For Mikkal and Cr1m. you guys rock, thank you for listening to me brainstorm and pushing me to finish.
Chapter 11
Felix, Schrodi, and Lucy returned from their patrol, exhausted and frustrated. They had found nothing of use. While the Nyoomman and Nyoom searched desperately for Ris and Puppy and the Wheelman who'd taken them, the kittens did the same, hardly kittens any more. Even those of them who had very little grasp of People Speak knew that the more time passed, the worse things would be. So they searched, trying to follow familiar smells.
It was just such a big city for such little feet. Goldie was beside herself, yowling and refusing comfort. Not even the Big man could calm her, or Sco, though they tried. Even Bear couldn't get her to rest easy, licking his littermate's speckled ears.
Things were hardly easier for the humans. As Barry ran himself desperately ragged, Joe watched Cisco try to find any traces of his daughter and partner with haunted eyes, and took to the streets himself, though they all knew that much was pointless. They even searched Iris's blog email, looking through every scrap of story anyone had sent in, hoping for a recent location of the streak of yellow that was the Reverse Flash. There was nothing, just the usual—reports of the Flash, of the Flashcat, of a woman who appeared inside a locked car to save a baby from overheating, of a wild gorilla on the loose.
"I've looked everywhere," Barry said, his head in his hands as he sank down onto the edge of the treadmill, easing his shoes off his feet. Sturdy as they were, he'd run holes in them. Cisco couldn't bring himself to tsk. The Shoes were nothing compared to Eddie and Iris.
"Meerrp," Goldie whined from where Joe cradled her. Everyone froze.
"Did we try? Using the cats?" Caitlin wet her lips, suddenly thoughtful. Scrap mewed a sharp, high, (Nope).
Joe looked at Cisco, then Barry.
"It can't hurt to try…" Cisco offered. "Like twenty questions. Only not questions. Eddie and Iris are alive."
No one glared at him for voicing that fear, and all sighed when Goldie didn't mew to signify a lie.
"They're hurt."
"Meerrp,"
Joe sagged in relief.
"They're together," Caitlin said next.
"Meerrp."
"They're still in Central City." Barry leaned forward.
Silence.
"They're…Underground?" Cisco offered.
More silence. Caitlin got to her feet so fast Scrap almost went flying and returned with a map of the city.
"One of them is in this section." She pointed.
"Meerrp."
Cisco knelt beside her, and Fuzzewhump curled up in the middle of the bay on the map, her tail twitching. "One of them is in this section," he jabbed at the waterfront.
"Meerrp."
"One of them's in this section," Barry pointed at the map co-ordinates that contained a warehouse district.
"Meerrp."
It felt like guesswork, tedious and foolish, but if it brought his daughter home, if it saved his partner, Joe would go through every block on that map to the armload of golden fur. "One of them's here." He pointed at random, Goldie squirming from his suddenly tight grip to rub against Barry's hands.
There was silence again, made longer and more painful when Joe realized where he was pointing.
"That's where we are…That's STAR," Cisco breathed. "You don't think…?"
Barry was off like a shot, streaking down the corridors, down the stairway, to the pipeline door. As it opened, a flash of red lightning blazed past.
Barry ran. Goldie ran in the opposite direction, calling for her family.
Eddie hadn't waited after Eobard left to start shouting again. Usually, the nut-job in the yellow suit returned to threaten him, or glare at him until he shut up within seconds, and that was what Eddie was hoping for. If his psychotic great-great grandson was threatening him, he wasn't threatening Iris. It had been days, and still Eddie didn't have anything beyond a promise that she wouldn't be harmed, though the silent "yet" was a constant worry. And Eddie didn't trust the promise of a Thawne further than he could throw a truck—too many were politicians at heart.
Something behind and above him rattled, and Eddie strained at the rough bindings again, keeping up his yelling. Eobard needed him alive, so that at least was something. Judging by the newspaper article he'd showed off, he wanted Iris alive, too. Eddie'd hope for the best, that that would be enough until they could get out of this.
The noise above stopped, and faintly he heard something padding over, nearly silent. There was no faint, warped buzzing, no angry lightning. Eddie swallowed a hard gulp of air as he felt something watching him, tried to crane his head to see into the shadows behind him.
Goldie and another cat, Schrodinger, he thought, leaped up onto his lap, purring. As the smudgy black and white cat kneaded his legs, Goldie planted her front paws on Eddie's chest and rubbed her face against his stubble covered cheeks.
"Good kitty," Eddie managed to get out as she meowed a greeting, still purring and nosing his face. She didn't seem to mind the wetness on his cheeks as he at last, in the face of rescue, allowed himself to fall apart. Overhead, he heard Joe's voice, and Cisco's.
Goldie licked his nose.
Barry only barely made it out of the sewers the first time he went in to save Iris. Goldie again confirmed that she was still alive, still unharmed, but that did very little to soothe anyone, knowing that her jailer was a massive, murderous, telepathic gorilla. As Cisco and Caitlin set to building an Anti-Telepathy Tiara, the cats had other plans.
