Caitlin is standing by the tent on the training tarmac, a worried expression on her face. Cisco is in front of her with a remote control, a grin, and a determination to win. Barry is racing Cisco's drone on the tarmac while it shoots lasers at him.
"You're supposed to be training him, not killing him." Caitlin said.
"He told me not to go easy on him." Cisco defends.
"You gonna bring it or what Cisco?" Barry says through the comms.
Cisco looks at Wells who nods and smiles. "Bring it."
Cisco grips the remote control harder and starts trying to throw Barry off.
As training finishes, Barry runs over to the tent to look at his stats for the day.
"You almost killed me." Barry says, out of breath, as he approaches the tent.
"You said bring it. And you need the challenge if you're gonna get fast enough to beat the Reverse Flash." Cisco says.
The other three turn to look at him.
"Yeah that's right. Ya boy Cisco came up with another great name. Hold the applause." Cisco says proudly.
"Eh," Caitlin says shrugging.
"I kinda like it." Wells says, smiling at Barry's improved statistics.
Barry leaves after morning training to head off to work. "This suit is starting to smell. Caitlin says, as she walks by the nook where they keep Barry's suit.
"We could take it to the dry cleaners." Cisco offers.
Wells and Caitlin both turn to look at him.
"Or not..." He says, lowering his head. "I'll get to work on something to clean it with. Just washing it won't work with the material." Cisco exits to his workshop.
"I hear you've decided not to pursue Ronnie," Wells says to Caitlin, wheeling behind her as she goes into her lab.
"What else am I supposed to do? It's not him. Not really. He doesn't want to be found or helped. He's got powers now. He barely even knows who I am. That's just...it's his body. But it's not Ronnie." Caitlin says, spinning lazily in her chair.
"I don't disagree. I think you made the right decision." Wells says.
"You do?" She says, looking up at him surprised.
"Yes I do. Because it was your decision to make. Whichever one you chose was the right one." Wells says, starting to wheel out of the room.
"Thanks Wells," Caitlin says, turning to start working for the day.
"Anytime."
****************************************
"Cisco! That damn gun you made is the gift that just keeps on giving." Barry announces as he enters the cortex.
"What happened?" Caitlin asks.
"Snart is back." Barry answers.
Leonard Snart, a.k.a. Captain Cold, stole a cold gun, one that Cisco built that is able to freeze things to absolute zero, from S.T.A.R. Labs a few months ago. Turns out the gun can hurt Barry. They got him to back off last time by tricking him. His M.O. is grand larceny.
"Yay..." Caitlin says flatly, shooting a glare at Cisco.
Barry fills the team in on what he found that morning at the crime scene. A garage full of expensive cars, that was still full. Nothing was taken, but the door was frozen and shattered.
"Why didn't he take anything?" Cisco asks.
"Maybe a trap gone wrong?" Barry guesses.
"Maybe," Dr. Wells agrees. "Either way I'd be on high alert for a bit Barry."
Barry nods and drops into a seat at the control panel, and starts aimlessly pressing buttons.
"I'm gonna go get some coffee. Anyone want any?" Caitlin offers.
Cisco raises his hand, and the other two shake their heads.
"Alright one apple juice coming right up." Caitlin says, smirking and walking out.
"You said coffee!" Cisco calls to her.
"She's getting me coffee right?" He asks the rest of the room.
Barry shrugs, a grin clear on his face.
Caitlin walks out of Jitters with a cup in each hand. She fumbles to get her keys. She goes to push the key into her car and moves her hand away just in time to dodge the blast of ice that now coats her door handle. She looks up into her window to see a man staring back at her in the reflection. She turns, dropping both coffees, and backing up against her car.
"Hi there," the nasally voice of Leonard Snart greets her.
She turns to run, but a second man comes out from behind her car and grabs her, covering her mouth to keep her from screaming for help.
"Looks like your friend got all the speed." Snart says, grinning at her as she stares back at him, fear clear in her eyes.
The man holding her hits her head into her car, knocking her unconscious.
*****************************************
Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Cisco is getting irritable.
"How long does it take to get coffee?" He asks, slumping down in his chair.
Barry laughs at him, spinning in his chair and dragging his foot, trying to think of what to do about Snart.
"She probably got stopped by Iris." Cisco says.
"Why would she get stopped by Iris?" Barry says, immediately looking up.
"They talk quite a bit actually." Cisco says. "Pretty much anytime Caitlin goes in there she gets an update on Eddie or you or Joe or new coffee roasts or the blog or the Flash. Did you know the Flash used to visit Iris at night?" Cisco says, smirking at Barry.
"She told Caitlin about that?" Barry asks, horrified.
"You told us about it too," Cisco accuses.
"Well yeah, but I didn't know Iris was telling people." Barry says, slouching in the chair.
"Not people. Caitlin." Cisco corrects. "Which is funny considering Iris has no idea why you still hang out with Caitlin and I."
"I would hang out with you guys even if the Flash hadn't happened." Barry says, offended Cisco would think otherwise.
