A/N: Here's part five! It's the last part. I appreciate the response this story has gotten, and hope you like this ending. Enjoy.
As the others went to talk to Sherloque about his most recent Cicada theories, Caitlin slipped down to the speed lab. It wasn't where she usually went to talk to Frost, which was part of the reason she chose it: she wanted privacy, and no one would expect her to be down here.
She walked towards the mouth of the track and sat with her back against the wall, and then placed the mental activity dampener on her forehead. Frost's voice came immediately.
You took your time.
"Sorry. I wanted to come talk right away, but couldn't find an excuse to leave."
I can tell you're conflicted, Frost said.
"Considering everything that's happened today, I think I'm allowed to be." She kept picturing Ronnie, the day of the Singularity. Was it possible he'd…?
Why are you taking what she said so seriously? Kristin and Henry think Barry is a villain. They're obviously a little misinformed.
"They didn't expect me to come with Barry and Nora. They didn't have to say anything to me."
This could be another part of Thawne's plot, to distract you and keep you from helping the team. They need you focused if they're gonna capture Cicada. She was quiet for a second, and then her voice was gentle. What if it was all an act?
Caitlin stared hard at the floor, thinking back. Kristin's face appeared in front of her distant eyes. "She wasn't acting," Caitlin said softly. "The look in her eyes when she asked me to keep Ronnie close… she wasn't faking that need."
Caity… I know how much you loved him. But he's gone. Henry even said so.
Caitlin inhaled sharply.
Please don't get upset, I didn't mean to make you –
"You're right," Caitlin said. Frost hadn't made her upset, though. She'd helped her realize something. "Henry said Ronnie had been gone for years before Kristin was born. He knew."
Yeah, we've established that.
Caitlin sat more upright. "Frost, he knew!" Frost wasn't getting it. Of course, Caitlin wasn't positive… "I have to check something."
You don't really… huh. That would be one explanation.
Caitlin practically jumped up, heading upstairs. She just needed a phone. "It's the only explanation, other than a Ronnie from another earth, or more time travel. And I wouldn't do either of those."
But you would do this?
"To have a piece of Ronnie back? Absolutely."
She didn't speak as she grabbed the phone from her desk and snuck back downstairs. She thought Iris saw her, in passing, but no one called for her, so she didn't stop. She went back to her spot in the speed lab and searched for the phone number.
How do you even ask this on the phone? There's no way they'll just tell you.
"You're right, I can't just ask to know."
Frost seemed to know what she wanted to do, because she had a warning tone in her voice. Caity –
Caitlin took the mental activity dampener off and dialed the number. It picked up about halfway through the ringing.
"Hi, how can I help you?" a feminine voice asked.
"Hi, my name is Caitlin Snow," Caitlin said. "I wanted to see if you still have stock from a specific donor. A friend showed me an old listing, and I'd like him."
"You're interested?"
"Extremely."
"What's the name?"
"Ronnie Raymond."
The line was quiet for a few seconds. "It looks like we do still have his sperm in stock."
Caitlin breathed out low. "Thank you."
"Do you need anything else? Would you like to make an appointment to come in?"
"I'll call back," Caitlin said. "I need a little time to get things in order. But yes." She took a breath to steady herself. "I would like to make an appointment."
She ended the call and put the mental activity dampener back on her forehead.
I can't believe you just did that.
"I know."
Frost laughed. I can't wait for you to tell the others.
"I'll tell them soon. They've got more to worry about first."
About Cicada… I've been thinking.
Frost told her about her theoretical immunity to Cicada's dagger, and Caitlin agreed it sounded promising. So she started trying to let Frost take control, without herself or her team being in immediate danger. As she did, her thoughts kept straying to the sperm bank.
Ronnie had donated to it when he was low on money, right before Dr. Wells hired him to work on the particle accelerator. He'd regretted it. She'd told him not to. Now, she was thankful he'd done it.
She was going to go through with it.
It was a big decision to make so quickly. But she knew it would work out. She would have Kristin.
She would have a piece of Ronnie.
Barry looked at the picture on the monitor, trying to figure out why the man was doing it. Sherloque's theory hadn't been bad. Actually, it had given them Cicada's identity in a matter of hours, once Cisco and Ralph had helped Sherloque fine tune it. Barry looked at the picture of Orlin Dwyer carefully.
"Why are you killing metahumans?" he asked the picture.
He knew that Orlin's niece was in a coma, but if Cicada was blaming all metahumans for the events of the Enlightenment… there had to be a way to reason with him.
Barry grabbed up his keys.
"Where are you going?" Cisco asked.
"To talk to Dwyer."
Nora stood and started to follow him, and Barry held up a hand. "I'm going alone."
"Dad -,"
"I'm not going as The Flash," Barry explained. "I just want to see if he's willing to talk."
"And if he pulls out his dagger and you can't use your speed to get away?" Nora asked. "It's not safe."
"We've tried talking to him," Cisco pointed out. "He didn't like it so much."
Barry threw the keys back onto the desk, where they landed with a tinkling thud. "I don't know what else to try," he said. He'd been thinking about it for the two days they'd known Orlin's identity, and he was still no closer to knowing how to stop him. "We can't beat him with our powers as long as he has that dagger."
The others were silent, and Barry almost picked up his keys and went anyway, but then Cisco spoke. "We have more than powers."
Barry turned to him.
"We've been relying on our powers more, but we've got some quality tech here. Probably some that can rival Cicada's meta tech dagger."
There was something in Cisco's voice that hadn't been there in a while: pride. His powers may not be very functional at the moment, but it seemed like he was finally accepting that Cisco Ramon was just as important as (more so, actually) than Vibe.
"There's an idea," Ralph said.
"Here's another." Killer Frost walked into the cortex. "You set the trap. I'll make sure he springs it."
Frost was standing tall, her gaze trained on Cisco.
"Okay, a few questions," Cisco said, holding his hands up. "One, how are you here right now? I thought you could only come out when Caitlin's in danger?"
"You guys are always in danger," Frost deadpanned.
"She's kind of got a point," Ralph muttered.
"Fine," Cisco said, shaking his head. "You can fill me in later. Next question: how are you gonna be able to get Cicada where we need him, better than any of us?"
"Because I'll still have my powers."
Barry walked up to her, the question on his lips. But she'd never gone against Cicada before. Caitlin hadn't known Frost was still a part of her last time they'd faced him. Just before he asked, he took in the slight upturn of her lips, the knowing, satisfied look in her eyes, and the beginning of understanding shot through him.
"His dagger works because of dark matter," he said.
"My powers don't."
"Frost, you're a genius!" Cisco said.
Barry looked around and saw something he hadn't seen in the team's faces in what felt like a long time: hope.
"Let's make a game plan," he said, starting to smile himself. "It's time to change the future."
A/N: So it's an open-ended ending. It's up to you, whether or not you think this plan is enough to change the future back to the original timeline. Or change it completely. In my head, it's as good a chance of changing the future as any (I think it could work).
I will have one more update for this story, though the main events are completed. A bonus chapter, so you can see the future as I originally thought it would be. That's right, folks! Bonus chapter: Henry West-Allen's POV in the original timeline. Coming soon.
Leave me a review to tell me what you thought of Nora's Secret!