(The Flash) Frozen Flashpoint: Chapter 15 – Emotions from the Future

Chapter 15 – Emotions from the Future

Summary: The team process the news and starts to think things over for the future.

There was relative silence in the cortex after the video finished.

Harry was holding Jessie tightly while the young woman refused to let go of Wally’s hand, leading to an awkward trio moment.

Cisco sat in front of the computer, staring at his hands with an odd expression. Joe went over to comfort him with slow pats on the back.

Barry kept holding the crying Caitlin in his arms until he heard shuffling not far from where he stood. Barry strained his neck to look at the source, only to see the future teen standing awkwardly in the room, tears running down her cheeks.

Barry opened his left arm and beckoned her over. The girl practically sped into his arms and began sobbing into his shirt. “Daddy, I missed you so much!”

Caitlin threw her arms around the girl, making it a group hug, and said between her own sobs, “My… Star… Mom and Dad are here. And… And we… aren’t going anywhere.”

Everyone allowed themselves about five minutes to calm down after all the upsetting information they had just been hit with.

Barry looked at the two girls in his arms. By now, they had stopped crying and both had their faces buried in his chest side by side. With a little smile, he asked in a low tone that only the two of them could hear, “Are you two Snowflakes okay?”

The two girls giggled and nodded. Slowly, Barry broke away from the hug, leaving Lyra and Caitlin holding each other. Barry took a deep breath and called out, “Okay. Time to think about what we’re doing next.”

There was a tense atmosphere in the room, and no one replied. Harry stood close to Jessie, frowning as she hugged Wally tightly. Joe and Cisco sat next to each other in silence, seemingly contemplating life itself.

Barry sighed, unsure how to demand their attention after something like this. Maybe he should give everyone some space before they had their strategic meeting.

But suddenly, a familiar voice called out, “Hi, whiners, listen up!”

All eyes immediately turned toward the silver-haired woman, who looked at everyone firmly. “Our fearless leader is right. We need to get our heads on straight and start talking about how to kick the ass of an almost-dead history professor.”

Barry gave Frost a bright smile. Was her attitude blunt and slightly mocking? Oh, it sure was. But it was effective—and attractive as hell, too.

Cisco and Harry frowned at Frost, while Joe sighed before saying, “Frost, please. What we just heard isn’t something simple to move on from. It takes time to process. You and Barry can’t expect everyone to get back to work straight away.”

Frost frowned at the detective. “Does the future suck? Yes. I hate it as much as any of you. My friend and husband died in that future, and my daughter was saved only by a miracle. But sitting here sulking is just giving the brain freak the time he needs to replan all those horrible things. We need to stop him. The sooner we do, the sooner we can forget that future ever existed in the first place.”

While Barry admired his girlfriend, he could hear Lyra quietly cheering from behind him, “Go, Mama.”

Jessie broke the hug with Wally, causing him to slump in disappointment, while her father lost some tension from his shoulders. The Earth-2 speedster looked determined as she said, “Frost is right. Sulking about what might be will just make sure it happens again. I have no intention of dying just because some annoying know-it-all decided I’m too dangerous for his plans of mass genocide.”

Wally frowned and asked hesitantly, “If he’s a know-it-all like you said, won’t he already know we’re plotting against him?”

Harry rubbed his chin, considering the question before shaking his head. “I don’t believe he’s omnipotent in the way you’re suggesting. He has a very high IQ, which allows him to predict behavioral patterns given enough information and make it seem like he knows the future. For instance, DeVoe couldn’t predict Lyra’s status as a speedster due to lack of information, nor did he foresee her bringing forth his worst fears by running back in time and warning us.”

Joe followed up quickly, “So the only way for him to know our plans and counter them is by gathering information about us.” He then looked sideways at Cisco. “Cisco, you need to secure all the camera feeds in the lab. Make sure DeVoe can’t access them.”

Cisco nodded as he thought aloud. “We’d better move everything to an offline server for now. It’ll rule out the possibility of checking the cameras with our phones, but the trade-off is worth it.”

Joe then turned to everyone else in the room. “That means nothing concerning DeVoe can be discussed outside these walls. Or we’ll have to assume he might get his hands on it.”

Barry was glad to see everyone was engaged in the conversation. But then, something that had been nagging at him since the video began to bother him more. He turned to his daughter with a frown and asked, “How did the team know so much about DeVoe’s plans and the timeline shift?”

Lyra shifted uncomfortably before answering slowly, “Umm, his wife, Marlize, told us.”

Now Frost was frowning too. “Caity in the video mentioned he started worrying she was betraying him. Apparently, he wasn’t just paranoid.”

Lyra shook her head. “No. I don’t know much. She joined our side when I was eleven or twelve, not long after we escaped to Starling City. But I do know she left him after he started acting crazy and accusing her of doing some weird stuff.”

Wally looked hopeful and asked, “Think you could convince her to help us again?”

Lyra frowned. “No. Right now, she still loves her husband and believes in his vision. It’ll change slowly, but if my past is anything to go by, it’ll be too late by the time she wakes up.”

Harry nodded in understanding. “Unfortunate, but expected. What I want to know is how DeVoe survived so long without the metas he wanted to create to replace his failing body.”

