Collin sat on the long couch in his mom's mansion. He flipped through channels, not being able to settle on a single one. "I need to do something productive with my life," he sighed.
His phone went off and the name Stacey showed up on the screen. 'Hey Collin. Can you come over again? '. Collin threw his head back. What was he thinking ditching Samantha to go to Stacey's lame beer and booze driven party? If Samantha hadn't been his girlfriend, it still wouldn't have made anything better because Stacey Long is not the type of girl any guy should be close to. She only wants one thing, and it's not a committed relationship. Collin texted back a 'yes' in response, he planned to break things off with her.Tell her what happened a few nights ago was a mistake and that he loves his girlfriend and wouldn't leave her...
Caitlin sat in the STAR Labs doctor's office, her office. She and Cooper were the only people occupying the laboratory.
"Did you notice how mom named us all with names starting with Cs?" Cooper asked out of the blue. He rests his hands on the back of Caitlin's chair while she sits at her desk.
For a while she did not answer because she was too caught up with tests on herself. "Actually no, there was only two of us so I thought it was a cool coincidence-" Caitlin heard her own words and closed her mouth tightly. Cooper caught it too and was offended. But he didn't say anything and the only audible sound that came from him was a breath. They both acted like they did not hear what Caitlin said and went back to a normal conversation.
"What are you doing, anyways?" Cooper asked her, now suddenly focused and intrigued by the tube of blood by Caitlin's arm. He reached to it but Caitlin swatted his hand away.
"Don't touch that," she commanded, as if she was the older sibling.
"Sorry," Cooper whispered. "But seriously, what are you doing?"
"I'm running tests on myself. My KF blood count is actually running really low. I want to make sure she's ok." Cooper wore a face of confusion.
"I don't- what's KF?"
"Killer Frost. D'um... don't worry about it. All you need to know is," she held her hand out and frost emitted.
Cooper widened his eyes, but when Caitlin turned back around he replaced it with nonchalant. "I'm not surprised, honestly. Central City is a lot different from Bestowed. Not many supers there."
Cait nodded. "Mhm, yeah I get that." She said, still distracted. "So, yeah, it's like something is disrupting her. I'm scared."
Cooper's cheeks went red, which he immediately covered by throwing his hot hands to his face.
"Your cheeks are really flushed," Caitlin commented. So she noticed, Cooper thought with a hint of worry. But then he went the warmth rise to his face where his hands were planted. Cooper knew that he probably looked like a tabletop stove, the portable ones. Like the one in his condo. The same condo he pays monthly rent for with the money he makes from selling his small prototypes...
"I'll be right back," Cooper muffled out, his face being squished in by his hands distorting his voice. Then he left without a second look to his younger sister, leaving her puzzled.
He rushed out of the cortex and fled until he reached the elevator. Cooper wildly pressed the button of the elevator in anticipation, praying it'd open soon enough before his hand burst into flames. He finally got inside and when he did, he fell to his knees.
His hands fell to the floor of the elevator as fire flew up from them in thin streaks. "I JUST WANT THIS TO STOP!" He screamed. The floors of Star Labs were so spread out that even on the third floor Caitlin could not hear her brother.
Finally, the fire from Cooper's hands died down. He weeper silently for a while inside the elevator before saying desperately, "I can't do this..."
Collin got to Stacey's door. For some reason he was crazy worried. He has no feeling for the girl, but probably the thought of letting her down got to him. Then again, he didn't even like her.
"Collin, you're finally here." Stacey said when she opened up her front door. She didn't notice the contempt on his face. "So I was thinking, we start in the living room-"
"No," Collin said, cutting her off. "No, I don't want to do this. I already deleted your number from my phone," he held up his phone, "You know I've been with Samantha for years now. I- this was a mistake."
The short red-haired girl stepped aside from the door. "Collin... no one has to tell that girlfriend of yours this." She pulled him in easily, Collin's thoughts clouded his judgement.
Soon they were kissing and making their way up to the stairs to the girl's bedroom. Collin's strong, toned arms from years of martial arts held her up easily against something, and for a few minutes they immorally made out. The crookedness of his actions didn't reach his head yet until Stacey began to slide off his shirt. That's when Collin finally pulled away.
"I'm thirsty," he says. Stacey pulled herself off of him and grinned.
"I know just what we need." After that, Collin forced a smile onto his face.
Stacey shut the door behind her and made her way downstairs. That's when Collin threw himself onto her bed and covered his face with his hands. He felt like an idiot. How could he do this, fall right back into his "slumming it with anyone like in high school" ways. All he wanted to do was go to Samantha's house and hug her forever and apologize to her for something he'd never tell her he did.
But Collin's eyes abruptly open, widely expanding, when he hears the voices of men and one women. He woman's voice was distressed. He immediately got up and went over to her Stacey's bedroom windows and below, in the small alleyway between her house, was 3 men circling a young woman who was clearly helpless.
Collin involuntarily widened his eyes again and almost climbed out the window before remembering who he is. This would not be a good headline for Collin Tannhauser. He needed a disguise...
As a complete invasion of privacy, Collin rummaged through the drawers of Stacey's nightstands and Dressers. He finally found a large bra, and, being dumb, got the scissors he'd found in Stacey's nightstand and cut holes in the girls undergarments.
"Sorry," he said to Stacey who wasn't even in the room to hear. He put the bra over his eyes and clasped the back of it behind his head, using the strings that go over the shoulders to tighten up the makeshift mask. Then he left the window of the girl's big room and went to the fire escape. There wasn't enough time to go the long way, so Collin took shortcuts meaning dropping from railing to railing. Then he got behind the men and kicked one of them to the ground.
The men were distracted and caught off guard so this was really the perfect opportunity for Collin...
"Go, get to somewhere safe," he told the girl who listened immediately and with a nod.
One by one, Collin dropped the bad guys who now lay spread out on the floor. He looked up to Stacey's open window and sighed. Atleast, this might give her the message.
He ran off into the night.
