Flashette(Book Three)

18

"It's just beautiful..." Cecile said, pointing out the ring on my finger. I was currently at Jitters, enjoying an afternoon drink with Joe, Barry, and Cecile. Our little get-together got interrupted last time, so we thought we'd make up for it.
"Your grandfather did have a good taste in jewelry," said Joe to Barry. Barry smiled.
"He sure did."
"Now I feel bad because I didn't have a wedding treat for you guys...How did it happen?" She asked, curiously.
"Barry surprised me one day...But it was perfect."
"I would have loved to come! I bet you looked beautiful!" I could tell she was a little ticked she didn't get an invite, but we couldn't invite her. She hadn't known our secret yet, and all of our hero friends were there. That would have been too much for her at one time. "Tell you what, my sister has four tickets that she can't use...To Hamilton.
"Hamilton?" I asked, choking on my drink. I shook my head. "Cecile.."
"On the house...I thought that maybe we could make it a double if you guys were interested?" Cecile offered. I looked over at Barry. He nodded and I spoke:
"Uh--yeah, we're interested. It's just a lot of-"
"First weekend in July," said Cecile. Joe, Barry, and I all shared glances. I paused, and gulped before speaking.
"July...July...that's-"
"If that doesn't work for you guys-"
"It's just that we have the babies, and-" I went on before Barry cut me off.
"It works great!" Barry said, placing a hand over mine. "We'll be there, all of us." Everyone shared a smile as we took one final sip of our drinks before heading out and going out separate ways.
"Well, everything's the same," Barry said, facing his white board. I was sitting in my chair, watching Barry attentively. "The future has not changed."
"All right," said Caitlin. "We have two months to make sure that it does."
"Okay, well, we should approach this the same way we approach any other problem..Start with what we know," said Cisco, standing up from his computer. He walked over to Barry's board and examined it.
"The problem can't be solved if it's not understood," countered Barry. "I feel like we can't understand any of this until it actually happens...It's like Savitar's prophecies."
"Precisely, and just like the newspaper headlines."
"All but one." My phone then got a message and I looked at my notifications. I looked up to tell Barry the news.
"It's a crime scene, Bar. Duty calls."
"Where to?" He asked, placing his expo marker down on the board and joining my side.
"Stagg Industries," I replied. "Clear to leave?" I asked the team.
"Nothing new. We'll keep you updated," said Wally.
"Thanks," I replied before we headed out.
We arrived at the scene, and immediately began work. We took out our cases and did tests, as well as take pictures.
"Hey Guys!" Said Joe as he was approaching Barry and I. "Anything?" He asked.
"Nothing yet...Its just unclear how that tank got flooded and killed those guards. There's no water access in the entire wing."
"Instead of sprinklers, every floor uses a halon gas system that absorbs all the oxygen if there's a fire."
"What about the security cams?" Joe asked.
"None of them either," replied Barry. "Apparently, the Stagg geniuses don't want any of their 'secrets' exposed." At that moment, Julian entered the scene, looking at pictures and reports.
"Julian, please tell me you found something," I said, getting up from the body and putting my gear down.
"Nothing yet...No fingerprints, no DNA, just two rather plump looking corpses."
"And the stolen tech?" I asked. "What about the stolen tech?" I asked.
"No one's saying a thing."
"Of course they aren't," I replied.
"Look, I'll make some phone calls, and see if I can get some information...Okay?" Joe asked.
"We'll try to finish off here." Joe nodded and headed off to the other officers, taking Julian with him. I then placed my hands over my face. "This is the last thing we need to be dealing with right now."
"I know...But Cisco's working hard at the lab, okay?" Barry asked. "We're gonna figure this out." Barry pulled me in for a hug and held me. I escaped his embrace when my phone buzzed. I pushed him from me, and pulled my phone out of my pocket. It was Cisco calling:
"Hey, what's up?" I asked.
"Looks like we got a robbery in progress over at Kord Industries," Cisco spoke.
"Great, thanks," I replied, hanging up. "It was Cisco. Another robbery...Kord Industries."
"That's two in one day...That's two in under 12 hours."
