.:2:.
Caitlin looked over her shoulder as she stepped out of her car. Though she had parked far enough away from the house, thankful there was enough distance between the houses that she wouldn't be questioned for the decision. Nevertheless, she was half expecting Barry to arrive at her side, blowing her tresses back as it always did, wondering what she was doing out there. As soon as the thought crossed her mind, she was grateful that Cisco didn't have those sorts of powers, or else he would've made a big deal about it.
And it wasn't a big deal.
Not really.
Not to her now that she knew the truth…and was so very good at lying to herself. But she's had a couple of weeks to understand what everything meant and…
She shook her head, brushing the thoughts away. That wasn't what was important at the moment. Nothing else was important. She already got the explanations she needed and that was enough for her to continue to help. It was going to help all of them in the long run so it wasn't a big deal. Keep telling yourself that, Caitlin. Keep telling yourself that and soon you may start to believe it. Brushing her hair back behind her ears, the bioengineer began the moderately long walk up to the house. She made it in record time, the sounds of her footsteps along the road making her nervous. There was always something about the sound of lonely footsteps that freaked her out, even when she was watching a movie. That in itself made her quicken her pace until she was at the front door, ringing the doorbell. She looked around as she caught the unmistakeable scent of smoke, but as quickly as it came, it went.
The doors to the home opened and Harrison wheeled towards her, his head tilted to the side and bright blue eyes falling directly upon her. "Miss. Snow, I didn't expect you to get here so quickly," he remarked. "As a matter of fact I believed it would take you twice the time to arrive." He looked at his watch then rested his hand upon the control stick of his wheelchair. "No matter, please come in. There are some things I'd like to discuss with you."
"That's what I'm here for," she said and slowly followed him into the house, looking around behind her as she did so. Once the doors closed behind her, she pulled off her jacket and folded it over her arm before turning to the closet beside her. Flicking on the light she picked up a hangar and placed her coat upon it then left the room.
She walked into the spacious room in front of her, her footsteps being the only sound she heard. But, this time around, the sound didn't worry her as much as it had when she was outside. Now, she felt safe. She stepped down a small area of steps and stretched out her hand, taking the glass of champagne that Harrison held out towards her. Once he took it, he slowly stood up, bringing himself to his full height and moved the wheelchair away from him. He then walked over to the grand piano that sat in the corner of the room and picked up the other glass of champagne that had been placed out. He swished it around in his glass and took a sip before turning back towards her his arm outstretched. Caitlin smiled as she clinked the side of her glass with his, then it widened as he leaned down close to her. She took a step forward and leaned into him as he leaned down and pressed his lips against hers.
With her free hand, Caitlin held onto the front of his black dress shirt and pulled him closer to her as they kissed again, this time a hardened kiss that caused him to bring his hand free hand up and snake into her hair, holding her against him. They continued to kiss until the need for air was too great and Caitlin pulled back away from him. His eye caught hers and he smiled, his eyebrows twitching upwards almost as if he were laughing at her. He then brought his glass of champagne to his mouth and quickly downed it in one gulp.
"I don't think that's good for you," Caitlin remarked as she took little sips from her own glass. She took a couple steps back and looked around the nearly empty room. Tilting her head back, she looked up through the windows and watched as a couple of birds flew by, the sun streaming down upon her. Closing her eyes for a moment, she bathed herself in the light before turning back towards him.
"Please." He made a show of tossing the glass over his shoulder and stood still for a few moments before he zipped to the other side of the room and caught it in mid-air. "One thing I can say for sure is being unable to get drunk is probably one of the worst things that's managed to come from what I can do. There have been plenty of things I've wanted to forget or use as an excuse not to go to work but that's just me." He twirled the glass around his hand, his eyes on Caitlin as she watched the spinning glass. Then he tore his gaze away from her and his eyes dipped over her body. "That dress is a little to…against dress code don't you think?"
A blush tingeing her cheeks, Caitlin looked down at the dress she had chosen to wear that day. It had been the one Cadence, Iris, and Felicity had picked out for her when they had been shopping the day Harley Quinn had attacked them. Despite how much she liked the way she looked in it—and she did—the way he looked at her made her a bit more bashful than she anticipated. In a good way.
"For STAR Labs, maybe," she replied. "But you gave us the morning off, if I recall correctly." She turned on her heel and walked through the house until she reached the living room, dropping down onto the couch. She crossed her legs at the knee and waited for Harrison to approach. She lightly bopped herself on the forehead in the moments she had alone before he joined her. That was probably one of the dumbest things I've ever said, she thought to herself. "And we didn't finish the conversation we had before." Harrison raised an eyebrow as he sat down next to her. "I don't…I still don't understand why you're keeping this all a secret from everyone. You can walk. You can…you can move just as fast as Barry can."
