Chapter 8: A Red Christmas

I was invited to Joe's Christmas party a few days after my undercover mission with Barry. I still hadn't fully made my decision to join the team and be Techna once more, but everyone insisted that I still join them for Christmas. I only agreed because I hated the idea of being alone during the holidays.

However, instead of taking a cab to Joe's house or even driving myself, I found myself walking out of the city and towards the suburbs where the West family lives. It was cold enough outside to see my breath lingering in the atmosphere in front of me, so I bundled as much as I could with my hands stuffed in my coat pockets as I walked along the icy sidewalk. I knew I was being followed immediately, but I made no attempt to run as long as the intruder made no attempt to attack.

After several minutes of just walking in silence and waiting, I sighed and turned around, "You know, you could've just said hi instead of following me around."

The corners of his mouth lifted slightly as he looked at the ground, fending embarrassment at being caught, I assumed. But then he shrugged his shoulders, removing his fur hoodie from his head to reveal his silver hair before responding, "I don't do greetings."

"I see that." I folded my arms across my chest as I watched Leonard Snart bury his hands in his pockets.

"You're not surprised to see me?" He asked as if he was genuinely curious.

I shrugged as well, "I heard you broke out of jail on the news. Figured I'd run into you eventually… Though, maybe not like this. What are you doing here?"

He pulled his right hand out of his pocket to reveal a small, wrapped gift he was holding, "Merry Christmas." He tossed the box forward and I captured it immediately.

It felt light and was no bigger than the palm of my hand. I looked up at him before pointing out, "I don't accept stolen gifts."

He smirked again, "Don't be too surprised, but it wasn't stolen."

I raised my eyebrow in suspicion, "Oh?"

I could've sworn I saw a new shade of pink on his cheeks before he looked down at his shoes, also crossing his arms over his chest. "Does it matter?"

"And how do I know it's not a bomb?"

"It's not."

I sighed, "Then why else are you giving me a gift?"

He paused for a second and I almost thought he wasn't going to respond before he quietly said, "For saving my sister."

I hesitated, not expecting this answer or to hear something so soft coming from Captain Cold. I rotated the box in my hands for a few times before asking, "Did you get Barry a gift?"

He rolled his eyes, although the smirk on his face remained before telling me, "Unfortunately, the Flash isn't pretty."

"And you're saying I am?"

"Do you want the gift or not?" He asked; the words he said hinted a tinge of annoyance, but his voice was still calm and smooth like a flat surface of ice.

I couldn't help but smile as I peered down at the small box in my hands. "I see why Barry wanted to help you now." Before he could open his mouth and ask, I responded with, "You really are a good guy, aren't you?"

He rolled his eyes and shifted his weight onto his other leg, but the smile on his face betrayed him, admitting that he appreciated my compliment. "Don't make me regret giving you a Christmas present. Open it. Tell me what you think."

I took off what little gold wrapping paper there was on the present and opened the box. Inside was a white, sparkly, very-expensive-looking bracelet. My mouth fell open slightly in surprise as I pulled it out of the box and held it up in front of me.

After a few seconds of my gawking, he shifted his weight again, looking a tad uncomfortable. "If you don't like it, I also kept the receipt in the box-."

"I love it." I told him before sliding the bracelet over my wrist where it fit perfectly. "It's really fancy and not what I'd normally wear, but… It's really beautiful."

He shrugged his shoulders, again, fighting off the smile that tugged at the corner of his lips. "It's just a thank you gift."

I shook my head. "I really didn't do much. Barry got us into the warehouse where you and your father were. And Cisco got rid of the bomb in Lisa's neck-."

"Yes, but you stopped me from killing my father too soon." He pointed out, looking right through me with his bright blue eyes. "If I had pulled the trigger the first time, Lisa would've exploded just as I killed him."

"I honestly just didn't want to see you kill someone."

He sighed, looking out at the area over my shoulder as if he had disappeared to that exact moment again. I wondered then if killing someone ever really leaves you, even if you didn't particularly like the person. "It had to be done."

I looked down at my bracelet, thinking the words carefully before saying, "I know. I would've done the same thing for Ronnie."

His eyes fell back on mine before he asked, "You have a brother?"

"HAD a brother." I corrected him.

His eyebrows furrowed once more, this time in what looked like sympathy. "What happened?"

I frowned and closed my eyes; remembering the flash of light and the utter horror as I watched Professor Stein fall to what looked like his doom. I remembered the relief when Barry caught him, and then the horror again as he brought him to safety but not Ronnie. And I hated myself. Because for just a second, I had hoped it was Ronnie and not Stein. And for just a second, I blamed Barry for not being able to close the singularity on his own. And for just a second, I wanted Ronnie there instead of the rest of them.

I bit my lip before telling him, "Believe it or not, he exploded. Almost like your sister did-."

Just then my alarm went off. I knew it was my phone alarm, even before I pulled it out of my pocket and looked down at the lit-up screen. My eyes widen when I saw it was Cisco's metahuman alert app and he had set it off inside Jitters.

I stuffed it in my pocket quickly, sputtering out, "I-I'm so so-."

"Don't apologize." He told me, holding his hand up to cut me off. "I get it. You've got superhero stuff to do."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not a superhero, Leonard."

He shrugged his shoulders. "Superhero, hero. Same thing."

"I have to go."
"That's okay, so do I. I have to meet up with my partner, Mick."

"Who is Mick?" I asked, suddenly steered off topic as I was just about to run off.

