60

Legacy

For once, Central City wasn't bright. The sun wasn't shining, the sky wasn't clear, the people weren't smiling despite the very small potential of an attack. They didn't wait around to cheer while The Flash and Flare streaked by, finishing off whatever had attracted them into the city that day, barely noticed when they worked to take on the task of cleaning up the mess Breathtaker had left. Central City had practically come to a standstill. There were no runs in the park, honking cars, or people waiting to see what the new day would bring.

There was no excitement over the reconstruction, over the promise of a new city. No, if anything, it just made things worse. The people of Central City didn't forget. Wouldn't forget, couldn't forget the lives that were lost from the missile that Flash and Flare couldn't stop. It was more than enough fodder for government and city officials to fly into a frenzy.

Were metahumans a help or a hinder to the city?

Were the residents in more danger not knowing the identities of those that had powers?

Should the MRA be re-evaluated?

Should every metahuman be registered and known to the public in case any of the increasing dangers were to put anyone else in more danger than they thought possible? Was Central City a liability? Did it neglect its residents to make sure those that had the fantastic powers were safe?

Bruce Wayne went on many talk shows and interviews to give his two cents about what was going on in Central City as well as with the act of vigilantism within Gotham. He kept names out of the press, kept a level head on his shoulders, and yet it didn't seem to be enough to quell the fear. Even Clark Kent doing interview after interview to show all sides of the situation, going so far as to relate it to the 'Meteor Freaks' that popped up in Smallville and Metropolis all those years ago.

He as partial, but even those that watched when he would do an interview could see he was on edge.

The city was taking a long time to heal.

Central City was covered in rain. Dark clouds gathered above, casting a shadow over everything the dark, pinpricking fingers could touch.

Cadence tilted her head back, shifting her umbrella aside so she could glance at the sky. She closed her eyes, allowing the rain drops to bask over her. It was letting up, but the dark clouds continued to swirl above. The raindrops clung to her eyelashes, glittering off when she opened her eyes, blinked rapidly so that they fell. Allowed them to spill over her cheeks and over her chin. Tears she couldn't otherwise let fall, but not real tears all the same. She held out her hand, the cold droplets fell to her palm, rolling over the sides of her hand, between the planes of her fingers. Puddling, only to be replaced by more. They dried in seconds, by the sudden twitch of her fingertips.

Steam arose from her hand. She didn't even need the umbrella, the drops should've evaporated long before they reached her, unless she let them contact her skin. Even on a dreary day she had to keep up appearances. Make sure everything was normal. But what was normal when one their own had fallen while in a battle that was anything but normal.

The sound of the drops bouncing off the ground around her, relaxed but annoyed at the same time. The same way HR could be at times. He was encouraging and positive and willful, but naïve and almost childlike. He was ready for everything life had to offer. His life should've been filled with excitement and wonder and looking forward to the future.

Just as her father's should've been. If she hadn't been so selfish, so stupid, so…

So what?

There was no point in dwelling. There was no word that'd be good enough to describe what she'd done. All Cadence knew was it was too late for her father, as much as it was too late for HR. Too late for any of them to change the past. He'd made his decision just like the rest of them had.

Cadence glanced at the sodden ground as she continued forward, the environment matching her mood. Rain drops were the tears she refused to cry. Could no longer cry. The cloudy sky, gray and dull echoed the thoughts and confusion in her head; what if, what if, what if?

Too many what ifs, not enough answers.

A storm that appearing form nowhere just like tragedy always happened to be. Ice cold droplets each a bad thought or memory, falling around her, threatening to soak her from head to toe. Cadence closed her eyes once more; the rain drops forever clinging to her eye lashes. She lowered her chin and gathered herself, let herself dry within seconds.

Cadence shivered, not from the cold but from the numbness she felt inside. It was too easy to let things like that slip by. But, sometimes, it was the way life had to be. They had to move forward if they were going to take every lesson Professor Stein had taught them.

She took one last look at the cloud covered sky then back to the headstone situated in front of her.

"The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out way," -Mark Twain.

Watched as Harrison took his turn with the shovel to dump a pile of dirt down into the hole where their friend's body was to lay at rest. She watched for a moment before turning away completely, following her movement with her umbrella.

A hand slipped into hers, she held onto it for dear life, shifting her umbrella higher to cover them both. Barry wedged his fingers between hers, sparks shooting back and forth between their hands. The sign of their connection. It was still there, no matter how much tragedy the two had personally faced. Stronger now, since their powers combined.