"We're gonna make sure it's the last one." To avoid anyone seeing, we walked a block before speeding back to the team before heading off.
We arrived at Kord industries, and sped into one of the main display rooms. There, a man was in the process of stealing an unknown piece of tech.
"I don't think that's yours, pal," I said, him turning around.
"Flashes."
"You didn't think we'd want to come meet the newest resident of Iron Heights?" Barry asked.
"No, I assumed that you'd show.
I just didn't expect you to be so young, Barry and Chloe Allen." I paused at the acknowledgement of hearing my name.
"Now, how do you know who we are?" I asked. The man licked his lips, and his face lightened up.
"I'm from the future." I looked at him with disbelief. "You don't believe me? Let's see, uh, 2017...
Hmm...How are things going with your doomed love? Or your greatest foe, Savitar?." I gritted my teeth and stepped forward.
"You know Savitar?" I asked.
"I know everything about him, and you," Kadabra spoke before a portal opened and Gypsy came out.
"What the--Gypsy."
"Still seeking revenge, I see," pointed Kadabra.
"I'm gonna get it this time," Gypsy said, clenching her fist.
"We'll see," said Kadabra with a devious smile. He reached into his pocket, where he grabbed and fanned out three playing cards. He threw them towards us, the cards splitting into even smaller shards. Barry and I sped Gypsy out of the scene, and back to S.T.A.R Labs.
"He calls himself Abra Kadabra," Gypsy explained.
"As in hocus pocus?" Cisco asked. "He's certainly got a lot of tricks, based off of what I heard.
"Yeah, we think he has some sort of nanotechnology built into his body allows him to do some extraordinary things...Teleportation, telekinesis, you name it, and believe me, I have seen it all."
"So that card trick he played on us, the water tank at Stagg, that's all some futuristic tech that he's masking as magic?" I asked.
"Well, it's Arthur C. Clarke's third law."
"I remember that! Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic!" I exclaimed, thinking about my young college days.
"Before you showed up, he said he was from the future," said Barry.
"He is...64th Century," said Gypsy.
"Great, another criminal from the future," Cisco sneered, rolling his eyes. "Haven't we had our fill of those guys?"
"64th Century...What exactly are you after him for?" Caitlin asked.
"He's at the top of the collectors' most wanted list.
Showed up on my Earth a few years back, did a string of robberies that ended with a lot of people losing their lives...Showed up again a couple weeks ago, looted some tech companies, came here."
"To do the same thing?" I asked. "That can't be coincidental...He must have needed our Earth's tech for something."
"Well, whatever it is, Gyps, we can definitely help you figure it out," Cisco said, walking up to Gypsy and placing his arm on her shoulder. "I don't know about you guys, but ever since last time you were here, I've been looking forward to some Gypsy vibe action."
"That's way too much," I said to Cisco. "Not to mention, that can easily be taken out of context." He removed his arm slowly and took a step back.
"Embarrassing..." He mumbled to himself, with his face a pale pink.
"Yeah, I just want to catch him so I can bring his ass back to Earth-19 and put him down."
"Don't worry...We can help you do that. But first, we have to check and see if Julian found anything.
See you soon!" I exclaimed before grabbing Barry's hand and walking out of S.T.A.R Labs. As we were walking, I felt tension on my arm as we approached the elevator. Barry stopped and I dropped his arm:
"What's wrong?" I asked. I turned to see his face full of worry.
"This guy knew what was going on with you and me and Savitar.
If he knows something about Savitar, then he might be the key to saving you..." I took a step forward and tangled my hand in his brown locks. He continued to speak: "This is the first real lead we've gotten...What are we gonna do if Gypsy takes him away? He can help us with-" I cut Barry off. He looked down at me and I spoke:
"Fate is fate, Bar. He killed her partner, and I respect that she wants to get revenge on him for what he's done. But you know how I feel about this. I'm just trying to accept it. Now, can we please get back to the task at hand?" I asked. Barry nodded, and we proceeded our journey to CCPD.
"I got nothing for you," Julian said as we walked into the lab.
"Nice, another dead end today. Add another one to the list."
