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arthurjdrake · 4 years

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Location: Sandy Shores (White Crest Beach)

Plot Of The Week: Gifts From the Deep

@humanmoodring, @beatrice-blaze and @arthurjdrake make a snappy trip down to further investigate the chest with things getting more than a little heated in the process.

Despite his species natural aversion to water, Arthur always had found himself strangely attracted to it. He’d been feeling restless today, his research hitting a dead end that pushed him to feel inclined to finally investigate this chest in person. To see if there was anything that had been missed. Equipped with a backpack in which he’d put a large blank notepad and pencils (to get a stencil off the chest if he could get close enough) he’d then turned his thoughts to the miniature crustacean army guarding this chest. It was how he had settled on getting his axe out of storage; ancient and heavy-bladed it had served him well over the years. It didn’t take long to drive down and park at the beach. Soon enough he was trudging cautiously over the rise of the small sand dune and taking a knee to survey the misty frost-laden beach in front of him.

Sitting in her truck, Nadia rubbed her hands together as she looked out at the frozen beach. If she’d been asked what the hell she was doing out there, she would honestly be able to say that she didn’t know. It was dumb. It was so dumb. But she was curious about this whole giant lobster and cursed chest business that she had to see it for herself. She’d been bombarded by supernatural bullshit left and right, but did she really know if it was real? If she could just see it in person… She hopped out of the truck and started towards the area where the chest was located, ice crunching under her boots as she went.

Arthur turned his head as movement at the edge of the beach caught his attention. He watched quietly as a woman made her way out towards the frosty ground, that led towards the chest the crunch of ice cutting through the strange eerie silence was jarring. Even the swelling rush of the tide seemed muted, as though the chest drowned out everything else around it. To keep it the sole focus of any that came this way. To forget what else might lurk down there. He continued to watch for a little while longer, wondering just what she planned to do before he spoke up figuring she might be keen to go down to the misty beach. "Careful..." he called from his knelt perch overlooking the beach "it's misty down there today. Means spotting the karkinoids will be a whole lot harder."

Bea had been watching the beach for quite some time. She had been sat, hidden from sight, debating if she should approach the chest alone and observing the chest from a far. No matter what Nellie thought, she was quite capable of handling herself and she was sure if it came down to it her fire would serve her well in a fight. She had seen the man arrive and the woman too. She didn't like the idea of them going down there together without her, as she was determined to be one of the ones to figure it out. She slipped from her hiding space and took a few moments to make it to the other two. With a smile, she approached them, just to hear the end of the man's words. "A couple of pairs of eyes will make spotting them easier. We could investigate together, though, I have heard it is quite cold down there." Not that she would be affected. Cold didn't really bother those who wielded fire.

Arthur watched another young woman approach. He didn't recognise either of them, but the second stranger made a valid point. "That's true," he agreed regarding spotting them, "well, I've been studying the chest a little from photos I've seen people post online. But a rubbing of the sigils would make for better luck at actually interpreting the language..." He shifted his backpack having the paper and equipment for that task already packed. "Either of you got anything to hold off those beasties if they do show up though?" Arthur could always burn, but who could say if either of these strangers knew a thing about the supernatural and he really didn't want to risk exposure if it could be helped.

Nadia startled as two different people spoke up. "Jesus." She looked at the man and woman in front of her. Both of them looked far more prepared than she felt. And karkinoids? "Those are the giant lobsters, right?" She was way out of her element, here, but she didn't want to show it. Taking both of them in, she realized that the man, like several people that she met in White Crest, was a lot harder for her to understand than the woman. Both of them seemed like they knew what they were doing, though. "I'm. Yeah, I'm down to go. Together. I just-- I came here to see it up close, and I didn't realize. Yeah." She knew she should have brought the fucking gun that the ghost had kept on it. "I've got nothing. Sorry. I really just came to observe.” She hoped she didn’t sound too idiotic.

Bea nodded to the other woman, "Try to stay clear of them. They can do some nasty damage I've heard." She hadn't seen this many amass at one time, but she had lived in White Crest long enough that she knew enough about them. She had her magic, but she wasn't willing to just simply go in blazing, literally. It was easier to fight alone or with her sister at her side. Then she didn't have to hide what she was capable of. "I have a bat in my car but that's about it and that won't do too much against a shell like theirs. Do you have anything?"

The way the initial woman jumped made Arthur’s eyes narrow fractionally, both out of surprise that she might startle so easily and curiosity as to why she’d chosen, of all places, this bit of beach to come exploring on. Hardly the most welcoming of terrain. “Yeah, that’s their name. But I guess giant lobster works too.” He looked to the second lady, she struck him as somewhat better prepared for the task at hand. Picking up the old albeit well-conditioned axe that had up until now rested at his side in the sand lifting it slightly into view. “Used to crack shells with this back in the day. Just got to catch them in the right spot... Otherwise, I picked up some, uh, dust bombs from one of the shops on Amity Road. Need to be careful with them though or... well,” he made a face the implications behind that statement obvious. But either way he was going down on that beach one way or another. “Only got so many of them though... So need to make the throws count." He paused before adding, "I'm Arthur by the way."

"Dust bombs," Nadia repeated. "And the axe. I, uh, think you're the most prepared." She took in the scene in front of them, watching the karkinoids surround the chest move about. There were far more of them than she'd expected. And they were huge. Obviously. People hadn’t been joking when they claimed these bad boys could destroy a car. And then there was the chest itself, which was just… off. At least the ever present line of treasure hunters were gone. Save, of course, the three of them. God, she was so stupid. Why didn't she think things through before jumping in head first? What made her think trying to do this alone was a good idea? She was damn lucky that she'd run into these two. She turned back to face them. "Nice to meet you, Arthur. I'm Nadia."

Eyeing the axe, Bea decided that while she would work with Arthur, she'd also have to keep an eye on him. 'Used to crack shells', she wasn't sure she believed that. Still, he seemed to be good to have on her side during this, he was prepared and seemed capable enough. "Alright, Arthur, Nadia. I'm Beatrice." She eyed the beach, she didn't like how many of those things were down there. "How do you feel about us drawing them somewhere else before we go down there? Might give us some time to look over the chest without them trying to chop off our arms."

“Yeah well, I, like everyone else here want to look at that chest” Arthur said as though it was simple logistics. Which, in a way it was, the cold wouldn’t bother him anyway so he was already one up in that regard. He considered their options, before he unhooked the pouch at his belt containing the bombs and held it out for Nadia to take. She seemed more in need if things went down. “Just grab and throw, they’ll explode on impact. Though I’d get the bat as well." What he didn't mention was the fact the dust would cause the lobsters to grow out of their shells making them far more vulnerable. "Booze would also be useful, could set them on fire... Or make a firewall. Lobsters don't usually stand heat too well." He nodded in agreement luring them away made sense, "yeah, that could work. Maybe we could find a way to block them in somewhere?"

