A/N: Hi guys! This was originally going to be a one-shot, but I couldn't resist adding just a little bit more. So here it is. I hope you like it!

"I told you I loved you. That I didn't want to hurt you. But I'm past that now. I came to do what I promised. Kill you."

Those black eyes seemed to swallow her up as he raised his hand and made to strike her, and she screamed as the hand started to fall-

Caitlin snapped her eyes open and stared at the ceiling, her heart pounding the only sound she could hear aside from her own gasping. It wasn't him, she told herself forcefully, but her voice shook. How could her voice shake inside her own head? It wasn't Zoom.

"Cait, are you alright?"

Her gaze slid to Julian, and she realized the scream she'd made in the dream may not have stayed there. She didn't know if she'd been screaming when she woke up. She hadn't thought she was. But he was leaning over her, his face a mask of concern and tenderness. "Fine." She said quickly, shutting him out. "Just a bad dream."

Her pulse started slowing, and she realized she was coated in sweat, rapidly cooling her. She turned away from him, breathing through her mouth and trying to act like she was alright. She most certainly was not, but that was her problem.

Every time she closed her eyes, she saw him. Zoom. Even though she knew it was Barry, she felt dizzyingly scared every time she thought of that encounter. He'd just been so convincing. So like Hunter.

She'd never been more scared of anyone in her life. The only thing that rivaled that was her fear of losing control of her powers, and that had happened too. At the same time.

She'd told Cisco she didn't blame him for making the plan. It had worked. But in a way it had made that dormant fear worse than before, because there was a big difference now: now, she had powers. She could have stood up for herself, but being face to face with that monster (so she thought at the time at least) … it had completely overwhelmed her. So even when she had the ability to defend herself, to protect herself, she didn't.

What did that mean for the future?

Rationally, she knew Zoom was gone. Barry promised to never put on that suit again, and the real Zoom couldn't get to her. She dared to close her eyes for just a second as she continued to breathe, trying to calm herself, and felt a hand on her arm.

"Caitlin, stop!"

She sat up and realized her hands had frozen again, and a thin layer of crystal was spreading around where they had touched the blanket. Her eyes widened and her breathing became heavier again, and she looked at Julian for help, thinking she would lose it.

"It's okay." He said, as soothingly as he could. "It's fine. Just a reaction from your dream, that's all."

Somehow his words had an effect, and she found her head nodding as she breathed out and felt her hands warm again. She didn't lose control. "Thank you."

He didn't look away. "Your nightmare." He said. "It was about Zoom, wasn't it?" It wasn't really a question.

"No," she said, "of course not. I know it was Barry." She looked away.

He demanded her gaze again by touching her chin, and she thought back to another hand touching her there, covered in black –

She recoiled, moving farther back on the bed and drawing her knees up, her hands on either side of her braced on the bed. Julian held up his hands, a look of confusion and concern on his face. "I didn't mean anything, I swear."

She took a shaky breath and shook her head. "No," she said, annoyed with herself. "you didn't do anything wrong. It just reminded me of…"

"It was about Zoom." He said.

"He grabbed my chin like that too." She said in a low voice. Then she sighed and told him. "And I know it was really Barry, and I wasn't in real danger, but I can't stop this! I can't stop thinking he's here, and I feel so stupid but I can't help it because I'm so terrified!"

She stared resolutely at the wall as tears clouded her vision (tears she would not shed, she told herself), but in her peripheral vision she saw Julian adjust his position in his chair, so that he was close to her but not touching her.

"I can't pretend to know what you're feeling." He said. His voice was extremely gentle. "I know he got close to you and then betrayed you. And being reminded of that when your emotions were so vulnerable must have been unimaginable. Any person would struggle with it. But you know closing yourself in won't help. You've got to let yourself be helped. Allen, Cisco, Iris, they're here for you. I'm here for you. Let them help." His voice lowered. "Let me help."

Slowly she drew her gaze to him, and felt the fear start to clear away. "You won't leave?" she clarified.

His eyes never left hers. "Not for a second."