"Which are we talking about? The corpses, or the magician?" Julian asked.
"Either one."
"Nothing for either of those issues," Julian replied. I felt my pocket vibrate, and I checked it.
"It's Cisco's alert app. Break-in at Mercury Labs."
"See you soon," I waved to Julian before we sped to S.T.A.R Labs, and then to the scene, taking a few friends with us.
"Man, you just can't help yourself, can you?" I asked, stepping out infront of my team.
"You brought the whole team this time," Kadabra clapped, noticing Cisco, Gypsy, and Wally standing in the back. "Nice to see you all alive and well. Can't say the same for your future, Mrs Allen...But to be honest, all of yours' aren't very bright either."
"Do yourself a favor, and give it up. There's nowhere for you to go," said Gypsy, firing a blast at him. He dodged it, and returned to his position.
"You can't out-trick all of us, Kadabra," added Cisco.
"I think I just did..." Kadabra said with raised eyebrows. The now image of him began to flicker and eventually disappear.
"He's a hologram!" I yelled. "We have to get back, now!" Barry and I sped the team back to S.T.A.R Labs to discuss our next move.
"Upon further inspection, there was some rather odd particulate residue found at Stagg Industries," said Julian, standing infront of the monitor.
"Yeah, that's the nanotechnology that Gypsy was talking about..But what's it made out of?" I asked, trying to figure it out up on the screen.
"Not exactly sure..." Julian replied, scratching his head. "It's definitely organic, but it seems to have some sort of metallic hydrogen properties."
"Frankly, it's beyond your understanding," said Kadabra from behind. We turned around, and Joe drew his gun quickly.
"You make a move, you'll regret it."
"Do you know how many times I've heard that, Detective?" asked Kadabra. I yelled at the rest of the team to leave so they wouldn't get hurt. Kadabra began with his tricks, and I helped the team move along. I followed Kadabra as he searched around the lab. When I got close enough, Cisco tossed me a new piece of tech and I fastened them around his wrists.
"You're not getting out of these...no magic or tricks can get out of this."
"Maybe not..." said Kadabra before his face turned into a grin.
"You let me go, I will tell you Savitar's greatest secret...It's the key to defeating him...the key to stopping him..." Barry perked up.
"What secret?" Barry asked, curiously. He nudged me out of the way and took my position.
"I know who he is...I know his name."
"Hand him over!" Gypsy yelled over all of us as she entered the hall. "Why'd you lock him up?" She asked, walking over to Kadabra and talking him from Barry's hands. "I'm taking him right back to my Earth."
"I need to talk to him first," Barry demanded. "I won't let him go until I do."
"Fine," Gypsy agreed. "Get what you need from him, but when you're done, he's mine..." She turned to Kadabra: "You're gonna die for all the things you've done. I cannot wait to see you be put to death," Gypsy said, gritting through her teeth as she inched her face closer to his. Gypsy exited, and Barry took the magician to the pipeline. Barry locked him up in a cell, and I watched over the cameras.
"You said you know who Savitar is," Barry said, looking into the cell. Kadabra stood up to meet his glance.
"I know everything about the God of Speed, hallowed be his name."
"Like what?" Barry asked. Kadabra paused and put his hand to his chin.
"That he's unstoppable, that he was the first speedster, and that you defeat him, but not until after he takes what matters the most to you...Chloe."
"Tell me who he is, now!" Barry yelled, banging on the glass. A tear fell down his cheek and anger was still present in his expression. He leaned on the glass with his fists tightened.
"I don't think so..." Kadabra replied with a smile. "It's frustrating, isn't it..Knowing that she's going to die, only to leave you raising the children on your own...Being without the love of your life forever...Unless, of course, I give The Flash what he wants..." Barry looked up from the floor, anger still present in his eyes. "All that power, all that speed, and yet you're still too slow..."
