STAR Labs, seconds after Magma's defeat.
Caitlin felt her skin freezing as she watched her own hands were wisps of frost, like smoke, was flowing out of her hands and into the air. She then looked up at Cisco after instinctively freezing Magma's body from the inside out. She thought that her powers drew his heat away from his body until he froze.
And then he shattered; his frozen pieces lying all around them.
But what just happened didn't matter as she looked at the fear and confusion on the faces of Cisco and Thea respectively. She understood Thea's confusion, the young woman had just been introduced to a new world consisting of metahumans, instead of villains and heroes who were more grounded in scope. But it was the fear, the small hint of it at least, on Cisco's face as he stared at Caitlin with eyes wide open that broke her heart. She believed that he now saw her as Killer Frost, the very same one who was killed by Zoom back on Earth One.
Tears gathered and fell down Caitlin's cheeks, but quickly froze half-way down while a blue tint covered her vision as Cisco and Thea started to shiver.
"Cisco," said Caitlin standing rooted to the spot, "help.. help me. I… I… please… help me."
Cisco wrapped his arms around himself while his teeth chattered, his breath condensing as soon as it left his mouth. He turned to the shivering Thea and told her to get the others from the time vault, and then she and Dr. McGee needed to get every heat lamp they had in the storage room two floors above them.
"G… go," stammered Cisco before turning to Caitlin as his legs started to shake. He was looking at his friend who looked more terrified than evil despite the blue tint in her eyes, and he told himself that the Killer Frost he met on Earth Two was someone who was ostracised from the people she loved. Despite his heart racing, and goosebumps forming on his arms, Cisco kept on telling himself that this wasn't that Caitlin Snow.
He kept on telling himself that this Caitlin in front of him had friends and people who loved her.
Before he could say anything, Cisco's knee buckled as the floor under him started to frost over. He went on one knee while Caitlin's eyes went wide open at her inability to 'turn-off' her power.
"I.. I don't know what to do," said a terrified Caitlin who watched the frost turn to ice and then travel up Cisco's shoe slowly while the knee on the floor started to ice over. Cisco cried out saying that the ice was too cold.
"Ice is supposed to be cold!" exclaimed a worried Caitlin who dared not wave her hands in case something happened. However, something did happen as the ice covering Cisco spread faster up to his lower leg, encasing his trousers, and going up to his belt.
"Caitlin," said Cisco shivering as he watched the ice moving up to his abdomen with a cracking sound as the atmosphere started to get colder, "calm down."
"I can't calm down because you tell me to calm down!" cried Caitlin as the ice spread much faster to just below his chest. Cisco was panting as he tried to keep conscious from the extreme cold while Caitlin stood rooted in place.
"Caitlin," whispered Cisco who was afraid of hypothermia as he felt his body start to warm up while starting to lose sensations in his feet and upper body. HE knew that they were terrified, and he needed to distract himself and Caitlin, especially Caitlin, "listen to me, do you think Thea's cute?"
"What?" asked a confused Caitlin as the ice started to slow its encroachment to his chest.
"I was thinking, you know, we've been working together for a little while now and… well, I think she's kinda attractive," said Cisco who was struggling to stay conscious while chattering his teeth between speaking to his friend, "do you think Oliver's going to be alright with me asking her out? Or do you think he's going to kill me? Or will she kill me for asking her out?"
"Cisco, I…"
"I'm trying to distract us both, Caitlin," he mumbled, "please, I just need the both of us to come out of this okay. We're both scared so… please. Just work with me?"
"I.. I think she'll say yes," Caitlin said before spouting out reasons why she thought Thea would be wrong for not going out on a date with him. As Caitlin continued to speak, they heard footsteps running towards them with Joe and Quentin yelling their names and asking if they were alright.
Cisco looked down at the ice which stopped moving and said that they were going to be fine, but it was going to take some time for them to move.
"Oh my God," said Joe as he and Quentin took off their jackets before wrapping them around the ice that covered Cisco. Quentin looked up at the terrified young woman and asked her if she was going to be alright.
