Only Because I Need You Too

Chapter 26: Take My Hand

Ethan felt his heart pounding in his ears. Brittle leaves and rotten twigs snapped noisily beneath his feet. Nora had led them to a bleak and dim forest. Twinklings of frost clung to the trunks of the trees that towered over them. Glittering grass poked out from beneath the forest floor and ancient tree roots weaved their way across the ground. Ethan's breath rose up around his cheeks in long, steady plumes. A large lake peeked through the tree line in front of him. It's open waters glittered under the orangey pink light of the sun. Nora stopped in her tracks, causing Barry and Ethan to halt also. Following her unwavering gaze, Ethan found what made her freeze. A dark silhouette stood by the waters edge staring out at the water. Her arrows chattered in the wind. Excess turned to Ethan and her father, "wait here." Ethan pressed his lips into a thin line. "Please, we have more of a chance of talking to her that way." After receiving a nod of acceptance, the speedster turned and crept slowly towards the silhouette.

When Nora reached Dawn's side, she spoke in a hushed tone. There was no response. It seemed as though the Observer had become so entranced by the water in front of her that she could no longer even turn to look at Excess. Nora spoke again but was once more met with silence. The speedster reached out to the archer, gently gripping her shoulder. Dawn sprung out of whatever trance she had been in with a jolt. With a sweep of the Observer's leg, Nora was knocked onto her back in the shallow lake waters. Barry stepped forwards, his hands twitching out, but he stopped to glance at Ethan. The Ebony Ghost had his arms crossed over his chest, his black cowl hardly concealed the intense frown that gripped his features. With a weary sigh, Barry rocked on his feet.

The Observer staggered backwards, tripping over something concealed by the water's surface, falling into the lake's still waters and being swallowed by the darkness with a loud splash. Ethan felt tightness grip his chest and pull at his arms. Gritting his teeth, he did not move from his spot. Nora pushed herself into a seated position as Dawn broke the surface of the inky black water and dragged herself to shallower water, sitting by Nora's side. With that, Excess beckoned the two male speedsters forwards. Barry and Ethan shared a glance before speeding next to their daughters within a second.

The first thing Ethan noticed was the dark crimson cloud that had gathered around Dawn's body in the water. With every breath the female speedster took, they sent ripples over the glossy, watery surface. Nora leaned towards the Observer, the water swirling as she did so, "Dawn, can you hear me?" She asked gently.

The demonic mask turned towards Nora. "You need to leave." She stated blankly. Glittering ice and frosty swirls began to form around her body, spiralling outwards and crystallising the water's surface.

Nora rose to her feet and shook off some of the excess water. "I won't go without you Loui. You cannot survive being impaled." She stated, pinching her brows together.

Ethan rolled his shoulders. Desperately he wanted to say something, but the words would not form on the tip of his tongue. What could he say? He didn't even know her. His own daughter. He couldn't speak to his own daughter. "I can't, but she can." The Observer informed them. The archer's body had begun to shiver. Wether it was shock from loosing too much blood or simply just being cold, Ethan had no idea. Nora opened her mouth to reply, but Dawn beat her, "I can feel her right below the surface. It'll be any moment now." She hissed through gritted teeth. "Run."

Nora turned to the male speedsters, her eyes were wide her mouth slightly ajar. Barry cast his glance to Ethan, who ran a hand down his face. "I think it would be irresponsible of us to allow a super powered heat zombie to roam around here. Even if we wanted to leave, even if we cannot beat Frigid, we need to try." Ethan kept his tone soft and gentle. The other hero's nodded to him. Frost had begun to trail its long finger's around the Observer's mask and down the shaft of her bow. The inscrutable mask stared at him intently, the dark eyes from beneath watching him like a hawk.