It had been a strange feeling, coming together and separating like that. Their powers working so freely together. A far cry from where they'd been at the beginning of the year, stretching apart with unbridled friction because of his choice to create Flashpoint.

So much so that she was surprised they hadn't come up with a way to combine their powers together in the first place to stop Breathtaker. After having passed through him, Breathtaker had fallen to his knees, still barely alive. Barry and Cadence had separated, moved back to their own selves, falling, leaning heavily against each other from the sudden influx of power that'd coursed through their veins.

And still, Breathtaker had managed to get back to his feet. The hood of his cloak fell back from the force of the blast. Revealed his skeleton appearance with glowing eyes as he snarled and gnashed his teeth. "You can't beat me! I'm invincible, I've got the powers of life! And life always has a way of coming back!"

He lifted his hand and conjured a long sword. With a snarl, Breathtaker lunged toward Cadence. He stopped in his tracks, suddenly unable to move his arms forward. Breathtaker looked behind him and saw Brady's yo-yo wrapped around the top of his blade, Brady and Leah holding onto the other end, lowering themselves down so that their weight held him.

Then he screamed in pain, suddenly hit by a flurry of metallic shrapnel, Frankie throwing them into his back one after another. Gypsy and Cisco held him still with vibrational blasts punching him in the front. Wally and Jesse vibrated so quickly that it caused the ground to become unstable, threatening to knock Breathtaker over.

He gnashed his teeth, frantically and violently pulling forward, trying to break free from his restraints. Though it was evident the direct hit from Barry's and Cadence's attack had significantly weakened him. His surges forward came few and further between as the seconds passed.

"You can't beat me!" He cried.

"I already did," Cadence replied, hissing between her teeth. She pushed herself from Barry and moved to stand before Breathtaker, swallowing thickly every few seconds to keep her voice steady. "All this…" she gestured to her friends. "It's merely insurance that things go well. And it's always starting to work out." She leaned toward him. "Patience, my dear. Patience." She placed her hand on his shoulder, then rapidly shoved her other one forward, sinking a fire sword through his stomach.

Breathtaker gurgled, looking up at her. She looked back at him, eyes unwavering. He coughed, a dry cough, the sounds of his bones shifting and grinding against each other at the movement. She brought her hand back, releasing him from her grasp.

"Things will be over soon," she murmured.

Breathtaker's eyes shone with fury. He started to move forward, then stopped as, suddenly, portals opened and closed around his form, breaking him in two. Breathtaker's eyes darkened before his body pitched to the ground, slowly falling apart as he did so.

Cadence stepped back, looking down at the face of her tormentor for the last time.

Now, she looked at HR's grave they stood before, knowing there was nothing, no new tricks they could come up with, that'd bring him back.

"When I think of HR, I'm reminded of a story that John Lennon once told," Iris said, standing at the foot of HR's grace, solemnly holding her hands in front of her. "When Lennon was five years old, his teacher asked him to write down what he wanted to be when he grew up. Lennon wrote happy, his teacher said he didn't understand, and Lennon said he didn't understand life. HR understood life. He wasn't a genius and he didn't have superspeed, but when we needed him the most, he was a hero. He sacrificed himself to save the city from more chaos and destruction than we could've ever imagined. He saved us all."

She stepped aside so that Cisco could move forward and place HR's drumsticks on his head marker. Then Wally moved in next, pressing his fingertips to the front of HR's grave. He took a deep breath and said, "Thanks for believing in me, HR," before stepping back by Jesse, holding her hand tightly.

The rain stopped falling.

Barry slowly moved through the wreckage of STAR Labs. He nudged aside as many concrete blocks as he could, dusting his hands off between each one, watching the cloud of dust float through the air. He sighed, placing his hands on his hips as he looked around the Cortex. At the computers that lay strew on the floor, at the holes in the ceiling, leading up to other floors. At the crumbling walls. At the broken pieces of the Cosmic Treadmill that used to stand proudly.

He wasn't sure how much more of STAR Labs had been taken down. HR had done his best to hold back the explosion of the Philosopher's Stone, but it hadn't been enough. There was still a lot of damage that needed to eb fixed. Damage he wasn't sure where to start fixing. Maybe, if he were being honest, he'd had to look at the damage he had inside himself. From his parents' death.

Needed to heal from that.

Needed to fix that.

He'd done it before, it was what created Flashpoint. But things were different now. He was better. Not completely. He was doing better. That was more the truth than anything else. It'd take a long time for him to heal from that. But there were more pressing things he needed to put his attention to. Like, figuring out what he was going to do about the city, how to get it back to its former glory. How to make the citizens feel safe again.