"She is going to be great," said Cisco while chattering his teeth, "I already have a name for her"
"Cisco," said Catlin, "I… I'm doing all I can to not be scared and you…"
"How about Snowcap?" asked Cisco while Quintin shook his head before running down the hallway to search for something that could break the ice covering Cisco.
"All those metahuman names and the best you can come up with is Snowcap?" asked Joe while Caitlin looked away and said that she was a danger if she couldn't get these powers under control.
"Frost," said Cisco as Caitlin looked back at him, "not Killer Frost, just simply Frost. Caitlin… you… you're her opposite. Complete opposite of her. You met her before… do you think she's like you?"
"She went through the same things that…" muttered Caitlin.
"No," Cisco corrected her, "she didn't. She didn't have us. You do… we love you Caitlin, and I know you know that. You have Barry, me, Joe, Iris, Wally, Jessie, Thea… name whoever you want, and you have them by your side. She didn't, Cait. You're our Frost."
"I…." said Caitlin as her blue eyes turned back to their natural colour. She knew that Cisco was right; the situation between herself and her doppelganger were completely different; Dr. Caitlin Snow has her friends to watch over her…. Killer Frost did not."
"You aren't Killer Frost, Caitlin," said Joe shaking his head.
"Besides," said Cisco as he tried his hardest to put a smirk on his numb face, "when we're watching the big game, you'll always be there to make sure the drinks are ice cold. Get it?"
"Cute," quipped Caitlin tilting her head while Cisco grinned. His expression then got serious before asking Caitlin if she could reverse the ice that was covering his body since, in a few more minutes, he'd be getting frostbite. She shook her head before saying she didn't even know how she managed to use her ice powers in the first place. She then told Joe that she didn't even dare move in case the ice responded to her movements and restarted covering Cisco. Joe nodded his head before making sure that the jackets fully covered the ice that was had already encased Cisco to his chest when they heard voices and footsteps coming towards them.
"Got it, got it, got it," yelled Thea carrying a rectangular shaped heat lamp, one in each hand, with Quintin, and Dr. McGee close behind. Thea set the two lamps she was carrying alongside Cisco while Dr. McGee, who was surprised by Caitlin's silver hair, placed two lamps alongside her before activating them at their highest setting. Caitlin and Cisco looked at each other before the young woman shifted her eyes towards the worried Thea who was talking to Quintin before looking at Cisco and then at her. Caitlin was trying to signal to Cisco to simply ask Thea on a date given his earlier confession. However, Cisco simply said out loud that he was trying to distract Caitlin… and he succeeded in distracting her.
"Distracted her how?" asked Quintin.
"Oh, it was something," said Cisco shaking his head silently begging Caitlin not to say anything, "just a typical Cisco-Caitlin joke."
"Right," Thea said nodding her head. However, the tone of her voice indicated that she didn't believe Cisco who was already getting warmed up as the ice began to melt. IN the meantime, Dr. McGee rushed to Caitlin who asked her to stay back; that she didn't feel as if she was in control.
"Nonsense," said Dr. McGee who noticed the retreating frost on the floor, and then at the still frozen body parts. She turned to Caitlin once again and said that from a cursory glance, she could see that the body parts were frozen from the inside out… while Cisco was only covered by the ice forming around him. Dr McGee told Caitlin, as she felt her pulse, that she was already partly controlling her power given that Cisco wasn't dead. And just as Dr. McGee mentioned Cisco's name again, there was a thud as a block of ice fell onto the floor. Caitlin, disregarding her own warnings, ran past Dr. McGee towards Cisco and started to help Quintin, Thea, and Joe break the ice. Once the ice was gone, scattered all over the floor, the two jackets were placed directly on Cisco before he was quickly rushed away to a lab so that he could remove all his wet clothes and get warmed up.
With Cisco alive, Caitlin breathed a sigh of relief.
It would be later, after bringing Caitlin to a lab, that Dr. McGee told Caitlin she needed her help in diagnosing her condition, how her powers activated, and a way to control them. However, Caitlin kept on saying that she didn't want her powers since she was afraid of becoming like Killer Frost eventually. That led Dr. McGee to say the young woman was being foolish… that Caitlin had worked with meta-humans far more times than her when she headed Mercury Labs.