"Oh yeah, the people who watched you for nine months in a coma make great company." Cisco says, rolling his eyes. "Want me to tell you how many freckles you have?"
"No?" Barry answers, cocking his head at Cisco. "Do you know?"
Cisco's eyes widen. "No." He lies.
Barry laughs and looks down on the desk at his ringing phone.
"Hey Joe, what's up?" Barry answers, still laughing.
He stops. His face drops and he looks up at Cisco with wide eyes.
"What?" Cisco asks quietly.
"Yeah, I'll be right there." Barry ends the phone call and rushes out of the room.
"What?!" Cisco yells, looking over at Dr. Wells who shrugs.
Barry stops next to Jitters and jogs up to Joe who is in the parking lot.
"What the hell happened?" Barry asks, panicking.
Joe points to Caitlin's driver side door handle that still has a chunk of ice on it.
Barry runs his hand through his hair, taking in a deep breath and turning away. "We gotta find her."
"Damn right we do." Joe says, walking back to his car with Barry.
The two drive back to CCPD and walk in to see everyone in a commotion, staring at the TV. They walk up to the television to see Snart and another man, who is holding Caitlin, on the screen. Barry clenches his jaw and watches.
"Hello Central City, this is Captain Cold. Some of you may already know this, but for those of you who don't, there is a man running around your town. A scarlet speedster. He calls himself...the Flash." Snart says dramatically into the camera.
Caitlin is being held up by Mick Rory, the second man and another well-known thief, behind Snart, but is still visible on screen. She is unconscious and has a trail of dried blood going down her face from where her head hit her car. Barry's eyes widen as he takes in Caitlin's appearance and tenses at the mention of his alter ego.
"Tonight, Porter and Main, sundown. Be there Flash. Show Central City who has been racing through their streets." Snart says with grin forming on his face. "Or this woman dies."
Rory pulls a gun out from behind Caitlin, allowing her to drop a little, and aims it at the camera. Flames fill the screen and then the video cuts off.
"Oh my God, that's Caitlin." Iris says quietly, appearing next to Eddie, behind Barry and Joe.
Barry stays staring at the screen.
"I gotta go babe." Eddie says, kissing Iris and walking to his desk. Joe and Barry both turn to face Iris.
"Barry, can we talk?" Iris asks, looking up the stairs to his lab.
Her and Barry hadn't talked alone since he confessed his feelings to her. She almost finished moving out earlier today and things were definitely awkward between the two.
"I can't right now, Iris." Barry says quickly, as he rushes up the stairs.
Iris looks up at her dad. "Things are still weird between us," she says.
"He's just worried about Caitlin right now," Joe says.
Iris nods, looking at the now blank television screen then up the stairs.
"Gotta go sweetheart," Joe says, kissing Iris on the top of her head, and walking away.
She stands there alone for a moment, looking around, before heading out.
**********************************************
Caitlin's head rolls to one side, causing her to wake up. She tries to move and is stopped by a rope wrapped around her arms. She looks down and sees that she is tied to a chair by her ankles, thighs, waist, arms, and wrists. She turns to see two men, one who she recognizes as Leonard Snart, working at a table.
"Oh she's up." Snart says, making eye contact with her.
Caitlin winces as the sound of his voice alerts her to the sharp pain in her head. The second man approaches her, squatting down next to her. He stares at her creepily, eyes wide, and a grin on his face. He lights a lighter in front of her.
"You're a friend of his huh?" Rory asks.
Caitlin doesn't answer.
"He's fast. Like fire." Rory opens and lights a lighter in front of her face, slowly moving it closer to her.
Caitlin's eyes veer toward the third degree burns on his upper arms.
"Like what you see?" He asks, raising an eyebrow at her.
Caitlin glares at him, not answering.
"You have third degree burns." She states.
"The fire revealed my true self." Rory says, eyeing the flame dangerously. "I wonder what the Flash will reveal when I burn off his skin."
"Do whatever you want to me, but stay away from him." Caitlin threatens.
"Oh." Rory hums, teasingly. "You and this Flash must be very close if you're willing to die for him."
Caitlin doesn't respond. She keeps her glare, clenching her jaw to keep it from trembling.
"What are you willing to take for him?" Rory asks, not expecting an answer.
He turns to see Snart has left the room. He holds the lighter close to the side of her hand. Caitlin can feel the fire burning the hairs on her hand. Her eyes widen.
Rory puts his hand over mouth and moves the flame over her skin along the side of her hand and wrist. Caitlin shrieks behind his hand, but he squeezes his hand muffling the sounds. She throws her head forward from the pain as the fire beings to blister her skin.
"Mick!" Snart walks in. "What did we say about burning people?"
Rory closes the lighter, looking annoyed. "Save it for tonight." He answers.
Rory stands up and walks away from Caitlin. She hangs her head, tears rolling down her cheeks, and taking quick, deep breaths. She keeps her eyes away from the blistering, oozing skin on her shaking hand.
