(The Flash) Frozen Flashpoint: Chapter 7 – Embracing the Change

Chapter 7 – Embracing the Change

Summary: Team Flash argues with Caitlin in the middle of it. Barry and Caitlin having a heart to heart conversation. An ominous presence looming in the backround.

Caitlin looked around the room. She noticed that both Bran and Barry were gone, probably to the pipeline.

Jessie was still in a state of shock, kneeling where her dad had been lying a minute ago. But now Harry was standing in front of her, his weapon trained on Caitlin. Cisco was standing not too far from the entrance, his palm stretched out at chest height, ready to attack.

This was exactly what Caitlin had feared. Now they would only see her with fear, assuming they didn’t just lock her up and forget about her altogether.

She noticed Cisco’s eyes widening, and his hands lowered a bit as he asked in a shaky tone, “Caitlin?”

Caitlin found it hard to speak, so she simply nodded.

Harry, however, kept his gun trained on her and said, “It doesn’t matter. Killer Frost can take control at any moment. We have to lock her up now and ask questions later.”

Caitlin could feel her heart rate picking up. Harry was about to shoot her, hopefully just to stun her, but she couldn’t be sure.

A million thoughts raced through Caitlin’s mind. Was Harry right? Maybe she was dangerous. But the voice in her head didn’t feel hostile, and it had helped her before retreating back into her mind, allowing Caitlin to regain control. Another pressing thought was whether Barry would agree with Harry. Would her boyfriend agree to lock her away until they could find a way to repress the frozen part of her? Would he still be her boyfriend after that? Would he be afraid of her?

All those thoughts came to a screeching halt when she saw Harry’s finger start to pull the trigger of the gun. Caitlin was about to close her eyes, but just then, a strong wind and an orange light flashed in front of her, and a moment later, Harry wasn’t holding his weapon anymore.

Blinking, Caitlin looked in the direction she felt the breeze move. She expected to see a confused Barry, but instead, she found herself staring at Jessie, who was standing with the weapon held behind her back, glaring at her father.

Harry looked shocked himself as he choked out, “Jessie?”

The teenager sharpened her glare and shouted at her father, “Are you crazy?! She’s our friend! She just saved our lives—MY LIFE! And you were about to do what? Shoot her?!”

Harry actually looked insulted at the suggestion. “I was just going to stun her and take her to the pipeline so we could run some tests…”

“Oh, because that’s so much better,” Jessie retorted sarcastically before continuing in an angry tone. “So this is how we thank her after everything she’s done for both of us? You’re going to turn her into a lab rat and keep her locked up until you’re satisfied with the results? Remind you of someone?”

Even Caitlin was shocked. Partly because someone was protecting her, and not just anyone—Jessie, who had lived in a world terrorized by Killer Frost, was defending her. And partly because of Jessie’s implied comparison of her dad to Zoom.

Harry seemed to shake off the shock and countered, “Killer Frost is dangerous, Jessie. We can’t let her walk around freely.”

Jessie looked at her father as if he had just said the sky was the same color as the lab’s walls. In a voice full of disbelief, she pointed out, “Killer Frost is dead. Caitlin and her other side are here—they are their own person.”

Harry frowned before saying calmly, “She has the potential to—”

Caitlin felt a sting in her heart that someone she considered a close friend would even think that of her. She expected Jessie to retort, but before she could, a voice from the entrance of the cortex cut Harry off with a snarl. “And yet, of the two versions of you I know, you’re the one who let a supervillain take over his world. So should we lock you up before you decide to replicate your experiment?”

Barry kept walking closer to Harry. He was now wearing casual clothes again, but the scowl on his face radiated anger at the older man. Standing between Caitlin and Harry, Barry finished with a mocking tone, “After all, you have the potential for so many dangerous actions.”

Harry looked completely shocked. It took him a moment before he angrily countered Barry’s claim. “Then how the hell did you get your powers, Allen? Oh right, the particle accelerator explosion!”

Finally, someone decided to be the voice of reason. Cisco stepped between the two arguing men, saying gently, “Okay, before electricity starts flying around and destroying whatever still works here, Harry, you better step away before anything else goes down.”

Barry just glared at Harry before pointing out, “That was Eobard Thawne who did it. According to Gideon, the original Wells was planning to delay his particle accelerator because he didn’t want something like that to happen. That’s why Eobard risked his existence by killing him and taking his place.”

Harry blinked, his entire body looking like it was cut off from its strings. Numbly, Harry took Cisco’s advice and left the cortex, probably heading to his workshop.

Before anyone could speak, Caitlin turned toward Jessie and slowly walked toward her. When the young speedster didn’t show any signs of fear, Caitlin gave her a hug and said quietly, “Thank you.”

Jessie hugged her back, and Caitlin could hear the smile in the teenager’s voice as she retorted, “Thank you.”

After the hug, a familiar voice spoke softly to her, “Caitlin?”

Caitlin turned around with a forced smile on her face and replied as calmly as she could, “Yes, Barry?”

