Frozen Flashpoint

Chapter 15: Emotions from the Future

Summary: The team process the news and starts to think things over for the future.

There was relative silence in the cortex after the video finished.

Harry was holding Jessie tightly while the young woman refused to let go of Wally's hand, leading to an awkward trio moment.

Cisco sat in front of the computer, staring at his hands with an odd expression. Joe went over to comfort him with slow pats on the back.

Barry kept holding the crying Caitlin in his arms until he heard shuffling not far from where he stood. Barry strained his neck to look at the source, only to see the future teen standing awkwardly in the room, tears running down her cheeks.

Barry opened his left arm and beckoned her over. The girl practically sped into his arms and began sobbing into his shirt. "Daddy, I missed you so much!"

Caitlin threw her arms around the girl, making it a group hug, and said between her own sobs, "My... Star... Mom and Dad are here. And... And we... aren't going anywhere."

Everyone allowed themselves about five minutes to calm down after all the upsetting information they had just been hit with.

Barry looked at the two girls in his arms. By now, they had stopped crying and both had their faces buried in his chest side by side. With a little smile, he asked in a low tone that only the two of them could hear, "Are you two Snowflakes okay?"

The two girls giggled and nodded. Slowly, Barry broke away from the hug, leaving Lyra and Caitlin holding each other. Barry took a deep breath and called out, "Okay. Time to think about what we're doing next."

There was a tense atmosphere in the room, and no one replied. Harry stood close to Jessie, frowning as she hugged Wally tightly. Joe and Cisco sat next to each other in silence, seemingly contemplating life itself.

Barry sighed, unsure how to demand their attention after something like this. Maybe he should give everyone some space before they had their strategic meeting.

But suddenly, a familiar voice called out, "Hi, whiners, listen up!"

All eyes immediately turned toward the silver-haired woman, who looked at everyone firmly. "Our fearless leader is right. We need to get our heads on straight and start talking about how to kick the ass of an almost-dead history professor."

Barry gave Frost a bright smile. Was her attitude blunt and slightly mocking? Oh, it sure was. But it was effective—and attractive as hell, too.

Cisco and Harry frowned at Frost, while Joe sighed before saying, "Frost, please. What we just heard isn't something simple to move on from. It takes time to process. You and Barry can't expect everyone to get back to work straight away."

Frost frowned at the detective. "Does the future suck? Yes. I hate it as much as any of you. My friend and husband died in that future, and my daughter was saved only by a miracle. But sitting here sulking is just giving the brain freak the time he needs to replan all those horrible things. We need to stop him. The sooner we do, the sooner we can forget that future ever existed in the first place."

While Barry admired his girlfriend, he could hear Lyra quietly cheering from behind him, "Go, Mama."

Jessie broke the hug with Wally, causing him to slump in disappointment, while her father lost some tension from his shoulders. The Earth-2 speedster looked determined as she said, "Frost is right. Sulking about what might be will just make sure it happens again. I have no intention of dying just because some annoying know-it-all decided I'm too dangerous for his plans of mass genocide."