To get them to understand that metahumans weren't inherently evil. But that those that abused that power…those were the ones to look out for. To help.

Barry contemplated using his superspeed to clean everything up, but decided against it. He shouldn't shirk his work like that. It wouldn't be fair for all the apologizing he had to do. For all the mistakes he had to fix.

"You know, I really hated you." Barry turned to see Julian standing behind him, hands in the pockets of his slacks. He must've followed Barry straight from the funeral. "For a long time, I hated your guts. But I don't think you really seemed to understand why."

"You already told me why," Barry reminded him. "Because of how I was helping metahumans. I was putting their lives ahead of other humans. I was against the MRA, whatever metahuman related reason you could come up with." He scratched the back of his neck. "I'm sure it didn't help much with what happened with Caitlin."

"Yes, well, I didn't really know what was going on when I was attacked by her," Julian replied.

"You didn't get attacked by her, you got attacked by Killer Frost."

"Well, that's just semantics, isn't it, mate?"

Barry rolled his eyes and continued across the Cortex, working his way around the piles of trash and debris he worked to fix up. He could feel Julian's eyes following him as he went. He should've known once Dr. Alchemy was eradicated form him, that Julian wouldn't change much. Then again, he wasn't sure if there really was much of a difference between him and the personality that came up once he came into contact with the Philosopher's Stone. But now that the energy of the stone was gone…

"You don't remember me, do you?"

Barry whipped around once more. He looked at Julian closely, trying to tell if the British man was joking. "Should I?" he replied. "As far as I knew, I never met you in my life."

"Right, Flashpoint." Julian nodded, remembering the full explanation he received once everything had wound down. "You didn't know me before then. But…we did know each other in a way." He cleared his throat. "The night your parents died, well, the day, you were stopping a bunch of bullies from beating up some little kids in the park." He looked Barry in the eye. "The kids were being bullied because the bullies thought the kids weren't cool. I was just minding my own business, walking through when they surrounded me. I tried to get away but they kept shoving me, knocking me down…" He shook his head. "Imagine my surprise when someone as scrawny as me got the bullies to chase after him instead."

Barry's lips parted, but no sound came out. "I didn't know who you were at the time. Not until a lot of kids started to crowd around and someone mentioned your name, Barry Allen. Then what happened to your parents happened, and I saw your name again, saw your picture in the paper."

"That was you?" Barry asked. He remembered everything about that day, remembered having run home after school, being chased by the bullies that grabbed him and slammed him to the ground, beating him up. He remembered taking the bullies' attention off some kids in the park but hadn't gotten a good look at them. "In Central City?"

"I was here for an international science competition," Julian explained. "Well, me and my butler. My parents couldn't be bothered to come with me. They were much too busy with their own jobs."

"I didn't know…" Barry shook his head. "What does that have to do with you hating me?"

"At the time, I hated you because you had everything I didn't. Friends. Smarts. You beat me at that competition. But most of all, I blamed you for making me look like a fool. For making it so that the bullies knew I couldn't take care of myself. Couldn't fight my own battles. You had to stick your nose in things and it made it worse while I was still in Central City. I went back home with a black eye and people continued to harass me. And, I guess after that, Flashpoint changed things...and you hated me. Every since I arrived you hated me and there was truly no reason for it. I abhorred the fact that you were able to stick your nose in mine and everyone's business, end up on top, and suddenly dislike everything about me. So much so that I meant nothing to you, nothing more than a distant memory that you couldn't even drum up and then it becomes office fodder of how much you dislike me and you continue to wind up being the victim? And...after everything with the Philosopher's Stone happened and the power of the stone pushed me forward and…" He trailed off. "Well, I guess my explanations won't help matters, yeah? A bit too late for apologies, innit?"

Barry shifted uncomfortably. "You don't have to—"

"There's more," Julian interrupted. Barry knew it wasn't what he meant. That it wasn't for Julian to apologize, but Barry. Barry opened his mouth to do so but was cut off by Julian continuing with, "While I was, admittedly, blindsided by Caitlin's transgressions against me, and for my thoughts on metahumans, I worked on something that I thought would help push forward Chief Paulson's agenda to eradicate all metahumans."

Blood running cold, Barry waited while Julian fished through his pockets for whatever it was he was speaking about. He came up with something to eradicate metahumans? He thought. "Julian, what'd you do?" He asked, voice barely above a whisper. He watched as Julian produced a vial with a bright blue liquid within it. "What is that?"