"You and Cisco are the only ones I know who have experience with meta-human biology, Dr. Snow," said Dr. McGee, "and I need your help to ensure you have as much of a normal life as possible with these new powers. You don't want to be like this Killer Frost whoever she is? Then lean on us, and we'll make sure you don't. But we…. I need your help to help you control this. Can you help me?"
"Ye.. yes," said Caitlin who was slightly surprised at the stern look on the woman's face. Dr McGee then nodded her head before reaching for a laser thermometer that showed her that the air surrounding Caitlin was lower in temperature than the rest of the room. Caitlin then asked if it was possible that she was drawing the heat away from the surrounding air.
"It's possible," said Dr. McGee before saying that they needed do a full body scan, "but it's more likely that you are literally freezing the surrounding air around you. Dropping the temperature around or inside any living being. I think with concentration you could freeze solid objects until it was brittle enough to crack with a tap of the finger. Whatever it is, we'll find out what's going on, and at the same time find a way to control your abilities."
All Caitlin could do was nod her head while hoping that Dr. McGee was correct in her assessment.
STAR Labs, two months later.
Caitlin was facing Thea as the latter helped guide the silver haired young woman meditate as a way of controlling her abilities in conjunction with the dampening bracelets developed by both Cisco and Dr. McGee. It had been two months since her powers activated and after a night where she froze her entire apartment because of a nightmare that she would became Killer Frost and kill all her friends, Caitlin began staying in a special room that was lined with specially made heat lamps lining the walls. It would be here that she'd sleep while covering her eyes with a mask. It wasn't the most comfortable situation, but it did slow down the room from being frozen during her sleep. So, instead of the room being a 'winter wonderland' of snow and ice as what happened to her old apartment, there was a thin layer of frost that covered her, the walls, the heat lamps, and the floor.
It would be two weeks later that Cisco and Dr. McGee presented her with the bracelets; they contained dampeners that would neutralize meta-human abilities. They were a design that Cisco was using to create new arrows for Thea's quiver, as well as handcuffs for the Central City Police Department so that they could appended metahumans together with the 'Boot' device.
Caitlin had been wearing the bracelets everyday.. only taking them off for a few hours a day to train in in the use of her powers. Since she was the only one she knew who had ice based abilities, Caitlin had to come up with unique tests for herself with Cisco and Dr. McGee by her side, while Thea helped her with self-defence while her powers were neutralized. Back in the present day, as she continued her meditation, Caitlin and Thea were interrupted by an excited knock on the door.
"Hey Cait," said an excited Cisco, "you need to see something, quick."
"You do know what this is about, right?" whispered Thea with a smirk as the both of them rose to their feet. Caitlin smiled before saying that she had already told Cisco 'no' many times, and that he refused to listen. Thea gave off a small smile and continued speaking, "you know he'd never stop, right?"
"I know," sighed Caitlin as she opened the door to her room in STAR Labs where the heat lamps had bee deactivated for the past one and a half months. She was still looking for a new apartment since her references from her landlord in her old one were horrible. It was something she couldn't blame the poor man, especially since the ice and snow caused by her nightmare melted and flooded the entire apartment. Caitlin opened the door and smiled at Cisco who was rubbing his hands in glee.
He grabbed both their hands and pulled them towards the Cortex where Joe, Quintin, and Dr. McGee were standing in front of a mannequin next to one where Thea's Red Arrow suit was already hanging. Caitlin looked at the uniform next to it and gave a small smile as she approached it with Cisco by her side.
"What do you think?" asked Cisco as he looked at the costume, "I know you said you don't want to go out and fight crime like Thea and Wally as hologram Flash, but I just wanted it to be here in case you wanted to try it out. And I made sure that it looks nothing like what Killer Frost used to wear.
Caitlin looked at the dark blue leather uniform with a bright white six-sided frost emblem in the middle of the chest section, with white lines at the sides of the uniform that emanated from a belt with a circular device that was glowing a faded blue. She asked Cisco about the buckle, and he explained that she couldn't engage in combat effectively while constantly worrying about her powers going out of control. That was true especially since her bracelets had to be deactivated for her powers to work. So the buckle would take care of controlling her abilities in a combat situation.
