A/N: Here's the final chapter! I hope you've enjoyed this story. There's a little more Snowbert here. Let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!

Julian helped adjust Caitlin in Barry's arms once the speedster came back. She was semi-conscious. "I'll be right back for you," Barry told him. "Cisco's breaching in for the others now."

Julian nodded and Barry sped away, back to the lab.

Barry returned much faster this time, and Julian was preparing to do an X-ray in minutes. Barry and Iris were close by, near Caitlin. Iris put a bandage over the nick on her shoulder. "Definitely broken." Julian said, looking at the picture of her arm.

"She heals quickly, though, right? Like Barry?" Iris questioned.

"Yes, but the bone needs to be realigned before it can heal properly. Which means I have to set it." Julian glanced at Caitlin, who was looking at him with tired eyes. "This is going to hurt," he warned. She nodded her understanding. Then he set it with a precise, forceful jerk. He tried to ignore the flash of pain in her expression, and the little sound that escaped before she bit down on her lip to restrain it. "There," he said, placing her arm back on the bed as gently as he could.

Caitlin tried to smile at him, though it was strained. "Much better," she said.

"You should get some rest," Barry said. "You'll feel better after."

"I might just do that," she said, and closed her eyes. They were silent for a few minutes, and once Julian was sure she was asleep he walked into the cortex with Barry and Iris.

"What happened?" Barry asked.

Julian summarized their capture and the confrontation with Amunet. He looked over his shoulder. "She fought with her arm like that almost the entire time."

"She'll be okay," Iris said confidently. "Amunet's in lockup for the time being, and Cisco and Ralph are putting all the others in Iron Heights. Caitlin won't have to worry about her again."

"She shouldn't have had to fight her alone," Barry said, looking at the far wall. "I could have helped her if I'd -."

"You had no way of knowing they were in danger," Iris said.

Barry nodded, though his sense of guilt was clear on his face. Julian felt incredibly small, knowing that he had been there throughout the fight, yet done nothing. He knew that logically it was better he had stayed back. Amunet had wanted him dead, and he couldn't fight. Trying to would have meant forcing Caitlin to protect him and attack Amunet. He knew he couldn't have done anything. But that helpless feeling he'd had as he'd watched Caitlin and Amunet, thinking that this was all happening because of him, returned to him now, seeing Barry's reaction.

He turned to go back to Caitlin's side, but stopped when Barry said his name. "I'm glad you were with her," he said.

"I didn't do anything to help her," Julian said, trying to negate the appreciation.

"You made sure she was safe," Barry said, his tone brokering no disagreement. "And you know Caitlin will agree with me."

He swallowed and nodded his head once before walking out of the cortex. Barry's words actually helped make him feel better. He sat down next to her bed and placed his hand over hers. Now he just needed Caitlin to wake up healed. He wasn't worried about her physically. Yes, her arm had been in bad shape, but it would heal quickly. He was more concerned with her mental health. Even Amunet had seemed worried about it, in her own way. He still wasn't sure what had happened right when they were captured, but it had certainly affected her. She'd seemed mostly herself right after the fight. The main reason for his worry was how absolutely exhausted she'd seemed, so much so that she was a bit out of it.

Unfortunately, he couldn't stop worrying about that until she woke up, and she clearly needed some rest, which meant it might be a little while.

He held her hand a bit tighter.

"Hey."

Julian started from his thoughts a few hours later at the soft voice and turned to face her. She was smiling at him, her eyes bright again, and relief energized his pulse.

"I was so worried about you," Julian said, leaning forward.

"I know," she said. "I'm sorry about that."

"Why on earth are you apologizing to me?"

"I just couldn't think straight after the fight." She scooted herself so she was sitting up. "I still don't understand what happened back there, but now at least I feel fine."

"We'll figure it out together. You're positive you're alright?"

She nodded. "I feel perfectly normal. Well, mostly," she said, gesturing with her head to her arm. "I could go Frost for a minute, to really speed heal."

An idea struck him. "I have a question for her, actually. Are you up for it?"

The corners of her mouth twitched up for a second, and she closed her eyes. He watched as her hair became a complete, snowy white, her complexion paling, and met the light blue eyes when they opened.

She seemed to take an extra second to assess her situation, but he understood immediately when she held her arm up and smiled, twisting it and making a fist. It was completely healed.

She let her arm drop and looked at him. "Didn't expect to see you so soon."

"I need to ask you something," he started. She raised her eyebrows, waiting, so he kept going. "Just before you started to fight Amunet, Caitlin had power dampening cuffs on. Do you remember getting out of them?"

A flicker of confusion. "No."

His thoughts raced. "What about when Amunet was capturing us? Do you remember any of that?"

He saw the confusion deepen in her expression before she masked it. "Why do you need to know this? Amunet won't bother us again."

"No, she won't," Julian agreed. "But Caitlin wants to know what happened, and I think you do too. So answer honestly: do you remember any part of it?"

