Daniel made his way through the darkened corridors of S.T.A.R. Labs until he reached the Pipeline.
He had already sensed Barry and Cisco inside and figured that, whatever Caitlin was doing, leaving them locked up wasn't helping anyone.
He stopped in front of the containment cells.
"Well, who is happy to see me?"
Cisco immediately stepped toward the glass.
"I am. Very happy. Please get us out of here."
Daniel looked at the control panel.
"Which button?"
"The one marked release."
Daniel pressed it.
The cell doors unlocked with a hiss, and Barry stepped out first, stretching his arms and checking his legs as though making sure everything still worked.
"I really hate being locked in there," Barry muttered.
Cisco followed him out.
"Especially when the person who put us there is Caitlin."
Barry looked down the corridor.
"We need to find her before she hurts someone."
"That's where the good news ends," Daniel said.
Barry turned toward him.
"What happened?"
Daniel started walking.
"Come with me."
They reached one of the medical rooms, and Daniel opened the door.
Barry and Cisco stopped immediately.
Caitlin was sitting in a chair in the middle of the room, her wrists and ankles secured by thick black tendrils of dark energy. Frost covered parts of the floor around her, and several nearby monitors had been frozen solid.
Her silver-white hair hung around her face, and she looked completely relaxed despite being restrained.
She looked toward the doorway and smiled.
"Oh, sweetheart. You brought company. How naughty of you."
Cisco slowly looked at Daniel.
Then at Caitlin.
Then back at Daniel.
"Okay, I have several questions."
Barry stared at Caitlin.
"Caitlin, what happened?"
She smiled.
"I was having fun."
Cisco shook his head.
"That's not Caitlin."
"I know," Daniel said. "She's still in there somewhere, but something has changed."
Barry stepped closer, but Daniel immediately raised a hand.
"Caitlin, can you hear me?" Barry asked.
"Yeah," Caitlin replied, her voice sounding almost normal.
"Don't get too close," Daniel warned. "She's not exactly safe right now. Think of the Yuki-onna from Japanese legends. A spirit associated with the cold that drains the warmth from people to survive."
Cisco frowned.
"Wait, what do you mean, Yuki-onna?"
Caitlin smiled at him.
"Oh, you found my secret?"
Her eyes moved toward Barry.
"So you'd just watch a poor woman like me die, right? I'm still young, still in the prime of my life..."
Before she could continue, one of Daniel's dark tendrils tightened over her mouth.
"Yeah, we're not doing that," Daniel said.
Cisco looked between them.
"Okay, seriously, what exactly are we dealing with?"
Daniel looked at Caitlin.
"She's a metahuman who can manipulate ice and cold. The problem is that her body isn't producing heat normally anymore."
Barry frowned.
"So she needs to stay warm?"
"More than that. She needs a source of heat."
Daniel pointed toward the frost spreading across the floor.
"She can draw thermal energy from things around her. A room, a machine, even a person. The stronger the ability gets, the more heat she can pull out."
Cisco's expression changed as he understood.
"From people?"
"Yeah."
Barry looked at Caitlin.
"How dangerous is that?"
"Very," Daniel said. "If she drains too much heat from someone, their body temperature drops until their organs start shutting down. She could seriously injure or kill someone without even realizing how far she's gone."
Caitlin's eyes narrowed behind the tendril covering her mouth.
Daniel noticed.
"And judging by the way she's acting right now, she's already figured out that people are a much better source of heat than a radiator."
Cisco looked toward the frozen equipment around the room.
"So that's why the temperature keeps dropping."
"Exactly."
Cisco looked at Caitlin, then at the frost spreading across the floor.
"So Caitlin is going to die if she stays like this?"
"Not immediately," Daniel said. He stepped closer to Caitlin and placed his hand against her arm.
The effect was immediate.
Caitlin's body drew energy from him, pulling thermal energy through the contact.
Every living cell contained energy, and Daniel had far more of it than an ordinary human. His body was practically a walking energy reserve, so giving Caitlin enough to stabilize herself wasn't difficult.
Caitlin's breathing eased, and the frost around her stopped spreading.
"I've got enough energy to keep her stable for now," Daniel said. "She can draw from me instead of taking it from everyone else."
Barry looked relieved.
"But that isn't a permanent solution."
"No. If we can't figure out to stabilize her condition, then eventually we'll have a serious problem."
The black tendril covering Caitlin's mouth disappeared.
Caitlin took a slow breath and looked at them.
"Yeah. I could die."
Cisco frowned.
"Because your body can't produce enough heat anymore?"
Caitlin nodded.
"My cells are starving for thermal energy. I can keep myself functioning by taking heat from other living things, but if I don't get enough, my body starts shutting down."
Daniel looked at her carefully.
"So the longer this continues, the more dangerous the hunger becomes."
Caitlin gave him a small smile.
"Now you understand."
*****
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