"I have a bottle of really shitty whiskey in my truck,” Nadia said as she took the pouch of bombs. “Which, I have never drank while driving, I should probably add.” She shivered a bit and pulled her jacket closer around her. It was so cold. But, you know, frozen beach. Chest that freezes people's insides. Maine in winter. "But, yeah, I don't know about you guys, but I'd rather not be lobster chow just to look at a chest. I don't even eat lobster; I sure as hell don't want them to eat me." She looked around, trying to figure out the best way to get the karkinoids away from the chest. "How fast do you guys run, anyway? Like, across ice? And sand?”

Bea stood in her red peacoat rather unbothered by the cold. Her hands were tucked in the pockets, but if she were to take them out they were only covered by thins gloves, truly just to keep up appearances. "Give me a few minutes and I'll get the bat. I have matches too," She added, though she didn't need them. One of her performers had left a little book of them in the car and she had put them away just in case. "Probably good practice not to drink shitty whiskey and drive," Bea teased with a grin. She shrugged,"I haven't tested how fast I can run on ice. I'm decent enough at running when my life depends on it though. Not that I've had much practice at that either."

“Really shitty whiskey works in a pinch” Arthur smiled a little though it didn't pass his attention how Nadia seemed to shiver against the cold. The ice and snow had melted under his knees where he’d been knelt, and he pushed up to his feet. “Lobsters only eat dead things, so that shouldn’t be an issue.” He surveyed some of the murky shapes below, “their eyes are also on the end of their antennae, so cut those off and you’ll also do everyone a favour.” His mouth twisted into a grim smile at Nadia's question, “can’t say I've had cause to try. But I doubt it’ll come to that...” He brushed off his knees and straightened his winter field jacket out peering back to the road now “I saw a sign for a cave a little further up on my drive down here... Maybe we can get them there and block them in?”

"Cave sounds good to me. Better than anything I could come up with," Nadia said. She didn't know much about lobsters other that, like most living creatures, they couldn't survive in abnormally high temperatures. She wondered... "I'll bring the whiskey while you get the bat and matches, and then we can come up with a good way to get them in the cave." Then she turned to Arthur. "These bombs. How flammable are they? Because I was thinking: we get them in the cave, chuck a few of these bad boys in there and set them off, and then throw a Molotov in. If it catches the dust on fire, that'd be a pretty effective way to say bye bye, lobsters." Then, she paused. She never really worked with other people, never really contributed her own ideas. "But, like, we don't have to do that. It might not even work."

Bea watched as Arthur stood and noted the melted ice. Interesting. She knew that normal human temperatures could affect ice, or rather she assumed they could, but that seemed pretty extreme. She tilted her head as she attempted to figure out if he was just a hot human or if there was something more going on. "Sounds good to me," Bea replied. She grinned at Nadia's idea, she was smart. "I think it's a good plan. We should try it if they're even a little flammable. Now, I'll be back in a flash. The car's not too far away," She said as she made her way away from them. She had parked a bit far, but it was nothing more than a few minute's walk.

“Uuuh, don’t know, but probably a fair bit. I haven’t tried lighting them up but either way they’ll definitely prove a nuisance of themselves for the lobsters regardless.” But Arthur wouldn’t lie in the fact he thought it was a clever notion that Nadia had come up with. “Sounds smart and definitely worth a try I’d say.” With something coming together he headed back towards the road and waited for the others once they were all back with the necessary items he looked around the group. “All set?”

Nadia jogged up to Arthur and Beatrice, opening the bottle of whiskey and stuffing in a shredded piece of a blanket from the back of her truck. She'd been out and about enough, running around like a dumbass, to be able to navigate walking on the rough terrain fairly easy. She held up the freshly made Molotov cocktail with a grin. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be. This is either going to work really well or not at all."

With her softball bat slung over her shoulder and a book of matches in her hand, Bea grinned at the group assembled. "I think we're as ready as we can be. And if it turns out that we missed a step, we can always test how fast we can run on ice." She started down slowly, looking over her shoulder to grin at them again, "come on. Let's go before the Karkinoids start to notice us up here."

Arthur watched as Nadia made the makeshift molotov and once Bea had the bat he figured they had everything they needed to get on with this. Shifting his grip on the axe he huffed a quiet laugh under his breath, "hopefully not." With that said, he began to skirt his way down the frozen sand dune mindful of his step so as not to slip and crash. The cold mist thickened as they headed down, and Arthur could see the looming shadows of the karkinoids. Fuck, there are so many of them. He glanced back, hoping the others were ready to lure these things to the cave.

Nadia carefully followed after Arthur, trying to match his footwork; he seemed a lot more sure of this than she did. She glanced back at Bea, letting the other woman's grin and apparent confidence make her feel more at ease. This wasn't going to be that hard. All they had to do was lure these fuckers into a cave and blow them up. No big deal. They weren't really that big, anyway. They had this. "So, seeing as how none of us are dead," At lease, I assume, she thought, "I guess we're just gonna have to piss them off and make a run for it, huh?"

Arthur was mostly quiet as they headed down to the beach, he didn't have a lot to say with his attention mostly being on the karkinoids. "I think so," he agreed in a quiet voice before indicating further across the beach to a gap between two rocks that as far as he knew led to the cave "lets get round to the other side first... We'll go from there."

Bea walked with confidence rather sure that if she kept her steps steady it would work out for her in the end. She tried to keep her steps quiet as they snuck around the other side, no need to get the monsters interested in her before she needed them. Finally when the three of them reached the section that Arthur indicated, she looked back over to him. "What's the plan now?"

Arthur thought on what the best option for luring these things away would be. It was only thud of a nearby fish falling from the sky that he had an idea. He watched its silvery glimmer as it flipped and flopped on the beach before grinning. "Lobster chow. They eat dead things right?" He pointed to some of the fish that had fallen figuring that it was their best bet instead of using themselves as bait. "Let's use that to lure them. Make a pile... Then chop it up to get them interested." Walking over he grabbed a couple of oversized mackerel dragging them towards the cave.

Nadia shrugged. "Sounds good to me," she said, following after Arthur to go pick up fish. She tucked the molotov under her arm and started grabbing fish and following after Arthur. Jesus, the smell. She wrinkled up her nose. "If I ever eat fish again," she muttered, "it'll be too soon." Once they'd seemed to get a decent pile together, she looked over at Arthur and Beatrice. "Now, I guess we just have to get them in here, huh?"

Bea wished that this plan was easier to do. She wasn't a patient woman and so much set up was getting on her nerves. She paced after the pile was made, wishing for action. The sooner they got this done the quicker she could get her hands on that chest. "Let's get them here fast so we can get to that chest before someone else does. During the afternoon people start to show up to look at it and I don't think we need an audience."

