Chapter 5: Flash Frozen
"…and his blood pressure dropped again today, so whatever you guys are gonna do, do it soon."
Barry sighed. "Yeah, we're working on it. Thanks Frost."
"That's what I'm here for. Evidently I'm destined to live out my days nursing one or more versions of Barry Allen back to health…" The end of her statement faded as she was walking away, but Barry still heard her. He chuckled.
Turning to the patient lying in bed, Barry asked, "How you holdin' up?"
Savitar, pale and shaky as he was, still managed to glare at his time-twin. "You mean aside from the fact that I'm under the care of Nurse Ratched?"
"I believe what you meant to say was 'thank you'," Frost interjected, returning to the Medbay. She gave him a nasty look while raising her frosting hand threateningly. "Unless, of course, you'd prefer that I drop the bedside manner altogether."
Barry put his hands up placatingly. "Alright, alright, that's enough death threats for today. Let's keep things civil."
"Tell that to your pet. I know how to be professional." As Frost was rounding the corner of an unoccupied bed, a sudden wave of dizziness swept over her. She stumbled and gripped the mattress for stability.
"Caitlin!" Barry rushed over, forgetting, in his haste, to address her by her preferred name. He stopped just short of touching her (because that usually never went well for him) but sticking close enough to support her if she fell. He looked his friend up and down for injuries or signs of pain. "Are you alright?"
She tried swatting him away, but that hand quickly returned to grip the bed. "I'm fine, Barry. Quit hovering."
"You almost fell over; that is not 'fine'."
"It's probably just one of the side effects of the cure that Cisco mentioned. Trust me – I've dealt with worse."
"Still, you should sit down." This time, he did dare to touch her, and it just furthered his concern when she didn't shrug him off. Frost must have been feeling off to disregard her personal space. With a hand on her arm, Barry guided her to sit down on the bed. "In fact, maybe you should rest here for an hour or so."
"What for? I told you I'm fine!"
"This may start as a mild dizzy spell, Frost, but we have no idea how bad the effects could get. We're in uncharted territory. Please, just – just stay here for a bit to make sure nothing worsens. Remember: you agreed to let us monitor your condition."
Frost still looked unconvinced, so Barry added, "What do you have to get home to, anyway?"
A tense second passed in which Frost quietly stared and Barry worried that he had truly offended her, thereby sentencing himself to what would no doubt be nasty retribution. Instead of an attack, though, Frost just smirked. "Touché... Alright, Flash, you win. I'll stay just long enough to convince you I'm not on death's door."
Barry smiled successfully. He wished these conversations with Frost didn't always turn into a tug-and-pull. She was so busy being the doctor that Frost neglected to realize when she needed to be the patient. Getting her to take care of herself was a constant battle. Surprisingly, Frost was more invested in Savitar's recovery than her own – not that she'd ever admit it. Barry noticed, though; he caught the amused smirks, the quiet moments when everything in Frost's world seemed right. When she thought no one was paying attention (Savitar included), she was careful taking his vitals – and anxious when she saw them continuing to drop. In the quiet moments, she was calm. She was focused. She was, dare he say… content. It was in those moments Barry was convinced Caitlin wasn't too far below the surface, wasn't too far gone to come back to them.
"Deal," he replied. "Maybe while I'm here I should check your-"
"Attention, STAR Labs!" came Cisco's voice over the speaker system, "Please make your way to the Cortex for a display of genius the likes of which you have never seen before– brought to you by Cisco Ramon and Associates!" In the background, muffled conversation could be heard shortly before the speakers shut off. If Barry had his guess, he would say that Harry wasn't happy about being lumped in with "Associates".
The speedster then turned to address both bed-ridden metahumans. "Scratch that; Cisco must've had a breakthrough in Savitar's case-"
"It's about time-"
"So," Barry continued, ignoring Savitar's bitter interruption, "I better go see what he's got. Can I trust that you two won't tear each other limb-from-limb while I'm gone?"
"Absolutely not! I need to be put in protective custody, away from her."
"Aww, what's the matter, Savitar? The big, bad god of speed isn't so god-like without the speed, is he?" Frost fake-pouted then grinned devilishly at her ex-partner's growing anger.
