A/N: Un-betaed. Read at your own risk.
Jitters has the best coffee in the world.
And Caitlin wasn't even being biased. Really. It wasn't because Jitters was her favourite café ever since she was a student in CCU. Or the café she first had a date with Ronnie. It also wasn't because Jitters was the first café after Zoom's defeat that offered freezing cold spice latte with a scoop of ice cream and whipped cream on top that they named as "The Frost", which came with complimentary snowy meringue brownies in their menu. She did think that the new coffee was an overkill and exaggeration over her success defeating Zoom, but it didn't take long for her to bask in the glory. The new drink was damn delicious, while the brownie was heaven send, so you would hear no complaint from either her or Frost.
But, that was not the reason she favoured Jitters.
It was the warm, friendly atmosphere that made her love Jitters. The sunny cheery mood, and the way everyone always left the double glass door with a smile and a happier bounce in their steps. It was a relaxing environment that soothed her heart, especially after a long night of patrolling. She would stop here after changing into her civilian clothing—the smiles on the customers reminded her of why she put her life in danger to protect the city.
And now, that Iris was gone, she has another reason to drop by the café too.
This was the place where she first met Iris after all.
Who would've known that the worst day of her life—of which her dorm went to a complete black-out, her ex-boyfriend dumping her through a freaking text, she had two assignments due the next morning and she lost half of her report due to virus-infected USB drive—had caused her to spend her night at Jitters and met her sister for life in the night-shift part time barista.
Iris invoked the first smile on her face that day when she delivered her orders with little cheering note and cute doodles on the napkin.
They ended up as best friends after that.
And sitting here, in the very same booth with the same orders she had that faithful night, had drowned Caitlin in a bittersweet mood, missing her best friend but still feeling the warmth of the other woman through the atmosphere in Jitters. She rarely let herself to fall into this kind of mood, but last night disaster had her to come here, attempting to seek the familiar comfort she usually get from her best friend.
Joe was giving Caitlin the cold shoulder treatment—no pun intended.
She knew that the detective wouldn't react nicely at Barry's recent involvement with Team Frost. Oh, hell, far from it. She knew that the detective would go ballistic. Joe adored Barry so much. Unlike Iris' past boyfriends whom all had difficult time with the detective, Barry seemed like a special case. He won over Joe's heart the instant he stepped into the West's household—something that Wally never stopped talking about, on how floored his old man was as Barry charmed his way into Joe's heart.
It was no secret that even if Barry and Iris didn't make it to the aisle, Joe would still have a room in his heart for the surgeon.
Thus, seeing Barry in the cortex yesterday—chatting happily in the centre of welcoming Team Frost—did not translate well in the detective's mind.
Caitlin let out a heavy sigh.
"Long night?"
And speak of the devil, thus he shall appear.
Caitlin quirked a smile at the surgeon, noting his head-to-toe black clothes, just like Caitlin's own monotonous dress as Barry pulled the chair opposite to hers, placing his own coffee on the table. He seemed to be too chirpy for this early in the morning, although he didn't look like he was in rush to go anywhere else.
"You know the deal. My night life is hectic," she simply smiled and shrugged, not wanting to mention Iris to him. "You? You're early for your coffee."
"Nahh," he flashed his teeth in a beaming grin to her. "I have a class at 8.30."
She cocked an eyebrow. "Class?"
She knew that he had a regular teaching schedule at CCU, but it was on Tuesday and Wednesday. Today was Thursday.
"Replacement class for the other day, when I called in sick," he winked—referring to the day she crashed into his house begging him to save Len's life—he was grinning that laidback smile again. "I'm that cruel professor who never let my students get a cancelled class."
"Oh, the horrible one," Caitlin agreed, scrunching her nose, her voice was teasing. "You're the no-fun type of professor who always says 'class postponed' rather than 'class cancelled'."
"It's for their own good," he shrugged, lips quirking to a smirk.
"But your students hated you for it."
His face twisted to a mock scandalized look. "I beg to differ. They adore me."
She burst to a laughter at that. He was right, though. His students adored him, despite how strict he was with his markings and class attendance—something that was so infamous that it even reached old alumni like Caitlin herself. Her juniors who took his class always complained about that hot professor who never let anyone pass his class unless they have acceptable attendance and managed to cook up assignments that impressed him.
He drove his students crazy and, yet they still love him.