Arthur glanced at the pile and the others, it hadn't even been his idea to lure the Karkinoids away in the first place. "well let's get their attention then." He walked over to the edge of the cave, staying near to one of the ledges they could climb up onto once the Karkinoids got close enough out of pincer reach. "Here goes nothing..." grabbing a rock he lobbed it at a nearby lobster, it did the trick, the dark silhouette making an angry clicking noise as it turned in search of its assailant. The noise alerted a few others that began to also turn in their direction. Grabbing another rock he did the same a couple of times more "OI!" he hollered, "come on then you ugly buggers!"

"Oh, shit, we're doing this," Nadia said as the karkinoids turned in their direction and started charging. And they were fast. Maybe it was the fact that Beatrice's apparent impatience was contagious, maybe it was the fact that this was exciting and dangerous, but Nadia felt adrenaline course through her as they took off running over the icy, rocky beach towards the cave. She stopped paying attention to where she put her feet and was more worried about escaping the raging lobsters. That was probably her mistake. She felt her boot catch on a piece of ice, and, as she went down and dropped the molotov, she remembered her promise to Regan to be careful. A spike of pain shot through her chest for a moment, long enough for one of the giant bastards to catch up to her. Nadia turned her body away from it, but not before one of it's claws managed to clip her right side. Yelping, she reached in her pocket, pulled out one of the bombs Arthur gave her, and scrambled to stand, holding her side as she went. She started running again, much slower, trying not to look behind her. She was so, so fucked.

Arthur was all set for the moment the Karkinoids turned and surged down the beach towards them and was several steps ahead of the others and about to make a good leap up for the ledge when he heard a pained noise behind him. His steps faltered as he saw Nadia stumble crimson staining her side. "Fuckssake..." he grunted under his breath debating if it was just worth jumping for it and... No, he couldn't do that. "For fucks sake," he turned heel yelling "toss it!" Hoping Nadia would be able to throw it at the karkinoids. The growth dust in the bombs would force them out of their armoured shells as he neared hefting his axe in a cleaving strike to clear out those posing the most danger to her.

Nadia lobbed the bomb behind her and heard a pop as it hit. She didn't stop, though, until she came to the ledge. Her side was killing her. She refused to look at it but kept her hand firmly pressed against it and... there wasn't anything good about this. Her chest was still hurting a bit, too, and all she could think about was the fact that she promised she would be careful and instead she'd been so stupid and now she was hurt. Badly. She wasn't going to be able to climb unassisted, and she wouldn't ask that of the other two. She wasn't going to be dead weight. "Get up," she told them. "I'll throw a few of the bombs; just get up and I'll follow behind."

Arthur swung the axe in an arc, the edge of the blade cleaving clean into what once was the head of a karkinoid. Without their shells they looked like eerie white-meated aliens from the ocean depths. Using his boot to kick it off he ducked a couple of pincers almost getting clipped a couple of times himself but the dust was doing the trick. Their shells splintering as they outgrew them. After a couple of Karkinoids had sacrificed their guts in an attempt to attack the others following up the charge seemed to sense that advancing wouldn't end well. Their pincers clicked menacingly, see-sawing back and forth on the spot as though debating whether to attack or not. Though the lure of easier fishy prey nearby turned them towards the depths of the cave. For now at least. Turning to Nadia who clearly wouldn't make the climb alone he huffed shaking his head, "don't be ridiculous, I'll boost you up. You won't get up there alone, and don't you dare think about arguing."

"I'm not gonna make it up," Nadia said, rather matter-of-factly. She was surprisingly calm, all things considered. If she was anything, it was slightly annoyed that she'd barely had her body back for a month, and she'd already managed to get herself killed. In six years, the criminal ghost who got itself shot hadn't managed to do that. But here she was, done in by a fucking giant lobster. Fuck seafood. Her vision was fuzzy around the edges. "But, shit, alright. Fuck, this is gonna hurt."

Arthur: "You will," Arthur assured matter of factly, "Beatrice you go up, pull Nadia up once I give her a boost. Yeah?" They didn't have long before the blood would attract attention and hanging around wasn't going to do any of them a world of good. "Come on," he encouraged moving to brace his back against the wall and interlocking his fingers so that he could boost Nadia up to the ledge above.

Bea hadn't thought that this whole adventure would take this turn. Someone getting hurt by one of those monsters wasn't exactly in the plan and she wasn't sure if she should have gotten involved in this little group. It might have ended up being less complicated one her own. Nevertheless, she climbed up and put her hand out to Nadia as Arthur lifted her. "You're gonna be fine, Nadia. You're made of some tough stuff," She told the girl, using the voice she used with her own sisters.

Nadia groaned as she took Beatrice's hand and let Arthur help her up. Jesus Christ, that hurt like a bitch. She leaned back against the rocks, holding her side together with one hand. "One the bright side," she said as Arthur pulled himself up and she looked down to see the karkinoids all gathered in one place, "they should be pretty fucking easy to kill, now. I...shit. I dropped the molotov. Shit." She let out a breath and closed her eyes. Just for a moment. She just needed a moment.

Arthur hefted himself up onto the ledge, thank god for the fact Karkinoids couldn't climb. Landing on his knees he grimaced, but he could at least take stock. "Shit," he muttered under his breath though the curse was two-fold. Mostly because he could now see the blood staining Nadia's clothes. They could worry about the karkinoids in a bit, someone dying was a far more pressing concern. Moving over he took a knee beside her, pulling his bag open to take out his scarf which he folded over on itself, it would work to stem the bleeding depending on how severe it was. Though they wouldn't be able to tell that until they got a look skin level. "Let's have a look at that... I'll need to open your jacket, okay?"

Nadia moved her hand a bit and opened her jacket. Not that it was particularly necessary. Her jacket was ruined, along with the sweater and tank top she was wearing under it. Three layers of clothes. Ruined. She didn't even try to look at what was going on down there. She closed her eyes again and murmured, "Ouch."

Arthur grimaced at the sight, it was bad. Very very bad. And if it wasn't seen to then... Well, he didn't have high hopes for the outcome. He'd seen enough wounds like this across his lifetimes to know what outcome this kind of injury meant. There wasn't enough time to call an ambulance, she'd bleed out before then. "Gods be damned, just... hold still," he cursed shifting the material out of the way to expose the site fully. The wet glisten of bone and sinew certainly a complicating factor. There was one thing that would work... Though he admittedly didn't feel entirely comfortable letting strangers know any kind of truth to what he was. But if it was that or letting someone die... Shifting to block most of the injury from view with his body, he scrunched up his face and let himself sink back into distant memories until he felt a hot sting in his eyes. Several tears tracked hot down his cheeks, dripping into the gaping wound. More than enough to fix the damage. Pressing the scarf to the wound he maintained pressure in the guise of trying to do... something.

