Only Because I Need You

Chapter 51: Medusa

Caitlin could see him. Barry. He was there, but a seemingly awful fate had befallen him. The Scarlet speedster was only a stagnant statue. Cold stone features were frozen into a look of shock. Normal colourful attire was morphed into dull grey layers of rock. Life had been warped into art. Not only that, but he was being displayed like a trophy or a prize. He sat atop a stage that looked over a large open floor, numerous seats were stacked at either side and the wooden floor was cracked and scratched. Caitlin couldn't see much of the room, but she could make out the intense lights and the several side stages, not as high as the one Barry was displayed on, that boxed in the open floor. They themselves were at the highest entrance of the hall. A small half wall protected them from the prying eyes of the few indistinguishable people dotted around below them. Just beyond that half wall were rows upon rows of teared seating that descended away from the door. Two powerful spotlights were shining off of Barry's stone exterior. Caitlin ground her teeth and lurched away from the door. Ethan took her place, glancing delicately inwards.

"Iris, I'm sorry, Barry has been turned into stone," Caitlin felt her voice tremble a little.

"What? Please tell me you are joking," Irises powerful voice thundered down her earpiece. Silence replied for Caitlin, "that... Okay, we need to focus on getting him out of there then," Iris spoke gently, her voice was smooth, soft and amazingly controlled.

"I think he will be fine," Caitlin told her, "I met a meta who could turn people to stone, by getting them to look at her eyes, whilst I was in the fighting ring." Caitlin paused, scouring her memory of the girl, "she was young and managed to turn Killer Frost to stone, or so Frost tells me, though I have little recollection of her myself aside from what she looks like,"

"Medusa," Cisco's voice sang down the line.

"Identify her to Ethan and make sure he gets rid of her first," Harry told Caitlin sternly.

Caitlin nodded, she had been thinking much the same thing. Turning to Ethan, she realised that it might not be as easy as she hoped it would be. The speedsters face was stark white and she couldn't help but notice the slight tremble that had claimed his body, "Are you Okay?" Caitlin asked, cocking her head to the side, noticing that she herself had developed a little case of the shakes.

Ethan's eyes flicked over to her, he sent her a reassuring smile, "I'm fine... something just feels... bad," he bit down on his lower lip and rolled his shoulders back.

"Barry said the same thing before he..." Caitlin paused, her mind lamented over the thoughts in her head. A smile wracked her face. Of course. Cisco had been questioning how Tate could control all of those breachers and become the ruler of the Breacher's Brotherhood when he was only a small time thief. What was the most effective way to control people? Fear. Tate was a meta alright, but he wasn't a breacher. Caitlin's mind ticked over, it explained why Ethan, Barry and her were afraid for no plausible reason. Blinking hard she turned to Ethan, a plan forming in her head, "down there should be a cocky little blonde girl," Caitlin reached into the bag she had secured to her leg, pulling out a pair of meta dampening cuffs. "Place these on her first, and don't look her in the eyes," Caitlin told him firmly. Ethan nodded his head, grabbing the cuffs from her and disappearing in a crackle of lightning.

Caitlin scratched her head as she crouched by the doors. A few seconds passed. Nothing. She heard nothing. Creeping a little closer, she opened the door and peered through the crack. Ethan was on his knees his hands secured behind his back and his head fallen forwards. Caitlin lurched backwards, pressing her hand against her earpiece, ready to report to Iris when some thing cold pressed against the base of her skull. "Don't move," a husky voice grumbled. Caitlin opened her mouth to reply, but a sharp pain erupted in the back of her skull, knocking her into the dark abyss of unconsciousness.

*

Caitlin awoke with a throbbing headache and pins and needles in her hands. Peeling her eyes open she was met with searing white light and the dirty sound of happy chuckles. The wood floor beneath her pinned her arms under her back with the help of cold handcuffs, cutting off her circulation. It took a few moments for Caitlin's mind to clear and for her to realise where she was. They had failed. Both Ethan and her had been captured by the enemy. Caitlin used her arms to prop herself back up. Stars twinkled in her throbbing eyesight. Kneeling on the floor, she glanced around. Ethan was right beside her, sending her a concerned stare. Aside from that, they seemed to be in the centre of the open floor, and on the stage in front of them, Barry was being displayed like an artefact. Caitlin ground her teeth, he was a human being, not some stupid trophy they could show off.

The only people she could see was Tate and Medusa. Where were all the Breachers? In fact, why hadn't any of the enemies they had encountered so far been Breachers? Unless... unless they were. Then it had all been a rouse, a trap in order for Tate to get them right where he wanted them. Caitlin's eyes frantically searched for an escape, and she found one. Ethan wasn't wearing power dampening cuffs. After jiggling her wrist around a little, Caitlin deduced she wasn't either. Tate must have assumed that they wouldn't dare defy him out of fear. Perfect. Now all she needed to do was get scared.

Tate himself stared menacingly down at them. His teeth glistened in the powerful light. Caitlin felt a lump form in her throat, her eyes begged to be moved anywhere but his gaze. Refusing to let him overpower her, Caitlin held his intense stare. The blonde girl from the fighting ring was standing just beside him, her eyes a normal blue and body much cleaner than before. Tate crouched down to Caitlin's level, "good morning, you like to sleep don't you frosty?" His velvety voice rumbled. Cold sweat began to trickle down her neck.

Caitlin didn't honour him with a reply, instead she merely held her head high. Tate rolled his eyes and shuffled over to Ethan, who's gaze fell to the floor. Tate grabbed him by the chin, forcing the speedster to look at him. Caitlin wanted to cry out, to tell him to stop, but the fear that made her quake prevented her from doing so. "I think I am gonna talk to little Caity over there, she will be much more fun to break," he told Ethan in a baby voice. The speedster curled up his top lip in retaliation, growling as a response. Tate's eyes flickered black and for a second, so did Ethan's. The speedster's whole body tensed up, yet his mouth fell slack and he began to tremble. Johnning stood up with a wide grin, his eyes opened wide in delirium.

"What did you do to him?" Caitlin's voice shakily demanded. The doctor was surprised she had even been able to say anything at all.

Tate sent her a sly smile, his face darkened, "why dear, I only trapped him in his own personal hell,"