Probably the food. He must have put something in all those random snacks he brought to class to feed his students. Caitlin had heard those stories that her juniors dished out in the alumni chat and it somehow made her jealous. None of her professor back when she was studying would bring food for their students.
Kids nowadays were so lucky.
"Allen!"
Caitlin whipped her head towards the counter when the barista yelled out his name, and her eyes widened upon seeing the stacks of pastry boxes that were waiting on the counter. Eleven boxes of Jitters' infamously delicious cupcakes, each box containing 12 cupcakes. That was a total of 132 cupcakes.
Damn. Lucky kids.
"And that's my cue to leave," Barry smiled and strode to the counter to pay for his purchases, only to return to Caitlin's booth to grab his coffee. "See you later tonight, Cait," he grinned, before lowering his voice just a little when he bent to wink at her. "And I hope you and Frost enjoyed the treat. Both of you deserve it."
She frowned as he left, not understanding what he meant with his last words.
"Snow!"
She again whipped her head around to look at the counter, only to break to a little smile when he saw the two cupcakes served on the platter—the frosting was dark brown and light creamy colour, a blatant reminder of Caitlin and Frost's different hair colour. She took the cupcakes, smiling knowingly when the barista told her that the cupcakes were already been paid and gently woke Frost up as she made her way back to her table.
What? Her mental counterpart growled, cranky and annoyed. I thought we agree that you handle boring morning life and I handle exciting night life, Caity.
Caitlin rolled her eyes, shaking her head. You don't want the cupcakes then? Cool. More for me.
That immediately snapped Frost out of her cranky sleepy mode. Wait, what cupcakes?
Caitlin quirked a little smile when she felt Frost's consciousness finally noticed the cupcake and the sudden excitement and hunger that filled her body definitely did not stem from Caitlin's side of their shared subconscious.
Is that…lemon meringue cupcake?!
Caitlin held back a laugh. There's only one way to make Frost lost her cool—just give her icy counterpart anything lemon meringue and she would cave.
She wondered if Barry knew that Frost would love this one.
Yep. Lemon meringue for you. Chocolate indulgence for me. Barry's treat.
Frost was silent for a moment that it almost worried Caitlin.
Frost?
This guy is bad news, Cait.
Caitlin's eyes widened at that comment, noting the hint of weird fear in the tone of her mental counterpart.
What? Caitlin spat back, wondering why Frost was suddenly scared of Barry—
He is breaking into our ice. He is bad news, Cait. I don't want him melting us.
Okay. False alarm. That was just morning Frost ranting about the stupidest thing on Earth.
Caitlin decided to tune down Frost's ranting, nibbling her own cupcake and drinking her coffee. She would pack Frost's share of the treat in a takeaway box later, along with their favourite The Frost coffee, and returned to Starlabs so that Frost could take control and devour her cupcake on her own.
As for now, Caitlin just wanted to bask in the comfort and warmth that Jitters offered.
He never felt fear before.
Why would he? He was the rich only son for one of the most powerful politician of the city. He got everything served on silver platters on him ever since he was born. Those who crossed him, no matter how rightful they were in the matter, were immediately 'dealt with' by his parents' power and money. He always got everything that he wanted. He was untouchable.
Thus, when he tried to corner the pretty new professor, he thought that she would be an easy prey.
But the damned professor apparently has already heard of his reputation and immediately ran to her colleague the moment she saw him approaching.
And she just has to run to that one professor he hated the most.
Professor Allen.
He could and willingly wrote a whole thesis on how much he hated Prof Allen. The guy wasn't even present for more than two days per week in the campus—since he was just teaching two subjects and supervise a few promising genius students—but he managed to monopolize every single girl in CCU. And majority of those girls weren't even in his class!
He was sick of Professor Allen. Sick of the way everyone worshipped the doctor. Sick of the way the young professor wasn't even fazed with his challenges. Sick to the way his potential prey now knew it was safe to run and hide behind Professor Allen whenever he tried to approach them.
That professor was a thorn in his side.
Knowing that even his own father wouldn't dare to cross the line and anger the professor—needing the promised cure of the cancer that was eating that old man inside out—he has no choice but to take things into his own hands.