"That is a cure for Caitlin," Julian explained. He shook the vial back and forth. "I looked into her powers…saw what she could do…" he cleared his throat. "I'll save you the boring story; it's an experimental gene therapy. This will re-write her DNA and bring back Caitlin."

"Are you sure?" Barry asked.

"I am." Julian walked it to Barry and pressed it into his palm. "But it just goes to show it depends on whether or not you trust me. And, honestly mate, I don't know if we could ever trust each other. Not fully. Not completely." He stepped back from Barry. "And, quite frankly, I don't give a damn either way. But I hope you don't mind that I at least say goodbye."

"Goodbye?"

"Yes, I have a plane to catch." Julian nodded to Barry. "I hope we cross paths again. You're an interesting one, Allen." With that, he turned on his heel and left the Cortex, nodding to Cisco on his way out. Barry shifted his gaze to his best friend, not noticing him there before.

"Do you think we can trust him?" Barry asked as Cisco walked toward him. He looked inside the vial, watching as the blue liquid shifted back and forth. Looking closer, Barry saw what looked to be tiny snowflakes nestled inside.

"I don't know," Cisco said honestly. "We've trusted a lot of people over the years that managed to betray us." Barry swallowed hard, mind immediately flashing to the Reverse-Flash and Zoom. "But…I don't think Julian, though he can be a dick, would decide to make this for if we couldn't trust it'd work the way he said it would. His arrogance proves it.."

"Or…" Barry shifted his eyes to Cisco. "You really want Caitlin back."

"Don't you?" Cisco replied.

"I do, but…how do we know this isn't going to make things worse?" Barry replied. "How do we know it won't trap her inside?"

"Because I saw her," Cisco replied. "Or, I vibed her. When we were fighting. I saw her…she was fighting back against Killer Frost. And we know how strong Frost can be, if anything…Caitlin can hold her own. She's stronger than we she looks." He nodded toward the vial. "If she's fighting back against her, this may push her over the edge to do it."

Barry twisted his mouth to the side and looked around the Cortex. "Going to be a bit hard to find her without—"

"Oh please, nothing can take Sally down," Cisco interrupted. He gently nudged Barry out of the way and pulled out his phone, bringing up numerous screens that Barry had never seen before."

"Sally?" He repeated. Cisco gave him a funny look. "Sally…the Satellite."

"Don't act like you don't name your Satellites."

"Whatever, man. But…this stuff's been damaged, I don't think you're going to get a—"

"—Cold signature?" Cisco interrupted. He turned the phone around, showing a map of the city. "Got one. And…I think you'll find it's placement to be very interesting." He pulled the screen closer, showing off the name of the building it was nearby. Tannhauser Industries.

"She went to see her mom?" Barry asked.

"Yeah, that's not a family reunion I'm excited to see." Cisco murmured. He looked Barry in the eye, something stirred in them that Barry couldn't quite recognize. "But if she's there…"

"I understand." Barry went to Cisco, placed his hand on his shoulder, and super speeded the two to Tannhauser Industries. They came to a stop behind Killer Frost, who calmly turned away from the front of the building, her long jacket billowing around her.

"I was wondering when you'd show up," she remarked. Her voice was still frosty, her eyes less so. They seemed to oscillate between blue and brown. "You were a bit slower than I thought you'd be."

"Well, at least you're not shopping at villains-r-us anymore," Cisco joked. He smiled then looked at his feet, the joke falling flat. "Yeah, that wasn't one of my best."

"Definitely not," Killer Frost agreed. She looked between the two. "I'm sorry about HR." She turned away from the boys and looked up at the Tannhauser building once more. She sighed heavily, eyes roving over the glass.

Barry followed her gaze. "Why'd you come here?" He asked.

"I don't know."

"Maybe…" Cisco ventured. "You wanted to come home?"

Killer Frost shrugged once more. "I don't have a home," she said.

Cisco immediately frowned. He stepped towards her. Just once. His fingers twitched at his sides. Ready to protect himself I he had to. "Yes, you do! With your friends, with me."

"And it's funny how my supposed best friend isn't here with you," Killer Frost's voice turned dry. "There's got to be more than betrayal and promise of death to tear a friendship apart, right?"

Barry looked at his feet. He hadn't wanted to mention it to Cadence, about the potential cure, unless he knew it worked. But all the same, as much as he didn't want to keep a secret—he was going to tell her—he didn't know if she still felt the same way about Killer Frost she had before. If she wouldn't care if Caitlin came back.