Barry sighed with exasperation. "Y'know, the bickering was amusing at first. Not anymore. We've got bigger things to deal with, Savitar – like saving your life. So… close your eyes, plug your ears, pretend the other doesn't exist – I don't know! Just resolve out your own issues like adults, because, frankly, the constant animosity is getting on my last nerve. Odds are, you're gonna have to be around each other for a while yet. So, figure it out."
He left the Medbay without another word. Perhaps this was just the opportunity those two needed to work through some things. They'd never really gotten to properly address the sudden change in plans (at least not that Barry knew), and no one on Team Flash paid much mind to their relentless hostility. Barry thought it was time that changed. Everyone was so busy focusing on solving short-term problems – understandably so – that not much thought had been put into long-term ones.
Since Frost and Savitar both had such volatile personalities, Barry thought it important that they not be at odds. Perhaps it was too much to hope that those two could bury the hatchet (and honestly, Barry's not sure why it mattered to him so much that they got along), but STAR Labs did have a certain effect on people. It was difficult to hold grudges here; years of friendship and camaraderie made it a place of mending, not breaking. In any case, having two metahumans with questionable morals constantly at each other's throats could only mean disaster for everyone around them. For the safety of the team, Savitar and Frost needed to calm down. If nothing got better – or, heaven forbid, if things got worse – once the Team Flash meeting was over, Barry would intervene. At least, this way, he was giving them an opportunity to talk in private.
With thoughts of those two put aside, Barry entered the Cortex. The rest of the team was already there or arriving along with him. Julian, however, was oddly absent. Cisco, Harry, and a solemn-looking Tracy stood together in the center of the room.
"Thank you, everyone, for gathering in such a timely manner," Cisco began. "I have a big announcement to make-"
"Wait – we can't start without Julian," Barry interjected.
Cisco acknowledged him with a point in his direction. "Alright, I have two announcements to make. I will quickly say that Julian left a letter explaining that he was needed back home to help with urgent family matters."
"He went back to England?" Iris asked, more than a little surprised. "He just… up and left without saying goodbye in person?"
"Yeah, well, I have some theories of my own about that." Cisco looked pointedly over to the Medbay. "But we can talk about that later. Our most urgent issue – keeping Darth Speeder back there off death row – just received a solution."
Harry stepped in next to continue explaining. "Yes – we believe we've found a way to keep Savitar in existence, and it has to do with the Speedforce prison."
"More specifically" – Cisco again – "We trick the Speedforce into thinking that Savitar is back in that prison. How? Oh, I'm so glad you asked." He walked over and threw the covering off the dry-erase board, revealing sketches and calculations. "This is the Quark Sphere. We fill this thing with Savitar's DNA – along with software to track Jay's energy signature. Then, we shoot it into the Speedforce using…"
"The Speedforce Bazooka," Tracy picked up. "I've designed a modification that should enable the Bazooka to open a breach into the Speedforce and send through the Quark Sphere. It will locate Jay in the Speedforce and travel to him. Once there, it takes his place in the prison and pushes Jay back out. With Savitar's DNA present in the prison, the Speedforce won't think to look for him elsewhere. We'll trick it into believing he's outside our dimension, and thus incapable of being affected by time."
"And this… this could really work?" Joe asked, daring not to get too hopeful.
The inventing trio exchanged glances and tentative smiles. Cisco replied for them all, saying, "If all goes according to plan and we build this thing right, yes – it will work."
He stopped to let that reality sink in with the rest of the group. Perhaps no one was all that enthusiastic to see Savitar stick around, but the mention of Jay certainly perked everyone up. They were still reeling from his loss and would do anything to get him back. The idea that his rescue was near filled all of them with joy and excitement.
After another quiet moment of processing, Barry spoke up. "Well, Cisco, I think I speak for everyone when I say that this plan is brilliant. And I have no doubt that you guys can make this work. Plus, you've got us behind you; tell us what to do and we'll do it."
A wave of affirmations was spoken through the group, and Cisco smiled wider. This was the break they'd all needed. He was starting to feel something grow in this room – something they hadn't had too much of recently. Hope. They could do this. After all, it wouldn't be their first time pulling off a miracle.
"Wow – for a speedster, you are surprisingly bad at this," Frost said, after having won their fourth game of Speed.
Since Savitar's first fainting incident, he had been upgraded from meta-dampening cuffs to individual bracelets. After constant complaints about his lack of motion (and some assurances that, once freed of the cuffs, he wouldn't attack anyone), the team had relented. Savitar once again had free range of movement with his hands – not that it was helping his current gameplay.