"This isn't a trick!" Barry yelled. "This is Chloe's life. You have to tell me who-"
"It's my life if you hand me over to that collector...It doesn't have to be this hard, Allen. It's actually quite simple. Let me out, and I'll tell you who Savitar is...Give me to Gypsy, and Chloe dies...The decision lies with you, Barry," Kadabra said, stepping back into the shadow of the cell. Barry angrily slammed his hand on the scanner and the cell disappeared behind the pipeline door. He then sat down on the steps like he always had and placed his head between his knees. I turned away from the camera and turned off the monitor. The team had left to go down to the workshop, and I instead, went down to the pipeline with Barry. I stood in the doorway and leaned against it. Barry rubbed his face and stared off.
"We can't let Gypsy take him before we find out who Savitar is."
"It's a wise move to find out, but we can't let him go. I don't want him causing any more trouble..." I began walking over to him. "We're gonna figure this out, Bar." I sat down on the stairs next to him and placed my head on his shoulder.
"Why am I letting a guy get to me like this?" Barry asked.
"Because he's getting to me. You're going crazy like this because of me. Besides, how do you even know that he's telling the truth? He doesn't seem like the most honest since we've encountered him."
"But I know it's not a trick," Barry said, standing up and beginning to pace the floor.
"So what, you want to let him go?" I asked. Barry sighed.
"It just feels like our only move."
"No it's not, Bar...He's a murderer. I'm not letting him kill any more because of this." I stood up and watched as he continued to pace nervously.
"How many murders have we dealt with? How many bad guys have we taken down? I mean, don't we deserve one win after everything that we've done?" Barry asked. I walked up to him and wrapped my arms around him from behind. He placed his hands ontop of mine.
"Life doesn't keep score, Bar.
Even if Kadabra hadn't showed up, we'd still be in the same place we are right now."
"But he did, and if he knows who Savitar is, he's gonna tell us, no matter what the-"
"Barry!" I yelled, taking my arms away from his grasp. He turned to face me. "How many times have we been over this? I don't want anyone else at risk because of me. I told you-"
"He can save your life, Chloe. I'm not gonna let Savitar's name slip away. It's him or you."
"I want to find out who Savitar is just as badly as you do. But I don't want to let someone who has caused so much pain walk free just to save my life...Deep down, I don't think you want that either." Barry's shoulders dropped and his eyebrows furrowed in deep thought. With that, I walked out of the pipeline. I then went back to the workshop, where the rest of the team was, discussing the plan. Barry eventually joined, but didn't participate much in the conversation.
All of the sudden, an alarm sounded. I sped upstairs to check the cameras and filled in the rest of my team as the came upstairs.
"It's Kadabra...He's escaped." Joe ran into the cortex and spoke under his breath:
"Kadabra--I-s.....Gone," Joe finished, panting. "I tried to get Savitar's name out of him, but he-"
"We need to find him."
"Cameras say he's still in the building," Cisco said before I sped to the elevator. Caitlin and Barry followed. We met him at the elevator.
"You can thank Dr Wells for this!" Kadabra exclaimed, holding up a glowing sphere.
"We had a deal! Your freedom for Savitar's identity."
"I've altered the terms of our agreement."
"It appears that you have as well," said Kadabra before an explosion occurred. We were thrown in all directions, and dust coated the air. We coughed and struggled to make our way through the aftermath. When the dust began to clear, it was evident that Kadabra was long gone. One of our members though, wasn't found.
"CAITLIN!" I yelled. She was nowhere to be seen. I looked around a little longer before spotting a metal shelf. Under the debris, I heard a light cough.
"Caitlin!" I said as I ran to it. I dropped to my knees and began moving pieces around.
"Stop!" She yelled.
"What's--OH!" I exclaimed, noticing the issue. Caitlin had a piece of the metal in her side, and I had the rest of the team help me lift the shelf off her. We gently carried her to the medical bay, one of us holding the piece of metal in her side.
"Easy," Cisco said as we walked into the medical bay door.
"Gentle, gentle," Barry said as they placed her down. I prepped the machines while they were straightening her out. I put an IV in her arm instantly and began reading her vitals.
"Hand me the X-ray machine," I said to Barry before he grabbed it and handed it to me. Caitlin winced in pain as she tried to get comfortable. I grabbed the machine and examined the wound.
"How bad is it?" She asked, trying to hold back the pain.