He waited the whole evening, having memorized the professor's habit by heart now. Even though the man was present in the campus for only two days per week, on those days, he would stay at his office until late at night, just in case any of his students require a consultation with their assignments or thesis. Prof Allen would leave his office at exactly eleven at night, taking a few minutes to walk down the hall and spend another ten minutes to bring cups of coffee to the night guards and chat with them before he reached his car at around 11.15 pm to 11.20 pm.
That was when he struck.
It was unbearably satisfying to see the man he hated so much fell onto the ground with blood trickling down the side of his head.
Though, his satisfaction was short-lived.
There was a sudden breeze, and he literally saw crackles of ill-looking red-yellow lightning along with odd statics that raised the hair on his arms before he felt an ominous presence standing right behind him, stunning him in place the exact moment Professor Allen got back on his feet. The professor turned around, lips twisted to a malicious smirk as he wiped the blood that trickled down his cheek.
And the usually good-natured mellow professor looked murderously pissed off.
"Really, Flash?" The voice that came out of the beloved professor wasn't his usual warm tone of a teacher, but had dropped an octave lower, cold as the rigid ice. "You couldn't have interfered earlier?"
He could feel a movement behind him, as if the unknown man was shrugging. There was something weird in the air. It felt like the air was moving, suffocating him and made his breathing turned to quick ragged pants. Violent chills rolled down his spine when the man behind him spoke with voice so eerily similar to the professor's though that voice did have that slight tinge of laughter, as if he was enjoying what he just witnessed.
"I thought you noticed him there," another nonchalant shrug. "And you would have the icy resident hero passing by this area in like…," he drawled, as if looking at the time, before resuming, "…five minutes from now. Either way, he ain't getting out of this stupidity unscathed."
Prof Allen rolled his eyes and wiped the blood with his sleeves, but the wound must have been big because it did nothing to stop the red liquid that was dripping down the right side of his head.
"Mr. Woodward," the professor hissed, shoulders squared as he stood in front of him, suddenly looking far taller and menacing than he actually was. "This is not the way you're supposed to express your dissatisfaction towards a member of the faculty…."
He didn't dare to speak. Not with the way the professor was glaring at him and the hand that was curled round his neck seemed to vibrate in an unspoken threat. The air seemed thicker, and he could feel weird thrum of energy radiating from the man that was holding him—it felt like those invisible ripples of heat one would saw radiating from a white-hot fire. This was wrong. This wasn't like anything he expected. Something seemed so off with the professor too. The man's voice was far too cold, almost uncaring and malicious, bright green eyes suddenly seemed darker—and dared he said it, deranged even—filled with anger that rendered him trembling in fear.
"You know…," the man behind him drawled, lazy and amused. "It is nearing your deadline after all…"
Deadline? What deadline?
Though, he has no time to ask because beloved Professor Allen broke to a manic cackle right there—the horrific sound sent chills down his body, engulfing him in utter fear. The professor neared their distance to press those warm hands against his wet cheeks—and only then did he realised that he has been crying, the fear invoked a natural body reaction that he has no control over. The man hummed, lips curled to a creepy smirk as he said in a hushed voice.
"Hey, hey, Woodward, hush my dear student," he murmured, voice cold though his tone was soothing and placating. "Don't cry, don't cry…It's going to be alright, okay?" he smiled, eyes crinkled and teeth flashed white against the darkness of the dimly-lit parking area. He retreated then, wiping his thumb underneath the teary eyes like how a father would do to sooth his child as he added softly; "It's not going to hurt, trust me."
Woodward was very terrified.
"Flash?" the professor grinned, addressing the man that was standing behind Woodward. "Can you be a darling and take dear Mr. Woodward back at my lair? I'm going to greet our hero here."
"Sure," there was a vibrating laugh. "Have fun poking on the ice."
He only managed to see the encouraging tilt of the professor's head before his surrounding blurred like a nauseating whirlpool that only stopped when he was suddenly thrown across a dark room. He looked up, trembling in fear upon meeting the amused green eyes of his professor—although he knew that this man was not CCU's beloved Professor Allen, the crackles of lightning in those eyes tipped the fact off. He scrambled away, only to finally had a good look of the room he was in, and gaped in horror upon seeing the display stand behind his professor's doppelganger.
Pitch black mask with gold lining and single golden cross chain earring were laid innocently in the glass display.
It was the infamous trademark of the Scarlet Ripper.
He knew he was dead then.
"You're supposedly to be smarter than this, you know?"