Lyra rubbed the back of her head. “Didn’t Mom mention it in the video? Weird. Anyway, his wife built him a biochip that redirected the electricity in his body to force-feed the rest of his limbs while his mind kept going.”

Barry frowned and thought aloud, “So that’s why he went insane and genocidal?”

Lyra considered it for a moment. While she did, Frost chuckled, drawing Barry’s attention.

He raised an eyebrow at Frost, who gave him her usual cocky smile and pointed out, “Little Snowflake’s making the same face you do when you’re thinking hard about something.”

Barry turned back to his daughter and noticed Frost was right. Warmth spread through his chest, and a smile crept onto his face as he thought, Yep, she’s definitely mine.

Eventually, Lyra shook her head and replied, “No, Dad. Marlize never looked guilty about DeVoe’s madness, and she loved her husband. If her chip had been the cause, she would’ve felt bad. I’m, like, ninety percent sure.”

“Hmmm…” Cisco hummed to himself before speaking aloud. “Well, it doesn’t matter why he went crazy, does it? The point is, he’s still going to have his wife build that chip to save his life.”

Harry nodded slowly, continuing the line of thinking Cisco had started. “We could try to design the chip ourselves. If we do, we’ll be able to guess which parts they’ll need. And if any of them are rare—or better, unique…”

Joe perked up and finished the thought. “We can ambush them when they go after it!”

Frost’s smile turned feral. “Now we’re talking. I want a couple of swings at the psycho who’s thinking about taking my handsome fiancée away from me and Caity.”

“Mamaaaa,” Lyra whined, “Don’t talk about Dad like that in front of me!”

Frost smirked at her. “Oh, sorry, Snowflake, but you should’ve considered that when you ran back in time. You were bound to meet your younger parents during their… wilder days.”

Lyra’s face alternated between red and pale every few seconds. She covered her eyes and kept repeating loudly, “So not shwei, so not shwei, so not shwei.”

Barry shook his head in amusement before turning to Frost. “Did you have to tease the poor girl?”

Frost cackled. “Come on, Handsome, she has to be used to it if I helped raise her.” Then she lowered her voice so only Barry could hear. “I have no intention of giving up our wild after-hours lifestyle just because we have a kid now.”

Barry could feel his face heating up after that remark. He was about to stop Frost’s teasing when he noticed the tense atmosphere from earlier had been replaced by a much lighter one.

Barry turned to the Ice Meta and gave her a quick peck on the lips, causing Lyra’s whines to grow even louder.

After a moment, the future teen calmed down, but she was still pouting at her parents. Barry chuckled before another thought struck him. “Hey, little Snowflake?”

“Hm?” Lyra turned to him with a smile that reminded Barry so much of his fiancée.

With a gentle smile of his own, he asked, “Did you have a specific place in mind to stay while you’re here?”

Lyra tapped her chin and looked up as she thought aloud, “I guess Uncle Olie and Auntie Cilie are out of the question in this time period.”

Barry blinked twice before asking incredulously, “Sorry, did you just say Uncle Olie and Auntie Cilie? As in Oliver and Felicity? They’re married in the future?”

Lyra was still focused on Barry’s original question, so she answered without thinking much. “Oh, yeah. Their daughter Mei is my—” Then she froze, a desperate look on her face. “Oh, shit. I just gave you a spoiler, didn’t I?”

Frost grumbled for a moment before saying loudly, “Caity asked me to warn you about your language, Snowflake.”

Barry was still processing the spoiler. Oliver married Felicity?! They have a daughter?! And what had Lyra been about to say? Unfortunately for Barry, he knew better than to ask.

Eventually, Lyra answered his original question with a shrug. “I guess I’ll be around the labs for now.”

Be around? Is that a future thing again? Barry shook his head and smiled softly at her, saying firmly, “Stop with the crazy future talk. You’ll stay with us. We have more than enough room for you.”

Lyra looked at him with hopeful eyes. “Really?”

Frost smiled warmly at the teen before answering sincerely, “Of course, Snowflake. Your dad and I would love to get to know more about you.”

The future speedster was practically bouncing, happiness radiating from her.

“Of course, I’ll expect a visit as well, young lady. Don’t let your parents hog you all the time,” Joe pointed out lightly with his fatherly voice.

Lyra giggled. “Of course, Gramps. Will Nana be there too?”

Joe’s eyes widened in horror as Barry snapped his head toward him and asked, confused, “Nana? Did Joe remarry in the future?”

Lyra looked as innocent as any teenager could as she asked, “I thought you and Nana Cecile were already dating in this time.”

Barry was outraged. “Nana Cecile?! As in Cecile Horton, the DA who comes to the station a lot lately?”

Joe sighed in resignation. “Yes. We’ve been dating for the past few months. I wanted to see how things went before I told you.”

Lyra laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of her head. “Oh, sorry. I had no idea it was a secret.”

Joe shook his head with a deep chuckle. “It’s fine, little star. It was time I told him anyway.”

Lyra let out a relieved sigh that reminded Barry a lot of himself in similar situations.

Barry clapped his hands. “Well, we have a plan—or at least the first stage of one. We should all go rest for today. Don’t forget what we said about discussing anything related to DeVoe outside this lab.”

Everyone nodded and began gathering their things to leave.