"Pretty bad..." Julian replied. "There's quite a big piece of shrapnel inside you, and it looks deep enough to pierce your kidney if it's not removed immediately."
"Guys, we have to get her to a hospital," said Joe, walking into the room. "We have to do something..." Joe covered his mouth with his hands and began to sob. "I feel bad...This was all my fault," Joe trailed off. "I was greedy and went at Kadabra for personal reasons. I just don't want Chloe to die," said Joe. "And now Caitlin may die because of it."
"As beneficial as that could be, they're gonna ID her as a meta.
That's not safe for her, considering we have a file on for attacking CCPD."
"Then what are we going to do?" I asked. "None of us are real doctors, and I can't operate. She can't operate on herself."
"We do have another option," said Julian.
"What is it?" We all asked, eagerly.
"When Caitlin goes meta, her metabolic rate offsets cold tissue destruction..."
"She can regenerate?" I asked.
"No, we're not gonna take off my necklace..." Caitlin said, placing a hand over it. "I don't need a hospital...All I need is a mirror and a steady set of hands...You were a field medic in the Royal Army, right?" Caitlin asked Julian.
"What?" Julian asked. "No, I-I-I've never operated on anyone before."
"That's okay, I'll walk you through it...And Chloe, you have some experience, right?" She asked.
"Caitlin, you're talking about staying awake during your own surgery," said Julian.
"I'm putting my life in your hands...I trust you guys."
"What the hell were you thinking?" Gypsy asked, storming into the room.
"Now is not the time, Gypsy!" I yelled, reading the vitals and thinking of a plan. "You know, you got a really messed up sense of justice for a cop!" She said, getting into his face.
"I took two oaths in my life.
One, to uphold the law.
The other, to protect my family.
Guess which one takes priority?" Joe asked.
"TAKE IT OUTSIDE!" I yelled. Gypsy and Joe both remained quiet. Gypsy stormed out of the room and Cisco followed her. Joe exited with his head down.
"Ready?" I asked Caitlin as I prepped the equipment.
"Ready as I'll ever be," she replied. I gulped and proceeded with the operation, with Julian's help ofcourse.
"Okay, let's start with the shrapnel on the surface," Caitlin said as she positioned the mirror she was holding, so she could see what was going on.
"Just let me know if we do any thing wrong, okay?" I asked. Caitlin nodded, and Julian and I went at the first piece. I took my tweezers and ever so slightly picked at the metal. Caitlin groaned when I managed to get the first piece out.
"First piece done.." I said, placing it on the table.
"Well done," said Barry, patting me on the back.
"Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa-" said Julian as he ran to Caitlin's side and placed a towel over it.
"Is there supposed to be this much blood?" I asked.
"It's normal for the shrapnel to cavitate and displace tissue, but if I lose too much blood, I'll start hemorrhaging," said Caitlin.
"We have to act fast then," I said, grabbing my tweezers again. I reached for the rest of the shrapnel on the surface, and was able to get out another piece with Julian's help.
"All right, nearly done, nearly done, hang in there, hang in there," whispered Julian as Caitlin whimpered. After another few minutes, we successfully got the rest of the surface shrapnel out.
"Well done, that's all the pieces of shrapnel from the surface gone."
"Okay, great," said Caitlin through her teeth.
"Now it's time for the hard one...But you're doing great."
"You got this, okay," Caitlin asked Julian and I. We nodded.
"It's wedged between my kidney and my inferior vena cava, and it's surrounded by some major blood vessels...If you hit them, there's a good chance--I'll go into shock."
"Shock?" I asked. "I totally don't have any pressure on me right now."
"But it's okay...You've got this," Caitlin said, managing a smile.
"Okay," Julian said, sighing and looking at me.
"Let's do this!" We went to work on the next piece.
"Heart rate's increasing," Barry noted, looking at the monitor.
"Okay, I think I've got it."
"Great, pull it out!"
"I can't, Caitlin, it's stuck," I said, examining the wound.
"Then turn it."
"Guys, it's getting up there," said Barry, once again.
"It might be a tendon in the way," said Caitlin, repositioning her mirror.