Frost growled when Barry merely chuckled at her irritated comment.
"Well, I am trying to drive to the ER before you startle me…," the man chuckled sheepishly, though he did wince and avoid her hand when she reached up to his wound.
"You're going to drive…," she deadpanned, barely hiding her disbelieving tone. "WITH A WOUND THIS BIG?!"
"Um, yes?"
Frost was so tempted to murder Barry Allen.
Or ice his ass. Yeah, that sound better. She was so tempted to ice him.
For a man so brilliant, he was kinda an idiot.
What's the function of 911 and that expensive phone if he had to drive on his own to the ER with a gigantic bleeding wound on his head? He could've called for an ambulance and waited for help rather than risking slipping into unconsciousness mid-driving. Frost's eyes darted to the spiked bat that was laying on the ground, feeling the ice in her veins turned even colder. Someone had attacked him, and god bless that this was one of those nights where Frost was fully dormant, while Caitlin chose to completely fell asleep in their shared subconscious.
Her softer side would've freaked out at this incident.
If Caitlin was awake, she would have been screaming in her head and annoyed Frost even more.
"You could have called for an ambulance," she deadpanned, voice completely unimpressed.
"Ah," he seemed disorientated, sheepish and embarrassed, like he wasn't aware of that option until she pointed it out. "I…didn't think of that…"
"You're an adorable idiot," she huffed, taking off her gloves and reached up to his wound again, attempting to check for the extent of the injury.
Naturally, like any other normal person, he winced away from her touch. In normal situation, that would've annoyed Frost, but she understood Barry's situation right now. Caitlin was the nerdy good doctor between the two of them, but that didn't mean that Frost wasn't aware that Barry would be probably operating under the automatic knee-jerk reaction that made his mind to register every external touch would hurt his wound even more. She then nudged the man back against the hood of his car, situating herself between his legs and leant up, eyes squinted while letting her coldness radiated from the tip of her fingers, trying to lure Barry into the numbing comfort of the ice.
It worked, and Barry wasn't resisting when she examined his injury. His injury would probably cause a mild concussion, the wound was big and required stitches, something that she assumed would have him grimacing in pain by now, especially with her hand gently brushing through his blood-matted hair. But instead, much to her surprise, he took his injury like a seasoned warrior, only the little barely noticeable wince and tension in his shoulders told her that he was in actual pain.
"You handle pain surprisingly well," she commented, head jerked in a reflex nod to the update that Dr. Wells had sent to her even though there was no way the old man could see her.
The old scientist was handling the cortex tonight, and has immediately alerted Joe and the ambulance when she informed him that it was Barry whom she found bleeding in CCU's parking lot. Frost knew that Joe wouldn't be happy about this. Barry had charmed his way into the cop's heart during the first dinner he had with the Wests, and now, even with Iris gone, Joe still viewed Barry as the son-in-law he hoped to have. That's why Frost was still at the receiving end of Joe's cold shoulder treatment—the detective wasn't impressed at all when he saw Barry in the cortex when Caitlin first brought the surgeon to Starlabs yesterday.
Joe didn't want to have Barry in danger.
And this attack would give the detective the reason he needed to pull Barry off Team Frost.
Frost sighed, scanning the readings on her scouter and made a quick estimate of the arrival time of the ambulance. According to the update, help would arrive soon, 5 minutes tops, so she just had to keep Barry conscious until then. He didn't seem like he was in a good state though. The man took a considerable amount of time to respond to her comment that it was almost worrying when he finally blurted out;
"Wouldn't it be embarrassing me for me to whine in front of Central City's hero?"
Frost tried so hard to not roll her eyes.
Really. She did try her best to not roll her eyes.
She failed.
She rolled her eyes so hard.
"No need with that masculine tough guy bravado, doc," she grumbled, though the corners of her blue-painted lips did quirk to a little smirk when he gave her that sheepish smile again. "We both know that between the two of us, you're the fragile one."
Even through the dim lighting of the parking lot, she could see his cheeks darkened upon her comment. She wasn't undermining him though. Her metahuman gene made her more durable than normal human like him. It was a fact. He was the more fragile one between the two of them.
"You won't laugh at me if I whine?" he shot back, voice getting softer and a bit slurred, like he was so close to slip into unconsciousness. "Even though you have gone through worse injuries than me?"
