"Are you ready to do this?" Cisco asked as Caitlin stared down at the motionless body in the cradle before her. It was a perfect replica of her, except with Killer Frost's features. She looked almost like she had when she first appeared. Classic and gothic white, blue black lips and sapphire shading to her eyes. She wore a black bodysuit, sleek and trim, her snowflake emblem on the chest. The only thing missing was Killer Frost herself.
"Impressive. I look exactly the way I wanted to. No more silver and purple for me." Frost murmured in Caitlin's mind. It was one of the last times that Caitlin would hear it that way. After this, she would hear it with her own ears, not just her mind.
"Are you ready to be your own person?" Caitlin asked softly, stomach a knot of nerves.
"Yes and no." Was the honest reply.
"Now you know," Cisco spoke up, drawing their attention to him. "This procedure may leave echoes of each of you within the other. It will be like the twin syndrome that has been documented. There will still be a link between you, but it will be more metaphysical than anything."
"Good." Caitlin replied. "I wouldn't want to completely sever every tie we have."
"Neither would I." Frost added. "I need to make sure Caity's safe, even when I have my own body."
"I guess we're ready to go then." Cisco moved to the empty cradle and opened the lid. "You'll be given an anesthetic to relax and fall into a deep sleep. After that the program will map your neural pathways and replicate them into the new body. Then it will link both minds and begin the transfer of electrical signals that are Killer Frost, but leave behind the ones that are Caitlin Snow."
Caitlin's heart was racing as she settled into the surprisingly comfortable machine. Say what you will, Cisco Ramone knows how to make his tech comfortable. Caitlin was afraid that being shut into the cradle would make her feel like being locked into a coffin, but the top and upper sides were blessedly clear, the glass smooth as crystal. There was a slight hiss as a light gas filled the chamber, lulling her to sleep.
"Sweet dreams Caity." Killer Frost whispered. "When we wake up we'll be able to see each other face to face."
Darkness swallowed Caitlin as she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
While the cradles did their work, Cisco stood guard. He monitored every little moment and movement. He was glad that they had planned for Caitlin to take a 'vacation' for a week. This would give them uninterrupted time to complete the ground breaking procedure. Team Flash thinks that she's off somewhere with her phone turned off. In reality, Cisco spooked her phone to make it say she was across the country in Washington D.C. and attending various scientific lectures. The team also were willing to leave him alone as well, now that his powers were gone and he had stated that he wanted to move on from S.T.A.R. to be an independent consultant.
He hated that they had to do this in secret, but they had agreed that if the rest of the team knew, it would lead to complications. Just like everything that involves the team. Some bad guy would find out and try to kill them while they were incapacitated, or the team would try to wake them early because of an emergency. He also kept a check on the team through the security feeds, making sure they weren't trying to find them until they were ready to be found.
The neural mapping and transfer was slow, each one taking about 24 hours to complete, but it was worth it. Besides, Cisco Ramone had gone longer than two days without sleep before, and he'd probably do it again in the future. Halfway through the third day, the cradles beeped softly, signalling the transfer was complete. The awakening protocols began, both chambers being vented of knockout gas and having clean oxygen pumped in. Two hours later, Caitlin was the first one to wake up.
Caitlin woke slowly, a little dizzy from having been asleep for so long. She also felt a little stiff from having been in one position for so long. Once she was fully awake the lid to the cradle opened softly, pulling back and giving her room to sit up and look around. Beside her, Killer Frost breathed deeply, slowly, new body still waking up.
"Here, you could use this." Cisco handed her a protein shake, vanilla flavored. "You have been out long enough that you need a quick infusion of nutrients and carbs before you can get up and about. I've got another one lined up for Frost when she wakes up."
"Strawberry, right?" Caitlin asked, knowing the other woman prefered that flavor.
"Yep."
Caitlin drank slowly, even though she was ravenous. She knew that if she drank too fast her system would overload and she would crash. Together they watched Killer Frost slowly come awake. It only took about another half hour before the second chamber opened. Ice blue eyes fluttered open, head turning to look at the two people standing beside her cradle. Wordlessly, Cisco handed her the protein drink.
"How do you feel?" Caitlin asked Killer Frost gently, not sure how to go about addressing her other half now that they were seperated.