She swallowed and nodded slightly, moving herself so she lay flat on the bed again. She continued to look at him with her head tilted to the side. "He's not real." She said. She was feeling kind of strange, a sort of floating-vulnerable state she associated with stress and being tired. But she needed the simple reassurance.

"No; you're safe."

She exhaled and allowed her eyes to close again. And when she saw that mask behind her eyelids a few minutes later, those black eyes staring into her, and tensed, she felt a hand cover one of her own, and the mask slipped out of view. At least temporarily. A voice floated around her, soft and loving.

"You're safe."

That was the second night after she'd gotten back. The first she had completed in the cell, in case her powers overwhelmed her again. She wasn't as scared of losing control anymore, which was nice. Of course she was still extremely wary, and if she felt at all disoriented by a nightmare she worried of slipping back into the Killer Frost persona. But for the most part, she didn't have to think about it. She could use her powers for a few seconds in complete control, and if she felt herself start to slip, she could shut it off herself.

Julian said she was growing, and the proof was in her eyes. They used to be a simple brown. When she gave in to Killer Frost, that brown shifted to varying shades of blue, until she'd completely become Frost, and the blue had become normal. She'd thought her eyes would be brown again, but when Julian had shown her her reflection, they were in-between. They were a hazel color now, a rich brown fused perfectly with a cool blue.

She liked to think he was right about her growing. She was fully in her own head again. If she could learn to use her powers while still keeping control, it would only be beneficial. But she was being cautious, possibly too much. She was staying in the lab. If she went home and started to slip again, and couldn't rein herself in, she was helpless. If she stayed in the lab and that happened, she could at least try to lock herself in a cell.

The others told her it wouldn't happen. They said she wouldn't lose control again. Caitlin had to be certain, before she put any of them in danger again.

She hadn't really expected anyone to stay with her, that second night, but Julian hadn't even asked. He'd just taken the chair next to her bed and talked with her until she fell asleep. She'd been completely grateful when she'd woken from that nightmare and found him still beside her.

When she woke up the next morning, he was sleeping in the chair in what had to be a horribly uncomfortable position, and it took her a second to realize why; he hadn't wanted to take his hand out of reach. It was on the bed, right next to hers. She smiled, truly, for the first time in days.

There was a sound of a door shutting, and Julian started awake, blinking sleepily as he looked around.

"It's Cisco." Caitlin said. She knew his habits, and that he liked to be the first one in the lab. Sure enough, she saw him walk past, giving her a quick look as she did. Ever the little brother.

Julian smiled at her. "Made it through the rest of the night." He said.

"Thanks to you."

"You didn't have any more nightmares?"

"Not like that one." She said honestly. Her sleep still hadn't been perfectly peaceful, but her dreams had been less vivid after waking up, and that always made them not quite as scary. "I'm okay, really." She told him. It wasn't a lie. Right now, she felt completely normal. It was only when nighttime came that things became distorted by fear.

Julian nodded and stood up. "Best get ready for the day." He said, somewhat awkwardly. He walked out of the room.

Caitlin smiled lightly at his retreating profile and started to rise herself, when Cisco popped his head in the doorway. "You okay?"

She smiled at him and dipped her head in confirmation. She wasn't back to normal, by any means. She expected to grapple with her powers for some time before feeling like that danger was completely past. And she knew she would wake up from a nightmare of Zoom that night, and probably the next one after that. That fear wasn't gone. But right now, at this moment, she wasn't worried about a thing.

"Let's go back to work." She said. "We've got a meta to catch."

"So you work in your PJ's now?"

Caitlin threw a pillow at him and grabbed a change of clothes. Cisco grinned, holding the pillow. "So you do like pillow fights." She went to move past him, and felt the pillow slide down her back.

She paused, thinking of how to respond, and had an evil thought. She made her hands freeze. "Are you sure you want to get into this?"

She looked around and saw him looking with concern at her hands, and laughed as she dropped the power, walking over to him. "Don't worry so much." She said with a kind smile.

He kind of glared at her, but she knew it was forced. She playfully shoved at his arm and the look faded, until he was grinning again. That done, she walked out of the room to change.

"This isn't over!" he called after her.

She smiled.