That had Frost's eyes widened for a moment. Her spine suddenly felt cold, reminding her of her worst injury. She kept staring forward to the wall then, not making any eye contact with him even when she felt his weight leant against her side.
"I have killer healing rate, doc," she muttered through gritted teeth.
"But Zoom was ruthless," he murmured, his body weight got even heavier against her shoulder. "I saw the news, Frost…"
She stiffened at that reminder of Zoom.
Zoom, her enemy last year, the speedster who wanted to get rid of her so that he could invade her Earth under his flags. The ruthless man whom she and Caitlin had kissed while he was pretending to be their friend.
And she had trusted him when he said that he was going to change his ways.
"It must have hurt so much…"
Yeah. It had hurt both her and Caitlin in more than one ways.
Why must she have to fall in love with her own villain?
"I'm okay now," she diverted the topic, and she had to bit back the growl upon noticing her own bitter tone—she honestly sounded like she was trying to convince herself rather than him. "It's you that we have to worry about."
Barry snorted a humourless laugh.
"Pretty sure that I'm gonna have a concussion."
"Obviously," she murmured dryly, shifting a bit when she felt him leaning against her. "And you're about to pass out."
"Sleepy," he murmured back, teeth flashed in a light teasing grin at her though his eyes did struggle to remain open.
"Just a little bit longer, doc," she offered, perking up at the faint sound of siren that nearing their location. "If I have superspeed, I would've bring you to hospital myself."
"And I would have vomited on you if you sped me to a hospital in this state," he chuckled at her words, eyes crinkled in a way that made her think he had an inside joke about the idea of being sped to hospital by someone with superspeed. Though, before she could even ask, she felt his cheek resting heavily atop her hair. "You're cold," he stated.
"My name is Frost, doc. That didn't tip you off?"
"It feels good," he slurred, nuzzling his cheek to her hair again. "Numb the pain. So good."
He leant even closer to her after that, as if wanting to feel the cold. It somehow had a reverse effect on Frost, her cheeks warmed up despite the protest of her mind. It was a natural reaction that she has no control over. Despite her external resistance against touchy-feely stuffs, she enjoyed physical contact with other, much warmer humans. Everyone would be happy to offer Caitlin a hug. However, Frost was in an opposite situation. Her body temperature was so cold when she was dormant that the only person who was willing to have direct prolonged contact while she was Frost was Iris and Len. The rest of the team tended to avoid prolonged contact with her because they would end up needing layers of sweaters afterwards. Thus, having another person leaning towards her, totally not minding her cold temperature really warmed up her heart.
The similarities between Barry and Iris struck an invisible pain to her heart, making tears stung at her eyes.
They were such a perfect couple….
"I hear sirens," Barry suddenly mumbled and true to his words, the sirens of the ambulance sounded louder.
Frost shifted, ready to make an exit. After she stopped Zoom, the police have a complete trust in her, but she rather not has the spotlight on her, because someone out there might have noticed the resemblance between her and Caitlin, hence exposing their secret identity. She was about to leave Barry there when he caught her wrist, his grasp was surprisingly strong as he kept her in place right next to him.
Though, his next words were the one that surprised her.
"Don't go?" he asked sheepishly, leaning even more to her, so close that she could feel the warmth of his blood trickled on her hair. "I…," he cleared his throat, hesitant, "…Your cold…um…feels…soothing."
Frost quirked an amused smile, shifting a bit to allow him to rest against her body. "At your service, doc."
"Thank you," he breathed in relief, promptly resting his cheek against her head again, soft whimper slipped past his lips when she offered her ice cold hand, of which he promptly placed on his temple—not touching the wound but close enough so that the cold would be able to sooth it.
She only left when Barry was safely transferred into Joe's arms and escorted to the back of the ambulance.
As she went on her patrol, Frost couldn't help but feel happy that she had this night for herself.
Caitlin didn't need to know that Frost might have thawed a little bit to the surgeon.
P/s: Emphasis on the 'might'.
"Barry, please."
"Joe," Barry quirked an assuring smile to the detective, reaching a hand to squeeze the older man's arm. "I'm fine. It's just a mild concussion."
"Which is the reason you shouldn't be on your own," the detective argued. "At least for tonight, sleep at my house. Wally and I can look after you if you have nausea or anything…"
Barry patted Joe's arm, already climbing out of the car. "I'm fine. And I'm not going to be alone."