Freida and Georgia led the way, twin red tails held high like flags, and the distaste at entering the smelly, wet sewers was to be put on hold until later, when they could have Sco and the Soft one pat their paws dry with fuzzy towels. So in they went, with Felix and Apricot and Sue for backup.
Down one of the drier tunnels, they smelled what had to be Gorilla, big, damp furred, reeking of Fear and Anger. The hulking monster turned on them, opened his mouth to roar. Freida winced with the images he projected, and sent one right back, Ris's soft hands brushing Goldie's fur, one of Bear's memories, then one of her own, being cuddled as a kitten, then one of Nyoom's, and on, and on. Georgia added her own voice, just as steady and resonant, because it held the voice of the entire clowder.
You stop that right now!
I AM GRODD. Grodd returned, snarling, batting at the air as if to drive away the images. Felix busied himself chewing on the rope that secured Iris's hands to a ring in the wall.
And we are Cat. Enough. No hurt. No more hurt. Georgia laid back her ears and showed her own, much smaller teeth.
Father say—
Father Lie. Georgia's words were underscored by Fuzz's memories, pushed through by Freida, the Wheelman hurting Sco, and then one of Scrap's memories, Ris and the Soft One gently talking and comforting.
No
L—Grodd stopped, unable to finish even in his own thoughts as Bear twined his tail around Iris's legs, pressing his head into her stomach and mewing softly, (Is safe, I here, I protect.)
(Was Father, me too). Apricot ignored the warning his from Georgia, darting around Freida's paws, to sit, her pale orange fur gleaming in the dim light, at Grodd's feet. (Understand. Listen? No hurt. No more. Be…Be own self. Free like Cats.)
Iris stifled a scream as Grodd's massive hand came down, and with the forced gentle grace of a toddler told to "be soft" lifted the kitten. Apricot purred, hesitantly at first, opening her mind up. Hoping he could understand her words without Georgia offering them up, she continued to mew. Grodd smelled like hurting, like Sad and Scared and Confused. She licked a paw, and swiped it over his arm, like she might clean her own ears.
Grodd did not speak again, only looked at her, dark eyes meeting paler ones, her tail swishing against his palm. Apricot breathed lightly, then stretched forward her head to butt his nose.
Grodd blinked. We go. Away from here. Me. Girl. You.
Apricot twitched her tail again. (Me, yes. Leave girl. We go. Georgia, tell. Please. Need this.)
Understand. Grodd blinked again, loosening his hold. Apricot climbed easily to his shoulder, and they left, vanishing into the gloom. Georgia and Frieda did not wail for their sister kitten, though a part of them wanted to, the way they missed Peanut Butter, and Santiago and Spike, and all those who had chosen their own path.
Iris emerged from the sewers as Barry raced in. He was wearing the frankly ridiculous tiara contraption, and she was covered in cats, but both of them managed to hold in the laughter that was more relief than anything else, at least for the moment.
Of course, nothing could ever go right for more than ten minutes. While Cisco had explored the Pipeline, Fuzzwhump on his shoulder and a guard detail of cats following him, he'd found the power source Eddie had mentioned seeing. Cisco was pretty sure that Glowy Light Tubes created by Evil Time-traveling Murderers were signs of bad thing to come. A few quick checks later, he interrupted the reunion in the main room, where Iris and Eddie were practically glued together at the hip, Bear and Goldie seated protectively, and Caitlin topping up mugs of soup.
"We've got a problem," Cisco winced. "I figure, maybe 36 hours."
"Until what?" Joe asked, tensing up again.
"Until the Particle Accelerator turns back on."
"Can it do that?" Iris asked, picking a potato chunk out of the soup with her spoon.
Cisco threw up his hands, and Fuzzwhump hunkered down on his shoulder. "Apparently."
"Great," Barry groaned. "Now what?"
"Now, we need to figure out what do do about the Metahumans." Caitlin wrinkled her nose. "If that thing turns on… I'm going to try to call Ronnie. I get the feeling we'll need Firestorm."
They couldn't reach Ronnie or Stein right away, and Oliver was apparently very busy, but Dig and Lyla offered a tentative solution. It wasn't ideal, but neither was letting a bunch of murderers loose, or flat out letting them die. (Though it did cross Barry's mind that Kyle Nimbus was technically supposed to be dead, and if it came down to it, they could probably contain him in a vacuum cleaner for a little while.)
While Cisco chatted about specs and the new additions to team Arrow -Spike had finally won over Oliver, having used himself as a projectile weapon during a particularly hopeless seeming fight, though Oliver wouldn't admit it—Barry ran an errand. With no Oliver or Firestorm to have his back, there was one person he might be able to turn to.
"Um, no," Shawna said flatly, scratching Peanut Butter's back and glaring at Barry from her doorway. "You said I was free, no strings. This? This is a string."