"Yes, that seems to be what I managed to receive from the Particle Accelerator explosion," Harrison agreed. "However, despite all that, I don't think he will take it lightly when he finds out that I have the Yellow suit in my possession."
"And you still don't know who it is that the suit belongs to? Who the one was in his house?" Caitlin asked.
Letting out a sigh through his nose, Harrison grabbed onto Caitlin's hand and lifted it to his lips, kissing the back of it. He looked towards the ceiling for a very long moment before turning back to her. "I've told you everything I know," he said. "If I knew who the identity of that man was…I would've pointed Barry into his direction years ago. You see, I know there's nothing stronger than the love some family members have for each other. If I managed to tell him about a innocent man on accident…I'd rather not be the one that set Barry into a downward spiral of guilt and depression."
Caitlin nodded. She understood that. Barry had an amazing sense of wanting things to be even. He wanted to get back at the person that had managed to destroy his family all within a matter of moments. Before understanding everything that was going on behind the scenes, he wanted to help Cade get back at those that had kidnapped Brady. He wanted to help anyone that managed to be victimized by a metahuman in some way. And yet, she knew that his number one priority was to get his father out of jail and he wasn't going to let anyone stand in his way. If he did manage to catch wind of someone that turned out to be who he wasn't looking for, and he hurt that person. He wouldn't be able to handle it.
"I guess you're right," she agreed.
"I'd like to think I am," Harrison agreed. "Just as I'd like to think that trusting you with my secret…abilities was the best decision I made. Just like we've seen with Barry, it can be really hard and really lonely when you don't have anyone you can confide in. But I know you can keep a secret."
"Really? And what gives you that idea?"
"You kept the secret about our work with the particle accelerator as long as I needed you to. You and Cisco have kept Barry's secret with little to no problems. Mostly because we were the reason for that, but I digress. And the most important secret of all…between you and me…you've managed to keep beautifully. Mostly I think for your own selfish reasons but that's okay, everyone's allowed to be selfish every once in a while."
Yes, Caitlin agreed as she nodded. Everyone does get the chance to be selfish every once in a while. And this was her chance to do it. Right now she didn't have to worry what anyone else would think, she didn't have to worry about the kind of problems that may be going on throughout Central City, she didn't have to worry about Breathtaker or the Assassination Bureau or the Suicide Squad. All she had to worry about was herself and the decisions she made in the moment.
And despite only being with Harrison for two weeks—of the status of that being entirely complicated and not exactly talked about—she knew at the moment that she wanted to do nothing more than kiss him. He must've read her mind for he leaned in and gently placed his hand on her cheek, stroking the skin with his thumb.
Still it was her decision to make and he let her make that.
She was the first one to lean in to kiss him that time.
Barry shifted backwards a half-step, to avoid the punching bag from smacking him in the side of the face each time Eddie Thawne would shove his fist into the fabric. Over and over the blond detective slammed his fists into the punching bag before taking a step back, lightly smacking his open palm against the bag.
"Alright, Barry, your turn."
A light grimace flittered upon Barry's face as he moved to take Eddie's spot. Not because the detective was very skilled at boxing while Barry wasn't—which indeed was the truth—but also because he had to focus on how much power he was going to put into his punches. Having an increased physiology because of his metahuman powers attributed to his strength and he had to pay very close attention to the sort of power he was exhibiting when around those that didn't know about his identity as the Flash. Not only had he run into the same problem ages before, when Eddie was first training him in boxing he let go of his defenses and managed to send a fist directly through the punching bag, but he was starting to run out of excuses to give for it.
How many more bags could have 'torn seams' before someone started to notice? How long could he continue to work out with Eddie or any other police officers without breaking a sweat? Someone was bound to notice that he ran on the treadmill at a 'normal' pace and appeared to be bored. The one thing he could say for sure about his abilities was that he got used to being able to run fast in a relatively short amount of time. Having to fake his lack of speed was what was really starting to get to him. Plus, Barry hardly ever lifted weights, it truly wasn't something he was into but still managed to have a lean physique that those that worked out every now and then would have. Didn't they notice that he continued to stay in shape without ever actually working hard enough to stay in shape.
But off course, lightning did give me abs, Barry reminded himself with a half smile.
"Daydreaming, Allen? Is it a girl?"
