Chapter 8: Lucky now

Caitlin

The days sweep by in a mad rush. I'm carried along on a tide of bliss that seems to fuel my and Wells' work on controlling my powers. Every day, we work on my focus, my ability to take my body and mind back from Killer Frost, so that instead of a separate personality within me, she becomes a part of myself that works and functions using my conscience.

It's a slow process and with anyone else it would feel grueling, but not with him there to encourage me and brilliantly guide my progress.

One afternoon, I finally manage to merge with Killer Frost so that I can feel her will, wield her powers, yet control myself. My hair, instead of turning bright white, has remained its normal blondish brown, with subtle blue streaks shining through the strands. Killer Frost is here, but so am I. It's an empowering sensation, taking the reigns back.

"That's a pretty substantial amount of frosty prowess you're showing off there," Wells grins as I walk around the room, shedding whirls of ice and snow in a looping pattern.

"Why thank you, kind sir," I reply as he pulls me close to him.

"Any urges to commit crimes at the moment?" He murmurs, his fingers stroking the places on my wrists where the bracelets usually are, the sensitive skin prickling exquisitely under his touch.

"Aside from public indecency from how much I want you to lay me down on that counter over there, I'd have to say…no," I confirm happily. "This experiment has been a resounding success!"

"I knew you could do it," Harry says, touching my ice-cold cheek like it doesn't give him the slightest chill. Hopefully, with time, I'll be able to regulate my temperature better. I lean into his palm as he asks roguishly, "By the way, was that a challenge I heard?"

I giggle as he lifts me onto the counter and quickly forget to be amused as the feeling of his mouth on mine, his hands slipping under the back of my shirt, leaves me more than slightly breathless. "Challenge accepted, I take it?" I murmur huskily, sliding my legs around his hips as his fingers drift up my thigh.

"Always, Snow," he answers with perfect eloquence.

We hear a noise and jerk slightly apart, looking around.

"Hello?" I call out, and there's a pause before we hear Cisco's voice pop up faintly, from behind the door to this section of the lab, which is equipped with a window, I remember with a wince.

"Sorry!" Cisco shouts bluntly.

I quickly refasten my bra under my shirt and return my feet to the ground as Wells squeezes his eyes shut, trying to pretend our encounter hasn't been walked in on so awkwardly.

"Come in, Cisco," I call, deciding to deal with the situation head-on.

"Although," Cisco remarks, striding through the doors and crossing his arms accusingly, "It's really you two who should be apologizing to me. I will never be able to unsee that!"

"Okay, sorry," I relent, wincing in embarrassment. "I know this must come as something of a shock, too, and I'm sorry I never told you that—"

"That the two of you are dating?" Cisco laughs. "Playa, please. I've known about that for weeks. We all have."

"You…all…have?" Harrison asks in disbelief.

"H.R. spilled the beans!" I theorize, "I will give him a piece of my mind!"

"Mixed metaphors aside," Cisco interrupts my tirade, "H.R. didn't tell us. We all just figured it out on our own. There's been evidence for ages, like you know, how you, Harry, just mysteriously decided to stick around all this time instead of going back to Earth 2, and you never explained why. Or the way you guys have lost all concept of personal space."

"Hmm?" I question, looking down at Wells and myself to examine our posture and realizing that we're practically in each others' laps. Ahhh…yup.

"Whoops," Wells admits sheepishly.

"Ooorrr," Cisco adds dramatically, batting his eyelashes, "the puppy dog gazing you two are always doing at each other, and the way you both never come to Jitters at night anymore and please do not tell me what you've been doing because I don't want to know."

"I guess there's no keeping a secret around this crew," I sigh, shaking my head with a laugh as nervous energy sloughs off of me.

"What's the big deal anyway?" Cisco asks. "Did you think we were going to judge you for having an multiversal romance?"

"New term!" I congratulate him. "Well, aside from the multiversal aspect…which we really haven't even discussed the potential ramifications of…" I realize, trailing off momentarily.

"What would your kids be like?" Cisco exclaims in a nerd-tastic fit, "Split-universe, Dual-Dimensional offspring!" He says the words musically, accompanying them with jazz hands to convey his "Twilight Zone" themed effect.

I laugh, "You're getting a little ahead of us, Cisco. Maybe we just wanted to enjoy being us for a bit and see how it felt?" I exchange a glance with Wells and know in my heart that that's exactly it. Once the Star Labs crew found out about a relationship, it was fair game for well-meaning questions, innocent gossip, and all kinds of attention we hadn't been prepared for when first admitting our feelings.

"Cool, makes sense," Cisco agrees simply and significantly. Something about this conversation has put a sparkle back in his eyes that's been largely absent since Dante's death.

"Cait, I'm just so glad you're happy," he tells me. I guess having a perpetually stressed-out best friend was only adding to Cisco's own stress.

"And I'm happy to see you smiling again, too," I say, pulling him into a hug.

"Nice new highlights, by the way," Cisco says, pointing at my hair. I smile and twirl a blue-tinged tendril. "Can't help but notice your bracelets are missing. Does this mean you finally told Killer Frost where to go?"

"Yeah," I explain, "For now, it seems like she's at peace. Somewhere within me. Hope she stays there."

We all go to Jitters that night and sing bad karaoke — well, actually, Barry has a pretty good voice, but the rest of us are fairly dreadful. Looking around at all of my amazing friends reminds me what a remarkable and full life I have. Spinning around the dancefloor with Harry, who tries to get out of dancing, but then displays real skill, I feel the world shining with possibility. This is what happiness feels like.