"Run," The Observer insisted, a guttural snarl laced her words. With no warning, her whole body froze. The shivering ceased. The speedster's traded concerned stares, but before any one of them could utter a word, a chilling blast of ice erupted from Dawn's body, sending them flying backwards. Ethan felt something hard and solid collide with the back of his head and in an explosion of intense pain his world was rendered black.

*

Caitlin fidgeted with her nails and tapped her feet. The team had congregated in the cortex after the speedsters' encounter with Dawn. They were all seated or leaning against one of the computer desks in an oddly malformed circle. Ethan, still in his black suit, was standing by her side. Caitlin bit down on her lip as she stared up at him cautiously. His form was tense, his arms crossed firmly over his chest. The doctor had been scared out her wits when Barry had brought him back half conscious. Luckily his quickened healing has fixed his minor concussion in under twenty minutes. A tight feeling seized her chest and the extremities of her body were cold and numb. A slight shiver rattled her frame. "How can we immobilise Frigid?" Barry asked Nora, who was tightly wringing her hands, forcing her gloves to let out an awful squeak.

"We have no definitive solution." Nora told them weakly, "but when she was eleven we managed to stop her by breaking her back." Caitlin's toes curled in her boots and from the corner of her eye she could see Ethan clenching his fists tightly. "We then managed to isolate her until Dawn regained control."

"So there is no easy way to stop this?" Caitlin felt her voice drift from her mouth, frail and soft. Nora shook her head. The doctor felt her stomach drop to her feet and her heart froze in her chest.

"The kid doesn't have it easy, does she?" Killer Frost's icy voice commented.

"Well lets think about what we do know," Iris offered. "We are aware she has speed, she has cold powers and she is a heat zombie."

"That's it!" Caitlin exclaimed with a spark of excitement. "She needs heat to keep on moving. It's her motivating factor. So all we need to do is remove her from all sources of heat, then she'll become sluggish and slow." Ethan puckered his brows at her. "We need to use the cold gun on her."

"We tried that, but the cold gun doesn't fire quick enough for us to entrap her. Even if we used a meta dampening field to stop her speed, then we are at great risk of being harmed and each time we tried it she simply froze the field generator," Nora explained gently, sending Caitlin an apologetic smile. The room turned sullenly silent. The doctor swore she could have heard the heartbeats of her friends.

"So we don't use the gun then." Caitlin hummed. "Killer Frost can do it with the help of Dawn from our time."

"You bet I can," Killer Frost purred.

Ethan opened his mouth to protest, but Caitlin raised a hand. "If there a chance it could work we should take it." He lurched backwards as though she had slapped him, "and anyway Killer Frost is up to it."

"Okay. Say that works, how are we supposed to get Dawn to regain control?" His tone was slightly harsh, his lips curled downwards. Caitlin sent him a gentle stare. She knew the thoughts running through his head and she knew that they were all good intentioned. Knowing also that Ethan was still upset about finding out Dawn was the Observer, she could understand why he was so defensive.

"The last time it was the loss of motor control that drove Loui back into the steering wheel." Nora told them with a sympathetic smile. Caitlin supposed that would make sense. With no ability to escape or drain heat then Frigid would have no reason to remain in control.

"We use Sherloque's memory machine." Barry suggested with a shrug.

"Yes. Then we can lead her unconscious mind into her conscious thought." Cisco added in a flurry of exited hand movements. Caitlin felt hope tickle her heart. That was it. They had a lead. They could bring Dawn back. They could finally meet her.

"Now all we need to know is where Frigid is." Iris finished, casting her eyes over the team.

Nora snorted, leaning over a computer and flicking a few buttons. A new report flashed onto the screen. People were running, screaming. Police cars barricaded the streets. Long tendrils of frost ran up the towering skyscrapers. Caitlin and Ethan shared an alarmed look. In the centre of it all stood the dark silhouette of an archer with a long wisps of white hair that hung out of her hood. "Frigid will always seek the place with the most heat she can harness. The prime place for sucking people frozen is smack bang in the middle of the city.