Once her breathing has steadied, she hears the two men walking toward her. They lift the chair up and move her to a circular platform. Rory wraps a cloth around her mouth pulling it back between her teeth and tying it tight behind her head. She looks over to see Snart setting a trip wire at the top of the stairs that lead to the platform she is on. The wire connects to a small box at the side that has another wire leading directly under her. She looks up at him in horror, realizing she is sitting on a bomb.
"Catch ya later, kid." Snart says as him and Rory leave the warehouse.
*********************************************
"Are you sure you're ready to do this?" Joe asks Barry.
Wells and Cisco both look at Barry.
"There's no ready or not, Joe." Barry says. "I'm not letting Caitlin get hurt."
"Is everything else ready?" Wells asks. He suggested having Joe and Cisco go to where they are keeping Caitlin to make sure they don't keep her there when they come to fight. He doesn't trust that they'll bring her. They had found where they were keeping her and had accessed the cameras outside, but couldn't get any inside.
"Joe and I are gonna go and get her while Barry is downtown with them. They just left the warehouse. She wasn't with them, so she should still be there." Cisco explains.
"Bring her back." Wells says, sternly
Cisco nods.
"We will." Joe says. "You ready?"
Barry and Cisco follow Joe out of the cortex and Wells wheels over to the control panel to watch the downtown cameras.
****************************************
Caitlin hears two people enter the warehouse and she starts to panic. She knows Snart and Rory left to fight Barry. If two people were back, what happened to Barry? She leans as much as she dares without triggering the bomb and is relieved to see Joe walk out from behind a large box.
She lets out a breath and starts panicking again as Cisco also emerges from the box and runs toward her. She's yelling as much as she can around the cloth in her mouth begging him to stop so he doesn't hit the trip wire.
He hits the trip wire as aggressively as one can hit a trip wire.
Joe sees it and pulls Cisco back, running onto the platform. He grabs Caitlin and dives forward pulling her down to the ground, the bomb going off just as he pulls her off of it.
She rolls over with wide eyes, staring at Joe as he pulls the cloth away from her mouth.
"Thank you," she breathes out.
"Anytime," Joe says with a relieved, but tired look on his face.
Cisco runs over to help untie her and she immediately leans over to hug him. He pulls back and looks her over to see if she's hurt. He sees her hand and looks up at her. She smiles weakly at him and shakes her head.
"I'm fine," she reassures him.
"I take that 'anytime' back." Joe says, stretching his back. "I don't want to have to do this again, so let's get going." Joe announces, having stood up and dusted himself off.
Cisco helps Caitlin up and him and Joe help her out to the car since she's a little wobbly from being tied up and tackled to the ground in a chair.
***********************************
Caitlin is helped into the cortex where Wells resists the urge to run up and hug her. She smiles at him as Joe and Cisco help her over to the med bed. Wells wheels up next to her, reaching for her injured hand. He glares up at her.
"I'm fine," she smiles, crinkling her eyes.
He looks skeptically at her and starts patching up her hand, pausing each time she winces.
Barry runs in and walks over to the bed. He looks at her hand and up at her.
"Are you okay? I'm so sorry." Barry says quickly walking closer to the bed.
"I'm okay, Bar." Caitlin says. Reaching out for him.
He comes closer and she starts looking him over. "Are you okay?" She asks.
"Nothing that won't heal by tomorrow." He says, smiling at her. He looks down at her hand again, watching Wells wrap it.
"Don't worry Barry. She avoided the worst of it." Joe says.
"Yeah. We just missed the bomb." Cisco interjects.
"Bomb?" Wells and Barry say together, Barry looking at Cisco and Wells looking up at Caitlin.
"We?" Joe laughs. "You're the one that tripped the wire."
"I didn't know it was there!" Cisco defends.
"What? Did you think I was yelling at you because I was excited to see you?" Caitlin argues.
"Well yeah!" Cisco says. "It's not like I could understand what you were saying."
"Sorry, I had a little something in my mouth." She says sarcastically.
Joe snorts and starts laughing a little, and the rest of them join in.
Wells finishes with Caitlin's hand and she switches with Barry to check him over real quick.
"How does it feel now that Central City knows about the Flash?" She asks. Everyone else having cleared out.
"Relieving actually." Barry admits. "But we'll see how everyone reacts over the next couple of days."
"Reacts after you've been saving their asses for a few months?" Caitlin asks. "Grateful would be nice." She says grinning at him.
"If it's not rioting then I'll consider it a win." He says grinning back.
"Well I'm grateful," She says.
He chuckles and looks down as she finishes putting medicine on some of his deeper cuts.
"I'm serious, Barry," she whispers. "You took a huge step today to save me and I can't thank you enough."
"I wasn't gonna let anything happen to you," he says. Sitting up in the bed to hop off. He wraps his arm around her shoulders and they start walking out.
"I don't think Joe signed up for having to tackle me off of a bomb though." She says jokingly.
"He'll never admit it, but he loves the excitement," Barry says.
Caitlin laughs and he joins in as they exit the cortex.