up picking up dinner from a Greek place down the street from where Iris lives and then they crowd around her tiny dining table at her apartment to eat and talk.
"So you can create and control fire?" Bette grinned. "That's really cool."
Bette's own abilities were unstable. She couldn't touch plastics without them turning into explosives which was severely limiting for her. A lot of clothing had plastics in them... well, it was easier to list what didn't have plastic in it these days than what did. Bette had specialized, all natural fiber clothes including several pairs of gloves that she always wore. Bette had been frustrated at first, but had at least seen the upside that at least other people weren't off limits. Though given that someone else might be wearing plastics on them somewhere...
Iris knew it had to be a little frustrating to hear about other people getting powers that didn't impose an artificial bubble around them the way hers did.
"I think so. Create, definitely." Iris demonstrated lighting the candle. "Problem is, I was lighting candles in my sleep last night."
Bette winced. "Oh not good."
"Definitely not good. I need help training my powers so that's less likely to happen. And I need discretion. The fire I was caught in was what I think triggered my powers, but if it gets out..."
"You'll get accused of starting the fire yourself," Bette filled in nodding. "People are always so quick to blame the victim. Well, I'm going to be leaving soon to act as witness in Eiling's appeal. I can't believe his request didn't get thrown out of court. But he'll lose the appeal just like he lost the court martial," she declared firmly, eyes bright with conviction. "I do know someone who can help you figure out your powers while I'm away though. And they will absolutely be discrete."
"They?"
"Well, I think you're already acquainted with one of them. Briefly, anyway." Bette grinned. "Frost and her associate, Vibe."
"Frost? Really?" Iris blushed.
"Oooh, someone's sounding eager." Bette grinned. "Is that a crush I detect?"
"No!" Iris hid behind the last few bites of her food.
Bette's eyebrows went up.
"Maybe," Iris muttered.
A peal of laughter brightened the room as Bette looked all too pleased with Iris' admission.
"Iris, this is Cisco Ramon," Bette introduced. "He's a genius."
"It's nice to meet you," Iris said, shaking his hand.
"Likewise. I'm a big fan of your journalism," Cisco replied, beaming.
"Thanks..." Iris turned at the sound of heels clacking on the floor and feeling her heart pounding in anticipation.
"I'm a big fan too," said a brunette woman about Iris' age. "Dr. Caitlin Snow." And then her eyes turned from brown to ice and her hair transitioned to a shade of platinum blonde that was nearly pure white. "Or Frost," her voice echoed beautifully, "if you like. It's a pleasure to meet you again, Miss West."
"Please, call me Iris."
Caitlin's powers faded and her appearance transitioned back to brown hair and brown eyes once more. "And you can call me Caitlin."
So Caitlin might be in a little bit in trouble. Just a little.
Iris is pretty, witty, and smart. Also brave. Can't forget that part. Totally Caitlin's type.
"This so awesome," Iris said, cradling fire in her hands. The glow it cast on her smiling face...
Oh, yeah, Caitlin was in trouble.
"Impressive, Iris. You're learning really fast."
"Yeah, well," Iris blushed and her flames petered out. "I have a good teacher."
Cisco cleared his throat.
"Teachers," Iris amended, ducking her head to hide a smirk.
"Thank you. Always nice to get a little recogni..." Cisco trailed off, eyes going flat.
He was having a vibe.
"Is he okay?" Iris asked, looking over to Caitlin again.
"His powers give him visions. He's having one right now." Caitlin clenched her fists, feeling her powers wash over her. Whatever Cisco was seeing, it was probably something that would need Frost's attention. Thankfully she was already suited up while giving Iris her lessons, since the suit gave Caitlin a modicum of protection against any errant flames.
With a little gasp, Cisco came back to himself, bracing himself on the table full of monitors. "Tony's in trouble." He rattled off an address and Caitlin nodded, grabbing an earpiece communicator before running outside and creating an ice slide to travel to where she was needed.
When she gets there, Tony's been knocked unconscious already. His steel has melted away, leaving the vulnerable human beneath to be kicked and mocked by thugs. One of whom is pointing a gun at Tony's head.
"This is how you get rid of problematic freaks," the man was saying, but that was as far as he got before Caitlin froze his hand to the gun. Suddenly that trigger finger couldn't pull anything.