He was hundred percent sure that the Flash was waiting for him, probably with half of his fridge already emptied into the speedster's bottomless stomach.
God, he didn't know how Flash would be able to afford that kind of appetite if he wasn't a supervillain.
"Barry…"
"Joe."
Joe stopped his pleading, seemingly taken aback with the firmness of Barry's voice. Schooling his face to a hesitant sad expression, Barry murmured softly, "I…I can't go back to your house, Joe."
"Why? I still consider you as my son—"
"There's too much of her there, Joe," Barry cut the detective off, averting his gaze, pretending to blink away unshed tears. That invisible pang welled up in his chest again, but he ignored it, resuming on his act. "I just….can't."
Though, the crack in his voice near the end of his words was genuine.
That seemed to soften Joe's stubbornness.
"Okay," the man finally agreed, reaching a hand across the seat to squeeze Barry's upper arm. "Call me the first thing tomorrow, okay? Or I'm busting in if I didn't hear anything from you by noon."
"Sure," Barry laughed. "Good night, Joe. And thanks, for the ride."
Joe repeated his requests again, threatening to break into Barry's house if he didn't hear anything from him, and remained in his car afterwards, not driving away until he saw Barry had safely entered his apartment building. Barry waved to the man once, amused at how much the cop adored him without even harbouring a suspicion that Barry was the one who murdered his daughter. Barry shook his bandaged head, musing on how easy it was for some people to trust as he pressed on the button to his floor. He reached the topmost floor of the building, and walked straight to his door, only to raise an amused brow at the weird static in the air that made his hair stood on his arms.
Savitar mentioned that the Flash was overcharged with energy.
But, he didn't think that it would be to this extent.
Barry could literally feel the thrumming of energy around him, as if the molecules of the air was vibrating themselves, the atmosphere was slightly warmer that he instantly shed his outerwear, leaving him in his dress shirt and pants as he pushed the door open. He was loosening his necktie when there was that familiar breeze again, and his doppelganger stood before him, those identical twin orbs crackled in lightnings as they eyed the bandages around his head.
"You're really an overcharged battery," Barry commented, his own heart rate somehow sped up at the sudden jolt of energy that grazed over his skin when the Flash reached out to tug his neck tie loose.
"And you're the scariest professor in the multiverse."
Barry scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Woodward is still alive, right?"
"Aw, do you have so little trust in me, Ripper?" the Flash grinned, voice almost like a sulky whine. "I don't play with your prey, unless if you invite me to."
"Unfortunately, I'm not offering any invitation while you're in your current state," Barry smiled, taking note on the constant crackles of lightning in the speedster's eyes, the violent thrum of energy that vibrated from the man and the slight deranged gleam in the way the Flash was grinning. "They have already considered Iris' case as copycat case. Any more difference in MO and they would coin another name for a non-existent serial killer to steal my spotlight."
The Flash didn't say anything, only tipping his head slightly to the side, his lips curled to a smirk, green eyes crackling with lightnings stared intently into Barry's own.
Barry sighed and quirked a resigned smile. "Just say it."
The Flash beamed. "I told you so."
Barry rolled his eyes and smiled wider. "Yes, yes you did. I should've listened to you."
He has no plan to tell the speedster that he still missed Iris though.
The Flash hated Iris West so much. Telling him that Barry still missed his Iris would probably trigger another murderous episode.
Which reminded Barry of something.
"Does your wife and your doctor know that you're here?" he asked, lips quirked to a knowing smirk when the Flash's expression fell for a split second before it was replaced with a mischievous expression.
"Nope," said the speedster, shaking his head as he practically bounced in energy, lightning crackling violently. "And you ain't telling Savitar or Killer Frost, even if they call."
"So you're telling me that you ran away from their constant watch," Barry deadpanned, grinning when the speedster stiffened—it seemed like his assumption was correct. "Barry, you're supposed to be older and more mature one than me," he clicked his tongue, sounding more like a chiding parent now. "This is childish and reckless of you."
"I thought we could celebrate," the speedster grinned at him, flashing away for a moment, only to return with a bottle of tequila. "I killed Clark last week and you killed your Iris a few days before that. I thought we could have a toast at the good riddance in our life."
"Barry, you're a speedster," Barry couldn't help but point that fact out, although he was sorely tempted to oblige to his doppelganger's offer. "You can't get drunk."