"Trust me – if I weren't stuck in these bracelets, this would be a whole different story," he replied, more than a little sour in the face of defeat.
"Excuses, excuses."
"Just shuffle the deck."
Frost rolled her eyes but complied. When Barry first left, she and Savitar had exchanged a series of threatening glances. Then, they turned away from each other and stewed in silence. All of 10 minutes later, Savitar pulled the cards out of the bedside drawer. He shuffled them aimlessly for a while, seeking anything to occupy himself. If Frost didn't despise him with every fiber of her being, she'd almost feel bad for him. There was next to no stimulus in the Medbay, and speedsters were notoriously hyperactive. Without a CCPD case to work or a job to do as the Flash, Barry bounced around STAR Labs like a pinball. He could easily be on the phone with Iris, playing Operation with Caitlin, and assisting Cisco with an invention all at the same time. She imagined Savitar was much the same – couldn't sit still for too long and needed a constant distraction.
That urge was what prompted him to grab the cards and begin flipping them around. It was another five minutes of his fidgeting before Frost insisted that he stop or else be flash-frozen. (The irony of that term was not lost on her.) More arguing commenced; then, finally, they called a truce and agreed to eliminate their mutual boredom by way of a game. It was, after all, familiar. They'd done this plenty of times in the past during waiting periods.
"So," Frost started conversationally, "Now would be a wonderful time to explain yourself."
Savitar looked up from watching her shuffle the cards. "What are you talking about?"
"I want to know why you thought it was alright to press 'exit' on our deal without even telling me."
"Are we seriously back to this?"
"I never left it."
The speedster sighed. "We've been over this already. I don't have to explain myself to you."
"Yes, actually, you do." She began dealing cards, maintaining direct eye contact the whole time. "Partners communicate with each other."
"We're not partners anymore."
"No, but we were. Weren't we?" There was a challenge gleaming in Frost's eyes.
Savitar narrowed his own. "Ah, I think I know what the real problem is here. You got all tied up in your emotions and now want… what, some sort of apology? I warned you to keep sentiment at bay. This is on you, not me."
"No, I'll tell you what the problem is, Savitar: you don't respect me. You never truly saw me as an equal; I was just a pawn."
"All true statements." He could tell Frost was fuming under the calm exterior, so decided to pile on. "Come on, Frost – what wereyou expecting?"
She laughed humorlessly, followed by a shake of the head. "I don't know. It doesn't even matter now. I suppose next time you go on a psychotic vendetta, you can just locate Snart's cold gun." Frost then got out of bed, ignoring the pounding headache that she had (decidedly) not mentioned to Barry. "Be aware, though, Savitar, that you won't have an ally in me when this is all over. Even if Team Flash manages to keep you alive, what kind of life do you expect to have? You won't be one of them. They'll either toss you out onto the streets or keep you on a leash – at arm's length, of course. When that moment comes – and I greatly anticipate it – you will be as lonely and miserable as you were in the Speedforce. And I'll look on, and smile."
With that, she turned and left, not even curious to see Savitar's reaction. Frost knew her words stung; that's why she'd spoken them. No one devalued her, treated her like garbage and got away with it. Although she couldn't hurt him physically ('cause for some reason, she was inclined to keep her promise to Barry), she could hurt him mentally. Savitar's turbulent past was his Achilles Heel, and she wasn't above striking it. She gave him the opportunity to make amends, but instead, he continued full throttle down the road of stubborn and stupid. This was his long overdue comeuppance. Frost couldn't have been more pleased with how that conversation ended.
The only thing soiling her good mood was Savitar's words echoing in her head: You got all tied up in your emotions. She most certainly did not. How dare he even suggest something like that! She did not let sentiment overtake her, especially not sentiment towards him. She had no sentiments towards him. He was dead to her, figuratively speaking – and, possibly soon, literally speaking. Any anger she felt was purely on behalf of her own self-worth. She didn't care about Savitar. She didn't.
(And, no, the fact that she had to keep repeating that to herself did not undermine the truth of the words.)
AN: In case you were wondering, yes, I did recycle the plan they used in 4x01 to get Barry out of the Speedforce - with some adjustments to fit my story, of course.