"Quiet." Her voice was similar to Caitlin's, but had a slightly deeper tone. No more echo from having two voices talking at the same time. "Peaceful. Aware."
"Did your powers transfer as well?" Cisco asked, stepping back so the cold queen could climb out of her resting place. Mist formed around her hands, freezing the last little bit of the drink in her hand.
"What about you Caitlin?" Slowly, ice crept up the back of her hand from her palm.
"I can use them, but I'll need practice. Without Killer Frost in me, I don't know how to use them."
"And that is why you will be training together." Cisco nodded. "Once we're home and let them know what happened, of course."
"That's one conversation I'm not looking forward to." Killer Frost muttered, and Caitlin nodded her head in agreement.
"I'll go with the two of you; I'm sure they are going to have questions for me as well." Cisco added, the three of them feeling like a little family.
Sunday evening Caitlin and Killer Frost took a portal back to the doctors apartment, ready to spend the night in a real bed. Luckily Caitlin's apartment was a two bedroom set up, so Killer Frost would had her own place within Caitlin's world. When Frost was in control, this was the room where she kept her clothes and any items she cared to collect when she was awake. There were even a few mementos of her time with Savitar. For Killer Frost, it was nice to be able to look at the few snapshot of the two of them and know that the same woman was looking back at her. As Frost went about tidying up her room, Caitlin set about making supper.
Caitlin felt peace for the first time in years. She felt whole, and empty at the same time. She felt like her old self, but she also had a melancholy sense that she was missing something. It reminded her a bit of how she'd felt when Ronnie died the first time. She was Caitlin Snow, but she wasn't totally complete. At the same time though, she somehow knew that Killer Frost was experiencing similar emotions, though these were tied to Savitar. The doctor knew that Killer Frost had developed deep emotions for the troubled Barry Allen duplicate, thanks to her own feelings regarding the real Barry Allen. She just never realized the depths.
There were echoes of fear and pain, however, it was the echoes of passion and desire that knocked Caitlin off her feet. All she got were emotional impressions, but Caitlin knew that the two of them must have shared something far deeper than just being comrades. Caitlin desperately tried to shut off the flow of emotions, but it was difficult. Tentatively she knocked on the door to Frost's room.
"Frost, are you ok?"
"Yeah." The other woman replied with a sniffle as she opened the door. "Just getting used to being in my own body, and dealing with my own emotions. Life was so much duller when I was inside you. You buffered me from quite a lot of things."
"Well, come eat. Food always makes me feel better." Caitlin smiled at her doppleganger. The two women settled into the dining room, the tv glowing softly in the background. Luckily Caitlin and Frost both enjoyed the History Channel, often leaving the tv on and going about their routine when they were home.
"How are we going to handle tomorrow?" Frost finally asked, not afraid to take the bull by the horns.
"I'm not sure." Caitlin shook her head. "I know Cisco will be there for us, but I was thinking that all three of us should go in together. After all, we are the ones who agreed to the procedure and he's the one who thought it up. To be on the safe side though, I would wear just casual clothes, something relaxed."
"Something non threatening, you mean." Frost snarked, nodding her head. "I can see how Iris would get pretty bent out of shape of I showed up in my old outfit. I do love that outfit though."
"The one Savitar bought us?"
"That's the one." Frost smiled gently, eyes glazing over for a moment. "I felt like a goddess in that outfit. Unstoppable. In the end though, it wasn't meant to be."
"Not right then." Caitlin agreed. "But now, with you having your own body, there's nothing holding you back. You could even become a villain again if you wanted."
That was one fear that Caitlin had in the back of her mind. Without her to guide Killer Frost, the cold woman just might decide to live up to her name. It was easy to go bad; she remembered when it happened to her. She could only hope that with Frost having been exposed to her for so long, that some of her morals rubbed off on the cold meta.
"Please, and have the echoes of you in my head lecturing me about how it's not right and I am better than that? No, thank you. I'll stick with being an anti-hero for now."
"Well, if you do decide to go bad, give me a heads up? That way I can steer clear of the whole thing." Caitlin laughed along with Frost, the two of them glad for the quiet time before the storm. They both knew tomorrow was going to be tough, but they were in for a surprise.