that awkward moment when the author realizes this story has only been up for about two weeks and its got 26 reviews, 54 favs, and 66 followers...
Seriously though guys, I can't thank you enough for this. You all are so amazing. I've been so happy, reading all of your reviews and seeing all the positivity this story has generated. Seriously... it makes me so happy. :)
Anyway... let's get onto the chapter! :D
Barry sighed angrily as he sped back to STAR Labs with Nora trailing behind him, and Cisco breaching there.
"Dad, I'm so sorry," Nora said, rubbing his shoulder. "I-I wish I could've done something..."
"Hey, you're fine," Barry said, "its my own fault she got taken."
"Barry, don't beat yourself up about it," Cisco said. "We'll get Caitlin back. I promise."
"I know we will," Barry said. "Because I don't know what I'm gonna do if we don't."
Nora nodded subtly.
"I'll go see what I can get Sherloque to help us with," Cisco said, before walking out of the room.
Nora then hugged her dad softly. "I know it hurts... I'm as sad as you that she's been taken."
"Yeah," Barry nodded.
Even though his pain from losing Caitlin and Frost could've gone unmeasured, he knew how much Nora loved her aunt - and he also knew something else, which only added to the pain of her not being here.
He knew how much he loved Caitlin and Frost too.
Frost slowly opened her eyes... this room was very, very dark. And she was also cuffed down to a chair that was designed to keep her hands from being exposed at all... great. Oh, and also, there was also a maniac in a trench coat on the opposite side of it.
"Hey... where the heck am I?" she asked.
"Ah, you're awake," Cicada growled, turning around. "Good... wouldn't want you to stay asleep the whole time, would we?"
"I honestly needed the nap," she remarked. "Anyway, you ignored my question."
"Because you're in no position to ask questions," Cicada said, brandishing his dagger. "But I am... and I would like to ask: What do you think of that lady speedster?"
"You lay even one of your fingers on that precious girl," Frost said, "and I swear, I will shove an icicle so far up your-"
"You've said enough on that subject," the madman said, interrupting her.
"DON'T YOU DARE HURT HER!" yelled Frost.
"I'm not gonna hurt her physically," Cicada promised. "I'm gonna hurt her emotionally. Because her daddy's gonna be my next victim... and right after him, you."
Frost's heart sank into her stomach...
Something in Cicada's voice had changed from all the other threats - she could tell he actually was going to put work into making sure this wasn't an empty gesture. The freak was determined this time...
And as he walked out, Frost allowed herself to let a single tear roll down her cheek.
"Frosty, its okay, I'm scared too," Caitlin said, trying to provide some comfort.
"I-I... I didn't even get to tell him I loved him," Frost whispered sadly.
"You will, I promise," Caitlin said. "And you wanna know something? I'll bet anything he'll say I love you right back to you."
Frost smiled a tiny bit... better than nothing. "You know something, Caity? You could say that exact same thing and get the exact same response."
Caitlin sounded like she had just choked on air in surprise. "W-What? Are you crazy?"
"Well, you and I picked out someone to be crazy about together," Frost giggled.
Caitlin just sighed. "Where would the world be without you, Frost?"
"More like, 'Where would the world be without you, Caitlin Snow?'," Frost said, now able to smile.
She sensed Caitlin shedding a tear of happiness... and she felt truly calmer after that little talk.
Now, she had confidence... and faith.
All she needed now was Barry Allen.
Cisco sighed and continued to pace around the lab, while a slightly-annoyed, yet sympathetic, Nora looked at him.
"...Uncle Cisco, pacing won't do anything," she said.
"I know..." Cisco sighed, suddenly stopping.
"Wow, usually people just pace faster after that," Nora said.
"I just wanna get Caitlin back," Cisco said sadly. "She's... she's my best friend."
"And so do I!" Nora said. "And so does dad... I know he's aching right now."
"Where is Barry, anyway?" asked the engineer.
"Making a phone call to someone who he said could be of great service for this mission," said the young speedster.
"Well, let's hope whoever it is has some ass-kicking experience," he muttered. "Because we're going in powerless."
Suddenly, Barry sped back into the room. "Cisco, Nora... I'm gonna have to ask you both to stay back as backup."
"Dad, why?" Nora asked. "We wanna help!"
"I know, and I'm glad," Barry said, "but... I'm not risking another one of you getting kidnapped."
"I'll gladly take Caitlin's place if it means she gets out of there," Nora said, determined.
Barry chuckled lightly. "You get your stubbornness from me, I see."
Nora smirked subtly.
"But... I-I just can't risk it," he continued. "And plus, I'm not going in alone."
"Who will you be going with?" asked Cisco.
"Someone who I know Cicada will fear," Barry said.
Suddenly, Sherloque burst into the room triumphantly. "I found it! I have the coordinates for where Dr. Snow is!"
"Sherloque, you beautiful man," Barry said, taking the hard drive and plugging it into the computer. "Hey... that's not too far from here."
"Why do you think Cicada would choose such a remote location?" Nora asked. "I mean... that just doesn't make sense."
"Well, it kinda does," Cisco said. "I mean, you'd think he would rather be... somewhere in the forest, or hidden in a big city. If he's close to us, we'd never think to look there."
"Well, I did!" Sherloque beamed. "And I found him! Now, what's the plan?"
"Nora, Cisco, be ready just in case," Barry said. "Sherloque, do your stuff."
"Come back alive and with Caitlin, dad," Nora said, hugging him tightly.
"Don't fail her," Cisco added, also hugging him.
"I don't do hugs but I wish you the best of luck," Sherloque smiled.
"Thanks guys," Barry said. "But... in this case, Cicada's the one who needs luck."