"If it's not a tendon--Then I will rip this necklace off," said Julian, stepping closer to Caitlin's side.
"No! I would rather die," she said gripping her necklace tightly.
"Caitlin, this is going to hurt," I said as I put my tweezers in place and twisted the metal. Caitlin screamed as I pulled the metal from her side, and placed it on a nearby table. I handed Julian a cloth, and he placed it over the wound.
"Can you please stitch me up, because I think I need to pass out?" said Caitlin. Julian placed his free hand ontop of her forehead and moved the hair out of her face.
"Of course, of course," Julian said, getting to work on the stitching. I took off my gloves and cleaned myself up. I gave one last check to Caitlin before exiting the medical bay.
"Well done, well done," said Barry, trailing behind me. "Didn't know you had medical experience."
"Somewhat. I'm just glad she's gonna be all right."
"That was amazing. Seriously, Chlo. You saved her life."
"She's my friend, that's what I-"
"GUYS!" Cisco yelled, running into the cortex. "I think I know why Abra Kadabra's been stealing all that tech."
"Why?" I asked.
"Build a time machine...He's trying to get back to the future. And that's why..." Cisco trailed off, going to his table. He peeled back the cover and revealed a table of junk. "Presto."
"What is all of this?" I asked.
"Everything Kadabra's been stealing, which are the exact components I used to build Evil Wells's time sphere two years ago, but I could never figure out what he used for a power source...I think this is it."
"So that's what he took from the time vault, it's power source?" Julian asked, coming into the cortex.
"Last thing he needs to return to the 64th century."
"Well, we need to find his ass before he pulls another disappearing act," I said, walking to Cisco's computer.
"If Kadabra's plan is to "Marty McFly" himself back to the future, he's gonna have to open a temporal wormhole first--and when he does--We can nail him," said Cisco, walking over to his computer and beginning to work.
"No, he's mine," said Gypsy, standing in the entrance of the cortex.
"I look forward to showing him the same mercy he showed my partner."
"You can't go after him alone."
"Sure I can," Gypsy assured.
"You want justice for all those people that he's hurt...For your partner, right?" Cisco asked. Gypsy's eyes fell to the floor. "Right now we're trying to prevent someone we love from getting hurt, but we can't do that without your help."
"I don't trust you guys anymore.
Kadabra's already given both of us the slip. The only way we can catch him is together." Gypsy nodded, and we suited up.
"Guys, Abra Kadabra's heading south on Ninth...He opened up a wormhole," said Julian through the earpiece. We sped to the street and saw him standing in front of a wormhole.
"You're not going anywhere, Houdini."
"Catch me if you can," said Kadabra before he disappeared.
"Where'd he go?" I asked through the earpiece. Julian hesitated before responding.
"He's on State and Main!" Julian exclaimed before we sped to that street. "You shall not pass!" Barry joked as we stood in front of Kadabra again. "Get it, cause he's a wizard...Kadabra's a magician...No, I'm the only nerd here....Okay," Barry said with a laugh. Kadabra disappeared once again, and Julian was on it.
"Not the proper time for humor, Allen," said Julian through the earpiece. "Thurlow and Eighth....Now he's on Seventh, and he's moving fast!" Julian paused. "You gotta stop this guy...He just opened up another wormhole!" We sped to the scene. Gypsy and Cisco came through a portal for the cleanup, and I acted fast. I threw a lightning bolt at Kadabra as quick as a flash, and he fell to the ground. Gypsy didn't hesitate to cuff him.
"Yes! She did it, she got him!" Julian exclaimed through the earpiece. I let Gypsy handle it from there.
"So much for your disappearing act," I said as Gypsy stood Kadabra up.
"By the laws of Earth-19, I hereby collect you for the crime of mass murder."
"Let her take me," Kadabra stated. Barry looked in his direction and focused his eyes on the magic man. "You'll never find out what I know...And Chloe dies...Along with your future, as well as the Barry Allen you know."
"I'm not gonna stop her from taking you to Earth-19. You deserve your fate."