"It's not, it's—please, Shawna. A favor. We have to move the other metas, or they'll die, but if we let them go, they'll—Mardon tried to kill my foster dad, and he wanted to destroy the whole city. Nimbus—you know what he can do. I don't like it, but there's no way we have to keep them from just killing, or hurting anyone they feel like. We need your help."
Shawna sucked on her lower lip, then shook her head again. "I can't. Night time, dimly lit area, that's asking for trouble, and I can only move one person at a time anyway, and not into something I can't see. Get your friends to help you. I don't owe you, we were clear. Just let me live my life."
Barry reached forward, hoping to convince her, and she puffed back a few feet, the door still open. Barry closed his mouth with an audible click. "If you change your mind, you know where we are. We could really use a hand, though."
Peanut Butter miaowed a farewell as Barry left, still in his regular clothing, taking the steps three at a time.
"I hear Miss Hide and Seek gave you the cold shoulder," a familiar voice drawled from the cortex doorway. Cisco flinched, dropping his tablet pen. Before Leonard Snart could move into the room, Barry was there, positioning himself between Snart and his two previous kidnap victims. Fuzzwhump hissed, pinning back her ears and showing her teeth. It wasn't particularly threatening, but it was the intention that counted.
"We had a deal, Cold." Barry's voice shook with exhaustion, frustration, and fury. "What part of 'if you go near my friends or family again the deal's off and I lock you up for good' don't you understand?"
"Touchy."Snart let out an exaggerated sigh. "You clearly need help with something, asking people you've locked up for it shows you're desperate. Your prison's compromised, so skip the threat. My sister and I can make some…arrangements. Quid pro Quo. We help you, we get something in return, everyone's happy."
No one liked the smirk on his face, or the way his gaze lingered on Cisco and his desk, covered in tools. Barry's chest heaved as he fought the urge to shove Snart through a window. Or a wall.
He didn't have to, nor did any of them have a chance to tell Snart exactly where he could stick his offer, when the thief let out a brief yell of pain.
Fuzzwhump, for the first time willingly separated from Cisco in days, had slipped over unnoticed and sunk needle sharp teeth into Snart's ankle. The paralysis that had come over the room with his entrance ended in a wave of fur, tails, and claws as every one of the cats still at STAR Labs converged. Snart went down hard, batting ineffectively at kittens that his hands passed through, or dodged with ease.
Cisco knew it probably said something about him that he was enjoying it, but whether it said something good or bad, he didn't know or care.
"Call them off," Snart kicked, sending Moose flying. Moose yowled, shielding himself with a force field, and then returned to the fray. Feathers flew everywhere—Sue had torn open a seam in the parka.
"You broke the treaty, cats do what they want." Barry shrugged. "How did you think this was going to go down? We'd just be totally chill with you walking in?" Snart's growl was matched by those of a dozen cats.
"Scrap, no!" Caitlin shrieked as Scrap grew to her full size and lifted a paw, claws like steak knives. Scrap looked back, and the expression of "pleeeease?" on her face couldn't have been more clear.
With Scrap's hesitation, the other cats also paused. Georgia lashed her tail. (Enough. No kill. Just make scared. Would not taste good.)
They backed off, forming a semicircle around him, hackles raised. Snart pushed himself to his feet, his ankles bloody and his face red. "Some hero you are." He spat.
Fuzzwhump was still close. Eyeing him defiantly, she decided that just this once, a litterbox was not necessary. Scrap, still roughly four feet tall at the shoulder, growled menacingly.
Snart was many things, and stupid was not one of them. He beat a hasty retreat, limping some. Barry watched him go, still furious. This was their sanctuary, and first order of business after making sure that moving the metas and hopefully stopping any second explosion was dealt with would have to be better security measures.
It almost worked. It almost worked, but at least no one was dead. Faulkner counted noses and tails and people, reassured that everyone had returned, with the exception of the people from the boxes. Sue was put off by that, she liked her person, even if he did shout a lot.
(Nart and his smell-bad friend and his littermate) Nyoom mewed as she licked her feathery and slightly singed tail. (Should have eaten.)
(Cannot eat people. Is rude.) Georgia blinked, licking the Soft one's hand. She was still shaking.
(Ice blasts and threatening Litter is also rude.) Lucy pointed out.
(Next time.) Frieda promised.
(Now?) Fuzzwhump asked, her mew high and bright with panic. Her eyes, like Sco's, and Nyoomman's, and everyone else's, were fixed on the screen.
The Wheelman was opening the gate.
Annnnd we'll stop there. Two chapters left for this, folks! I'm done with work after this week so hoping, hoping, hoping, to get this finished by the first of the new year, plus a few more minifics and things. Please leave comments? It's the time of year where the best gift you can give is encouragement, so not just for this fic, but for all you read, leave a little message for the writers, let them know you care.
hops off soap box.
Seee you soon.