Bea could have done healing magic, but she had never been good at it and she wasn't even sure if she had the right parts on her. Arthur seemed to have it under control and if he couldn't fix her, Bea could always take Nadia back to her mother. She hoped it wouldn't come to that. Her mother would be so angry if it did. She sat with them, but her eyes kept shifting to the chest. They needed to go and get to it when it was free. "How's it looking?" She hoped he said it wasn't that bad... For Nadia's sake and for the sake of getting to the chest finally

When Arthur started helping Nadia, something felt... hot where the wound was. Almost burning, like Arizona asphalt in the summer. But it was nice, seeing as how she was so, so cold. Then it felt strange, like everything was pins and needles stitching itself up. It didn't hurt anymore, which was strange because all it really seemed like Arthur was doing was just applying pressure to stem the bleeding. It should still hurt like a bitch. She was pretty sure some bones had been fucked up, and she couldn't even remember what organs were in that part of body. Instead, the only thing she was really feeling was lightheaded from the blood loss. She sat up and moved Arthur's hand and scarf aside, looking to see that... there wasn't anything there. No wound, no scar. Just a bit of dried blood. She looked at Arthur and then back at the wound. "It's... It's fine. I was being a wuss. Let's-- We need to blow these fuckers up and get back to the chest." She stands on shaky feet.

Arthur knew it wouldn't take too long for the wound to heal, and as the scarf along with his hands were pushed aside to reveal little more than dried blood he felt an internal sense of satisfaction. One more life on the roster of those saved over the years. The fates would hate him, but they could get screwed. He shifted back, pressing his hands to his knees and getting back to his feet. A little tired of the roundabout way they were going about this he scanned the beach, spotting where the molotov lay discarded. "Why don't you two go ahead," he eventually said stepping back towards the ledge that led back down to the beach, "I'll figure something out and catch up." What he didn't say was that he was planning to grill these fuckers into oblivion. Just... Once these two were gone and couldn't act as eye witnesses.

Bea watched the two others with suspicion. Nadia had seemed very hurt before and now only after a moment of putting pressure on the wound, she was ready to stand again. Bea was no expert in healing, but that seemed very unlikely to be natural. She eyed Arthur again, not liking the idea of leaving the man alone, but they had wasted so much time already, she wasn't willing to fight it. "Come on, Nadia. Let's go," She said as she sent another glance towards Arthur. She carefully climbed back down, watching out for any more of those monsters and picked up the bat she had abandoned when they climbed up.

As she followed after Beatrice, carefully this time, Nadia kept rubbing her fingers against the undamaged skin on her side. It was still a little hot to the touch, but nothing was wrong. There wasn't even a scar. She didn't know what the hell Arthur had done, but she wasn't going to ask questions. For now. She looked at Beatrice. "So, sorry about that." She scratched at the back of her neck with the hand that wasn't covered in her own blood. "Hopefully Arthur can deal with the karkinoids while we get to the chest. He seems... capable."

Bea watched Nadia carefully, still not completely understanding what happened. How did she go from being unable to walk or climb to being able to do both in a matter of seconds? Either Nadia was supernatural or Arthur was. Her money was on Arthur, he hadn't even reacted when Nadia had been able to get up so easily. "He seems like he knows a little more than he's letting on," She mumbled back, but she was glad for the opportunity to get to the chest. Getting closer and closer, Bea let out a sigh. "Thank god, we're finally getting to this."

Nadia had to agree with Beatrice. Arthur certainly did know a lot more than he was letting on. He'd done something to heal her, and now she was fine. Well, a little woozy, honestly, but fine. "You're right, but..." she trailed off as they approached the chest. It was... strange. And it looked like an ordinary chest, albeit one from like an old pirate movie. She could understand why people were inclined to touch it. Hell, she was inclined to touch it. She looked at Beatrice. "We should, uh, probably wait for him?"

Once Arthur saw the others vanish over the ridge back in the direction of the chest he turned back to the issue at hand his expression grim; a combination of frustration at having to be responsible for all the heavy lifting and the fact it hardly seemed like either of them were capable of doing anything more than getting hurt or standing by. Thankfully the growth dust bombs that had been tossed earlier had done the trick, and now the Karkinoids were simply fleshy clawed beasts with their shells discarded nearby while they feasted. Bracing himself, he carefully dropped back down the way they had come circling back in the direction of the molotov. The click-click-click of the karkinoid's claws was disconcerting, but Arthur steadied himself. He'd been in worse situations. Where he typically tempered the flames he let the frustration fuel them, feeling the familiar warmth engulf him, the flame-avian-like silhouette licking higher and higher until he stood quite literally burning on the spot. A couple of the karkinoids, sensing a thermal irregularity had begun to turn but it would hardly do a thing to save them as he raised his hands and unleashed a twin streams of flames upon them. The karkinoids screamed and clicked and thrashed trying to advance through the molten heat but Arthur pushed, until the last one stopped moving. Dead. All dead. He collapsed to his knees in the sand panting for air, the flames naturally dying as he knelt there engulfed in the smell of burnt flesh that was almost enough to make him wretch. He stayed like that for a few moments, the world spinning, before he slowly stumbled to his feet in the direction of the molotov. A lighter was enough to get the rag burning, and using one of the bombs he had left over he tossed it onto the pile followed by the molotov. The explosion did the trick, boulders crashed down, concealing the burnt pile of karkinoids and evidence of what he'd done.

Wiping his damp brow with a trembling hand he staggered back down the beach feeling light-headed, sick and as if his legs might go from under him at any moment. He slowly made his way over, glancing at the others who seemed intact and okay but said nothing more. Attention drawn by the chest. Let's see what's so special about this fucker then. Dropping to a knee he cautiously bent close but didn't touch the chest for the time being, they'd had longer to look at it than him. Ancient, and hardly about to open. "Looks chalcolithic... Maybe bronze or iron age... What do you think about this writing?" he asked, blunt and to the point. It wasn't Norse and it wasn't Latin, though he had a suspicion from his investigations up to this point.

Bea regretted spending the time she had hiding that morning. She could have easily just gone to the chest herself and not dealt with the crap that they had. At least she hadn't needed to reveal anything magical about herself. She squatted down next to the chest, looking over the chest. "Well, it's not Latin or Turkish. I don't think it's Arabic either." She tilted her head as she looked it over for a moment longer,"The chest doesn't even have hinges. How is anyone meant to open it if it doesn't have hinges?"

"Not Norse either, runes are too angular" which left them with the issue of what it might be. Arthur’s eyes drifted over the runes on the chest, "the answer probably lies in there..." he gestured at it. Definitely magic. Most definitely magic. Shifting his backpack off his shoulder he took his notebook and a piece of charcoal. Holding it with one hand he quickly rubbed the charcoal over until he had a couple of copies of the text. "Weird..." he tucked one of the copies away, getting up to his feet and offering the other for either of them to take.

