Brave New World: Flash

Chapter 27

"So, I'm not sure which thing is more surprising. The fact that you want us to adopt Allegra in order to get the state to let us take her in or the fact that you have a date tonight?" Frost asked Caitlin as she sat on the couch of their apartment.

"At least I'm dating now. Which is more than I can say for you." Caitlin reminded her sister.

"Fair point. I have to say, it's nice to see you still have a backbone without me there to give it to you." Frost said.

"I got by pretty well while you were buried." Caitlin said.

"True, but that's beside the point." Frost said.

"So, what do you say?" Caitlin asked.

"Of course I agree to take Allegra in. You know she's like a little sister to me. Besides, I'm thinking that I can be the fun, rebellious aunt while you're the strict, no nononsense, buzzkill mother." Frost said.

"You do remember that until you start helping pay the bill, this is still my apartment, which means that I can make you sleep on the couch and give Allegra your room." Caitlin said.

"Or, crazy idea, we could get a bigger apartment with three bedrooms, since isn't Allegra getting a huge settlement from the government for both the whole being sold by a corrupt warden thing and the wrongful arrest thing?" Frost asked.

"Yes, but you're not mooching off me or her. Seriously, when are you going to get a real job?" Caitlin asked.

"I'm looking. Just haven't found anything yet." Frost said.

"Yeah right. More like you love living on my cash. We're not the same person anymore Frost, you can't just cash in on my paychecks anymore. No matter how much they are." Caitlin said.

"And how can I do that when I don't even have a real first name? Frost is kind of off putting." Frost said.

"You know, you could do something about that. Actually give yourself a real name." Caitlin said.

"Right, honestly, I guess it's just a bit scary to do so, since honestly, giving myself a real name, a real identity, it means so much more and it's kind of scary." Frost said and Caitlin sighed.

"I guess I better call your life coach, since it seems like you two have more ground to cover." Caitlin said.

"Lucky me." Frost said.

"Please, we both know Ralph is the only reason you've adapted to living your life so well." Caitlin said.

"Well yeah, I mean, he's the one who made me realize that I wanted to live my own life in the first place. God, sometimes I feel like that man knows me better than I know myself." Frost said and Caitlin chuckled.

"Did you think you'd ever say something like that about Ralph Dibny when we first met him?" Caitlin asked.

"That sexist, perverted pig, hell no. But he has changed since he joined the team." Frost said.

"Yes he has. I have to admit, it's too bad he decided to become a PI, he could've had a good career as a therapist." Caitlin said.

"You're not wrong." Frost agreed and Caitlin could see the wheels turning in her sister's head.

"What are you thinking about?" Caitlin asked.

"Allegra, but not in the way you probably think." Frost said.

"Okay then, what are you thinking about in regards to her?" Caitlin asked.

"The only reason she has a criminal record at all is because she's a meta and she didn't have anywhere else to go when she got her powers and honestly, that's the same for a lot of metas. They turn to lives of crime because they don't have any other options." Frost said.

"What are you getting at?" Caitlin said.

"Look, metahumans, even ones that grown up, they still face a large amount of discrimination since everyone expects them to be able to control their powers immediately and if they slip up, they're immediately branded as criminals. And speaking as a former criminal myself, that's not fun and honestly, the only jobs they're able to get are jobs like bartending, which aren't jobs that people should want to have." Frost said.

"What's your point?" Caitlin asked, still not understanding where Frost was going with this.

"My point is that I think I want to start a community center that's specifically for metahumans, especially kids. You know, give them a safe place to go, learn to use their powers, hang out and not worry about being judged because they're metas." Frost said and Caitlin smiled.

"Look at you, going from being Central City's most wanted to being a poster girl for metahuman reform." Caitlin said.

"I wouldn't go that far Caity." Frost said and Caitlin chuckled.

"Still, I think that's a great idea. You should talk to Barry, see if he'd be willing to fund it, since we both know he'll say yes and a project like this, it's not going to be cheap, especially considering how many additional precautions are going to need to be put into place to compensate for all those different powers." Caitlin said.

"I know. And Star Labs is likely not going to need to be the only sponsor since like most community centers, I think this will be a nonprofit." Frost said.

"Well, luckily, we do know the heads of several other rich companies. Queen Consolidated, Kane Industries, even Danvers Daily News. I'm sure Oliver, Kara and Kate would be more than happy to help fund it too and they might know other people willing to help." Caitlin said.

"Okay, is this your project or mine?" Frost asked, though Caitlin could tell that she was not annoyed.

"Look, I'm just trying to help, since while we both know Barry will approve this immediately, he'll need an actual plan to get other sponsors." Caitlin said and Frost nodded.