Only Because I Need You

Dusty Dungeons

Caitlin was woken abruptly with a sharp pain in her temple. Her whole body felt heavy and useless. The ground she was laying in felt hard and jagged against her back. She peeled open her eyes, only to be met with nearly complete darkness. She pushed herself quickly into a sitting position, her eyes darted around the room rapidly. She seemed to be in a jail cell of some sort. The lighting was dim, but she could make out the rocky and uneven walls that curved up over her head like a dugout. There was barely enough room for her to stand. The cell looked out into a thin and narrow stone hallway that was lit by a flickering light and hidden by thick iron bars. The cell itself was cut in two by another set of Iron bars that stretched from the ceiling down to the floor. The other side was nearly empty, aside from a dark figure that was concealed by its shadows. Caitlin's section of the cell was small, and a thin layer of dust had collected on the floor below her. The only signs that it was a habitable space was the thin sleeping bag that was pushed into a messy bundle in the corner of it. The other half of the cell seemed identical. Caitlin's heart leapt into her mouth. Where was she? She shuffled over to the iron bars and tried her best to see down the corridor, but she was greeted by rocky walls and an inky black mess, and the corridor floor was lined with splintering wooden planks. There was however an identical cell to hers across the small corridor. If she were to have reached out through the bars she could have touched the metal of the other cell. A soft whimper escaped her lips. Cold wrapped around her, "not so nice being on the other side of the bars now is it Caitlin?" A familiar voice made her jump.  Caitlin turned her attention the the dark silhouette that was pressed into the corner of their conjoined cells. The voice was seething and cold, which was entirely unnatural for the rightful owner of that voice.

"Ethan?"She squeaked, narrowing her eyes into the darkness. Of course it would be him. What had he done? Had he plotted this all along? She mentally slapped herself, he was behind bars just like her, there was no way that it was his doing, "where are we?" Her voice sounded frail and airy.

"How should I know," he bit back harshly, she could just imagine the the fierce scowl that was dominating Barry's normally peaceful face, "I only woke up just before you,"

"So we've been drugged and taken somewhere," she nodded her head, her brown locks bounced on her shoulders, "I wonder what could make this situation worse,"

"Don't tempt fate," he scolded her from the safety of his shadow, "but if you really want to know what could make things worse, then talk to the guards with that annoying little voice of yours," she heard him shift slightly on top of the crunchy, dusty stone floor.

"Guards?" Caitlin began to fidget with her fingers. "So we are prisoners," she bit down on her lip, her eyes lingered on Ethan's indistinct form. She was a prisoner with someone who wanted her best friend dead. Perfect. Just her luck. Where was Killer Frost when you needed her?

"What gave that away," he snorted. If Caitlin wasn't beginning to feel so stressed she might have rolled her eyes at his half-hearted sarcasm. Her brain began to race at one hundred miles an hour. What if her team couldn't find her? Would she be trapped in that dirty and dusty dungeon forever? It was very possible. She shook her head violently. No, she couldn't loose faith after a few minutes. Team Flash would save her, but only if she didn't brake free first. For that moment, she needed to observe. After all, there was a reason for the saying, all good things come to those who wait.

"Isn't your speed working?" She narrowed her eyes at his shadow. He should have been able to phase through the bars and run free.

"Nope, and I am not even wearing a cuff," he grumbled darkly.

Caitlin jutted her jaw out to one side. The chances were that the very cell they were in had some kind of ability to dampen their meta powers, maybe even completely block them. There were other possibilities of course, their abilities could have been taken from them, or maybe there was a meta who functioned as a living meta cuff. There were many options, but Caitlin knew the first was the most likely. She huffed. She had work to do.

Cisco stared blankly at his Gypsy's face, "I'm sorry, what?" He squeaked. Barry and Iris stared with just as much confusion at the breacher. They were huddled in a little group in the corner of the he speed Lab, their voices bounced off the walls and hammered back into their ears.

Gypsy placed her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrows at him, "there are dangerous breachers looking for Sonny," she stated firmly.

"What kind of breachers?" Barry asked gently, his eyebrows puckered slightly.

"The kind who use their powers to steal millions," she told them, "they are an organised gang called the Breacher's Brotherhood with a very notorious leader and they are after the boy who can breach through both time and space," she huffed after explaining for a second time.

"Why are they looking for Sonny?" Iris asked, scrunching up her nose slightly.

"If they had the power to control both time and space they would be invincible," she replied, crossing her arms over her chest, "and every time Sonny breaches it lets them know where he is because of the sheer magnitude of energy he needs to breach through space and time,"

"His breaches cause ripples through the multiverse," Cisco hummed, "no wonder I could feel his breach before it had even happened,"

"Yes, and if they get their hands on him it will be impossible to get him back, so I am trusting you with the responsibility of keeping him safe," her gaze flickered between the three members of team Flash. They nodded in unison. A small smirk spread across her cheeky features. "Thank you," she smiled at them.

"No problem," Barry smiled, "it's the least we could do,"

Her eyes skimmed over them for the last time, "where is Caitlin?" She tilted her head in curiosity.

Cisco felt his shoulders drop. Barry and Iris were silent, they faces stuck between somber regret and guilt, "we don't know. She has been kidnapped," Cisco told her. It felt stupid coming out of his mouth, but it needed to be said.

Her face was warped with realisation, "Oh, I'm sorry," she told them, "I am sure you will find her soon,"

"I hope so," Cisco smiled at her. He really did hope they found Caitlin, it had only been a few days and the lack of her presence was gnawing away at him. What ever was he to do when he was bored and pulling an all nighter to look for Caitlin. He certainly couldn't annoy her any more.