Nadia looked over the copy Arthur held out before shaking her head. "It's not any sort of language I recognize." Frustrated, she sighed. Ancient languages weren't her thing at all. "It almost looks, and I feel overtly religious for saying, but demonic? I mean, it's sort of similar to...have you ever heard of that weird language John Dee came up with? He was an advisor to Elizabeth I, and was strange and an occultist, but he wrote in his journals in something he called Enochian. This obviously isn't that, but... I don't know. It reminds me of what I've seen of it in textbooks, but weirder." She really wanted to touch the chest. Maybe there was a seam or-- her chest started hurting like it had when she tripped. Nadia pulled her hand away from the chest.

Arthur gave Nadia a long look of contemplation as she made a suggestion that had been lingering on his mind. "Hardly over dramatic," he commented thoughtfully looking back to the scripture. He'd been researching an old possession case from the 1800s, personal attachments to that one and this had partly been something he'd been concerned about. "It's a start," maybe he'd be able to dig up some of the journals with his access back home. "Guess the question now is happen to know any demons that might just happen to be lurking around?" it was a slightly sarcastic quip, but it didn't hurt to ask, did it?

Bea faced turned sour at the talk of demons. She freaking hated demons and she hated that she knew who to talk to for any type of lead. "I don't know anything about demons, but I know someone who might." Why did Nell always have to be her go to call with magical things. She didn't even know if her sister knew anything about demons, but the girl loved to dive into the weird parts of magic and this was something Bea would consider weird

Nadia wasn't surprised by anything at this point. Yeah, okay, so she'd been the one to come up with it, but she hadn't actually expected demon language to be legitimate. She thought about that woman online. Her face scrunched up as Beatrice's turned sour. "Do you... know someone claiming to be a demon? I mean. Not that it matters. I'm willing to accept it, at this point. But, like, wow." She looked closer at the writing. This was something that... No, best not to think about that. She ghosted her fingers along the text, as if that might help her decipher something.

Arthur looked between the two women wondering what was going on in their heads. Though Bea's comment drew his attention however he addressed Nadia initially. "Me? No..." he looked towards Bea then, "but I'd be curious to chat to whoever you think might have a lead. Otherwise next stop is going to be the Archives."

Bea shook her head, "she could be a bust, maybe the Archives is the way to go." She didn't need to drag Nell into this, though she was sure at some point the younger woman was going to get pulled into whatever mess this was, if she wasn't already.

"I've heard of the Archive being pretty reliable with the weird shit," Nadia said. She looked back to the chest. A part of her didn't want to leave without trying her hand at opening it. However, a much bigger part knew how fucking stupid that would be. "Maybe, if we figure this out," she murmured, more to herself than anything, "we can help the people who were affected by this shit. So, the real question is, do we all want to go to the Archive, or does just one of us need to take a copy to get it figured out? If we don't all go, we can easily just chat online or something."

Arthur didn't see any point in trying to open a chest with no hinges or without the right key. Especially if it was potentially demonic. The idea of being able to help the others that had been affected caused him to nod in agreement. "Yeah... Hopefully," he shifted back to standing shouldering his backpack. "I'll scan this in and forward it across to you both if you want? Give you both a copy..." as for who went he adjusted his bag. "Well, I'm probably going to go down and get to work as soon as. Welcome to come along or I'll update you with anything I find - if there even is anything?"

Bea nodded towards Arthur and Nadia. "Send it to me, I'll talk to my person if we find nothing." She debated whether or not she wanted to spend more time with these people, but she knew that being involved in the research would be fulfilling for her. And she would hate if Arthur got to crack it on his own. She was good at research and she knew she could help with this without blowing up her secret. "I'll come with you."

The Archives proved surprisingly beneficial, especially when combined with some of the journals Arthur had brought down from the University's mythology cross history department. Not failing to mention several trips to the nearby coffee shop that kept him lightly tapping his finger near silently on the table while he read. But together they had made rather good progress. Working on different aspects to decipher the cryptic language. Of course, there was no paint-by-numbers guide to these sorts of things but having other people to bounce ideas off of was a welcome relief. "How's that final translation coming along?" he asked looking over to the others situated on the other side of the table they had commandeered for their work.

Nadia's foot bounced a bit as she sorted through five different books and looked over at her translation. She'd sort of taken over her corner of the table rather effectively to try and figure out what the hell was being said. She also felt slightly buzzed, though, and in her element. She wasn't the greatest language person, but she knew how to research. This was the kind of thing that she'd thrived off of in college. It was different to be doing it with other people, but a good kind of different. "The last part is... yeah. I don't quite get part of it, but it's something about 'horrors?' 'The horrors?' A way or something to end them."

Bea researched things on her own often. With a coven so tightlipped about certain types of magic, she had to be willing to spend hours or day in a library searching. She hummed as she looked over her own work,"I don't get your section, Nadia, so I can't really help there." Nadia, Bea thought, got stuck with one of the harder sections. She had looked it over and had trouble even making sense of any of it. "I have needing someone pure of heart over here, though."

Much as the others were, Arthur was prone to working alone on such things. But it was a nice change to have others to work and sound ideas off of. It was slow, but they were making progress. Sipping his coffee he shuffled through his notes, the whole concept of this being some sort of demonic language seemed to be yielding surprisingly beneficial results. "Well, that word seems to refer to some sort of flood" he said pointing to the one Nadia was struggling with having been looking up alternative potential words. "And I've found something here about powers- capable of power? Possessing power? But there's an emphasis on the first letter. P-ower." He jotted down the ideas "why don't we apply some logic... If Bea's section comes before what Nadia translated. Then surely that's who can or what's needed open it... pure of heart and powerful. You wouldn't tell someone what's inside you'd tell them how to open it and then what's inside it, surely?" he pointed to the relevant text trying to make it more rational. "So maybe this is some sort of explanation of what might be inside? A flood or something to stop the Horrors?"

Nadia leaned back and rubbed her eyes. Pure of heart, as Beatrice said, did not apply to her. Not when she was living off of a criminal's stolen cash and had visions of blood on her hands. "Alright, pure of hear. Power. Ending horrors. I, for one, am neither pure of heart nor powerful, so I think this is the time where we hand the torch to someone else. Blast the hell out of the fact that we translated the chest online and hope we find the right people to fix this."

Arthur hardly qualified himself for the criteria this translation supposedly demanded, which was a bit of a shame. Though, the thought of having been able to crack this (granted it had taken almost half a week and the help of other people) puzzle was satisfaction in itself. "I don't think we're going to get anything else from it... So yeah, that's probably the best course of action." He shifted to pull his laptop over, pulling up the forum and logging in.

#potw #lobster faustus #chatzy #p: nadia #p: bea

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killervibe · 6 years

Text

The Snow Project

Notes: So I’m late for Day 3- Time Travelling, but the good news is that this means you’re getting two fics from me today!!! Here’s yesterday’s theme! I really liked this idea...Enjoy! Also, I’m having WAY too much fun with the abundance of fic. I wish EVERY week was Killervibe week!!!

