Frostbite

Chapter 3

…..

I flinched as I felt the all too familiar feeling of frost starting to appear on my palms as I turned my laptop on. I had some more tests to see how far my powers had progressed since I had last checked them a week ago, and I wanted to check the results before anyone got here. I take a deep breath and concentrated on my hands, stopping the mist from appearing. A wave of dizziness washed over me and I shook it off as Cisco and Barry appeared in the lab.

"Hey guys, you're here early" I greeted Barry and Cisco who had just begun to put their things down.

"Likewise. What are you doing here already?" Cisco says frowning and offering me a donut which I declined. Since my powers became more pronounced I hadn't felt like eating much.

"I had something I needed to check up on" I say quickly shoving all my test results into my drawer without having a look.

"Do you ever go home?"

"Not if I can help it" I joke, taking my water bottle from my desk and having a sip.

"You okay? You look a little pale" Barry says with concern as he passes by

"Yeah fine, probably just a cold" I say with a wave.

"Well if you start feeling worse don't be afraid to go home. Your health is important too"

"Aren't I supposed to be the doctor?" I say quirking a brow

"Fine, you won't hear from me again on this topic"

"Hey guys" Jesse says as her and Wells come in "Caitlin you feeling okay? You don't look great"

"She's sick, but don't try and convince her to go home. Doctors are the worst patients" Barry says rolling his eyes and going to talk to Wells about something.

I notice Jesse staring at me and go off to the bathroom to wash my face. As I'm running my hands under the water I notice that the water abruptly stops and pull back in horror when I realise I've frozen the water in the faucet.

What was happening? I thought I had more time, I thought I had this under control. I start to hyperventilate and the air drops rapidly in temperature, snow begins to fall from the ceiling and form webs across the mirror I'm looking at. Another strand of my hair turns white and my eyes begin to become that familiar blue.

I rapidly blink, panic taking over as I see my reflection in the mirror, I manage to stop the snow falling and my eyes revert back to their normal brown and I push myself out of the bathroom, gripping the wall as I made my way down the hall

"Caitlin? Caitlin, are you okay!" Jesse says out of nowhere

"I'm fine" I grimace holding myself up against the wall.

"Is it your powers?" she whispers "You're not really sick, are you?"

"It's fine, I-I'm just having trouble controlling them at the moment"

"Maybe it's time to tell the others, c'mon I'll help you there" she says coming towards me with her arm outstretched.

I back away, hands tucked behind my back "No! Don't. I'm fine, really" I say brushing myself off and walking back into the main room.

"Anything happen yet?" I ask as I walk in

"Nothing to report so far but I- hey are you okay? You're really pale" Cisco says with concern.

Barry and Wells both hear that and Barry comes over, a look of concern and mild frustration on his face.

"Cisco is right, you look even worse than this morning. You're going home" he says

"Really guys I'm fi-whoa" of course at that moment I'm hit with a wave of vertigo and lose my balance. Barry holds me up and sits me down in a chair while Cisco goes to get some water.

"Caitlin? Cait talk to me; can you hear me?" Barry asks, feeling my forehead for a temperature while I try to blink away the dizziness "She's freezing! Maybe we should call an ambulance?"

"No!" I leap out of my chair at that suggestion "No hospitals! I- I can't, they'll want to do tests and they can't! They can't!" I struggle to keep myself up as I hold on to the nearest desk.

Jesse comes running in "Caitlin I saw the bathroom; you have to tell them!"

"Tell us what? What's going on?" Barry asks, turning back and forth between us.

"Nothing, I'm fine"

"Caitlin"

"Stop Jesse! I'm fine I swear" I try to say convincingly

"Fine if you won't tell them, I will!"

"Jesse no! It's not your secret to tell, I'm not ready" I say the black spots reappearing in my vision

"Tell us what? Will someone please tell us what's going on!" Cisco shouts in frustration

I'm about to beg Jesse not to but the feeling of something wet beneath my nose stops my train of thought. I lift a trembling hand to my nose and pull back when I come in contact with something wet. It's blood.

And that's the last thing I see before everything goes black.

…

"What's happening?"

….

"It started a few months ago, but I only found out a few weeks ago and she swore she was fine"

…

"What do we do? She isn't exactly stable at the moment."

…...

"Why didn't she say anything?"

…

"Cell…. Ice powers…. dangerous"

….

"Guys I think she's coming to"

…..

My head felt incredibly heavy, like someone had attached weights to it and thrown me into the ocean. The simple task of even opening my eyes was difficult, like my eyelids were made out of lead. Eventually I pulled them open and was greeted by the sight of everyone staring at me.

"You all know" I figure out, my throat rather raspy.

Barry nods "Why didn't you tell us? We could have helped you"

"Because that's just it, I can't be helped. There is no stopping this and I didn't want any of you to worry" I say, slowly sitting up

"And you think we weren't worried when you collapsed in the middle of the lab with blood pouring from your nose?"

"That wasn't supposed to happen and I am fine, really I'm not even dizzy anymore"

Wells steps forward "Caitlin. We all feel, maybe it would be better if you stay here for a while. Just so we run a few tests, make sure everything's ok"

I immediately take two steps back, my hands clenched into fists as I give them all accusatory looks "You want to keep me here? Lock me up like I'm some sort of monster"

Barry steps in, trying to defuse the situation "No one is calling you a monster Cait"

"No but it's what you're all thinking. You look at me and see Killer Frost, I can't believe this" I gasp, "I heard what one of you said, that I'm dangerous. No offense but I don't plan on sticking around to hear what else you have to say" I begin to leave but Barry runs forward, grabbing my forearm

"Caitlin wait" he says holding me back.

"Just let me go" I snap, trying to pull away

"No, not until we talk"

"I said let me GO!" I scream, trying to shove him off me.

It all happens very quickly, my hand latches onto the arm holding me prisoner and the next thing I know I can feel Barry's life and warmth seeping from his body into mine. He immediately stiffens, his face going extremely pale.

The second I realise what I'm doing I pull away but the damage is already done, Barry collapses to the floor, gasping and choking as Wells and Cisco check him out.

"Caitlin what did you do?" Cisco snaps, his eyes wide with fear and anger. I look around the room and fear is on every face I see, and it's all directed towards me.

"I-I'm sorry" I stammer, facing my hands towards myself before I hurt anyone else. Jesse comes forward and I panic "No! No don't come near me! I-I don't want to hurt anyone else"

"I'm sorry... I-I'm sorry" I sob before rushing out, there's no one following me this time. I grab my bag on the way and run to my car, tears streaming down my face as start my engine.

I don't know where I was going to go, but I couldn't stay here anymore.