Barry had wanted Caitlin to rest, go home and sleep je thought that after everything she had been through, that was the least she deserved. Instead Caitlin had demanded that he lock her up in the pipeline. He thought about fighting her on it, but he knew better.
"You don't need to do this to yourself," said Barry, as Caitlin unclasped herself from him. She walked over to the pipeline entrance, entering a code to bring an empty cell down.
"Barry, I could hurt you, I could hurt Cisco, I could hurt anyone. I am not taking the chance," she spluttered, she clearly wasn't thinking straight, and that could lead to dangerous decisions. The cell arrived and she stepped in. "Close the door Barry," she said, turning around to face him. Barry hesitated. Caitlin knew Barry didn't want to do it, and she didn't want to be locked into the cell. But it was the only way to keep her friends safe. "Barry, either you close this cell up now, or I am leaving this city," Caitlin swore. Barry needed to put aside his feelings for her right now and do the right thing. She heard him mutter something under his breath as he closed the cell up. "You should go tell the others what is happening," said Caitlin.
"I am going nowhere," said Barry, sitting down on the other side of the glass. If she was staying locked up, then he was staying right beside her.
"Barry I killed him," spluttered Caitlin, breaking down into tears and falling to the ground. It took every bit of strength for Barry not to open that cell up and pull her into his arms, but he knew Caitlin would hate him doing that. He would trust her for now, and play by her rules.
"Don't you dare think for one moment he didn't deserve exactly what happened to him. That monster deserved to die," said Barry, anger seeping into his words. Even in death, Zoom was tormenting Caitlin.
"I ran a test to make sure I didn't have the metahumans gene, and I didn't. I can't have powers, it isn't possible," said Caitlin, unable to keep her thoughts straight. It pained her to linger over what she did. Right now, she had to let her mind work through this process. And Barry had to listen.
"You may have developed it after the test. Or maybe they were completely dormant in your system," replied Barry, knowing that something was off with it. Why had her powers never appeared before?
"Barry, I, I," she started, lifting her hand up to her face. "I don't know how I did that," she muttered. "I just felt such hate, such anger in my body. I couldn't let him hurt anyone else, I had to kill him, I didn't have a choice," she said, leaning her head back against the cell wall.
"Hold onto that," whispered Barry. "Killing someone, even a monster like Zoom, it changes you. You spend hours sitting there, wondering if you did the right thing, wanting to change your choice. But once you get over that initial shock, you start to realise that there was a reason you did what you did. You learn to live with the guilt because at the end of the day it was the only decision you could make," Barry continued, looking at Caitlin. Taking someone's life, it changed you, and Caitlin had never killed anyone with her own hands before. She was staring at him, a slightly blank look in her eyes. He knew that look. She was reliving the moment where she had pushed the icicle into him.
"I saw the life go from his eyes," she muttered.
"No. That monster lost all life long ago," Barry quickly replied. Caitlin should feel no remorse for her actions. He understood why she did, but Zoom was not worthy of that from her. He watched Caitlin shift slightly, waiting to see that blank look leave her eyes. It remained. He heard the footsteps thundering down into the room, figuring at least Cisco, Harry and Jesse would be there. He didn't expect every single person from the dinner to come through the door, including Wally.
And then Barry clicked, Wally now knew who he was.
"Barry, why the hell did you put her in there!" yelled Cisco, racing over to the control panel to let he out.
"Cisco, don't," said Caitlin quickly, standing up. "I put myself in here, and you will not open that door up," said Caitlin, glaring at Cisco with all the force she could muster.
"I'm sorry, but that stare isn't enough to stop me," said Cisco, quickly clicking the button to open it up. Caitlin shrunk back to the world, sticking her hands tight behind her back. She couldn't risk hurting them, she just couldn't.
"Cisco," muttered Barry, putting a reminder in his head to both thank and slap Cisco later. "Listen, I know you are scared you might hurt us, but I know you Cait. There is nothing that could happen that would ever make you hurt us, hurt me. You need to trust me Cait, like I trust you," Barry whispered, stepping into the cell with her.
"Dad, what did you tell them?" asked Barry, looking over his shoulder to see his dad standing by Doctor McGee.
"That Caitlin killed Zoom. Nothing more, nothing less," Henry replied, and Barry smiled at him. His father was always considerate, and knew it was Caitlin's decision when to tell them the truth.
"Dr Snow, I think we would all love to know how you managed to defeat Zoom. And it might enlightened us as to why you are in the pipeline," said Harry, before Jesse slightly punched him.
"We can talk to them later," whispered Barry, reaching for her shoulder.
"I killed him," whispered Caitlin, and everyone fell dead silent. "He was going to kill Henry, and then take me away with him, and I just felt such hatred, such anger. And I killed him," she muttered, her voice echoing around the room. "I shoved an icicle straight through his heart," she added, not baring to look up. Cisco stumbled slightly, needing to lean back against the wall for support. Barry moved himself to be between her and all the shocked looks coming from behind him. Caitlin didn't need that. He didn't blame his family and friends for it, most knew the consequences of her actions and the Killer Frost implication that came with them. Tears began to edge their way out of Caitlin's eyes, and Barry couldn't take it anymore. He wrapped his arms tight around her, not caring what she thought she might do to him.
"Caitlin, it's okay," said Cisco, composing himself. "We are here, we can help you," he continued, as Caitlin felt her hands shake.
"No…" she whispered. "No!" she yelled, backing away from Barry and running towards the doorway. The only issue was that Joe and Henry both quickly moved to block her only exit.
"Caitlin, running away won't help," said Henry, making it clear that neither he nor Joe was going to move.