@killervibedaily

The Snow Project

Cisco was in the middle of sketching a prototype for the Quantum Electric Multiplier Gun when Barry sped into the Cortex.

“Hey,” Barry said, “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

Cisco looked at his garbage drawing and gladly pushed it away. “Yeah, What’s up?”

“Joe just told me about a really puzzling meta case at CCPD.”

Cisco looked intrigued. “Why is it so puzzling?”

Barry’s face lit up. “So this pedestrian, Nolan Fisher, about 50 years old, gets into a car accident, right? He was walking across the street with his eyes glued to his phone so he didn’t realize he was walking into ongoing traffic.”

“Okay…”

“Get this,” Barry said, getting all excited. “He loses an arm!”

Cisco’s mouth dropped in horror, “That’s terrible!”

“No, it isn’t!” Barry objected, “Because he gets in the ambulance and the paramedics realize they can just,” Barry made a funny gesture with his hands, “Pop! Attach his arm back where it was just like that! No blood no nothing! Just like that he gained complete motion of his arm!”

“What?” Cisco screeched. “You mean like a mannequin?” Cisco paused. “Mr. Mannequin, that’s a good one.”

“Uh huh,” Barry nodded, “And it gets crazier. This guy claims he had this from birth. And not just that, his whole family can do it. His mother, father, maternal cousin…”

Cisco frowned, “But how is that possible? Metas only started appearing due to the particle accelerator or Devoe’s bus metas.”

“And the similarity in both were the dark matter,” Barry agreed. “But this guy’s medical tests show none.”

“There are more metas out there,” Cisco said. It’s not a question. It would’ve been, two years ago, but not anymore. Not since Cisco vibed with Caitlin her repressed memory where she had turned into Killer Frost as a kid. Caitlin asked him not to tell anyone, so he hadn’t. He kept quiet, but now he wondered if maybe he should be speaking up.

Barry threw his hands in the air, “Maybe there were other types of metas this whole time!” He looked around the room, realizing it was quieter than usual. Ralph was away in Wisconsin but... “Wait, where’s Caitlin?”

Cisco sighed, “She’s sick. She caught a cold so she’s staying home. Ha! That’s ironic.”

“Okay,” Barry said slowly, and you could tell he was calculating something in his mind. “Okay, that’s good actually.”

Cisco scrunched up his face in confusion. “You want Caitlin to be sick? That’s not being a good friend…”

“No, there’s a reason.”

Barry sat down next to Cisco and explained to him that apparently there was a doctor who researched into the possibility of superpowered humans about seventeen years ago with several examples. It was pretty much ignored by academia and dismissed as a joke paper, buried away. It was obvious however, based off descriptions of abilities, that one of them was a relative of Nolan Fisher. The problem? The contact information on the file was an old phone number and home address for the doctor, which was great. Except for the fact the research was published posthumously after the doctor’s long battle with multiple sclerosis.

“Who was the doctor?” Cisco asked.

Barry looked down at the brown folder. He opened it, then silently slid the papers across the table to Cisco.

Mr. Ethan Snow.

Cisco’s eyes widened. “Caitlin’s dad?”

“Yeah. Does Caitlin ever talk about him?”

“No,” Cisco admitted, “I know his death hit her hard, it inspired her to become a doctor, but it was also the driving force that put a wedge in the relationship Caitlin had with her mom.”

Barry worried his bottom lip into his mouth, giving Cisco a look.

Cisco knew where this was going.

“You want to go back in time and meet him, don’t you?”

Barry at least had the audacity to look sheepish. “Before you freak out, I asked Jay Garrick. If we meet him several months before he dies, Jay said us being there shouldn’t have much impact if we’re careful.”

Cisco mulled it over. He was still stunned. Caitlin’s dad. That was really interesting. It seemed too coincidental, for this to not have anything to do with Killer Frost. The more he thought about it, the more bothered he got. If Caitlin’s father knew about her, he should’ve told her. Maybe it could’ve helped, if Caitlin was prepared…

“I’m in,” Cisco said. “But we’re not telling Cait.”

Barry nodded, “I know you don’t want to keep secrets from her, but I think that’s the wisest choice.”

Cisco started to get excited. He heard all of Barry’s adventures from time travelling and after the Flashpoint fiasco. Unless he quit Team Flash and joined the Legends, he always thought it was something he’d never get to experience.

Cisco took a deep breath. “When do we leave?”

~.~

It’s 2004, and the first thing Cisco does is pull a Diggle and puke into a public garbage can.

“I’m sorry man,” Barry said apologetically as Cisco gagged.

It took a minute for Cisco’s stomach to settle. “I’m usually good with your speed travels but we were going really fast.”

Barry found a map somehow and located Caitlin’s old home address. They were using the face morphing tech made for H.R. so to not alter anything should they run into Caitlin.

Hopefully they won’t. It’s the middle of the day and she should be in middle school.

Cisco flexed his fingers and opened a breach. They ended up right in front of Caitlin’s house.

To use the word house was being modest. It was a mansion.

They both took a minute to soak it in.

Cisco whistled softly, “Damn, I knew Caitlin’s family had money but this house is…”

“Bitchin?” Barry joked, nudging him forward, “Come on, let’s go.”

They ring the doorbell and a middle aged nurse opens the door. Barry told her they’re visitors for Dr. Snow and the nurse beamed delightedly.

“It’s been a long time since he’s gotten any visitors from young people like you. Sickness scares people away, you know. It’s a shame, really. How about I go for my lunch and leave you with him for an hour? He’s having a good day. If you need anything, you can ask Meyrielle, the cleaning lady. She’s in the basement. Mr. Snow is in the living room.”

She stopped after she grabbed her purse.

“Who did you say you were, again?”

“We used to work with him when we were residents,” Cisco made up on the spot.

“Oh, that’s nice!” The nurse gave them another sunny smile and left.

Barry and Cisco shared a look. That was ridiculously easy.

They walked down the luxurious hallways with mahogany wooden floors and walls lined with what looked like expensive original paintings.

“Caitlin’s mom has an interesting taste of interior design,” Cisco mumbled as they made their way to the living room.

Barry knocked on the side of the door and peered in.

There was Dr. Snow, the Mister Dr. Snow, on the couch watching television.

Cisco marvelled. Caitlin looked a lot like him. He was very thin in places people only were when they were chronically sick, and he hunched over himself in an awkward angle. But he still had a full head thick of Caitlin’s brown hair. They had the same complexion, and a very similar face shape as well. A wheelchair was next to him and there were many pills in a pouch on the adjacent coffee table. Cisco was rather surprised, he was bracing for him to appear a lot worse.