A little kicking, a little punching, and a lot of ice later, Caitlin had three thugs on ice while she used Tony's phone to place a 911 call. Tony was breathing, if a bit labored. She suspected broken ribs.
She waited, out of site, until the ambulance arrived to collect Tony before heading back to the warehouse, making sure to erase her trail as she went. Wouldn't do to lead the cops back to her own doorstep, after all.
"Tony is on his way to the hospital," Caitlin said, letting her powers drop.
"Do you always do that alone? No backup?" Iris asked quietly.
"I... well, yes."
Iris nodded, as if coming to a decision. Straightened up minutely. "Then that's what I want to use my powers for. I want to help you. I want to become your backup. Help you so you're not alone out there anymore."
Caitlin hesitated. "I don't want to put anyone in danger, Iris."
"You won't be putting me in danger, Caitlin. This is my choice. If you'll accept my help, it's something I want to give you." Iris looks and sounds so earnest...
Glancing at Cisco just gets her a thumbs up. No help there, apparently. "You'll have to learn to do a lot more with your powers than the basic control you've been learning," Caitlin warned. "And Cisco would need to design some kind of fireproof suit to hide your identity and make sure we don't have another blouse burning incident."
"I promise, I did not look while you were stuck in just your bra," Cisco reiterated.
"The more you deny it, the more I wonder," Iris teased. "Think you can come up with something amazing for me to wear?"
"I think so," Cisco agreed with a laugh.
"Alright, then I guess I'm going to have a sidekick."
Iris is determined to make her powers work the way she wants them to. The problem is, they seem to want to play ball. She knows she can do more with them, but she feels like she's... hit a wall.
A wall made up of small flames only. Which are fun to play with, but tossing the equivalent of a whiffle ball made of fire isn't what Iris want's to be doing. More flamethrower, less Mario with a fire flower.
Caitlin handed Iris a Gatorade. "You okay?"
"Yeah." Iris sighed. "Frustrated." She took the power drink and unscrewed the cap. "I know I can do more than this. I don't know what's holding me back."
"You'll figure it out," Caitlin said. "I know you will. When I was figuring out my powers, they came in fits and spurts first. And then I saw your news story on Bette and I just... to be honest, I got so angry. That people could hear that she'd been abused and tortured because of what happened to her and yet they would say she deserved it for being different. I wanted stop the ones who'd do more than just say awful things. The ones who do awful things. And something just... clicked. I was lucky, with how when my powers are active they help to disguise my identity. Though not so well that Cisco didn't recognize me."
"It is really cool of how your powers change your aesthetic," Iris said with a grin and a wink.
"Puns," Caitlin told Iris solemnly, "are the way to my heart. Also good food. Let's grab Cisco and get dinner, shall we?"
"Sounds good." Iris followed along, drinking her Gatorade all the way to their cars. But she kept turning around what Caitlin had said in her head.
Caitlin's powers clicked because she wanted to protect people. That reminded Iris a little about why she became a journalist. She'd wanted to protect people by finding the truth. Investigating the powerful and unmasking them for what they were. Telling the truth when other people were shouting lies. Telling the world that if they weren't outraged by injustice, then they damn well should be.
She needed to bring that conviction to her use of her powers. But Iris suspected she was still a little afraid of hurting someone with her flames. And that fear was holding her back.
Not everyone Caitlin fights is a bigot making a point. Because not all metas are good people. They're a loud minority, but unfortunately criminal metas are the ones that make the news the most.
Crime sells a lot more papers than a man who uses his powers to make things glow harmlessly to create unique night lights for his four year old daughter. And as novel as a little girl with wings was, a story about a kid whose name can't even be printed is going to lose out to the Royal Flush gang using telepathy and laser vision to steal from banks.
And Caitlin hates knowing that her fight against Clyde Mardon is going to become yet another story about criminal metas duking it out on the streets of Central City. It doesn't help that this jerk can fly.
Caitlin creates arches of ice to protect civilians and then narrowly dodges a lightning strike that Mardon called down the from the sky. It'd be nice to have a sidekick right about now, but Iris still can't seem to get her powers to advance the way she's convinced they can.
Another lightning bolt stretches towards Caitlin and she doges again, but it strikes the ground near her feet and the impact throws her into the air. She smacks into a wall head first and the focus of the world tunnels in for her until the last thing she's aware of is something red incoming from the sky...
