"I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death."

- Leonardo da Vinci

>>>·<<<

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

>>> Trillium's P.O.V. <<<

"Damn you, she's missing! My sister is fucking missing, so don't you dare tell me to chill out, Bartholomew!"

"You will chill out or I will have to sedate you!"

Needless to say, the short trip to the emergency room in arms of the fastest man alive sucked. Big time. Especially since Barry refused to believe my short-breathed attempts to tell him that I was, indeed, fine.

"You're not fine, Tril. You broke your leg."

"I didn't break it, the little freak Marcus kid did it! Just take me to Caitlin."

"This is above Cait's paygrade."

He refuses to let me go and runs me to the nearest hospital. He checks me in as the Flash, and then runs back through the front entrance as Barry Allen, who just happened to have been "left outside" by the Flash. He's back by my side in seconds, giving me a look of terrified assurance.

As the nurse holds me between her and Barry, all three of us hobbling towards the stretcher in the small hallway, I turn to Barry and growl in a low voice, "My sister is missing. She's the priority, not me. She didn't even see me fall. She doesn't know I'm hurt, and what she doesn't know wont kill her."

Barry lifts me onto the stretcher as the nurse runs off to find a doctor. "Your sister would kill me if I left you to fend for yourself. We'll find Aspen, Tril. I promise."

The doctor rounds the corner, with the nurse, and I nod at the superhero. He gives my hand a squeeze as the doctor looks over my broken appendage that's growing more swollen and bloody by the second. He turns to Barry and I after mere seconds. "We need to operate right now. Her leg is broken in at least three places. What the hell happened?"

"Christmas lights," I quickly reply as Barry stands there sputtering an answer. He's not the best at lying people. "Damn things fell off the roof. I went to try to fix them, but as you can see, I totally Griswold'ed it." I give a half-convincing smile as the nurses, now two of them, start to wheel me to the operating room.

One of them gives me an IV as the other tells Barry he should leave. He turns to me and nods. "Don't worry. We'll find Aspen. I...I can't lose her either."

I grin cheekily as the anesthesia starts to flood my body. "You like my sister, don't you, Sparky?"

Barry chuckles. "Yeah, I guess I do."

"Don't worry. She likes you, too."

>>>·<<<

When I start to come out of my anesthesia-induced slumber, the first thing I notice is Julian sleeping in the chair next to me. The lights are dimmed, and I hear the heartbeat monitor singing its song. I move just enough to see the large cast around my upper right leg. I sigh, letting my head fall back against the pillow. "Great."

Julian stirs next to me, seeing me awake. "You're up!"

"Sorta," I mumble, looking over at him. "How long?"

"Just a few hours," he replies, scooting his chair closer to the edge of my bed.

"Aspen?"

His hesitation in answering gives me my answer. "Not yet. We're making progress. Barry went to talk to Maria Marcus. She told us all about Benji and how he'd been acting strangely."

"We've been chasing the wrong person this whole time," I groan, closing my eyes in frustration. "It was Benji all along, wasn't it?" Julian nods. "All this time we thought it was Frank Torres. I saw a bruise on Benji's eye. That guy may have not taken Persephone and the other kids, but he's the monster here. Benji's just a scared kid."

"I agree, and so does Maria Marcus. She's agreed to help us get Aspen back. She had no idea he had powers or that he had taken three kids."

"Does she know where they might be?"

Julian nods. "She told us there's a place he runs to whenever he's scared. It's where he and his parents used to live before his dad died. It's not far, in Danville. Remember the wind turbines?" I nod. "He's probably there, Maria said. He used to go there with his father. Mr. Marcus worked for the turbine company."

"So, that's that. Let's get to Danville." I try to push myself up.

Julian places a heavy hand on my shoulder. "No way. You're staying put. Your leg was broken in two different places. They had to remove shards of bone from your ligaments. You won't be walking for weeks, at least..." He stops, looking away.

"Julian Albert Desmond, what aren't you telling me?"

Julian runs a hand through his hair. "You'll probably have a slight limp for the rest of your life."

There's a pause as his words settle. I take a deep breath, focusing on Aspen rather than myself. "I'll live. We need to find Aspen, and you're gonna help me break outta this joint."

I expect him to fight me again, but Julian sighs and nods. "All right. We'll need a wheelchair."

I grin and reach out to grab his jacket. I pull him close enough to press my lips to his, catching him off-guard. I pull back, chuckling at the look of surprise on his face. "I love you, honey bunches."

He groans, rolling his eyes. "Oh god, not that nickname again."

>>>·<<<

The moment Julian wheels me into the Cortex of S.T.A.R. Labs is the moment I hear, "Oh my god!" from Cisco and a harsh, "Julian!" from Cait. 

"What are you doing out of bed?" Caitlin chastises. "You just had surgery two hours ago!" She turns to Julian before I can open my mouth to explain. "And you. You are an enabler!"

Julian raises his hands in defense. "Have you ever tried to tell Tril no? Ever?"

"It was my choice, Cait," I tell my friend. "I'm okay. Julian got me some pain meds and a crutch. I need to be here."

Caitlin sees the look on my face, and her features soften. She still has the appearance of a cross mother. "Fine, but you're not leaving this building or my sight, got it?"

I salute as Barry enters the room, eyes wide, with a worried Hispanic woman behind him. "Yes, Ma'am."

"What the hell are you doing outside the hospital?" Barry asks. "The doctor's said you wouldn't be released for at least another day."

"And you're going after my sister and niece. You think I was gonna sit on my ass and eat jello?"

"Fair point," Barry admits. He motions to the woman behind him. "This is Maria Marcus. Ms. Marcus, this is everyone. We're going to help you get your son back."

She smiles for a brief second. "I hope we get everyone back, including your sister and niece."

I nod. "So, what's the plan?"

"I run and find them," Barry says, plainly. "We think he's created a fictional reality bubble around the windmills in Danville. Our satellites can't penetrate a kilometer either way. It's like he's created a mini-universe inside the area."

"But you can get there?" I ask.

Barry nods, and Cisco says, "I've rigged his suit so he'll be able to enter. He's going to take Ms. Marcus with him so she can talk her son into letting his hostages go."

Cait places a hand on my shoulder. "It will work."

I sigh, nodding in agreement. "All right. Get running, Barry. I'll be watching from here."

END CHAPTER SIXTEEN