“Hello, Dr. Snow? I’m Barry Allen and this is Cisco Ramon. We came to ask you some questions about something sensitive regarding your research and we were wondering if you had the moment to talk with us about it.”

Dr. Snow perked up immediately. “Oh, I’d love to discuss medicine with you. I miss practicing.”

Barry glanced at Cisco who nodded. They agreed to just go ahead and tell him everything. The man only had two months left to live and it was unlikely he would deny their story if Barry and Cisco could show him their powers to prove it.

“Bear with us,” Cisco warned, “This is going to sound crazy.”

Barry retold the entire tale. The time travelling, him being struck by lightning due to the particle accelerator explosion, his job at CCPD, including the particle accelerator explosion and being best friends with Caitlin. Finally, Barry asked about the Fisher case and what Dr. Snow thought about genetically hereditary powers.

Dr. Snow listened carefully throughout and explained his theory of mutant genes being a genetic possibility for having powers from birth.

“You mean like the X-Men?”

Dr. Snow nodded. “Maybe Stan Lee’s comics aren’t so fantastical after all. I believe although rare, there might have been...Metahumans as you say...Since the beginning of time.”

Barry was leaning forward absorbing every word that came out of Dr. Snow’s mouth, reminding Cisco a lot of how he used to act around evil Wells.

“How on Earth did you get so involved with this?” Barry wondered outloud.

Something twisted in Cisco’s gut. No matter how awesome Caitlin’s dad seemed, he was still hiding this from his daughter. How could he say all of this to two people he just met but not Caitlin, who should know?

“Because of Caitlin!” Cisco blurted out, and Barry turned to Cisco, wide-eyed.

Dr. Snow was so shocked he began to cough and he shouted out in pain.

“I know that you know about Caitlin’s secret,” Cisco confided. “I understand you want to protect your daughter, but keeping her in the dark about this isn’t a good idea—”

“That’s enough, Cisco,” Barry cut him off, immediately apologizing to Dr. Snow, and tending to his side.

“I’m fine boys,” Dr. Snow waved off, but Barry asked Cisco to get him some water from the kitchen anyways.

“Please, let’s keep this secret between us,” he requested, his voice a little horse, as Cisco left the room.

Cisco was glad for the excuse to leave. Being here felt wrong. He was sorry he came. Cisco had to do something. He could feel it in his bones, there’s no way that he’s leaving 2004 without altering the timeline in some way. He realized these were a dying man’s last wishes to respect, but it also went completely against everything he stood for when it came to Caitlin: Doing what was best for her.

Cisco had his hand on the fridge handle when footsteps went thundering down the stairs.

Cisco froze.

A young girl shy of fifteen made her way through the house. She wore blue jean shorts and a yellow spaghetti tank. Her hair was in a ponytail and she looked downright frazzled.

It was Caitlin. Oh god. It was fourteen year old Caitlin. Cisco couldn’t breathe.

“Daddy?” She called, rushing past Cisco so fast she didn’t even notice a stranger was in her kitchen.

“Daddy are you okay, what’s the matter?”

Cisco could hear Dr. Snow reassuring her from the living room that he was alright but it was clear she wasn’t taking no for an answer.

It went quiet for a while, undoubtedly her father and Barry diverting questions about who Barry was and what he was doing.

“I’m getting you water,” she informed, and marched into the kitchen.

Cisco knew he was wearing a different face but he still felt utterly exposed.

“Why are there two strangers in my house?” Young Caitlin snapped.

“I’m also visiting,” Cisco told her. She opened a cupboard for a glass. Cisco opened the fridge and handed her a water bottle, trying not to stare at her like a creep.

He glanced at the time on their fancy electrical stove. “Shouldn’t you be at school?”

Caitlin’s face was very matter of fact as she poured the water from the bottle into the glass. She added some vitamin tablets and said, “I can stay home sometimes when Dad is having a good day. We don’t know how many of those he’ll have left.”

“You don’t seem to be the type to miss school,” he couldn’t help but say. Caitlin, his Caitlin, who managed two doctorates and a PhD in what…? Five years? She must’ve skipped some grades in high school. Cisco skipped two. That rigorous work ethic made even taking an early dismissal for a dentist appointment in eighth grade sound impossible.

Caitlin shrugged, “I don’t mind not going as long as I get the homework.”

Ah yes, there she is.

Caitlin continued, “Besides, there’s this girl, Lexi, she torments me at school for who knows why. Why would I want to spend my days there when I can be with him, right?”

No wonder Caitlin didn’t talk much about her life before college. This all just seemed so sad.

Cisco rested his chin on the palm of his hand and leaned his elbow against the marble counter, fascinated by this version of his best friend.

“You seem like a smart girl. What do you want to be when you grow up?”

Caitlin lit up, “A zoologist!”

Cisco snorted. The glare Caitlin shot him was a fetus compared to some of the ones he receives at Star Labs now.

“What about a doctor?” Cisco asked.

“Eh,” She sounded disinterested, “we’ve got enough Dr. Snows around here. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to give this to Dad.”

Cisco watched Caitlin go.

Barry walked into the kitchen as Caitlin walked out. He swiveled around her awkwardly in the doorway looking down at her and then up at Cisco repeatedly mouthing out Cait! and So Freaky! accompanied with many weirded out facial expressions.

“I got what I needed,” Barry said out loud, pulling out a high stool from the kitchen island to sit on.

“That’s great,” Cisco told him, sounding a little flat.

“I’m really confused,” Barry admitted, “How does Dr. Snow know anything about KF?”

Cisco took a deep breath. “I vibed it with her the day we defeated DeVoe. It turns out...Caitlin’s first encounter with KF in fact happened four years ago, as in 2000. Not 2017,” he whispered. “She’s been repressing the memory.”

Barry’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head, “What the hell?”

“He knows Barry, he knew this entire time and just let her go on by herself.” Cisco was so anguished. Barry patted his shoulder sympathetically.

“It sounds like he’s trying to do the right thing. He really doesn’t want her to be burdened with this fear. Can’t you imagine how scary that would be for a teenager?”

Cisco knew to some extent that Barry was right. Still, it didn’t sit well with him. It would be so easy to fix it all right there and then. If Killer Frost is triggered psychologically, wouldn’t being mentally prepared for her arrival actually work to keep her at bay?

“Can’t we do something?”

Barry sighed. He got up quickly, looked left and right and then flashed Cisco out the house.

Barry started scolding Cisco in front of the Snow’s peonies.

“You know the answer to that already. We should be going. Now.”

“Please, Barry,” Cisco pleaded, “She’s had so much pain in her life. What if we could change that?”

“You’re not getting it,” Barry cried, “It’s because of me time travelling to try and save my mom that I screwed up the timeline! If it wasn’t for my interference, Caitlin never would’ve been Killer Frost to begin with!”

“And if we don’t do something now, she’ll run away terrified of Killer Frost in sixteen years because we kept our mouths shut instead of helping our best friend!”

