Cold to the Touch (Arrowverse Fic)

Chapter Two

Crystal's POV

Caitlin, Cisco, and I stayed huddled together for a while before we heard the commotion throughout the building. Cisco was the first to release, "Guys, we should get going." He stands up, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. Caitlin nods slowly, releasing the death grip she has on my torso. Cisco helps her to her feet. She has stopped sobbing, but tears continue to fall down her cheeks.

I move to get off the ground, meeting resistance from my injured side. I cry out as the injury is jarred, causing Cisco and Caitlin to drop back down next to me. "Dammit!" he curses, "I knew you weren't fine!"

Cait wipes her face with her hand, "Lift your shirt." She commands, slipping into her 'doctor mode'

"At least buy me dinner first." I wince as my attempt at lightening the mood falls flat.

"Lift. Now." She's not kidding around. I do as she says, cringing as I pull the hem up to the bottom of my bra. I look down to see the bright, angry, red skin. "Looks like a second-degree burn. You're lucky, it could've been much worse."

"Yeah, lucky me."  I sigh sarcastically

"Cisco, grab the first aid kit." The man does as he's told

"Cait, I'm fine."

"No, you're not. Now be quiet and let me treat you." Her tone tells me it isn't up for debate, so I listen.

As soon as Cisco returns, Cait gets to work. She ignores my wincing and quiet cries of pain, not even acknowledging I'm here other than that one side of my body. She's all business. This behavior confirms a fear I've had for a couple of years. She's shutting down, ignoring her emotions. She's always done this, whenever something bad happens she checks out. Focusing on her work, and bottling whatever she's feeling until she breaks.

Last time it happened, our dad had just passed. He and Cait were really close, as was I. When he died, Cait shut herself away for a week. Choosing to work on college essays instead of dealing with the emotions she was feeling.

One day she just cracked, came knocking on my door in the middle of the night. I've never seen her so...broken. I had hoped to never see it again, but then tonight happened. "Cait, don't do this again." I sigh

"Do what?"

"Shut down. I don't know if I can handle it again."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Crystal." Red flag, she almost never uses my full name. "There, I'm done." I let the shirt fall back down, Cait starts putting things away.

Cisco takes my hand, helping me to my feet with little difficulty. "I'm sure she'll be fine Cris."

"I hope you're right, man." I watch as Caitlin robotically puts all the supplies back in the kit.

A sound in the hall catches my attention. Footsteps. Seconds after hearing that, a man runs into the pipeline. He's one of our coworkers, a lab tech named Eric. "Everyone okay in here?"

Cisco is the one to answer, "Not really. Anyone call 911?"

Eric nods, "They're on the way."

"Was anyone injured?"

"Yeah." He nods grimly, "Dr.Wells, a few lab techs, and who knows what that blast did to the city." He looks around the room, "What happened in here?"

I shake my head, moving my arm to hug my middle, "Nothing good."

He looks me up and down, then back down at the now closed first aid kit, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just an electrical burn." Truthfully, it hurts like hell but I'm not about to let Cisco know that.