i can't help it. i'm a sucker for non-canon ships.
You can hear it in the silence, silence
You can feel it on the way home, way home
You can see it with the lights out, lights out
You're in love, true love
-You Are In Love, Taylor Swift
Caitlin Snow was not a hacker. Caitlin Snow was not a scientist. No, Caitlin Snow was neither of those. Caitlin Snow sneered at those who called her a scientist. She huffed because she was not just a mere scientist. She was more than that. She was a bio-engineer. A bio-engineer differed far from a scientist, thank you very much.
And then she heard a crash and a grunt in her earpiece and she closed her eyes with a sigh.
She was also Barry Allen's personal physician. Whatever. She'd long since submitted to her fate. She would be destined to be the one to heal Barry Allen as long as his alter-ego, The Flash, existed. She heard Barry telling them that he was okay, only then did she stand up and started preparing the gauze, antiseptic and all the other apparatus needed.
Cisco sniggered behind her and she shook her head. Then she leaned back against the bedframe and counted from one to ten. She hadn't even reached five when a whoosh of red flew it. Naturally, she reached up to brush her hair. Naturally, Barry walked over to her and sat down on the mattress. Then she got started to treat the scratches and wounds.
She didn't even apologize anymore when he wince and hiss in pain. "Serves you right," she murmured as she stuck a patch of gauze over the last wound. She looked up to see him staring at her sheepishly. She only rolled her eyes and threw the forceps into the pan. "You're cleaning up."
He nodded eagerly. Her lips twitched but she turned around before he could notice it. Then she sat in her chair in front of the computers, resuming her work. It was probably hours later when she noticed someone's eyes burning into her back. Her aware mode had heightened as time passed and Dr. Wells and Cisco had left. She had assumed Barry had left as well.
She swallowed and reached for her phone slowly, making sure that she wasn't basically informing her watcher that she knew they were watching her. Then she swiveled her chair slowly, her fingers already tapping out Barry's phone number.
What? He was the one with the powers so he should be the one to save if anything happened to her.
She pressed call and she nearly yelped when she heard his ringtone ringing across the room. Her wary stare turned into a glowering angry stare when she saw him standing at the entrance, staring at his phone as if he had no idea how it worked. She ended the call and huffed at him.
"I thought you left already?" she asked loudly.
He smacked his lips and shook his head. "No, I didn't. I was in the other room."
She furrowed her brows. "Why are you still here?"
His eyes widened a fraction. "I uh…I thought I should stay here until you leave."
Her eyes subtly traveled down his body. He was dressed in a STAR Labs sweater and a pair of beige sweatpants. His hair looked wet. He probably showered. She couldn't help but think he looked kind of good like that. She blinked. What?
"Well, don't. You should go home and get some rest," she practically ordered. She swiveled her chair back around to face the computers and started typing again.
"You should too," Barry voiced from behind her. Like directly behind her.
This time, she couldn't help the yelp that escaped her throat. She heaved in annoyance. She swiveled back around and lifted her eyes to look up at his amused face. "I have more work to do."
"You have work to do all day every day. The only way they're gonna stop coming your way is when I stop being the Flash. And really, I don't see that coming soon."
She crossed her arms. Maybe she could entertain him a little bit before she kicked him out again. It wasn't that she didn't like his company. It was just that it was only during the nights that she got to have her peace of mind. And then there was the fact that she would somehow get kind of nervous around him, god knows why.
"Your point?" she asked drily.
He narrowed his eyes slightly. They roved from her to the computers. Then he looked around the room and then he looked back at her. He smirked. "Wanna grab some ice-cream?"
She blinked. Once. Twice. Thrice. And then, "What?"
He shoved his hands into his sweatpants pockets. She chastised herself for finding such a mere action adorable. What the hell was wrong with her today? "Wanna grab ice-cream?" he reiterated, slower this time.
"I heard what you said the first time. I just don't understand," she scolded.
He frowned. "I think all these work have been getting to you, Caitlin. You're normally smarter. It's a pretty simple English phrase. I just asked you if you wanna go with me and get some ice-cream. Ya know, those cold frozen ones that taste like heaven."
"Barry!" she cut him off before he could go into a detailed description of ice-cream and maybe an experience in his childhood about ice-cream. "Why are you asking me out to get ice-cream?"
Then he started stammering. "What? No, no! I'm not asking you out. What are you talking about? I'm just asking if you wanna grab ice-cream together. I'm not interested in you that way." There was a flicker in his eyes when he said the last sentence. "Not that you're not pretty. I mean, of course you are. I mean, look at you. I mean, I just…we're colleagues!"
She sighed and lowered her head to pinch the bridge of her nose. Also, allowing herself to smile in amusement at his nervous rambling. "Barry," she cut him off again, softer this time. He stopped, staring at her nervously. "Let's go get ice-cream."
He grinned. She grinned in return. She turned back around to save her progress and shut down the computers. Then she stood up and went to grab her jacket and coat from the rack. He grabbed his. Then they walked out STAR Labs building. She glanced down at her watch and was taken aback when she saw that it was already midnight.
"Wow, it's late," she said.
He chuckled. "You think?"
She looked up at him and smiled. She took some time to admire his side profile. Then he turned to her with a soft smile. She glanced away in a flash – no pun intended – and stared ahead, her lips pursed. She thought she could hear him chuckling beside her.
They reached the grocery store. They picked their flavors and Barry paid for it. Since he was the one who suggested ice-cream and dragged her away from her work, he should be the one to pay for it. There were like rules about it.
They sat side by side of the sidewalk and started eating their ice-cream. The occasional pedestrians would probably find them weird. Because who in god's name would choose to sit out here in the cold and eat freaking ice-cream? It was like torturing themselves.
However, Caitlin was enjoying this. She realized she never really had the time to enjoy sweets like this and not worry about Barry or creating the perfect formula for the alcohol to get him drunk or some other stuff. She bit a chunk of the ice-cream off and grimaced at the sudden invasion of chillness in her mouth. She groaned and swallowed it down.
"Who taught you to bite ice-cream?" Barry asked. She turned to see him staring at her amusedly. She elected to ignore when she thought she saw something else in his eyes.
"I just want to finish it up quick. I want to go home," she proclaimed.
He hummed. "Oh yeah? Who was the one who was so adamant to kick me out just now and stay at the lab?"
"Shut up," she muttered, loud enough for him to hear. He laughed. "Why did you even invite me for ice-cream anyway?"
"You needed a break." She stared at him questioningly. "I've been staying with you at the lab for the past week and you never noticed." Her eyes widened. He nodded in confirmation that he wasn't lying. "And you know, I've been watching working down to your bones. I couldn't get you out of the lab by asking you. So I thought I could get you out of the office by inviting you for ice-cream. And then blocking you from going back to the lab."
"I don't intend to."
"Good."
They continued to eat in silence. "Thank you for staying with me. Today and for the past week," she said.
He shrugged. "It's nothing. I'm used to late nights anyway. Apparently, you are too. But you know, a person's gotta rest sometime. You're not a superhero." Then he winked.
She rolled her eyes and grinned. She found it weird: Barry's care for her. The last person who did something like this for her, he died. And she wasn't used to it now. However, as she turned to look at Barry, she found that she didn't really want him to stop caring for her. It felt good. And she hadn't felt good like this in a long time.