Caitlin stood on the step-ladder, happily humming and hanging Valentines decorations ready for tomorrow. Ever since Ray had returned back to Palmer Tech and Cisco had returned back to Gotham City, the 97th floor had lost its charm. Astrid had been tiring herself over with nothing but work… Harry was… well Harry, and even Barry seemed swamped with being the Flash and working at CCPD.
Caitlin glanced over as she saw Astrid walking towards her with a tablet in her hands. She groaned as she saw the heart decorations. "Caitlin, I need you to promise me, that while those… things... are hanging up, you will not call Cisco over from Gotham City. The last thing we need is the awkward tension over that horrible day. Whatever meta-human we come across this week, we do not need that dork's help. Please promise me."
Caitlin climbed down from the step ladder, "I had really thought that the two of you had been seeing eye to eye over the past few weeks."
"We were, but as friends… despite any awkward unspoken emotions… which will remain unspoken as far as I'm concerned… That's why the last thing we need is him showing up. Thanks to him, this will be the first year I give our little Princess Bride tradition a miss. But I really hope that you and Barry have something planned for tomorrow. I don't need my cynicism to wash off onto either one of you." Astrid said.
Caitlin nodded, "We do. Barry has dinner planned at some surprise restaurant."
Astrid looked over Caitlin's shoulder and smiled. She nodded over to Barry who had entered the cortex with a bouquet of flowers for Caitlin. "I'm going to leave the two of you for a moment…" she said as she went to turn on her heels.
"Actually… Astrid." Barry said as he handed the flowers to Caitlin and kissed his girlfriend on the cheek. "Singh sent me to come and get you. He said he needs your help on a case."
Astrid raised her eyebrows at Barry. "I thought he had someone to fill my shoes over there." She knew that if Cisco were there he would make some joke about her comment, so she bit her tongue.
"He did, but this person has requested to speak with you… I mean, it just seems like some really unstable woman, but they want you regardless. Besides, the Criminal psychologist that he hired was a man so… he can't exactly fill your shoes… as Cisco would probably say." Barry replied.
Astrid turned on her heels silently and headed towards Harry's office.
"Barry… You know not to mention that name… you know what day it is tomorrow... so she is a little on edge…" Caitlin said to Barry.
"I forgot… what day is it?" he asked her, ignoring the red-heart shaped decorations.
"It's Valentine's Day, silly. Remember? We have dinner planned?"
"So I guess I should get you some more flowers then… these ones were just… it's good to see you flowers…" Barry said.
"Did you really forget, Barry?" Caitlin asked a little hurt.
"No… it was a joke." He laughed.
"Oh... that's good, then!'
Astrid gave Harry her tablet which had her checklist of jobs for that day. "So, Captain Singh needs me to head over to the station and interview some woman. Can you just get these things done for me, while I'm out? If you don't get through them all, that's fine… Just sit the meetings, and this press conference and…"
"Astrid, It's handled okay." Harry said, "But it sure would be easier if Ramo…"
"Don't! Don't even mention his name!" She snapped as she left the office, to go with Barry to CCPD.
Barry and Astrid made their way to CCPD where they were met by Captain Singh and Joe West. "You said that you needed me for a consult?" Astrid asked him.
"I did. I know that this is all a little unorthodox considering you don't work here, but this woman asked to speak with you directly." Singh replied, as he handed her a stack of notes.
"Okay… I'll go in to the office… send her in when you're ready." Astrid said.
She made her way to the office and cleaned it up a little. She felt a little nostalgic being here. She missed her old job, but priority dictated that she remained the CEO of STAR labs.
The assistant brought in a cool jug of water and placed it on the desk with two glasses, one for her and one for whoever she was seeing.
As she leant back in the comfortable black chair, the door opened. Joe brought in a blonde woman in a pink dress. She wore a lot of makeup, that Astrid couldn't decipher how old she was. 'Unstable my ass!' Astrid thought to herself.
This woman had confidence and she sat in the seat across from Astrid with a perfect posture. There was an aura about the woman. Astrid felt that she was in the presence of royalty, but she couldn't have been. Captain Singh would have told her so, were that the case. Joe nodded at Astrid as he left and closed the door behind him.
