A few hours later, August sat alone in his lab. His leg was recovering. The pain had dulled to a numb throb, but the cold lingered somewhere deeper—in his chest.
He sipped from a soda can, staring at his suit.
"Something on your mind, sir?" JANUS's voice came through the monitor softly.
"No. Just thinking," August muttered.
"About what?"
"Recent events," he said, swiveling in his chair. "I get why Cisco made the gun. But I can't help being pissed… and disappointed. In him. In me."
He stared at the Cold Gun schematics JANUS had pulled up at his request.
"JANUS, the engine control unit on this thing—the ECU controls the fluid ratio and prevents overfreezing. It's probably still connecting back to S.T.A.R. Labs for firmware updates."
"Correct," Eve replied.
"Let's use that. Spoof a false update through Central City's network. If we ping the gun's location…"
"Yes sir. Right away"
"Also," he called. "Focus on the power source of this gun. Where is it pulling it from?"
JANUS' voice rang clear.
"The gun uses a miniature cryo-core. It functions like a liquid helium chamber and a micro-stabilizer unit to maintain structural integrity."
August's eyes narrowed. "And if that stabilizer fails?"
"Catastrophic meltdown. The helium would flash-freeze everything within 10 meters, including the wielder."
He nodded. "That's our way in. We take the gun… from the inside."
With a ping, the system locked onto a signal.
"Got him sir. He's headed north on Layton. Train station."
Godspeed tore across the city, arriving at the station just as Snart boarded a departing train. Two officers stood helpless at the platform, but August ran straight through them, catching up to the train in a blur.
Inside, Snart turned—and smirked.
"You again. Does your mother know you're up past bedtime?"
August said nothing. His body crackled with electricity. Rage made his lightning sharper, brighter.
"See, I've noticed your weakness," Snart continued. "You keep saving everyone. But I only have to save myself."
Snart fired the Cold Gun at the train wheels. A blast of ice disrupted the rail system. The train groaned and began to swerve.
Passengers screamed as the cars wobbled and tilted. Snart opened a door and leapt out.
"Good luck with that!" he called, disappearing into the darkness.
August planted his feet as the train began to derail. Shards of glass sprayed through the air. Civilians floated weightless in slow motion.
Time slowed. His eyes glowed. The world shrank to a single focus.
Save them.
He shot through the train in streaks of white lightning, grabbing passengers mid-air, carrying them outside the wreckage, moving them safely to the platform. One by one. Car by car. Breath by breath.
The train flipped. He dove for the last woman, yanked her out—then ran.
The cars crashed into each other with thunderous violence. August rolled to the ground, gasping—only for a blast of ice to explode where he'd landed.
"Pretty fast," Snart's voice echoed. "But not fast enough."
Ice sprayed wildly around him. August dodged again and again—but the ground was freezing, traction vanishing.
He turned and ran.
Snart paused, surprised.
But then he shrugged and walked into the night. There would always be another time.
***
Snart was in a warehouse near the outskirts of the city, testing his upgraded gun by freezing rats mid-run. His trap had failed. The speedster hadn't chased him. That was unusual.
That's when the light flickered, and Godspeed appeared. Gold lightning flickering his figure.
Snart lifted his gun instantly. "You again. I thought we had an understanding."
"We do. You run. I chase. You shoot. I dodge," August replied. "But let's make this interesting."
He sped around the room and stopped… revealing a cylindrical device attached to the ceiling, pointed directly at Snart.
"What the hell is that?" Snart demanded.
August smiled. "A thermodynamic reversal engine. Built it especially for you. Reverses cryo-energy signatures. In English? It makes your gun think it's overheating and forces it into cooldown mode."
Snart pulled the trigger.
Nothing.
The gun sputtered, then whined—a high-pitched screech as it began to glow blue-hot.
"No, no, no!" Snart yelled, yanking the battery pack and trying to disassemble it.
August blurred forward and ripped the gun from his hands. "Don't worry, I'll recycle it."
With a twist of his hand, he jammed the Cold Gun into a magnetic cryo-dampener on his belt—another tech he had speedbuilt.
The Cold Gun sputtered once more… then cracked from within, shattering like glass.
Snart stared, stunned. "You tricked me."
"I thought like you. You escalate. So I escalated."
***
Later, back at S.T.A.R. Labs. Cisco was at the workbench, tinkering with a gauntlet when August limped in, dragging a scorched backpack behind him. He dropped it on the floor. The crushed remains of the Cold Gun slid out.
"Hey," August said quietly.
Cisco looked up, then smiled faintly. "Nice trick with the thermodynamic trap. I gotta admit—pretty slick."
August gave a small smirk. "Yeah I thought so too."
Cisco stared at the wreckage of the weapon he once designed.
August noticed. "You wanted a failsafe. That's what it became."
"I'm sorry," Cisco said. "I never wanted this. I just—"
"I know," August interrupted. "You were scared of what people like me could become. What I could become."
He exhaled. The rage from earlier was gone now—burnt out, replaced with something quieter.
"I would've done the same," August added, voice soft. "But… you should've told me. We're supposed to be partners."
Cisco looked up. "We are."
A beat passed. Then August held out a hand.
Cisco grinned faintly, then took it.
"Next time," August said, "if you build another doomsday device—put a label on it."
"Like, 'Warning: Definitely not a freeze ray?'" Cisco joked.
"Exactly."
Caitlin entered with a medkit. "Heard the train wreck went okay."
"Define 'okay,'" August said, limping toward the medbay.
Dr. Wells raised an eyebrow. "You're limping. Again."
"Yeah. But I'm not frozen," August replied. "So… progress."
He sat, letting Caitlin check his vitals. She gave him a thumbs up.
"Oh, by the way… we scanned the shattered Cold Gun pieces. The core's fried. It can't be replicated without our blueprints."
Wells wheeled in. "Which have been scrubbed from the system, per August's request."
As they all smiled, August gazed round the room, deep in thought.
Snart had figured out the logic. If you want to catch lightning, slow it down.
But August had figured out something else.
You can't stop a storm with fear.
You fight it with trust.