Snow Falls

Chapter Three

For a moment, Joss was caught off guard. Barry and Wally were quick to swap father and daughter's places in the Iron Heights prison cell. Joss's gaze went from the bars that held her to the men who contained her.

"Bring me my father! Now!" she demanded.

"Yeah, that's not gonna happen" Barry said slyly.

"We'll see about that" Joss challenged. "Bring my dad to Porter Plaza in one hour or Central City is gonna get wrecked". The young woman than disappeared in her signature tornado through the hole in the ceiling.

"I didn't know that Joss was busting me out" Mark Mardon admitted as he began to make himself comfortable in his place in the Pipeline.

The Flash paced back and forth, never taking his eyes off the inmate.

"I didn't know she'd do half the things she does" Mardon continued. He then revealed that he hadn't spoken to her in years. If that was a line, Flash wasn't biting. The scarlet speedster found it hard to believe that the delinquent woke up one day wanting to break her dad out of prison.

Joss was the product of naive, teenage lust. Mardon could never figure out how to make things work with her mother. Then when Joss was born, he decided it was best to focus on his (criminal) career. Joss was left with her mother until they'd had some kind of falling out.

As the Flash continued to listen to Mardon's story, his heart began to ache as he thought about Caitlin and their baby. Somewhere in the middle of the Weather Wizard's tale, the Flash seemed to space out.

"That's not going to be me" Barry told himself.

But he was quick to snap back to reality as something Mardon said struck an emotional chord with him.

"You know how it is. Sometimes mothers and daughters break and there ain't no fixing 'em" Mardon shrugged.

Barry then thought about Caitlin's relationship with her mother; which was strained due to past mistakes. After giving the baby away all those years ago, Caitlin left home to pursue another life in Central City; a fresh start. She didn't even think to invite her to the wedding. The latest edition, she didn't even tell her she was pregnant this time around.

Barry was then brought back to reality as Cisco's voice came through the comms in the crimson suit.

"Dude, you gotta get back here. Caitlin's not doing so hot and the only person she'll listen to, is you".

"I'm on my way" Barry said.

"I hate to cut this short" he said to Mardon. "But my kid needs me".

A confused gaze was permanently glued onto Mardon's face. He thought about asking for clarification, but the Flash was gone in a well, you know.

With whoosh sounding behind him, Barry slid into the cortex.

"What did you find? Cait, what's going on?" Barry asked, out of breath as he knelt before his expectant wife.

"I'm fine, really Barry" Caitlin replied, holding her legs together underneath the desk to prevent the water from continuing to trickle down. "Meet Joss Jackam, she is a delinquent teen turned amateur storm chaser and self-taught expert in theoretical meteorology".

"She lies!" Cisco exclaimed, using one of Sherloque's paint brushes to point accusingly at the expectant doctor. "Not about Joss but about her own current situation".

Caitlin shot Cisco a look with wide, sharp eyes which said, "tell him and Killer Frost will end you as soon as the pregnancy is over". She then revealed that Joss lost her grant from the science center for doing too many dangerous experiments on the weather.