Iris was midway through typing up her follow up article to the piece about the fire she'd narrowly escaped. The police had arrested him that morning - unsurprisingly, to Iris anyway, he was a white man. Iris had immediately pried into the man's social media and pulled together a story detailing how he - and men and women just like him - were radicalized by the human's first movement first to espouse hatred towards aliens... and then towards the 'wrong' kind of humans. And how easily such radicalization led to violence.
But her work was interrupted by a commotion outside and when Iris went to look outside the CCPN building, she saw Caitlin fighting a metahuman out there. All alone and trying to protect people on the street while at the same time trying to fight the powered man to a standstill. When he threw that first lightning bolt, though...
It felt like something had clicked in Iris' head. She suddenly remembered that the roof access to the building wasn't alarmed and there were no cameras up there. Some of the older journalists used it for smoke breaks in the afternoon.
Even though her powers hadn't been cooperating yet, Iris had taken to carrying her suit with her in case she found time and an adequately isolated place where she could practice. So Iris grabbed the bag with her suit in it and made her way to the roof. No one else was up there and she changed in the stairwell before bursting out into the rain. The meta Caitlin was fighting could control the weather and he didn't seem to care that the rain gave Caitlin more ammo, as it were, to use against him with her ice. And maybe it would work against Iris' powers too. But she still felt that sense of rightness in her chest.
She could do this.
Another two lightning strikes in quick succession were too much for Caitlin. She avoided the direct hits, but Iris could see from her vantage point that Caitlin had been thrown into the brick wall of a building... and she wasn't getting back up.
Iris felt angry. She didn't... she didn't normally let herself feel it like this, but now she not only let herself feel it, she fed it into her powers. She'd been told all her life, don't be too angry. Had her tone policed, warned that it wasn't feminine, had her told she couldn't have agency in her own life because it upset men. It upset white people. It upset people who saw being straight and cisgendered as normal...
It upset people like her father who thought that metas were corrupted by their own power.
That last one was what held her back the most, stopped her from fully embracing everything she was now. Because she was always going to be a little girl desperate for her father's approval. But trying to win his approval had stopped her from pursuing a career as a detective and, much as she loved journalism, Iris regretted it. And she'd let him stop her from pursuing anything with Eddie Thawne because it affected Joe's ability to be professional, as though his short comings were somehow her fault. She'd let him dictate what her life should be in ways she'd never let herself even realize until now. Because she loved him, she'd let his words and opinions hold her back.
Well, Iris West had enough of that. She was angry and powerful and a force of nature all her own. And all the more beautiful for it. (If her father couldn't see that for himself one day, that would be his failing and not hers.) She would not let Caitlin become someone she lost just because other people were afraid of them.
Fire seemed to explode all around her, shrouding her hair and nipping at the edges of her mask. It bloomed around her fists and her feet as she leapt off the top of the CCPN building and felt the steam rise off her as she flew under her own power.
She landed, mostly gracefully, between the other meta and Caitlin. And when that meta made to attack her, she surrounded him with flames. Not a single burning flicker touched him, but they raged around and above him, forcing him to the ground and then eating up his oxygen until she saw, through the fire, that he was about to pass out. So she let the flames dwindle to nothing, walked up, and delivered a right hook that knocked him right out.
The rain stopped as Iris rushed back to Caitlin. "Frost!" She dropped to her knees beside Caitlin's prone form and checked her carefully before trying to shake her awake. "Frost, you need to wake up."
And she did. Those beautiful blue eyes flickered open. "'Ris... what?" Caitlin muttered.
"Frost," Iris said the name firmly and Caitlin's eyes began to focus more sharply as she sat up with Iris' help. "Do you need help getting out of here?"
"No. I can handle it." Caitlin beamed proudly and touched Iris' arm - steam rising from where cold met heat. "See you again soon, Flame."
Iris grinned. "Flame," she repeated, a touch giddily. "I like it."
The news is full of interesting stories that week.
The appeal for General Eiling's court martial is going even worse than the original court martial, as star witness Bette Sans Souci is joined by the unexpected, but apparently entirely legal, testimony of the telepathic meta gorilla named Grodd.
Tony Woodward's lawsuit against his former employers has lit up a storm about the blocks towards unionizing and meta rights in the workplace.
The meta rights bill passed with a larger than majority vote in its favor.
And Frost's new sidekick Flame made her debut, capturing Clyde Mardon the 'Weather Wizard'.
(Iris has never felt more proud to be exactly who she is.)