After Barry locked Bran away—which was easy, thanks to the fact that he was still unconscious—he was about to run back to the cortex when he noticed his suit was still covered in cement and debris. So he took the time to change into casual clothes.

While changing, Barry allowed his mind to drift to a place he had tried to avoid until now: Caitlin.

Since when did she have powers like Killer Frost’s? Did she know about them before? And if she did, why did she hide them from him? Did she not trust him? Would she want to break up because of it?

Deciding the only way to get answers was to talk to his girlfriend, Barry ran toward the cortex.

Once he got there, he froze at the entrance. What he saw caused confusion to flood his mind. Cisco was standing close to the entrance, looking awkward and on edge. Harry was standing in front of Caitlin, his arms posed as if he was holding an imaginary weapon at her. And on the other side of the large space stood Jessie, holding Harry’s gun behind her back and glaring at her father.

Caitlin looked terrified. At first, Barry thought it was because of her powers emerging, but he quickly realized he was wrong when Jessie began yelling at her father.

Barry froze on his way to comfort Caitlin when he heard what Harry was planning to do. When Harry defended himself, Barry’s rage only grew. But when the older man started to turn the argument onto Caitlin, Barry couldn’t stop himself from snarling at him.

When Harry finally left the room—which was a good call on Cisco’s part because Barry was a moment from punching the man at super speed—Barry turned back to Caitlin, only to see her hugging Jessie.

Barry decided to gently approach and ask in a soft tone, “Caitlin?”

When Caitlin turned to him, he could see how forced her smile was. And when she spoke, even though she tried to keep a calm voice, Barry could hear it breaking. “Yes, Barry?”

As Barry looked into her brown eyes, he could see fear—but it wasn’t directed at herself, which surprised him. With something like a new personality popping up out of nowhere, anyone would doubt themselves. Which meant... “How long have you known?” Barry asked, his voice calm, not accusing.

Caitlin looked away from him, and Barry thought she might try to lie to him again, as she had obviously been doing for a while now. But eventually, she took a deep breath and replied, “A week. Since your first night at my place.”

Barry’s eyes widened. It was all becoming much clearer now: the scare in the shower that first morning and how she had been behaving since then. Barry thought it had something to do with them, that maybe she felt uncomfortable with the fact that he had been kind of living with her since the day they confessed their feelings. Barry knew Caitlin wasn’t the most emotional person in the world, often too afraid of her emotions, and he was afraid he was pushing her too much too soon.

Now Barry wasn’t sure if it would have been better if that had been the truth rather than facing their current problem.

Barry knew there were a hundred important questions he should ask, but instead, he found himself asking, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Caitlin looked down, and Barry could see her eyes beginning to shine with unshed tears as she spoke, her voice choked. “I... I was afraid. I was afraid of what was going to happen to me, but more than that, I was afraid of how you would react. Killer Frost almost killed you on Earth-2.”

Barry laid his hands gently on each of her cheeks and pulled her head upwards so she could look at him. When their eyes locked, Barry spoke in a gentle yet firm tone. “First, you are not her. She had a different life, different people around her, and different circumstances thanks to Zoom. You and she are not the same person. Even if you developed powers exactly like hers, that doesn’t make you a copy of her.” He heard Caitlin sniff, but he wanted to point out something else. “And second, in the end, Killer Frost helped both of us. She had good inside of her—she just needed someone to believe in it. And you have that. You have me.”

Caitlin pulled Barry tightly against her and buried her head in his chest. He could feel the fabric of his shirt getting wetter, and he knew she was silently crying. Barry just held her close, letting her get out everything she had been holding in for the past week.

After a couple of minutes, Caitlin pulled back slightly but stayed in his arms as she said quietly and fearfully, “I don’t know what’s going to happen to me. I don’t know anything about my other half or what she wants, but she’s a voice in my head that can take over me at any time.”

Barry shook his head and said in a voice full of reassurance, “And no matter what happens, I will be right there with you.”

Then a gentle hand appeared on Caitlin’s shoulder. “I’ll be there too,” came the determined voice of Jessie.

Barry felt a little guilty—he had honestly forgotten all about the two other people in the room.

Caitlin gave Jessie a watery smile and whispered something in her ear that caused Jessie to blush and Caitlin to giggle.

Cisco then walked quickly to Caitlin and jumped at her with a hug. With a small smile, she hugged him back.

Cisco then snapped his fingers and began saying in his usual energetic voice, “No way I’m losing my sister. You said that other half—she really needs a name, by the way—is in your head, right?”

Caitlin looked confused but nodded.

Cisco looked happy. “Remember when the fake Wells helped me turn my vibe glasses into dream-viewing ones? I still have the plans and can do it again. Then we can use that to let you talk face-to-face with... well, yourself, I guess,” he finished somewhat awkwardly.

Caitlin gave him a beaming smile and said, “I would love that.”

Cisco jumped in place and then began running toward his workshop.

Barry gave his girlfriend a reassuring smile. No matter what, she would never be alone.

In a secret lair, a certain individual with a big plan looked at his screens and said in a voice full of surprise, wonder, and a touch of anger, “Something is wrong. Things are not proceeding according to plan.”