Barry is the fastest man alive, but right now, behind the glass his speed was useless.
Less than three minutes ago he was patrolling Central City when he heard Caitlin scream over the comm link.
He found his wife crouched on the floor over their daughter Nora, who was struggling to breathe. Even with his suit and gloves on she felt cold and was pale. He scooped her up, transferring her to the lonely bed in the infirmary.
Nora held his hand tight, her usually bright green eyes panicked. "Baby, we're going to fix this." As she squeezed his hand, he gave her a smile. He wished he could offer more, but it was taking all of his strength to keep from crying.
Caitlin rushed over a few moments later, bringing her diagnostic tools. With a nod from her, Barry stepped off to the side, giving his gifted wife the space to do what she was placed on this Earth to do - heal.
His green eyes honed in on Caitlin's movements as she scrambled to stabilize their daughter. It amazed him to see the dichotomy played out in front of him. Her hands were steady as she carefully went through her examination.
Her face, though, was unnaturally tense and he caught her lips trembling.
Barry's heart clenched watching Caitlin hooking up the defibrillator.
Barry kept his feet planted, resisting the urge to hover and instead watched everything behind the glass partition.
He could tell Caitlin was scared and while his instinct was to rush in and offer some words of encouragement, Barry knew that it wasn't what she needed nor wanted at this moment.
With nothing to do and plenty of adrenaline coursing through him, Barry crossed his arms in an attempt to calm himself down.
It failed as he saw Caitlin remove the defibrillator paddles and instead connected the wires to electrodes pulled out from a drawer. These patches were then applied on Nora's heart and behind her neck.
She tapped on the controls and after what seemed like an eternity, Barry saw Nora's small frame relax, her breathing becoming deeper.
His little girl turned her head toward him, tired with watery eyes. He pressed his fingers to his lips and then on the glass and she smiled, the color returning to her lips.
Caitlin went over to the small cabinet and pulled out a pre-filled syringe. She then injected their daughter with what he assumed was a sedative since the girl instantly fell into a peaceful sleep.
Once he got the signal from his wife, Barry flashed over, standing between the most precious people in his life.
His hands gently wiped away the sweat from Nora's forehead while he asked, "What happened Cait?"
It was a simple question, but after she had just been through Caitlin's emotions were just beginning to push back. She paused to gather her thoughts before answering,"Nora's metabolism… somehow… glitched."
"Glitched?" Barry repeated, confused. "How?"
Caitlin chided herself for giving an imprecise answer. If she was going to be of any use to her daughter, she needed to keep it together and stay sharp. "It's complicated; let me clean this up first."
Barry was about to protest, but he could tell from watching her that she needed a few moments to herself, to process things. Caitlin had always been someone who needed some alone time so he pulled up a chair and returned to his daughter's side.
—-
After Caitlin pushed the last cart back to other side of the room, she came over to Nora and Barry. She sat on the bed and watched her little girl sleep. She pulled the thin sheet up a little further, covering the grey and purple shirt Nora insisted on wearing this morning.
The room was quiet for a few minutes when Caitlin's brown eyes finally turned to him as she explained, "It was so sudden."
"What happened?"
"Nora was just sitting right at my desk, drawing and.." She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to gain some control of her emotions, but was failing. "It happened too quickly. She just-"
Barry reached out and held her hand. "It's okay."
"No, it's not." Caitlin got up from the bed, talking through her tears. "She could've died."
"But she didn't, thanks to you."
"We were lucky." Her voice was agitated which only irritated her further. "It could happen again. And we might not be around."
Without hesitation he told her, "We'll figure it out."
"Stop!"
Barry was stunned momentarily. "I'm sorry." He offered softly.
"No, I shouldn't have yelled." Why am I falling apart?!
He got up and gave her a hug. "It's been a crazy night."
"Barry, I'm scared."
"Me too."
His admission for some reason made her feel better.
"We're figure something out Caitlin."
Her mind began to explore their options and apparently so did Barry's since he asked, "How were you able to help her this time?"
"I rigged the defibrillator to simulate extreme high voltage, like a bolt of lightning."
He pulled back, confused. "Why?"
"It was the only way I could think of to allow her to tap into the speed force."
"Nora is a speedster?" Barry's own sharp mind struggled to see how this was possible. After her difficulties with the previous pregnancies, they had ran tests and all previous results had told them Nora was not a meta.
Caitlin's voice brought him back to the present. "We've always known there was a chance that Nora could have complications because of her DNA."
"But we checked and everything had been fine."
"Not anymore." She took his hand in hers and led him to a station on the other side of the lab. A few taps on the keyboard and she pulled up some files, zooming in on the one labeled with Nora's name.
On the large screen there were side by side scans of a test done last year and the one done tonight.
Barry's years of training allowed him to immediately see a difference between the two. "Her powers are activating."
"Both of them."
"Both?"
Caitlin pointed to some data towards the bottom of the screen. "She doesn't just have your speed, but she has my latent abilities and they are clashing."
His mind and eyes tried to connect the dots, but it wasn't adding up. "But we cured you."
"No," She swallowed, "We fixed my need for….extracting body heat." Even now, years later, it was difficult to talk about that dark period.
It made her sick to think of those she killed just to stay alive. She has been using every day of her life to try and atone for those who suffered.
Caitlin shoved the self-pity and guilt to the back as she focused on the present - on helping Nora and making sure her baby girl never has to go through the nightmare she did.
"I can't lose her Barry."
"We won't."
She really wanted to believe him, to have that faith in the good of the universe.
It was that optimism that allowed him to reach her heart when it was cold (both literally and figuratively) and she was a monster.
It was his unwavering belief in love and redemption that made her take that leap and say 'I do.'
And it was his hope that soothe the pain of losing all of their loved ones - friends, family, and the two little ones they wanted so badly to take home, but couldn't.
Tears streamed down her cheeks, "You of all people should know that sometimes we don't win."
"We can't focus on the bad."
"But there's so much of it. We've been fighting it for years."
Barry's hand tenderly wiped the tears off her face. "We have to stay strong. We'll figure something out, together."
She nodded in acknowledgment and gave him a tiny smile.
If she couldn't share his idealism she can at least put her skepticism to use. "You're right."
She began setting up the computers to run deeper diagnostic scans. "We'll save Nora."
The room was silent, save for the soft hum of the computers working.