(no subject)

[froststorm]

[Look who comes skidding across the floor on an ice path! Crystal only stops when she bumps pretty bodily against one of the main consoles in the Cortex]

Okay, ice slides are something that's a lot harder than I thought it would be.

[She gets up and gives a small hiss of pain at bumping her head against the console table before looking around. It's a lot emptier than she's used to. The brunette brushes a few curls out of her face and dark eyes take in her surroundings. She looks young, in her mid-20s. She walks around cautiously, her heeled boots clicking on the floor]

Where is everyone?

Comments

[oftwosides]

Home where they're supposed to be.

[There's a bit of a smile at Caitlin and she shakes her head, slipping quietly into the room.]

Also, you shouldn't be doing that inside. It could damage the equipment.

[Something that she, herself, has probably learned the hard way.]

[froststorm]

[Busted]

Um. That's. Not me. I didn't do it. Someone else did.

[oftwosides]

[Very busted.]

Don't stand there and lie to me, Crystal. I know what I saw.

[froststorm]

I was...going to tell you?

[Innocent look. Look at her face, mom, can she get away with it?]

[oftwosides]

When?

[Get away with it, no. Not exactly.]

[froststorm]

Soon? Kind of like how I was going to tell you and pops that I'm taking a sabbatical from medical school?

[oftwosides]

​[That has Caitlin raising a brow.]

Taking sabbatical? For what reason? Because of this?​

[froststorm]

A doctoral program in engineering, superheroing maybe, and I...I kind of like inventing things better.

[She picks at her fingernails because man, this is as bad as when she broke that one vase.]

[oftwosides]

[She shakes her head]

You will finish school. The superheroing can wait until you have full control of your abilities. However, inventing things can be done on the side. But you won't just take sabbatical from school. Not for superheroing. School comes first.

[froststorm]

[She looks crestfallen]

What?!

[oftwosides]

School comes first, Crystal. That will always come first. You also can't do anything superhero related while you have lack of control.

[froststorm]

But mom, I can be out there, with you and pops and Jay and everyone else!

[oftwosides]

No, you can't. Not when you don't have control over your abilities.

[froststorm]

[She's even more heartbroken at this]

I...I can learn, mom. I...

[oftwosides]

You can learn, yes. However, school comes first and I expect you to finish it. Not just decide to go on sabbatical. I’ll even teach you how to control your abilities, but that will require you to continue school. Otherwise, I can’t teach you.

[Caitlin has stipulations for her daughter that need to be filled before any type of training or superheroing can be done.]

[froststorm]

What if I don't want to go to medical school?

[She's brilliant, that's the obvious thing. Crystal placed top in her class and field every single time. She gives a sigh]

Never mind.

[She walks away, maybe they just won't agree on this.]

[oftwosides]

Don’t walk away.

[That’s the worst thing anyone can do.]

Do you want to switch majors? Whether it’s medical or engineering, I don’t care. School, however, needs to be finished while I teach you how to control your abilities.

[They’d also have to talk to Ronnie before any mention of superheroing could ever happen.]

[froststorm]

[She stops and is frustrated because, mom. The temperature of the vicinity goes down a few degrees before going back up.]

I said I wanted to take a sabbatical from medical school. I still want to keep going for my doctorates in engineering.

[She turns back to look at her]

I really like what I do there.

[oftwosides]

[She shakes her head when she feels the air change. Something that she knew her daughter had no control over. Something that didn’t phase her one bit.]

Drop medical and take engineering full time then, Crystal.

[She gives a small smile]

I know you do. I just want you to finish school first. That way I can show you how to use your abilities and then we can approach your dad.

[roguelightning]

[A beat later there's a burst of lightning from the speed lab as Barry comes skidding to a halt at the sound of a new voice. He'd been burning off some excess energy after winding up in a strange location.]

Hey.

I'm guessing you didn't expect to wind up here either?

[froststorm]

[She turns away when she sees the burst of lightning and covers her eyes. Thank goodness he didn't hit the patch of ice and hit other places.]

Nope. Where are we? This looks like STAR Labs but nothing seems to be working?

[roguelightning]

It's STAR Labs all right, but this one isn't run by ARGUS. The metahuman cells down in the pipeline are all empty. [Which is a relief. Barry had been bracing for a fight when he arrived in the lab. ]

[froststorm]

The metahumans are kept in cells?

[Look at that shocked face.]

Wait, run by Argus? No, it's run by Dr. Wells.

[roguelightning]

Anyone who doesn't register is caught, collared and thrown in a cell. ARGUS took over STAR Labs and used it to hunt us.

[But not here. He might even be safe here.]

[froststorm]

[She pales at that and looks crestfallen at what he shares.]

That's the Earth you're coming from?