"Aw, Ripper. We could pretend that I can."
"I would love to but…," he trailed, wincing at the slight pain on his head.
"Concussion," the Flash sighed, looking genuinely dejected. "I forget that you're just a normal human sometimes," he murmured, popping the bottle open, mixed a small vial of bluish liquid in it and downed the whole bottle in superspeed. "It's weird to think of you as something so fragile…"
Alcohol should not have any effect on a speedster.
But, having studied the Flash for a couple of months, Barry knew that something about the man's system had went wrong and completely messed up after he was hit with the second lightning. And the bluish liquid he mixed into his drink might have made it even worse as Barry cocked an amused brow, finally understood what Savitar meant with the Flash being like an overcharged battery. The lightnings in the speedster's eyes seemed to grow even more violent once he put the bottle away, and Barry couldn't help but shivered at the sight of foreboding dark clouds in the horizon outside his window, noting the violent flashes of light within the cloud and have to hope that it was just a pure coincident that there was a lightning storm outside while the Flash seemed to be a hair breadth away of losing control here inside his living room.
One wouldn't know how grateful he was that they have transferred Cold back to Starlabs.
This was not a sight that would help him to gain Team Frost's trust.
"Hate," the speedster mumbled, looking dangerously delirious that Barry promptly reached to his back pocket, sending a distress call across the multiverse. "Don't like being constrained," he continued, trembling and vibrating in violent thrum of energy. "Savitar, Ronnie and Frosty follow me everywhere."
"Flash, you're ill," Barry tried to placate, ignoring the throbbing of his own head now that the painkiller has worn off. He tentatively touched the speedster, breath hitching at the odd jolt of energy that seemed to jack up his heart rate the moment their skin touched, but he squared his shoulders and pushed on. "Barry," he called, and the Flash's head snapped up upon hearing the name, eyes staring at him in a glazed look. Barry smiled encouragingly, pushing the speedster down onto his couch, gentle and careful, "come sit down for a while, okay?" he prompted, exhaling in relief when the speedster obliged. "As your second doctor, I feel obliged to tell my colleague and your dear spouse of your whereabouts," Barry smiled, hoping that the joke of referring to Savitar as his wife would snap some sense into the Flash.
Thankfully it did. The lightning calmed down the moment the Flash snorted a humourless laugh.
"Savitar is not my wife," he grumbled, sounding irritated despite the little smile on his face. "He doesn't even make the cut."
"Ha. Ha. Hilarious," came the unimpressed voice of the scarred speedster in question as Barry felt a quick tap on his shoulder. "Good call, Ripper."
Barry nodded, finally exhaling the nervous breath he was holding, body completely relaxed against the couch.
Even if the Flash snapped into a violent murderous trance, Savitar would have everything under control.
"Traitor," the Flash pouted, shooting a betrayed look towards Barry.
"I know my priorities, Flash," Barry smiled, resting his head against the soft surface of his couch, suddenly wishing for Frost's cold hands against his wound as the effect of the painkiller completely worn off, leaving him with stinging pain in his throbbing head. "No one on this Earth could stop you if you gone into your trance and ran amok in Central City."
"They can't even stop you, a mere human," the Flash shot back. "What hope do they have against me, a speedster?"
"Point," Barry agreed.
"I'm still hoping for an invitation to play with Woodward, though."
"My Earth, my prey, my privilege, Flash."
"Aw, Ripper, come on."
"Nope. Go and find your own victim somewhere else."
Savitar rolled his eyes, annoyed.
"Oh, for fuck's sake. I'm done with both of you."
A/N: Believe it or not, Flash and Savitar are going to have more elaborated role in this story later on.
And I edited this note after Captain Fanfic's comment. In the last scene, there are 3 versions of Barry Allen, which are Earth-1 Savitar (from the show), Dark Earth's Flash/Barry (from my series on AO3 that this story is extended from) and Dr. Barry Allen, our hero of this story. Barry Allen in this story do not have superpower. He is just a normal human who is mentally fucked up and have contacts with his far deadlier doppelgangers across the multiverse. Friendly reminder that this story happens in a completely alternate universe, a different Earth, thus making this story is an extreme AU. I hope that cleared the confusion up. =)
Anyhow, anyone had that foreboding feeling that Frost would experience a repeated history? Falling for her own villain?
Comment is greatly appreciated~!