And with that, Barry raced off towards his destination.
He swore Cicada would pay for taking Caitlin and Frost...
And if he couldn't bring the pain, maybe his new ally could.
Cicada sighed as he sharpened his dagger, just waiting patiently for Flash to arrive... he was going to be very disappointed if he didn't.
"Hey, buddy," Frost said. "Can you just, like... I don't know, do something? Getting kinda bored here..."
Cicada suddenly roared, and tossed his dagger into the wall next to Frost - the thing was no less than a foot away from blowing her skull to bits.
"Shut up, please!" he growled, bringing the dagger back to his hand. "How do your friends deal with you?"
"Well evidently, its because I'm... cool," she snickered.
"Not gonna lie... this is kinda funny," Caitlin giggled from inside her head. "But you're going to get yourself killed."
"Please, the poor cricket's too scared meanie-head Frosty will freeze his fingers off," she teased.
He was really starting to lose his cool now.
Suddenly, he felt his dagger charging up...
"Ah, finally, some action," he growled.
As if on cue, Barry walked into the room, decked out in the Flash costume.
And Frost couldn't help but feel the joy of seeing him bubble up in her stomach, and exit through her voice. "BARRY!" she yelled happily.
His reply, however...
It caught her off guard.
"Hey there, snowflake," he beamed.
Frost felt her heart melt. Caitlin, inwardly, was jumping for joy at Barry being here, and that cute-as-heck pet name he had given Frost.
"Aw, that's adorable," Cicada said, faking every last emotion he could - which meant faking any emotion ever. "But this is your last loving encounter."
"Is that so?" Barry asked, nearly chuckling.
"Don't laugh... you know I can kill her," Cicada growled angrily.
"I know you can," Barry said. "But you won't."
Cicada chose to ignore his comment, however, and touch on something else. "Such a pity... you brought no one else with you, huh?"
"Oh, of course not!" Barry said. "Meet my friend, Batwoman."
Out of the shadows, a woman in black and red stepped out, pumping a shotgun to life. "Please don't make me use this."
"Why not?" asked Cicada, trying to be smart.
"Because," Batwoman continued, "I'd much rather use my fists."
Cicada motioned for her to drop the gun, before standing in a fighting stance.
"Thank God," she muttered, throwing the weapon down.
And with that, Batwoman and Flash rushed to fight Cicada, who thought he was well armed with his dagger.
Boy... was he wrong.
The two nearly instantly had the dagger writhed from his gloved hands, and then they let all hell break loose - and for the first time, Barry felt absolutely no guilt about beating a villain down. He had kidnapped his precious Caitlin, and his snowflake Frost, and thought he could get away with it - the thought alone made him laugh.
Meanwhile, Batwoman was just not in a very good mood; she just wanted to kick someone's butt. Cicada had one, and it desperately needed kicking, so that's what she did.
And they were making very, very quick work of him... it wasn't fair. But did they really care? ...Nah.
Very soon after the fight had just begun, Batwoman had kicked Cicada to the other side of the room. "Orlin Dwyer, you're under arrest for the murder of God-knows how many meta humans, the attempted murder of Vibe, and the kidnapping and attempted murder of Killer Frost. I think you'll find Arkham to be very, very comfortable for a guy like yourself."
She had punched him right in the chest, so his breathing was slower than normal due to the shrapnel... but he wasn't going down just yet.
"N-Nice try..." he coughed. "Th-This isn't over!"
He then grabbed his dagger, and with what strength he had left, he shot off into the night sky.
"Dammit," she muttered. "I hate when they do that."
She then turned around, and saw Barry taking the cuffs off of Frost's chair.
And then, she leaped into his arms, silently crying.
"Hey hey, its okay snowflake," he said, hugging her just as tightly.
"I-I... I thought I would never s-see you again," she said silently as her tears stained his shoulder. "I-I'm just so happy!"
"I'm happy too," he promised her. "Cait? You good?"
"Great," Caitlin said from inside Frost's head, crying a bit herself.
"I need to come up with a pet name for her too..." Barry thought to himself. "Hey, Frost?"
"Yeah?" she asked.
"What were you gonna tell me? Before Cicada took you?" Barry asked softly.
Frost bit her lip... it was now or never.
"That... that I love you."
Barry let out the faintest gasp, but it was replaced by a tender, loving beam of happiness.
And it made Frost's heart skip a beat.
"Hey, lovebirds," Batwoman suddenly said. "Look... I want you all to have your moment. Just, can I go home first?"
"O-Oh yeah... s-sure," Frost stuttered.
"Thank you for all your help today, Batwoman," Barry said. "I couldn't have rescued Cait and Frost without your help."
"Don't call me just any time you need your ass saved, Barry," Batwoman said, appearing distant, before her features softened a tiny bit. "...but, you're welcome. And, honestly, I hope you and Caitlin get to have some peace and quiet. Together. Okay?"
"I promise we will," Barry smiled.
Batwoman gave a faint smile herself, and a quick nod, before dashing out the door and running off into the night sky.
Frost then looked up at Barry's face, and tenderly asked, "Can we go home now?"
"Of course we can," Barry smiled. "Come on, I'll carry you."
And with that, Frost found herself being swept up like a bride as Barry carried her back to STAR Labs.
She was so happy.
About what just happened, certainly. But for the most part, everything was just so beautiful that it called to make her one thing.
Just happy.
WOW OMG THAT CHAPTER WAS SO MUCH FUN TO DO :D :D :D
Please let me know what you thought of it! And did you like Batwoman's appearance in this? My first time writing her and I honestly I like doing it XD Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed! See y'all soon for the finale! :D