"Remember you sometimes needed heat so that you didn't go completely out of control?" asked Cisco as Caitlin nodded her head, "well, the buckle has a proprietary energy source, complements of Oliver, that's connected to the suit through various sensors. When those sensors detect that your powers are going out of control, it's release heat energy directly into your body. The amount depends on how much it thinks you need."
"What if… and this is a what if question," said Caitlin while staring at the uniform, "what if I'm facing someone so powerful that I need to push my powers to their limits?"
"The sensors have been programmed to fire the heat blast based on stress levels, heart rate, sweat, adrelenin, and.. well.. there's a lot it'll take into account before it releases the heat blast," said Cisco, "but in case you absolutely need to go all out, or you feel that you're going out of control, there is an override."
"Thanks, Cisco," said Caitlin softly before shaking her head and stepping back, "but… but not now."
"It's here if you need it," Cisco said before Quintin congratulated Caitlin n the uniform before, with hope in his voice, asked Joe if it was time to finally use the cuffs on Laurel. Joe nodded her head when there was a sudden blur with yellow lighting behind it running into the Cortex. Everyone looked on in shock as Wally leaned against a wall before collapsing onto the floor with a jagged piece of glass piercing his side, and blood rushing out.
"We… need to… to talk," he breathed before closing his eyes as Caitlin and Dr. McGee were the first to reach him followed by Joe and the others, the former yelling at his son to open his eyes.
Sunnydale, Unknown Earth; a little more than two years after Barry's arrival in Sunnydale; 0900 hours.
While Caitlin and the others were helping to place the badly injured and bleeding Wally onto a bed, Barry was sound asleep while Buffy was patrolling with the rest of the Scoobies. It was around three in the morning when there was a knock on his door, leading Barry to wake up and then get out of bed while mumbling whoever it was to wait for a few seconds. He then placed his feet on the carpet and walked to the door. Seeing a slightly injured and bruised Buffy through the peephole on his door, a worried Barry opened it only to be pushed back by the blonde Slayer. She then kicked the door shut while wrapping her arms around the back of Barry's neck and then leaning in to kiss him.
"Rough night, huh?" Barry mumbled while continuing to kiss Buffy who was pushing him past the living room and into the small hallway with his bedroom in the end. Passing the door frame to Barry's room, Buffy grabbed the edge the wooden door and closed it with her foot while mumbling "uh huh". As the door closed, Buffy was panting as she pulled back and looked into Barry's eyes while biting her lower lip.
"It was a real rough night," she said before kissing him again as the door shut.
The next morning, Barry lay in his side with his arm around Buffy's knee length shirt covered waist as she slept soundly. He slowly opened his eyes to the strawberry scent of her blonde hair which she recently cut until it reached just above her shoulders. Barry listened to her breathing before he moved and lay on his back and looked at the digital clock on the side table which read nine in the morning. Smiling and silently thankful for the weekend which was the only time when Buffy would spend the night in his apartment ever since their sixth month dating each other.
Together for nearly a year and two months, Barry was happy. However, while he kept a framed detailed drawing of his STAR Labs family, around his room… Barry realized that he didn't have pictures or any memorabilia of him and Buffy, or him and the other Scoobies. He did have a snow globe from Dawn as a housewarming gift while Tara and Willow gave him a crystal ball… which he didn't know if it really worked or not.
And the two witches were very vague with their answer.
However, there were no pictures of him and Buffy in the apartment over the time they had been together. He knew that Buffy was being patient, as were everyone else, especially after he told Giles, Joyce, and Dawn that he was the Flash and he really was from another Earth. They knew he missed his Earth One family and that it would take more time to move on.
He wanted to change things today. He thought he had moved on with his life, but there was nothing to show that he acknowledged it.
Barry had already made plans with Buffy, the Scoobies, Joyce, Dawn, and Giles a few days ago to head out to the beach for the day. Back in the present day, he leaned forward and kissed the back of Buffy's shoulder. The Slayer stirred, mumbled incoherently, and then turned to her back and looked at Barry through groggy eyes. She smiled and then said, "morning."