"Good morning, miss…" Astrid began.
"Aphrodite." The woman finished her sentence.
Astrid tried to hold back her laughter. 'That's what Singh meant by unstable,' she thought to herself.
"You doubt me." The woman said, before Astrid could introduce herself.
"I'm sorry? No, I don't doubt you. My name is Astrid. My former colleagues told me that you requested to speak with me." Astrid glanced down at the notes, that Captain Singh had given her, earlier. This woman had been claiming that she was a goddess and that her powers were fading away, due to people not believing in her.
"Your former colleague? As in The Flash?" the woman asked her with a smile.
"I'm sorry. What? Why do you think the Flash is my colleague?" Astrid asked.
"Because he is. His name is Barry Allen, and you are Astrid Sutherland, former criminal Psychologist for CCPD, current CEO of STAR Labs, a telepathic meta-human and an amazing warrior woman. But, you have recently had your heart broken and you are becoming a cynic when it comes to love and romance…" The lady said.
Astrid's eyes stared in astonishment at the woman, "how… how…" she couldn't believe what she was hearing, had this woman been following her?
"How do I know all that, child? I am Aphrodite. The goddess of love, of course." She replied. The way she spoke reminded Astrid of Glinda in the Wizard of Oz, a film that Astrid had been obsessed with as a child.
Astrid couldn't speak. Even with the bracelet that increased her powers, she still could not get a reading. Which was astonishing as the bracelet even allowed her to read Barry's thoughts.
"I need to…" she began as she got up, this was the first time that a client had ever made her feel this bewildered and amazed at the same time.
"Be my guest… Barry Allen would be the perfect man to use as an example." Aphrodite said.
Astrid ran to the door, opened it, and spotted Barry down the hallway. She closed the door behind her. "Barry… I need your help," she called to him.
Barry and some of the officers looked at her in confusion, nonetheless, Barry walked over to her. "Is everything okay, Astrid?"
Astrid was having problems explaining things to him… but she managed to blurt out, "Do you remember when I believed you that your father was innocent and no one else did, even though it seemed very impossible and everyone thought that you were crazy… except for me?"
Barry looked at her confused, "Yeah?"
"Well, please don't think that I'm crazy… I think I'm dealing with an actual goddess… you know from all those myths, legends and stuff?"
"Astrid… you're one of the most rational people that I've ever met… but that seems a little…"
She stared at Barry, pleading for him to believe her.
"Okay… I believe you." He said.
She led him into her office to meet with the woman and he sat on the chair next to Astrid.
"It's good that I have the two of you here." Aphrodite said. "I have a problem… You see, at this time of year there are so many people who have been hurt by love. They stop believing in it, and they stop believing in me. Which makes things a little difficult for me. You see, the less that they believe in me, the more I lose my powers. So the two of you will be my subjects. Astrid, you're an amazing woman, a fighter and a face that the public will recognize. Barry. You're the Flash…"
Barry looked over at Astrid, "You told her?" he asked. She shook her head to say 'no'.
"Of course, she didn't, child. She has no need to tell me your secrets… But that gets me back to what I am going to propose. The two of you will be my example of love." Aphrodite said.
"Excuse me?" Astrid asked. "Barry's my friend, he and Caitlin would be perfect for your little demonstration. But leave me out of this one, please."
"Astrid, you being an anomaly is what brought you to my attention… you being a cynic when it comes to love makes you the perfect candidate." Aphrodite said.
"Er… I'm sorry… if it's Astrid you want, maybe you should just go over to Gotham City and bring back…"
"Don't say his name, Barry!" Astrid snapped.
"My darlings… No, the two of you don't understand… I need people to believe in me… That I am the goddess Aphrodite. The two of you are a very unlikely couple… so that makes the pair of you absolutely perfect." Aphrodite said, looking at them both.
Barry and Astrid looked at each other, mortified at what the woman had planned. She clicked her fingers, and disappeared before their very eyes.