Blood and Ice | Leonard Snart

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

"Calm down, Hayley." Barry said, in a voice that I assumed was meant to be comforting.

"Calm down?" I snorted, "He's stalking me, Barry!" I glanced at Cisco and Caitlin who both were examining the block of ice as if it were out of this world. "Do you guys not understand that I should be moving to a different country, and change my name?"

"You don't have to change your whole identity because of Snart." Barry rested both his hands on my shoulders, as if trying to get me to focus on what he was saying. We locked eyes as he spoke, "We will protect you. You should know that."

"Well you guys have been doing a damn fine job so far." I snapped, suddenly aware that I was expecting them to protect me when they indeed, did not have to. They didn't owe me anything, in fact, I was the one who owed them for already saving my life once. I sighed, and slowly composed myself until I looked seemingly in control of my frantic emotions. "So, what do we do?"

"Easy." Cisco replied, "We find Snart, and we stop him."

"Easy?" I wanted to laugh, "If that was so easy, you guys would have done it by now."

"Okay, so it may not be easy, but it is simple."

"Fine. How do you suppose we catch Snart? Huh? How could we even track him down? We don't know where the hell he's even hiding!"

"Actually, maybe we don't have to find him." Caitlin spoke up, "Maybe we can get him to come to us."

"What?" Me and Barry both said in unison, which seemed to happen a lot when we were together.

"Think about it." She said, as she looked back down at the block of ice, "Snart is following you, Hayley, how do we know he's not watching you? Waiting to kidnap you again? Why not expose you and give him the opportunity. Then we wouldn't have to seek him out, he'll be the one coming to us. He'll fall right into our little trap."

"No, no absolutely not." I said without a second thought, "There's no way in hell I'm going to be standing out there with headlights on my ass that'll practically scream ' awaiting victim'! I'm sorry, but I don't particularly like being kidnapped by a psycho maniac."

"Yeah." Barry agreed, "I don't see how that is safe, Caitlin."

"Do we have much of a choice? Either we do this, where Hayley is in our control, with our eyes on her, or Snart will take her sometime when we aren't watching. It's the safest option we have."

I thought about it. She had a point. The last thing I wanted was to be in front of Snart with Barry nowhere in sight. I have no strength to defend myself -which I clearly displayed the last many times I was in Snart's presence. There was no other option but this.

"Fine." I huffed, dread filled my tone as I realized how dangerous of a situation I was in. "I'll bite, what's your plan?"

~~~

It's freezing. My legs were shivering, just as my hair was being blown in my face from the harsh wind that wouldn't give me a break. I stood, all alone, between two buildings, with a mic attached to me so the crew back in S.T.A.R. labs could hear. It was pitch black out besides the one lonely street lamp that was producing enough light for me to see slightly in the distance down the road.

Cisco gave me strict instructions on what to do if Snart showed up. I was given an zap gun that was to 'defend' myself if Snart managed to get anywhere near me. Unfortunately the zap gun doesn't produce enough power to kill someone, but it puts them into a shock that lasts for a good amount of time to get away.

Not that I would have the heart to kill a living human being, but just in case, I did wish it had more power.

I held my arms tightly across my chest and stood there awkwardly as if I were some clueless young girl waiting to be picked up by some potential bed partner for the night (at least that's what I felt like).

The silence of the setting surrounded me in a way that I couldn't help but call eerie. Every minute I stood, waiting, I never forgot why I was waiting in the first place. I was practically praying for a few moments of serenity, but all I kept thinking about was Snart. His grip on my arm, the bruises he left on them as he threw me to the floor. The cold, numb feeling that I got not even by being shot by his freeze gun, but by the atmosphere he put off just by his personality.

Also that cold gun of his freaks the shit out of me.

I began to pace around until I got bored enough to sit down on a nearby bench. I wasn't sure what to do, so I closed my eyes and pretended to fall asleep. I wasn't sure if Snart was watching me right now, and I didn't want him to think anything suspicious about my little act -even if there was nothing not suspicious about a girl my age wandering alone in the dark at this time of night.

The long minutes I sat there waiting turned into an hour of absolute misery. The anxiety locked up inside me was overwhelming, I just wanted to scream.

Snart could kill me tonight.

Or Snart wasn't coming.

My nerves are expecting the worst.

My optimism (which wasn't much) was expecting nothing. He wasn't going to show.

But what if he does?

He won't.

But what if damn it.

I sat there, absolutely restless as I examined my surroundings for the millionth time. Finally, I spoke into the mic, "Caitlin? Barry?" Silence. "Cisco? . . .you guys?"

There was a long pause before I heard a yawn through the mic, "Yeah, Hayley, were still here." It was Caitlin.

I clenched my fists, "Were you asleep?"

"No, no of course not." She cleared her throat, "So, uhh, any sign of him?"

I sighed, "No, I think this plan was a bust. I want to go home."

She sounded exhausted as she spoke, "Yeah, okay. I'll send Barry to take you to your apartment."

"Thanks for trying, Caitlin. Really."

She scoffed slightly, "No matter what, Hayley, we'll catch him. Don't stress to much about it and get some sleep."

I nodded, though I knew she couldn't see it. "Yeah, you too."

I didn't have to wait very long before Barry rushed over to me sending a gush of wind to nearly push me over. He looked just as tired as I felt.

Long night.

"Ready to go home?" He said, with his usual grin even if it was totally forced.

"I've been ready since I got here." I replied, to tired from the paranoia to even smile back.

He dropped me off to the front door of my apartment, and I thanked him with a totally awkward hug that I would definitely not be doing again. When he left, I exhaled a long breath of relief, and opened the front door. I thoughtlessly took my coat off, and began to search for the light switch as my apartment was pitch black.

Then the thought struck me, and my heart plummeted to my stomach.

When I left my apartment earlier, I had locked it. Why wasn't it locked?

My hand hit the light switch, and I flipped it on.

Sitting there on my couch, was the man who kept me in constant fear. The man who was so engraved into my thoughts that I made it a habit to look over my shoulder even in my own home.

Snart was sitting on my couch.

"Sorry to keep you waiting out there in the cold all night." He shrugged, "But you know how it is; a man like me prefers to keep out of the open. I'm sure you understand."