Disclaimer: "Flash" and all associated characters are the property of DC Entertainment and the CW, used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit.
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"Do You Hear What I Hear"
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'
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Winter had officially begun; the day before had been the official start of the season. Of course, Cisco Ramon was fairly certain that no one had told winter that; it'd had been freezing temperatures for the last month - no metahuman cause, they'd checked - and over the weekend it had snowed, leaving Central City coated in a layer of white powder. In the Cortex of S.T.A.R. Labs, Cisco was snacking on a package of powered mini-donuts - donuts which he'd been inspired to buy by the sight of a snow-covered tire laying on the roadside - while he waited on the others to show up. Barry being late wasn't surprising, despite having super-speed, but Caitlin had lived for years by the belief that on-time was late and five minutes early - minimum - was on-time, so her being late was surprising and a little nerve-wracking considering some of the things that had previously been the cause of her being late or absent. Cisco was just about to call Detective West to have search parties sent out when the door opened and Caitlin finally entered the Cortex in an uncharacteristic rush, dusting snow out of her hair.
"Finally!" Cisco exclaimed by way of greeting, "I was beginning to think everyone was laying out today and nobody was telling me!"
Doctor Caitlin Snow winced, drawing attention to the redness of her cheeks, appearantly windbitten, "Sorry, Cisco; appearently I was so out of it that I couldn't even hear the alarm."
Cisco couldn't help but snort, "That one's straight out of Barry's book, I think. Look, I don't mind you being late, just call, okay? I was starting to worry."
"Cisco, I was fine."
"I didn't know that, did I? We've had bad luck with getting kidnapped, captured and shanghaied, all of us, you, me, Barry, even Iris and Joe," Cisco reminded her.
"Aren't you and Barry the ones complaining when I start to, what do you call it, 'mother hen'?" Caitlin sighed.
"Big difference between being afraid you've been kidnapped and you fussing at Barry for only eating twenty-four hundred calories instead of twenty-five," Cisco retorted petulantly.
With his trademark woosh and wind disturbing everything around from papers to hair, Barry Allen arrived just in time to hear the last part of Cisco's comment.
"Caitlin, you're not upset about that again?" Barry rolled his eyes.
"You do need to watch your caloric intake better," Caitlin folded her arms and gave Barry a hard look before adding, "But, no, Cisco's having an overreaction to my tardiness this morning."
"Speaking of which," Cisco interrupted, "What's your excuse, Barry? Didn't hear the alarm?"
"No, I was already awake when the alarm went off," Barry answered, "Was there a power outage or something, because I don't think I was affected."
"Caitlin was late," Cisco replied.
"Yeah, she said that," Barry gave the other man a confused look, "More words, but same thing, I think."
"She was late," Cisco repeated as though he didn't think Barry understood what he was saying, "She didn't get here on time, you don't find that strange?"
"I was late," Barry reminded him.
"You're always late. You were late today," Cisco frowned at him, "In fact, you never answered my question; why were you late?"
Barry glanced at the half-eaten package of mini-donuts Cisco had, "How much sugar have you had today, Cisco? Seriously, man, you seem so hyper right now, I'd think you were the speedster instead of me. Relax, I just got distracted. Have you looked outside recently? I was playing with snow and I lost track of time."
"Okay, I can understand that," Cisco shrugged, knowing just how much of a big kid Barry was, it's wasn't surprising that he'd take the time to enjoy the 'winter wonderland' the city had become.
It was only as he was turning back to his computers and out of the corner of his eye caught Caitlin looking at Barry did things start connecting; Caitlin was staring at Barry, almost starry-eyed. Caitlin had been late that morning, just like Barry. All of a sudden, it seemed to Cisco that it might not have been the wind and cold that had made her cheeks red. In fact, now that he thought about it, Caitlin's - Caitlin Snow's - rosy cheeks seemed to look less wind-burned and more a blush, but it couldn't mean what it seemed to mean. Especially with Barry's excuse for being late. It would just be too weird; they were the Tres Amigos, the Trois Musketeers, Team Flash; sure, he wished his best friends all happiness, but the idea of them as a couple was something else entirely. Especially with certain parts of their history by the names of Ronnie and Iris, including a particular newspaper byline of 'West-Allen' from the future. Despite all the crazy things he'd experienced, Cisco had never doubted his sanity. But now he was sure that he had to be crazy because he couldn't have just heard what he thought he'd heard.
He just couldn't have heard Caitlin and Barry exchanging whispered 'I love you's' behind his back.