Chapter Text
Even though Barry had seen his fair share of dead bodies, the corpse - or rather, what remained from the corpse-in front of him almost made him throw up. There were blood and guts everywhere, like someone pulled a Jack the Ripper, and then some. Joe walked up to him.
"What do you make of it?"
Barry shrugged. "That's just it. The person is reduced to nothing. Thank God there's still-Huh. Interesting."
"What?" Joe asked. "What's interesting?"
"I don't know what his or her power is specifically, but we have a metahuman killer on the loose. I'll get some samples to STAR Labs so Cait can identify the person."
When Barry arrived at the Cortex, neither Caitlin nor Cisco were in sight.
"Cait? Cisco? Guys, you here?" Just then he heard two voices arguing from Cisco's workstation.
"...you, Frost. This is very beneficial-"
"Oh, f*ck off, Francisco. I don't need your fancy gadgets to-"
"Frost?"
The metahuman personality of his girlfriend appeared, a frown on her face.
"What-Oh, hey there, sweetie." Frost walked over. Barry shivered as she kissed him.
"God, your lips are cold. And I kinda need Cait right now. Sorry."
Frost rolled her eyes. "Ugh. Fine."
Blue eyes and blonde hair turned to brown as Caitlin surfaced.
"What do you need me for? You got something?"
Barry reached into his pocket and fished out the sample.
"Remember the case I told you?"
Caitlin frowned. "Yeah. What about it?"
Barry sighed. "The killer is a meta, and we need to figure out their identity."
"Steven Crowell. Twenty years old, born in Michigan. His power is he can make himself intangible at will."
Barry hissed through clenched teeth.
"All right. Given his powers and his victim's... Oh, God." Barry froze upon realization. Caitlin nodded, a grim look on her face.
"He entered his victim- not like that, don't be gross-and solidified himself inside the person."
Dreadful silence enveloped the Cortex as the three digested the gruesome fact.
After the third victim, the team finally had a lock on the meta, and now Barry was in the middle of chasing Crowell on the streets of Central City. The latter was in smoke form, and as fast as he is, Barry could not catch his target. Also, Barry was keeping his speed in check so as to not run fast enough to accidentally time travel again. They were at the causeway now.
"Barry, where are you? Where's Crowell?"
"Not now, Caitlin. I can't keep up." Barry replied tensely. Suddenly he heard screaming. He dashed towards the source.
"Dammit!" Barry growled. Crowell vanished. But what he saw alarmed him. A woman was standing on the ledge. Just then she turned, and it was in a man's voice when she spoke.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the Flash." Barry knew who it was.
"No. Crowell, let her go." Barry said. "This between us. Let the woman go."
"All right." Before Barry could react, the woman jumped, a cloud of black smoke leaving her body as she fell.
Caitlin instantly knew something was wrong after Barry flashed to the Cortex. He was hyperventilating, eyes unfocused.
"Barry?" She asked as she made her way to her partner. "Babe, what's wrong?"
Barry looked up at her, his eyes red. "I couldn't save her."
"Who?" Caitlin asked, confused. But Barry kept repeating the statement. She led him to the med bay and made him lie down.
"Barry, calm down. Follow my breathing. In, out. In, out. In, out. That's it, that's it.", Caitlin continued to murmur wordless sounds of comfort until Barry's breathing evened.
"There was," Barry sniffed, taking a shaky breath, "there was this woman. On the causeway. Apparently, Crowell can control his victims while he is inside them."
Caitlin paled as she pieced it together.
"I couldn't save her, Cait. I can run faster than light, yet I couldn't save a woman who was just a hundred meters from me. A hundred f*cking meters." By then Barry was full on sobbing again, his whole body shaking as he buried his face on the pillow. Caitlin felt her heart crack into pieces as she watch Barry. Sighing, she squeezed herself beside him, wrapping an arm around Barry as the latter put his head on her chest, his tears wetting her blouse. She didn't mind.
Barry and Frost were chasing after Crowell again, forming an L position to cut him off.
"I got him in my sight. I'm going in."
"Frost, no. Wait-" Silence. Swearing, Barry redoubled his effort and soon arrived at the scene.
"Frost- Oh, God." Barry paled at the sight. Frost had an icicle on her hands, the tip resting on her chest.
"Crowell, no. Please." Barry said, almost begging. "I know it's me you want. Leave her body."
"All right, then." Crowell said through Caitlin. Barry ran towards his girlfriend to help her, but suddenly she began to freeze, her pale skin becoming even paler, her blue lips almost black. After a few moments black smoke came out of Frost. She blasted Crowell, causing him to solidify. Barry immediately went to him and gave the meta a hard punch.
"How did you do that?" Barry asked as he walked back to Frost, Crowell slung over his shoulder.
"I lowered my body temperature until it's too cold for him. Let's go; I want this day to be over."