Chapter Text
So far things were quiet in her patrol of the city and she was enjoying the buzz of conversation over the comm in her ear. Bringing Iris into this had been the best idea ever.
“So, who are you setting me up with next?” Carrie interjected.
“Oooh the blind dates, huh?” Cisco chuckled. “I wouldn't mind being on the receiving end of one if you know any single ladies who'd be interested in a guy like me, Iris...”
“I'll check around,” her sister chortled. “And it wouldn't be much of a blind date if I told you, would it?”
“Oh come on, not even a hint?” Carrie pouted. “Is it another cop? I'm guessing so since I don't know if Eddie has any non-cop friends... Will I have to wear a skirt? You know my no-jeans curse!”
“No-jeans curse?” Caitlin asked in confusion.
“...okay, okay. He's from Bludhaven and he's in town this weekend. We figured it'd be fun to hang out.”
“The no-jeans curse,” Carrie clarified for the pair of scientists, “happens whenever I don't wear blue jeans. I wear anything else, something bad tends to happen to me. Bad weather, missed bus, or worse.”
“Hey, hey, we got some action!” Cisco interrupted. “Police pursuit in progress of a yellow Humvee---”
“Just saw it!” Carrie replied, whipping around to follow. She could see the police forming a barricade, recognized Joe and Eddie...and saw the Humvee barreling towards a kid crossing the street, distracted by his headphones. “Shit!”
Joe sagged in relief when he saw the crackle of gold and the kid vanishing from the street; damn kids and their headphones, it should be against the law---
“He's not stopping!” One of the officers yelled.
Gunfire rained on the yellow Humvee, the police frantically trying to shoot out the tires. All the while Joe was keeping an eye out for that familiar blur that was Carrie. And then he – and Eddie – noticed the shots that punctured the windshield and striking the driver had no effect.
“What the hell?!” Eddie hissed, stunned; it almost looked like it was something....not human behind the wheel---
“Eddie!” Joe tackled his young partner out of the way of the oncoming Humvee; it plowed without stopping through the barricade of police cars, nearly striking them.
The blur that was Carrie sped by them, leaving a crackle of gold in her wake. She darted forward, ripping the driver's side mirror off the door to get his attention before coming to a halt in front of a chain-length fence blocking the Humvee's path.
The Humvee came to a halt as he jerked on the wheel, causing it to skid. It was blocking a good deal of the street, she noted uneasily. That could hamper her movements significantly...
She took a breath and released it, her voice modulated and raised: “Step out of the vehicle!”
“If you say so.”
It was a voice so similar from her nightmarish days in high-school; different, deeper....meaner. The blood drained from her face and her hands trembled as the very large, muscular man opened – and then ripped off – the stolen Humvee's driver's side door.
“We have a problem,” she whispered over the comm before he hurled the door at her head.
It moved slowly through the air for her and she twisted at the hips, leaning back enough to let it pass over her...and embed into the chain-length fence.
Ohshitohshitohshit----
“Carrie?!” Iris sounded worried as the speedster straightened, regarding the man as he approached.
Her punches weren't...that powerful. She knew that she had to build up speed and momentum to be truly effective when it came to punching an opponent.
However, when he loomed over her, reaching for her with hands that were big and strong and looked like he wanted to rip her in half, she lashed out with a sucker-punch to his face.
And the bones in her hand, in her wrist, cracked, felt like they shattered into a billion pieces. Faintly she was aware of Iris screaming her name in her earpiece as Carrie staggered back, clutching her broken hand to her belly, all but doubled over in pain.
Stumbling away from him, she lifted her hand in time to see him clench a fist. His hand, his entire arm turning metallic before he backhanded her, sending her flying up into the air and slamming into the hood of the Humvee. She laid there, dazed and with the wind knocked out of her.
And then his hand grabbed her ankle, dragging her over the hood towards him. He leaned in, baring his teeth in an expression too savage to be a grin.
“Looks like you were born to take a beating.”