The Line Between Living and Dying

Coming Clean

Dani had never felt more guilty than she did right now. She and Cisco had just come clean to Dr. Wells and Cheyanne. Needless to say, they didn't take it well.

"What I don't understand is why you were on board with his plan, Dani." Cheyanne crossed her arms.

"Well, in my defense I was drunk when I agreed and I felt like it would be rude to leave Cisco hanging," Dani explained.

Cheyanne sighed heavily, shaking her head as Caitlin and Barry walked into the cortex. Caitlin wore sunglasses and hugged a bottle of Pedialyte, obviously to help with a hangover.

"What's wrong?" Barry asked. He could sense the tension in the room.

"Cisco and Dani have something to tell you." Dr. Wells glared at the two.

Cisco turned to Barry and Caitlin. "Hartley's gone."

"He escaped from the pipeline?" Barry's tone went from curious to worried. "How is that even possible?"

"Wait for it," Cheyanne told him.

Dani sent the blonde a glare before answering Barry's question. "We let him out."

"Are you mad?" Cisco asked Caitlin after a few moments of silence passed. "I can't tell with those glasses on."

"I'd like to yell and wave my arms, but I'm afraid I'd throw up," Caitlin replied bitterly.

"Why? What were you two thinking? You know how dangerous he is." Barry questioned.

"Hartley said he knew what happened to Ronnie," Cisco explained.

Caitlin pulled off her sunglasses. "I told you to let it go. I didn't want you looking into that for me."

"I wasn't doing it for you. I..." Cisco sighed. "I sealed Ronnie into the accelerator before it blew. He told me to wait two minutes, and I waited, but he didn't come back. And I can't stop thinking, ten, twenty seconds and... Ronnie wouldn't be like this right now." He slowly walked forward. 

"I've wanted to tell you so many times. I'm so sorry." Cisco apologized to Caitlin.

"So you carried that around this whole time?" Caitlin asked, walking around the main desk to Cisco. "Do you know what Ronnie would say if he was here? He would say that you did the right thing. It wasn't your fault. What happened that night wasn't anybody's fault. Come on. Don't we have a teleporter to catch?"

Cisco smiled at Caitlin appreciatively. He had blamed himself for so long it was nice to hear that Caitlin didn't hold him responsible for Ronnie's fate.

"We do have a teleporter to catch." Dr. Wells agreed. "And, fortunately, we do have a promising theory." He wheeled behind the main desk. "Take a look at this. Now, this is the normal behavior of the particulate that Shawna left."

The computer monitor displayed a green image with tiny dots jumping from place to place.

"Watch what happens when we remove the light." Dr. Wells hit a button on the keyboard.

The image changed to a night-vision shade of green. The dots stopped moving.

"Shawna can only become entangled with something she can see." Dr. Wells explained. "Take away her ability to do that--"

"She can't teleport." Cheyanne finished.

"Exactly," Wells said.

"So we just need to get her into a dark space." Dani thought out loud. "How do we do that?"

"That's a valid question." Dr. Wells told her while Barry answered his ringing phone.

"Hello?... What?... Yeah, I'll be right there." He hung up, turning to the team.

"What's wrong?" Wells asked.

"M-my dad... He's been stabbed."

* * *

Dani sat in her suit, spinning around aimlessly in one of the chairs in the cortex. Barry had told her and the team to stand by and wait for his signal.

Apparently, he had a possible lead on Shawna and Clay but Dani was a bit skeptical. That is until his voice flowed through the comms.

"I've got a lock on them!" He shouted.

"Where is he?" Dani stood up, ready to get payback.

"He's in the bridge-tunnel." Cheyanne clacked away at a computer.

"Remember, take away her sight." Dr. Wells reminded Dani. She nodded, teleporting to Barry's side.

The two heroes blocked a car from getting further into the tunnel.

Shawn teleported out of the car, holding a crowbar. "Why the hell do you care what we do? Are you two cops or something?"

"Something." They answered in unison.

Barry moved forward but Shawna teleported behind him, whacking him with her crowbar.

Dani blasted her away from him. "I got her. You get the lights." She stomped toward Shawna, attempting a punch but hitting air as she disappeared.

Suddenly a sharp pain erupted in Dani's back. She fell to her knees with a groan. Lightning crossed her vision. Shawna was unarmed and the lights were being smashed one by one.

"No." Shawna looked around, the tunnel growing darker.

Tires squealed as Clay backed his car up and raced away. But he wasn't Dani's focus. Not right now.

Dani teleported behind Shawna, punching her so hard she fell to the ground. 

Shawna looked up, blood trickling out of the corner of her mouth. "He left me." She realized.

* * *

Shawna stood trapped in a pipeline cell, frantically trying and failing to teleport out of it.

"Is there any way she can teleport out of this?" Barry asked Cisco.

"It's impossible. It's one-way glass. It's mirrored on the inside." He sighed. "No one dangerous is ever going to get out of this thing again."

Barry smiled, nodding at Cisco.

Dani tilted her head at Shawna, stepping forward. "Shawna. Clay left you. He's out there, and you're in here."

"You know what the crazy thing is? I still love him." Shauna looked down at her feet solemnly.

"Yeah... I bet you do." Dani whispered. She looked over at Cheyanne who stood next to the control panel. "Chey?"

"Got it." The blonde closed the hatch.

"Crazy is right," Caitlin commented as she and Barry walked out of the intake.

"Some people are worth being crazy for," Barry said just before they turned the corner.

As their voices faded away, Dani was left lingering on Barry's words. Was Eric worth being crazy about? Was she even crazy about him?

A/N: Big things are coming.

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