If she still wanted Killer Frost dead…

Cisco looked to Barry, nodding at him. "We have something for you."

"Some sort of a present?" Killer Frost's voice turned sarcastic. "That's so sweet. You really shouldn't have." Barry took the vial from his pocket and held it up so Killer Frost could see. She didn't move to take it. Instead, she eyed it closely. Then her blue lips pulled into a smirk. "Is that some of cure?" She asked. "Something that'll turn me back? I mean, her back." She shook her head. "I can't be cured of this. I'm something different." Killer Frost's voice turned soft, eyes turning back to brown. "And I need to find out what that is on my own."

For the first time in a long time, she sounded like Caitlin.

Barry nodded. He pressed the vial into Killer Frosts's hand. "We'll be here when you get back," he said.

Killer Frost nodded, eyebrows twitching upwards. She didn't believe him. That they'd be there for her, he could see it in her eyes. And he wasn't quite sure if he believed that he was ever going to come back. But he had to hold up hope. She'd at least give them something to think about. Killer Frost started to leave, but Cisco grabbed her wrist.

"Caitlin—" he started.

Killer Frost looked at him, eyes turning blue. "Cisco," she drawled. "Let me go."

Cisco looked to Barry. Barry nodded back at him. Cisco sighed and let go of her wrist. Killer Frost turned and walked down the street, becoming smaller and smaller as the seconds passed. Barry had to quell the urge to race after her. If she wanted to find things out for herself, he'd let her do it.

Besides, Barry thought. I know exactly how that feels.

Killer Frost let out a sigh as she left the edge of Central City, moving into the tree line of the forest. It wasn't her favorite place to go. And, even then, she hated the fact that she had to stay on guard. Savitar was gone, but he'd taken her captive in those woods. Had used her, had beaten her, had threatened her life. He may be gone, but he was a speedster, and speedsters always seemed to find a way to come back.

But it was remote. There was no one out there that was going to bother her. She could take the time to figure things out by herself in tranquility. Not have to worry about people following the sounds of her screams. It was difficult to keep control. Caitlin was a lot harder to keep back than she thought she'd be.

That meek little scientist was anything but meek. She was a fighter. But the more Killer Frost fought back, the harder it was for Caitlin to keep going. She had to save her energy somehow.

Those winters can get really cold, Killer Frost thought, smirking.

She continued to walk through the woods, twigs and leaves snapping under her feet. Headed towards the cabin she knew was somewhere in there. Isolation never sounded so good. Killer Frost came to a clearing and looked down, frowning. Something about it was weird, it looked like someone had tried to burn out some underbrush. A long time ago.

"Hmm," she murmured.

She knelt and ran her fingers over the dry leaves, some of the more burned ones crumbling under her fingertips.

Suddenly, the air around her started to warm. Beads of sweat popped up on her forehead and rolled down her cheeks. Something was coming. She whipped around, just to be punched across the face.

"Ugh!"

Killer Frost fell to her hands and needs. She turned around in time to have an arm wrap around her neck and pull her body back against her chest. Killer Frost gasped, feeling the increase of pressure around her neck, seconds before feeling a hand scrabbling at the pocket on her coat. The familiar smell of smoke hung in the air.

A chuckle escaped Killer Frost's lips. "You don't have the guts," she managed to croak seconds before a needlepoint was jammed into her neck. Killer Frost's body surged once before whatever was in the vial—she had an idea—coursed through her veins, first cold then warm.

Her body went limp.

Cadence released her arm, dumping Killer Frost's prone body to the ground. She groaned softly, curling up in a ball, her hand moving to her neck. Cadence looked at the empty vial in her hand then down at Killer Frost. "Told you I was going to kill you," she said.

A/N: As always, there are things I wish I did differently by the time the story gets to the end. Especially considering how they're different from how I planned them in the beginning. Key example: Julian. I wanted him to still have as big a part as he did on the show…but realized I couldn't do that while there were so many other things to go through. To that extent, having taken out his romance with Caitlin seemed to make it that he was around much less, especially since I changed how he found out about Barry being the Flash.

Anywho, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Cheers,

-Riley

Review Replies

Ethan: Yep, it's similar to the Speed Force, but a bit different as well. Not to mention, it brought a really cool look into how Barry's and Cadence's powers can really work together. But that was partially due to Burnout as well, which will be explained fairly soon.

DarkHelm142: You weren't far off with the name of a finishing move. That's what it was originally before I decided to change it.