"Don't worry about it." He told me before giving me a small wink and turning on his heel to walk in the other direction. I watched him for only a few more seconds before turning on my own heel and heading for Jitters.

Two seconds. Everything felt like it happened in two seconds.

I ran. I ran until the soles of my feet hurt and my lungs felt like someone had started a fire inside them. I didn't really want to go to Jitters, I knew why he was there and not at Joe's party, but the faint beeping of the metahuman alert app kept ringing in my ears, making my feet endure the long run to the team's favorite coffee shop.

Before I could even touch the door to push it open, the familiar rush of wind and streak of lightening brushed past me and swung the door wide open. After the initial shock of being surpassed by someone at the speed of light, I reopened the door and stepped inside. The lights were dim and I would've taken notice of the candlelit dinner and the fact that the beautiful Kendra was standing right next to Cisco if I hadn't watched Barry smash into the side of a dark-haired man and sent him flying. It was hard to find my burning feet again before I ran up to stand on the side of Cisco that wasn't already occupied.

"Leah?" Cisco breathed out as he turned to look at me, his hair slightly falling in front of his face. "How did you get here so quickly?"

I opened my mouth to reply; I wanted to tell him about how I ran into Lenny, how the bracelet around my wrist was a gift from a secretly-kind man who just wanted to protect his sister, but was silenced by the disturbing grunt Barry made before he was knocked off his feet.

Two seconds.

Two seconds to hear the sound of Barry's back hit the hard wood floor. Two seconds to realize the intruder had gotten up onto his feet and threw a really sharp object in our direction. Two seconds to make a very important decision.

My feet didn't hesitate to slide a little bit to the right and stand in front of Cisco.

I didn't see Barry jump up to his feet and knock the criminal aside. And I didn't have time to see him lunge our way because he's fast. Really fast.

But not fast enough to notice the dagger and reach out for it before it was too late.

His hand reached the hilt of the dagger just as the sickening sound of the blade piercing my abdomen filled the room with silence.

I think I meant to scream. I opened my mouth to get any form of expression out, but was shocked to find the air had left me completely. The oxygen I needed to squeal in surprise wasn't there and it left me gasping.

The fear came right after that. I watched Barry's blue eyes grow wide as if he was realizing the situation just as slowly as I was. My hand reached up to cover his as he held the blade steady, but my hand was shaking, which felt odd considering I couldn't feel it at all. I kept my eyes trained on Barry's as I felt something warm ooze through his fingers and cling to my hand. I saw his mouth move. I think he said my name, but I didn't hear anything.

And then the pain. The feeling of the blade lodged deep into my body added on to the fear and I clutched Barry's hand as tight as I could considering it was numb. However, when the burning fire ripped through my chest and escaped my mouth in some form of inhuman cry, the only other thing I could feel was my knees give out below me.

"LEAH!" That was the only thing I had been able to hear, although I'm sure the source of the desperate scream repeated it a few times.

But I was too focused on the black and red dots that formed around the edges of my vision as the room shifted and someone's hands caught me from behind the shoulders.

"Oh, God… She's bleeding everywhere…."

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't realize he threw it—I could've caught it! I meant to!"

"Somebody call an ambulance!"

"You're joking, right?! Barry! Speed her over to STAR Labs. NOW!"

I wanted to laugh at how uncontrollably hard it was to keep my eyelids open. They were so heavy as if I hadn't slept in decades, but that's a lie. All I ever do is sleep. The black and red dots were getting larger and closer to me as my eyelids tried closing and my head felt heavy like lead.

"Leah, keep your eyes open, you hear me?"

The black dots disappeared only for a second to be replaced by brighter, white lights. I couldn't lift my head enough to see where he had taken me, but the feeling of being flashed somewhere new had a sense of nausea rise up to my chest where it stuck. It was hot and heavy as if it was weighing down on my lungs. Then it was really, really hot and I was struggling to change positions, to get rid of the pain, but was constricted by Barry's arms.

"Leah, please, quit mo—Caitlin! HELP ME!"

He somehow managed to place me on the gurney against all my struggling. I didn't mean to move, I knew it'd give Caitlin a hard time to observe the blade sticking out of my upper abdomen and figure out what to do; but, my body was on fire and the pain was spreading to deeper parts of my body and I just wanted relief. I wanted it to stop.

I saw a swirl of red hair beside me and could hear words from two people that were blurring together and no longer making sense. The black and red dots were beginning to swarm the white lights above my head, making the room look darker and darker by the second. I was frightened up until I spotted the familiar figure in the corner of the room. He was always in the room when I didn't want him there. But right now, I really wanted him there.

I managed to find my fingers through all the pain and I reached out for him, but he continued to just watch me with my own blue eyes, making no move to step forward and comfort me. My eyes blurred again and my body convulsed. I heard a scream. I think it was mine.

I felt someone grab my hand and I turned my head, hoping to see Ronnie, but it was another pair of blue eyes. Barry leaned over me, worry sketched all over his face.

"Hang in there, Leah. Caitlin is going to fix you."

But the dots around my eyes were closing in and I could barely see the outline of his face anymore. It looked like someone was diming the lights. Or maybe it was me. Or perhaps, my own light was fading out. Is this really it?

I felt another jolt of pain, but now my body was too heavy to move. I couldn't feel the pair of hands that stuck needles in me and moved to ready the knife to pull out. I couldn't feel Barry's hands or hear his words or comfort anymore. I watched as the dots pulled themselves in to snuggle at the center of my eyes and make my vision go black.

And then I closed my eyes and couldn't find the strength in me to open them again.

"LEAH."

"LEAH, WAIT!"