Snapping back to attention, the speedy metahuman noticed Eddie had moved to the punching bag and was now holding onto it, ready to take on the hits that Barry would send to the rough fabric. Shaking his head, the speedy metahuman moved into position on the protective mats under his feet. For a moment he lost his balance, mostly from the accusation that was thrown his way, but also because he wanted to play up his lack of athletics as long as he could. "What? Me? No! No. Wha-wha-wha-what makes you say that?" He then made a face, wondering what when he was going to get over the questions about his personal life that made him nervous.
Or rather, when he was going to get over his tendency to stutter whenever a personal question was thrown his way. Then again it was a bit of a defense mechanism, anything that would keep people from questioning him even further.
Anything he talked about could lead him to accidentally reveal his identity or where he went when he wasn't working with the CCPD. Either that or it's your guilt getting in the way, he reminded himself as he shook his head to answer Eddie's question. It was hard to go through life, acting as if things were normal when he and his friends were all aware of the city-wide attack a powerful metahuman had managed to make 'disappear' with his powers. Everything from that long night had been erased from their minds. Nothing was worse than sitting around, pretending that everything was the best it had ever been, when only weeks before the entire city had been ransacked by a murderous organization that was only moments away from destroying everyone and everything within it. And the only way to keep that fro happening was to erase—in a sense—the minds of those that were there to witness it the first time, and let Breathtaker go.
That was the only part he couldn't stand; having to let him go.
However, since then, there had been no indication the metahuman was back and Central City was as quiet as they could've anticipated it to be. There was nothing they had to worry about for now. Well, other than the fact that they hadn't been able to find Bivolo or Captain Boomerang. Everyone else from the Suicide Squad managed to get back to their headquarters in Starling City with no problems after Amanda Waller had called them back. Bivolo disappeared somewhere into Central City and Captain Boomerang disappeared somewhere between Central and Starling. At the moment it was the only thing sitting in the back of his mind that gave him worry, other than his father consistently rotting away in jail and making sure no one else knew about his secret.
But he could push it all aside.
"Relax, Barry," Eddie said as he took his position behind the punching bag. "I was only kidding. I'd think everyone in the precinct would know if there was someone you had your eye on."
Now Barry faltered even more. 'What makes you say that?" He asked.
"I don't know…the fact that you can't manage to go through the day without letting at least something you're thinking about coming across your face." Eddie made a show of waving his hand back and forth in front of his eyes before grabbing onto the punching bag. "Not only that, but your head has been in the clouds for the past couple of weeks. Is it anything in particular?"
You mean other than the metahumans we haven't been able to find? "Nope." Barry rocked back and forth on his heels then shot a fist forward and crashed it into the side of the punching bag. Eddie held it still, grimacing a little as the shockwave of the bag ran through him. "Not anything in particular. It's just….you know…getting kind of close to when…" He followed up with another series of punches into the bag, knocking Eddie silly as he did so. He couldn't stop the smile of amusement that managed to worm its way onto his face as he continued to punch it, speaking in between each of them. "When the particle accelerator blew. And it's kind of weird to know that for a lot of other people life went on and I don't remember anything from the time that I was out. It was like; one minute I'm in my lab, the next I'm waking up. And everything has changed."
"Gotcha." Eddie stood up straight, causing Barry to halt in his onslaught against the poor, pathetic, punching bag. "You know…I guess I never really understood how hard things are for you. It's lie you said, you were the one that was out like a light for those nine months. The rest of us didn't know if you were ever going to wake up. We were all worried."
"Really?" His eyebrows furrowing together, Barry crossed his arms over his chest. "I mean, I didn't know you…we didn't really know each other before it all went…" he moved his hands, mimicking the sounds of an explosion. "I didn't think you would—"
"—Well, Iris talked about you all the time. She was always at the hospital, looking out for you. I heard all of your stories." He grinned as he unwrapped the tape from his hands, noticing Barry's slightly horrified look. "Is it true that you nearly hacked up a long when you tried a cigarette for the first time."
"Mmm. That story." Barry gritted his teeth. "Yeah. No. Then she hasn't tell you the whole story. You see, what happened was I was hacking out a lung and she was the one that was throwing up all night because she thought she could handle smoking more than one." He grinned as Eddie laughed loudly. "Yeah, it wasn't our finest hour in all of the decisions we've made."
"If any of the other stories are true, then I'm inclined to agree with you."