“Anything dealing with Killer Frost is too risky!”

“Maybe it’s a risk I’m willing to take,” Cisco replied stubbornly.

Barry crossed his arms across his chest.

“Like Dante?”

The hurt on Cisco’s face was so evident Barry could’ve slapped him and it wouldn’t have looked any different.

“I’m sorry,” Barry apologized genuinely.

Cisco sat down in the grass, stunned into silence.

“That’s what happens when you tamper with fixed events,” Barry explained softly, ridding the patronizing tone from his voice this time.

“I know how much you care about Caitlin,” he continued, “I should’ve known this would be incredibly hard for you to stand back and watch. I shouldn’t have asked you to come with me.”

“I wanted to see a slice of Caitlin’s life when I assumed would’ve been a happier time. But when I spoke to her...She’s had it so hard, man. Since the beginning. All I can think about when I’m in this house is how she’s going to lose her father and then she’s going to fall out with her mom and then she’s going to lose Ronnie and her career. Her entire life has been like this.”

Barry kicked some fancy fertilized dirt. “I know.”

“I just wish we could do something.”

“I know,” Barry said again.

Cisco squinted at the 2004 sky. “Hey,” he said, an idea forming in the back of his mind as a Ferrari blasting Usher’s Yeah! drove by. “Maybe we can.”

~.~

They went back inside. They waited for Caitlin to go to the bathroom for Cisco apologized and promised Dr. Snow he’d keep the secret for Caitlin to find out—-If she ever does—In 2018 and not 2004. They also showed him some pictures of Team Flash and their Caitlin from their phones and reassured him that, all in all, Caitlin was happy and successful. He should be proud.

Dr. Snow brushed away tears, eternally grateful.

He really was a nice man. Cisco had to turn away for a moment to collect his emotions. If only Caitlin could have one more moment with him. Cisco shook his head, clearing his thoughts. He couldn’t even tell her about it.

They waved goodbye to Caitlin as she returned with blankets and snacks to cuddle up with her father and watch a VHS.

“Hey,” Cisco said to Caitlin, who looked up from the television to him.

“Don’t give up, okay? Promise?”

Young Caitlin smiled a little, intrigued if not slightly confused.

“Promise the young man,” Dr. Snow nudged at his daughter, teasing her.

“...I Promise?”

Cisco hid his smile. “That’s all I wanted to hear.”

They left the house as the nurse came back from her lunch. “Aww, leaving already?” She pouted.

“Yeah, we’re pressed for time,” Barry told her, and they quickened their paces down the Snows cobblestone walkway.

“Come again!” The nurse called cheerfully.

~.~

Central East Middle School was just beginning their after school cheerleading practice of the day when Cisco breached right in front of Lexi Laroche and her stupid clique gossiping under the bleachers.

The girls all screamed.

“Hi!” Cisco enthused, “Which one of you little snakes is Lexi Laroche?”

The leader of the group stood up on wobbly legs. “Me.”

“I’m a superhero from the future,” Cisco said, “And I got informed that you bully Caitlin Snow.”

Lexi Laroche turned white. “I wouldn’t call it bullying…” She stammered. How quaint, Cisco thought, she had a french accent to accompany the French last name.

Cisco threw a vibe blast at a soccer ball. All of the air exploded out of the ball. The girls jumped, then huddled together. “Yeah,” Cisco said sarcastically, “And I wouldn’t call that exploding a soccer ball with my bare hands.”

Lexi gulped.

“This is what’s going to happen. You’re going to read this pamphlet about the dangers of bullying. It has a whole list of ugly things nobody wants to be called or have done to, but guess what? You did those. And you said that. There are far better things to do with your life. Like, say, expand your wardrobe beyond hot pink juicy couture sweatpants and bubblegum pink tube tops.”

Cisco pulled out the bullying pamphlet from his Vibe Jacket and gave it to her.

“Next, you’re going to stay away from Caitlin. I don’t want to see you behaving despicably like that to Caitlin or any other girl. Is that clear?”

Lexi Laroche nodded her head so fast she looked like a bobble head.

Cisco put his hands on his hips, satisfied. He seemed to have caught their attention well enough. He didn’t want to traumatize them.

“Good.” He opened a breach. “Bye.”

~.~

Barry brought them back to 2018.

As soon as Barry was certain Cisco wasn’t going to get dizzy and faint, he went straight to CCPD with his new information.

On the other hand, Cisco breached to a certain sick friend’s apartment.

Cisco walked down the hall towards Caitlin’s room. The lights were shut off and she was fast asleep.

He turned on her bedside table lamp and knelt on the floor next to her sleeping form. He whispered for her to wake up, placing a hand on her forehead.

No fever, that’s good.

She opened an eye and mumbled a groggy hello at Cisco. He waited for her to get her bearings and sit up in her bed. Cisco would’ve normally sat on her bed if she was injured or upset in the past, but she’s sick and he really doesn’t want her germs so he pulled up a chair instead.

“How are you feeling?”

Caitlin swallowed purposely and blinked a few more times, obviously attempting to come up with an adequate self-evaluation. “Better.”

“Good to hear,” Cisco threw a paper bag onto her lap.

She raised an eyebrow. “What’s this?”

Cisco bounced in his seat, “Just open it!”

Caitlin emptied the bag and out fell a box of cookies.

Caitlin gaped, “Choco-Hearties!? I thought they don’t make these anymore! Cisco!!” She slapped at his arm excitedly, “These were my favorite cookies growing up. How did you find them?”

Caitlin busied herself with opening the flaps and stuffed two in her mouth right away.

“I don’t even care that this hurts my throat,” she mumbled happily around her mouthful.

Cisco laughed, very much proud of his accomplishment. Also very glad that Caitlin was still too tired to notice Cisco blacked out the expiry date.

“Hey,” Cisco said casually, three Brooklyn-Nine-Nine episodes later. Caitlin was getting drowsy and her cookie box was three-thirds eaten. Cisco tried one and he too now understood why she wrote a letter of complaint to the company in ninth grade. Good thing he bought two more.

Caitlin hummed in response.

“I ran into one of my childhood bullies today, it reminded me of what you said about that girl who put gum in your hair, what was her name? Alexis?”

Caitlin frowned. “Lexi? She picked on me for maybe three months in eighth and then stopped bothering me. I heard she moved to France...Cisco I’m sorry I’m really tired.”

Cisco ran his hand through her hair and tried to keep the silly grin out of his voice. “That’s alright. You sleep. I’ll check on you tomorrow.”

FIN.

#killervibe #killervibefanficweek #killervibefanficweek18 #day 3 time travelling #thatkillervibe #thatkillervibefic #the flash #flash fic #flash fanfic #Caitlin Snow #Cisco Ramon #Barry Allen #angst #and fluff #killervibe fic

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