"Are you saying Chloe deserves hers?" Kadabra asked. "If I go, you'll never find out what you want to know."
"We have nothing to offer you," Barry added. "No reprieve...No escape for what you're facing...You've done some terrible things, but you're still a man...You have a family, friends, people that you care about...Somewhere inside of you there must be a glimmer of light, of hope...It's that part of you that I'm asking...I'm begging...Help me save her."
"Flash...Begging." Kadabra sneered. "See, here it is...In the future, you and I have been enemies for years...Oh, there have been others, of course...There was Thawne, Zoom, DeVoe, but none of them hurt you like Savitar...He truly broke you...I have to be honest...I was always a little bit jealous...But now, it's like I get to kill her too...Now if you'll excuse me, I have my execution to attend," Kadabra said as Gypsy gripped Kadabra's cuffs tightly and said goodbye. She then jumped through a portal with my future.
"Nice job guys!" Julian exclaimed as we walked through the cortex door.
"He's finally gone. No more people hurt."
"Where does that leave us in terms of Savitar?" Cisco asked.
"I don't know. He gave us some information, but not enough to make a profile..."
"Where's Caitlin?" Joe asked.
"Medical bay," I said, pointing in it's direction.
"I feel bad for what I did. I shouldn't have let Kadabra go," Joe said, dropping his arms. He gripped the flower bouquet he had in his hands tightly. I placed a hand on his back and lead him to the medical bay, where Caitlin was attentive and alert.
"Hey Cait, how are you holding up?" I asked.
"Hanging in there..."
"Joe brought you some flowers," I said before Joe held them up to her. He placed them on her bedside table and knelt down to her side.
"I'm so sorry for what I did. He shouldn't have-"
"It's okay. I was never much of a two-piece bathing suit kind of gal anyway."
"I still cannot believe what you did, Caitlin," I said as the rest of the team entered the room.
"Staying awake during your own surgery, that's one thing, but talking my clumsy hands through it, that's quite the other."
"You are immensely brave," added Cisco.
"You fought through the pain like i've never seen anyone before," said Julian. "You did all the hard work."
"Hardly."
"Is Julian going all softie on us?" I asked. Julian leaned in for a kiss and Caitlin gasped. He was leaning towards her bad side.
"I'm so terribly sorry..." said Julian as he jumped back. "That's most clumsy of me."
"Some bedside manner you got there," I mumbled to Julian.
"I'm working on it," Julian said with a chuckle.
"Just rest," I said, patting her arm and walking out to the cortex, where Joe pulled me out into the hall.
"You do know I feel terribly awful for this."
"I know, Joe. It's okay. We do crazy things for each other from time to time."
"I was desperate...I didn't know what to do. I don't want anything happening to you...I just panicked."
"It's okay, Joe." I placed my hand on his shoulder.
"When you first came to live with us, I was so scared something was going to happen to you. You were just a little kid, and I didn't know what a kid at your age would do with no parents. I was so worried, I wouldn't even sleep. Sometimes, I would just sit outside your door, and peek in from time to time. I would put my hand on your chest, just to make sure you were breathing, and then I I would just sit there there, praying that you'd just keep breathing. That's how I feel right now. I feel useless because I don't know what I have to do to save you."
"I think I may know how," said Barry, stepping into the hall. We joined the rest of the team in the cortex as we all stood around Barry.
"Kadabra, Savitar, Thawne...
You know, they're always one step ahead of us for one reason...They know what's gonna happen...So every move we make, every trap we try and set, it's all just history to them...They're armed with the future...Well, not anymore."
"Where are you trying to get with this, Barry?" I asked.
"If the answers that we need to stop Savitar and save Chloe are in the future, then that's where we need to go...We're gonna run to the future."
"You keep working on that, I'll get back to CCPD," said Joe, saying goodbye to all of us before leaving. We then went into the medical bay to check on Caitlin.
"No more strawberry?" Caitlin asked, pointing to the green Jello cup on the table.
"You waited all this time to complain about the Jello?" I asked. "I could've gone to the store and back by now."
"What do you mean, there's no more strawberry? I just bought some a week ago?"