Barry was then struck by the notion that Eddie and Iris really did know a lot about each other. They had nine months to go through their relationship, nine months to go from someone Iris could barely stand to look at to a friend. From a friend to someone she potentially had feelings for. From that to…to dating. And who was the one to ask who out first? He had no idea. All he knew was how much he couldn't stand the idea of him holding her, him touching her, hugging her the way he always wanted to. Did it completely tear him up inside as it used to? No, not to that extent; there was always something met related to distract him. But moments like these did nothing but remind him how long he had been gone. It almost made him wish he hadn't been turned into the Flash.
Almost.
"Are you guys done beating the crap out of each other?" Joe asked as he walked through the door of the gym. Unlike the others he was completely dressed and was pulling a jacket on over his clothes as he approached the two of them. "I was just about to head out and meet Iris for lunch. Are you going to be joining us?"
"That depends," Barry said. "Is this lunch a clever ruse by her for us to listen to her not so subtle hints about what she wants for Christmas?" Not that Barry had anything to worry about, he already had her Christmas gift picked out and had had it picked out for months now. It was the others that was an issue. He hadn't known them long, almost a year, and he still didn't know what they would want. Cisco was relatively easy figure out, but Harrison, Caitlin, Cadence, and Brady were another story. And was he supposed to get a gift for Eddie too? They were friends.
Sort of.
"Or is it that annual tradition I heard so much about?" Eddie added, causing Barry to immediately frown with barely concealed irritation. "The one where she does as much shopping as she can, using a Christmas bonus that she managed to receive from Jitters, and have the rest of us carry her bags all the way, do every activity there is to help celebrate the holiday. Namely sitting on Santa's lap?"
"Yeah, I draw the line at Santa," Barry agreed.
Joe West raised his eyebrows in a way that only a parent could, that let the others know there was nothing they could do to change his mind. "Hey, if I have to get stuck sitting on Santa's lap, then you have to too."
Opening his mouth to reply, Eddie found his cell phone starting to buzz and he quickly pulled it off of the towel that rested on the bench behind him. Picking it up, he glanced at the screen and lifted his gaze back towards his co-workers. "Oh, would you look at that, Captain Singh is calling me into his office for a meeting. I've got to go. I'll see you guys later." He patted Barry on the shoulder. "Tell Santa 'hi' for me."
Joe and Barry watched as Detective Thawne gathered his things and hurried out of the weight room to answer Captain Singh's call. Detective West then turned back to Barry with a half smile on his face. "Because of that, I'm giving you express permission, up until you can reveal it on April Fool's Day, to harass that man in any way you see fit. I want to drive him crazy for that one." His lighthearted teasing caused Barry to laugh and smile. "I thought that would get you. Unfortunately there's nothing that'll let you get out of this and it'll be fun. The three of us haven't done anything together in a while." He noticed Barry's pointed gaze and shook his head. "You have to get your mind off that. It's almost Christmas. It's a time to be celebrating, not a time to think about how different life would've been if…if this hadn't happened."
"Yeah, I know. But…" Barry suddenly disappeared from sight and came back within a few seconds, completely dressed. "It's not like I can put my life on pause. Not the way it was before."
"Barry, trust me, you don't want to know what those nine months were like without you around." Joe gazed into his eyes with a meaningful look. The look caused Barry to bow his head. His own selfish purposes aside, he really should've realized how bad the nine months after the explosion had affected so many people. It ruined Caitlin's and Cisco's scientific careers, Joe almost lost a son, Iris almost lost a best friend, and there were many other people that had their lives interrupted in some of the most horrific ways because of that night. "What you need to focus on is that you're here now and you're not going away anytime soon."
Crossing his arms over his chest, he joined Joe as they headed out of the weight room. "I don't know, Joe. If I hear anything about having to dress up a certain way for Christmas photos, I'm going to be across the world before any of you can even blink. I refuse to dress up like an elf again."
"Trust me, I don't enjoy being Santa as much as you don't like sitting on his lap."
Cadence pulled a pair of gloves off of her hands with a loud snap and tossed them into the nearby trash can before following her professor out of the examining room. The last thing she wanted to do was go back into that room, especially not when he had that very disgusting allergic reaction to something on his feet. She could deal with blood, she could deal with pus, she could deal with rotting teeth, a black eye, basically anything the human body could throw at her in terms of having to fix them. But when it came to feet, that's where she drew the line. Not only were the opens sores oozing pus and blood, but the smell of it nearly made her pass out three times from how long she had held her breath.
How her professor managed to stay so calm throughout that whole thing, she would never know. As if anticipating the question, Professor Lepek laughed and lowered the mask that rested over his face. "There's a bottle of peppermint concentrate that we use on the inside of our masks to make sure it blocks out the smells. I'm sorry; I should've made you aware of it before we went in there." He lifted the vial that was in his right hand. "But at least we got the swab."