He knew she hated feeling vulnerable, but she also knew he could help her find an answer, so she spoke after a few seconds. "We were caught in the transition," she said. "I was just really waking up when the gas started affecting me, dragging me back down. But it dragged her down too, so for a few seconds we were lost, neither one really in control." She bit the inside of her lip, looking at the wall. "It wasn't fun." She looked back at him. "That's all I've got, lover boy."

The information swirled around in his head. "Thank you," he said earnestly.

She studied him. "You're not so bad after all," she said. He didn't know if she meant him to hear it or not, but he thought maybe Frost was warming up to him. She sighed, and he watched her appearance change again, witnessing the blue fade into the brown in her eyes. For a microsecond he could discern both colors, and a theory came to him.

The first thing Caitlin did was search his face. "Did she know something?" she asked.

"Caitlin, when Amunet captured us, you tried to turn into Frost, right?" he asked. "You started to change but couldn't because of the gas?"

She nodded. "I couldn't stop it for a few seconds, so I was somewhere in the change." He saw understanding flash behind her eyes. "You think I didn't completely change back, before I passed out."

He nodded.

"I thought I was normal, because the disorientation ended before I lost consciousness, but even that's a little fuzzy, so I think this makes sense." Her eyebrows pressed closer together. "But how did I get out of the cuffs?"

"Amunet knows your powers very well," Julian said. "She probably had cuffs ready the whole time you worked for her, in case she needed them. She might have made them target Frost's powers specifically, through Frost's DNA. But if your DNA didn't match exactly -."

"They couldn't work fully." Caitlin leaned closer to him, her excitement for science clear. "My DNA's changed before, when I first became Killer Frost. It has to alter as I change, just enough to uncover the meta human gene so I can use my powers."

"Your DNA must have shifted just enough to work around the cuffs, since it wasn't completely meta or completely human. Those cuffs were designed for your specific case, so being between states meant they couldn't fully restrain your powers. Amunet probably put the cuffs on you immediately to keep you from becoming fully Frost when you woke up, so you were locked in that state, mostly Caitlin, but with some of Frost's power just under the surface." He pointed at her head. "That might explain the pain you were in."

"And why it's not a clear memory," she said, one hand absently touching her temple. "I know most of what happened, but the closer it gets to when the cuffs came off, the fuzzier it gets."

"Your brain was realizing it was between normal states, and trying to stabilize. Once the cuffs were destroyed you could change like normal, and Frost took over completely. The successful transition corrected the botched one." He shook his head in awe. "Caitlin, this is incredible! You're incredible!" He felt heat color his cheeks and looked away for a second.

He saw her expression soften from the corner of his eye. "I need to thank you, Julian. If you hadn't been here through all this… I don't know what I would have done."

"You would have gotten through it," he told her. He didn't doubt for a second it was true. Not until he really looked at her again, to see her shaking her head, suddenly seeming a bit afraid and vulnerable.

"I couldn't have done this alone," she asserted firmly, her tone completely open. The fear vanished, though the vulnerability remained. Warm brown eyes locked with his, earnest in their sincerity as she lowered her voice and said softly: "I need you."

The confession rang in his ears, sending all other thoughts away in an instant as he looked at her. He heard the stutter in his breath, and with difficulty snapped himself out of his stupor enough to reply: "I need you too."

The vulnerability faded swiftly, replaced with a radiant smile that Julian felt himself return to her. "Brilliant," he said in an undertone, almost giddily, and she exhaled a laugh at his reaction.

"You're up!"

Julian turned at Cisco's voice, still smiling. The breacher stopped at the foot of the bed and looked between Caitlin and Julian. "I interrupted something, didn't I?" he asked without asking.

"No," Caitlin said warmly. A tinge of pink entered her cheeks. "We were done."

Cisco sat on the edge of her bed, looking at her carefully. "How are you?"

"Completely recovered. I went Frost for a minute," she explained at his raised eyebrow.

"Glad to hear it," Barry said, leaning in the doorway. Iris stood next to him, looking relieved. "That you're recovered, not that you went Frost."

"What time is it anyway?" Caitlin asked.

Julian actually had no idea, and looked at the others. "Dude, I just know it's morning," Cisco said, raising his hands.

They were quiet for a few seconds. "Wanna get some breakfast?" Barry suggested.

"Did I hear something about breakfast?" Ralph's head appeared behind Barry startlingly fast.

"If Caitlin's up to it," Barry said.

"I'd like breakfast," Harry said, peeking in from the other door. "You do too, don't you Snow?"

Caitlin smiled at Harry. "Of course."

"Alright everyone, five minutes and we're leaving!" Cisco directed, standing. "And make sure you have your wallets!"

Julian chuckled and felt for his. He did have it on him.

"I don't have mine," Caitlin said as she hopped out of the bed. "It's in your apartment."

"I'll cover you," Julian said.

She slipped her hand into his, looking at him warmly as they went to follow the others.

"I know you will."