"Yeah, well, I may have eaten some...Any by some, I mean all."
"Do you want me to go out and get you more strawberry Jell-O?" I asked. "I will get you more. I'll be back in two seconds," I said, getting ready to run.
"No, it's fine."
"Too bad Jello can't fix a broken heart," said Cisco, slouching.
"You'll find someone, Cisco," I said, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"There you guys are! I've been looking all over for--what are you--What is she doing in bed?" HR asked as he ran into the medical bay with his drumsticks.
"Long story, HR."
"I have a long story," he said, taking a sip of the coffee cup in his hands.
"Where have you been?" I asked.
"Her name is Rhonda, and she's into new positions...."
"OKAY, OKAY," I yelled, putting my hands up.
"We had the--"
"Okay...Stop talking."
"You gotta let somebody know next time you decide to go on a two-day love romp," said Cisco.
"You were worried...I'm touched."
"You'll be touched in the face with a hammer the next time you pull something like that," said Cisco.
"Don't make me laugh, or I'll bust my stitches," said Caitlin, placing a hand over her mouth.
"Is that lime Jell-O?" HR asked, looking at the cup.
"It's all you, HR."
"Are you serious?" He asked, lunging for the cup and viciously scooping into his mouth. "I love the lime!" Cisco scooted closer to Caitlin and HR left the room with his cup.
"You were really worried about him, weren't you?" She asked.
"Just promise me that you'll never ever tell him," Cisco said with an eye roll.
"Cross my heart and hope to---" Caitlin said before she fell back. She began to shake furiously and we were pacing around her body. The monitor began to flatline.
"Caitlin?" Cisco asked, waving his hand infront of her face.
"Hey!" Julian yelled, rushing into the room. "Caitlin?" He asked. "What happened?"
"I don't know, she just started seizing."
"Hold her down, hold her down," I said, helping my team hold her down.
"She needs a hospital. We need an ambulance now."
"Grab the crash cart and oxygen," I said as Barry wheeled it over to the bed. I placed the mask over her mouth, trying to get it to work. With no luck, the monitor continued to flatline. "She may have threw a blood clot, I don't know."
"Charge the paddles!" Julian yelled. Cisco handed them to him and charged them. He placed them
on her chest and started the first round. The monitor still continued to flatline.
"All the way, turn it up to the top!" Julian yelled. Cisco turned them up and tried once again. With no luck, Julian continued. Eventually, he put the paddles down and began chest compressions. I watched in horror and panic as my team did everything they could to try and save her. With no luck after anything, I began to lose hope.
"Here we go, she's coming back...She's coming back...Yes, she is....Come on!" Julian yelled, still trying. Tears began to fall from my face at the thought of life without her. The flatline tone seemed to get louder as it rang through the room. I buried my head in Barry's chest and began to cry.
"She's gone...." Cisco whispered. The sound of the monitor filled the room and our ears, putting sorrow from the loss of our friend in all of our hearts. I took my head away from Barry's chest and observed the cold atmosphere the room had developed. Out of the blue, Julian reached for Caitlin's neck. He ripped the snowflake necklace off and threw it to the floor.
"STOP!" Cisco yelled. "That's not what she wanted!"
"I don't care! I'm not gonna sit here and watch her die, okay?" Julian asked. I looked at her hopefully, and waited for a response. "It's okay...C'mon!" Julian yelled as the monitor began to beep slowly back to normal. Julian then lifted up the patch covering her wound, and saw that it had iced over. It healed right before us, and our heads all began to fill with hope. We felt relief wash over us, because our friend was back to normal, but we thought wrong. Her crystal eyes shot open, and frost appeared from her mouth. Her whole body exploded with frost, throwing us from our positions. When we picked ourselves up, frost now coated the room. Through the fog, a figure appeared. But it wasn't the Caitlin we knew...It was Killer Frost.
"Caitlin..."
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HERE IS A CHAPTER FOR YOU! Sorry it took so long to get this out, it was just a longer update. More chapters are on the way! My app is still down, so I am trying to get these out as efficiently as I can. I hope you enjoyed, and I'll see you in the next update!
-Flashette1