"I can't stay. I can't risk hurting you. I know what you are all thinking," rambled Caitlin, looking down at her hands as they continued to shake. Every time they moved she was worried an icicle was going to shoot out, hurt or even worse kill one of them. "You know who Killer Frost was. And I can't risk becoming her, risk hurting all of you," she continued, turning her back towards the room. She couldn't see their faces. Most who knew the truth about her doppelganger were trying to stay composed, but she could feel the fear emanating from beneath that. Barry started to move towards her, taking each step very slowly.
"Cait, you are not Killer Frost," he said, raising his hand towards her. "We love you, and we will help you with this. But you have to let us help," he continued, stepping even closer.
"You need," started Caitlin, feeling the pressure build inside of her, the worry that she might hurt them. "To stay away from me!" she yelled, turning around and flinging her hands out towards Barry. By the time they were in the air, she realised what she had done too late. The room slowed around her.
She waited for the icicle to soar towards Barry and strike him down as it had Zoom. Waited to cause the death of the man she loved.
But no icicle came.
Instead suddenly a torrent of water rushed through the air, striking Barry directly in the chest, sending him flying back against the pipeline wall. The water kept coming, and Caitlin realised she still had her arms up. She quickly lowered them and the water came to a halt. "What?" she whispered, looking down at her hands, watching water drops quickly disappear from her hands. Barry slowly stood up, his shirt and pants entirely drenched, wet hair falling down over his forehead. "Barry, I, I," started Caitlin trying to apologize. Instead he crossed the room and embraced her in a tight hug. Then, in possibly the most awkward event they had ever seen, Barry passionately kissed her on the lips. Joe and Henry were both quick to look away, followed soon by everyone else. It was Cisco who tried to break it up.
"Um," he coughed, as Barry pulled away from her. He ignored everyone else in the room in that moment.
"Listen to me Cait," he started, grabbing a tight hold of her hands, and pulling them up to his chest. "You are not Killer Frost. She had no love in her life, no warmth. But you are loved, and we will help you through every step of this, but you have to let us help you through this. Cait, trust us to love you," he whispered, pressing his lips lightly to hers.
"But if I hurt you," she muttered, staring straight into Barry's eyes.
"You can't. Look what just happened. If that had been ice, I would already be dead. But you cannot hurt me, which is why it was water that rushed at me. You Dr Caitlin Snow care too much about all of us to ever let yourself hurt us. I trust you, but you need to trust in yourself," he whispered back, and she let him pull her into a tight hug.
"We still need to understand what has happened to me," Caitlin said, her scientist side kicking in. It was just something else to distract her from the reality of her powers and killing Zoom. She was going to have to face both of those, but for now, Barry was happy for her to be distracted. "Jesse," Caitlin said, inching away from Barry but keeping her arms tightly folded. "Can you help me run some tests?" she asked, and Jesse quickly nodded.
"I'll help," added Harry, partially wanting to keep an eye on his daughter and make sure she was safe around Caitlin. But more so because he had come to care a lot for this team, and he wanted to help Caitlin understand what was happening to her. Joe and Henry remained in the doorway.
"If I promise not to leave S.T.A.R labs," Caitlin started, looking up at the two of them. "Will you move from the doorway?' she asked, and Joe and Henry looked at each other. Henry stepped down towards Caitlin and pulled her into a very tight hug.
"Caitlin, no matter what you think, you saved my life tonight. You saved my son from having to watch another parent die before him. I will never be able to thank you enough," he whispered in her ear, and Caitlin felt a real smile spread across her face. Henry meant so much to Barry, and that meant he mattered to her as well. Henry smiled at the woman in his arms, he was so happy that his son had someone like her in his life. They both could understand each other, better than almost anyone else could. They both were now beginning to understand the burdens these powers provided, they both had faced adversity and killed. But above all else, Henry was so happy that his son had found true love. Caitlin headed out of the room with Jesse and Harry, off to the lab to run who knows what tests. Barry started to follow, but Joe quickly held him back.
"Barry," he started, making sure he had his full attention. "I sent a squad to your old house to secure Zoom's body. They will bring it here as soon as possible. But I will need an explanation for this, the chief will know that it must have been a metahuman. What do you want me to say?" Joe asked, and Barry looked at Cisco.
"It was a metahuman, one who we should all be extremely grateful for, but one that will probably never be seen again," Barry muttered back, and Joe nodded. He and everyone else left the room leaving Cisco and Barry standing there still.
"Barry, we have to help her," said Cisco. Caitlin was his best friend, and he would be damned if he didn't do everything he could to help her.
"I know, and I am beginning to develop a theory," replied Barry and Cisco nodded for him to continue. "She only could develop that icicle when she felt complete hatred, and complete fear. Killer Frost was a frigid bitch, she was almost completely heartless. But when Caitlin just used her powers, it was water. Maybe, maybe it is emotions that drive her powers. When she feels hatred that is when the ice occurs. But with love, it turns it to water. I know it sounds cheesy," continued Barry and Cisco laughed.
"It may be cheesy, but it is definitely plausible," he replied, before heading out to the exit.
"Where are you going?" asked Barry, and Cisco turned back to face him.
"I am going to do the best thing that I can for Caitlin. I am going to come up with a kick ass name for her and start planning her suit. Just in case, you know, we end up having another superhero on the team….."
Hey! Sorry for the long wait for the update, university has me chaotically busy (curse you law!). I am going to try to update the next chapter a lot faster, but I would love to hear from you guys what you think could work as a good name for Caitlin! Thanks for reading and reviewing and being so patient with this update. I really appreciate it.