"Morning," whispered Barry as he looked at the yawning Slayer who then stretched her arms over her body before asking Barry for the time. He told her that it was a little after nine in the morning as Buffy moved to her side and faced Barry before saying sorry for coming to him so early last night. She explained that they had to deal with two demonic brothers who thought they could break into the construction site of the new Sunnydale High and gather the spirits of the people who died during the Mayor's rampage. She said that they were planning on calling on some kind of other-dimensional demon that was supposed to grant the brothers god-like powers that would enable them to rule the world.
"But you and the guys stopped them, right?" asked Barry.
"D'uh," said Buffy as she shimmied towards him.
"You could have called me, you know," said Barry softly as he placed his arm under Buffy's head and the Slayer lay on his shoulder, "I saw the bruises all over your body and…"
"And I'm doing great, Barry," she whispered holding onto him, "the pain's gone and.. well… remember what I told you about a Slayer after a big fight?"
"Usually you eat like a horse," Barry chuckled while Buffy gently slapped his arm, "I was surprised you came to my place for… well…"
"Thanks for being here," whispered Buffy before saying that she didn't mind staying longer with him, "I know we decided to take it slow but… I mean if you want, I can come stay here every other day, or…"
"I'd like that," he replied before leaning down to kiss Buffy. It would be a few minutes later that the both of them would get up from bed. Buffy was picking up her clothes from last night lying on the carpet before entering the shower. In the meantime, Barry dashed to the kitchen and then put on some coffee, broke some eggs, and then ran out of the apartment and all the way to a bakery in Los Angeles where Buffy once told him that her parents would get her the most delicious and soft muffins when they were still a family. He then rushed back to the apartment a few minutes later while Buffy turned on the shower. With the coffee dripping into the pot, the eggs ready to be scrambled, the bacon on the counter, and the muffins in their packet of six, Barry smirked before dashing into the shower with Buffy. The Slayer yelped as a spark from the yellow lighting crossed over onto her skin, before kissing him once again as the water from the showerhead flowed down the both of them.
After leaving the shower together and putting on the clothes she left at Barry's closet, Buffy was pleasantly surprised by the muffins on the near the living room table. She asked Barry when he managed to get them, before raising her hands with a smile and saying that it didn't matter. She then, like she was still a little girl, rushed to the package tied with a brown bow and opened it before reaching inside and then biting into one of the muffins.
"Oh God, this is so good," she said as Barry chuckled before making breakfast at super speed and then placing the food on the table. Buffy smiled at him after swallowing the last bite, and told him that not even Angel sent her any muffins from the bakery in L.A.
"Did you tell him?" smirked Barry.
"Yea," chuckled Buffy who reached in and took out another one before biting into it, and then moaning with her eyes closed, "this is way, way better than sex."
"Okay," replied Barry with an eye-brow raised, "I'm not getting those for you after this. I can't compete with a muffin."
"Ha. Ha. Ha." Said a sarcastic Buffy before saying that she'll give the rest to her mother and Dawn , "they love these too."
The rest of the day was spent together with Buffy and the others at the beach where Barry had pictures taken with the Blonde Slayer. They played beach football, had a barbeque, and basically enjoyed each other's company under the bright clear skies of Sunnydale. While Barry and the Scoobies were enjoying themselves; in a house on the south side of the city sat three young men in a basement making plans on a white board. So far, only two words were written in the white board; Slayer, and the Streak. The three of them stared at the whiteboard while coming up with more goals… goals that would end with the three of them taking over the city as supervillains.
But they needed to take care of the Slayer and the Streak first. They knew the identity of the Slayer since the three of them had encountered her at one time or another; Jonathan and Andrew encountered her in Sunnydale High, while Warren encountered her during the whole mess with his robotic girlfriend. Their hope was that she knew who the Streak was, and resolved to follow her… while at the same time testing her abilities… until she could lead them to him.
And then the three of them would get rid of the Slayer and the Streak.
TBC.