Omniverse Recovery system

Rachel came back from meeting her homeroom teacher and classmates and glared at Daniel, who was standing in the hall.

"I don't like it there," she announced flatly. "I'm dropping out."

Daniel didn't even look up from his phone. It was exactly what he'd expected.

Unfortunately for her, he wasn't letting an angst-ridden half-demon teenager drop out of high school on her first day.

"If you want to stay in my house, you follow the rules," he said, swiping on his screen. "And the rules say you attend school."

Rachel crossed her arms, a faint dark energy swirling in the corners of her eyes. "Then I'll leave and stay somewhere else."

"You know that isn't a good idea." He finally looked up.

"Let's review your options. You can stay here, running water, free food, people who can actually protect you from the interdimensional psychos hunting you."

He gestured vaguely out the window toward the skyline. "Or you can go sleep under a bridge in Gotham, where the local wildlife wears clown makeup and stabs people for loose change. Your call."

Rachel scowled, but the dark aura around her eyes vanished as the logic landed. She didn't have anywhere else to go, and she knew it.

"The classes are pointless," she muttered, staring at the floor. "And the people are annoying."

"Welcome to the real world. It doesn't get any better," Daniel said, leaning back on the sofa. "Besides, I already signed the paperwork. You're going back tomorrow. Now go do your homework."

And just like that, Rachel officially joined the high school roster. She hated every second of it, but she went.

***

Meanwhile, miles away in Central City, the timeline's residual damage was still an active problem.

Deep in the underground levels of S.T.A.R. Labs, a plastic food tray slid through the slot of a heavily reinforced cell door.

"You piece of shit!" Caitlin Snow slammed both hands against the carbine glass of the Pipeline cell, eyes flashing with an icy edge, glaring at Cisco Ramon on the other side.

"How many days are you going to keep me locked in this damn thing? I'm a woman, Cisco! How can you do this to me?"

Cisco didn't flinch. "Pretty easily, actually. You locked us in here last time."

Caitlin sneered, stepping back. The air in the cell was already dropping. "So that's what this is? Your little revenge?"

"No," Cisco said quietly, staring at the person who used to be his best friend. "I'm trying to save you."

"Oh yeah? Locking me in a box forever is saving me?" She lunged and punched the glass hard enough to rattle the frame. Frost spiderwebbed across the impact point.

Cisco just sighed, dragging a hand down his face. He pulled out his phone and stared at Daniel's contact. Before Daniel left Central City, he'd given one instruction: call me if it gets worse.

Cisco glanced back through the glass at Caitlin, now kicking the door and screaming a creative string of threats.

Yeah. This qualified.

He hit call. It rang once before Daniel picked up.

"Okay. Did anything happen?" Daniel's voice was flat.

Before Cisco could answer, Caitlin slammed her fists against the door again. "When I get out of here, Ramon, I'm going to freeze your hands off and shatter them!"

Cisco held the phone toward the glass. "Hear that?"

"Yeah," Daniel sighed. "Coming there."

The line went dead. Cisco lowered the phone, wondering how long it'd take Daniel to catch a flight — or just open a portal.

A split second later the air beside him folded over itself, and Daniel stepped out of the crease, boots hitting the grated floor with a thud.

"Jesus!" Cisco stumbled back, clutching his chest. "Don't do that! You can't just spawn in without a sound!"

"You said to hurry." Daniel didn't look at him — his eyes were already on the glass, where Caitlin had stopped screaming and was staring at him with a deep, furious scowl.

"You're a nasty man," she spat. "You break women's hearts."

Daniel didn't blink at the accusation. "I see. Still like that, huh?"

He shoved his hands in his pockets, watching the ice spread across the door. He had no way to fix her condition — his cosmic energy was built for folding dimensions and tearing apart space, not rewriting someone's mind. If she was stuck like this, he couldn't just snap his fingers and cure her.

He turned to Cisco. "So. I don't have a magic switch in my pocket for whatever's going on in her head. What exactly do you want from me?"

Cisco rubbed the back of his neck, exhausted. "I don't know, man — you at least know how to handle her. She just keeps getting more pissed off, and I'm out of ideas."

Right on cue, Caitlin slammed her fists against the glass again, eyes glowing a faint dangerous white. "I can hear you! I'm not a pet, Ramon!"

Daniel stared at Cisco. "Handle her?"

"Besides," he added, deadpan, "you already locked her in a high-tech cage. What else do you want — throw a blanket over the glass like a noisy parrot?"

Cisco sighed heavily. "I was hoping you had some kind of magic trick to calm her down. She's been screaming for three hours."

"The only trick I have is putting her to sleep." Daniel raised his hand, a faint golden hum of energy sparking across his knuckles. "Want me to do it?"

"No," Cisco said.

*****