"I wish we could've gotten it without me having to look at it," Cadence replied. "What sort of parent allowed their child to go through that much pain before bringing them into the ER?"
"One that are trying to save money, I'm afraid," Professor Lepek replied. "You're a mother, I'm sure you're aware of the extra costs that a child can bring to a family."
"Yes, but most of it is food," she replied. She really didn't need for him to think anything weird about her son's lack of trips to the hospital. Boys his age was always brought to the ER for black eyes, bruises, sprains, abrasions, cuts, gashes, broken bone, and yet hers was perfectly healthy. As healthy as they thought he could be, anyway. Not only did he manage to injure himself the same way other eight year old boys did, especially when he was bored, but her ability to heal others greatly came in handy in that aspect. "You know how much boys can eat. And it's only going to get worse the older he gets."
"Yes, but at least you'll be prepared for it," Professor Lepek said. He looked at his watch. "You finished up your hours for the day, Cadence. Go home and get some rest. I don't know anyone else that's able o come in so early in the morning, but you did say you have the most flexible schedule."
Mostly because I can be there and back within seconds. "Yes, well, that's the beauty of going to school," she explained. "And having a professor that makes it so I can get be with my son whenever he needs me." She stopped by a hospital room, glancing at the numbers and the name on the outside for a moment before turning back to Professor Lepek. "There's just one more patient I have to check in on, then I'll be out of your hair."
"I'm holding you to it, Cadence. I don't want anymore of my students passing out on the floor anymore. I've had enough of that last year."
"Don't worry about me, I'll be quick." Cadence turned and went into the hospital room, catching the attention of the man that lay in the bed. He turned towards her, his eyebrows rising in surprise. "You look more surprised than I thought you would be. No one's come to see you?"
Michael Bloom shook his head, his hands still resting on his stomach. "Not since I explained the first time around. The CCPD have been here every now and then to continue questioning me, to see if I'll slip up. But…I know what happened. There was…there was something in my head, telling me to do what I was doing. I know that's what happened."
"I know you know that's what happened," Cadence agreed. "And I believe you. And so does Joe West and the forensic scientist Barry Allen. We all know what happened. Leah Wasserman has the ability to control your mind as well as to make you hallucinate things she wants you to see. If she wanted you to see a shark in your bathtub, she could do that." Tilting her head to the side her eyebrows twitched. "It's the same reason Brady was never afraid when he was with you guys, the one thing she'll never do is hurt kids. For him, she made everything okay and made sure he wasn't afraid. For the rest of us, whomever gets in her way, she did whatever she could to get her way."
Michael slowly nodded his eyes on her. "No one's going to believe me…if I ever told them will they?" He asked. "Not even with the Flash running around?"
"Do you think anyone would believe this?" Cadence's blue-green eyes slowly turned a fiery orange as she held up her hand. Her veins started to glow the same color as her eyes, rolling down her arm until a fireball appeared over her palm. "If you told them?"
He chuckled an incredulous laugh. "No," he said simply. "I don't think so. Not many people believe in the Flash either."
"Well, I do. And I think you're going to have to take my word for it." Cadence reached out and picked up his clipboard, scanning over the files "It looks like you're going to be discharged soon. Please, when you get out of here. Go back to your family. You don't need to do what you were doing for money anymore. I have it on good authority that the CCPD have something lined up for you." She replaced the clipboard and shoved her hands into the pocket of her scrubs.
"Thank you," he said to her.
"You're welcome." She started to leave the room but stopped when her cell phone buzzed. She pulled it out of her pocket and looked over the number that was calling her phone. She let out a heavy sigh and turned back towards Michael. "And piece of advice, watch your kids like a hawk. It's my son's first day back at school and already the school is calling me."
She walked out of the room and went to grab her purse and slung it over her shoulder before sliding into the bathroom. She looked around to be sure no one was in the stalls then teleported. When Cadence arrived at Central City Elementary School she went back towards the principal's office and slowed when she spotted her son sitting slouched in a chair outside his office, staring at the ceiling. He looked over at her as she walked closer and gave a half smile.
She sighed then gave him an exasperated look. "It's your first day back and you're already in trouble?" She asked.
Brady sat up straight in his chair and nodded before handing a note to her. "Yep!" He said a little too enthusiastically. "And the teacher wants to see you."
The fire metahuman took the note and briefly glanced over it, immediately recognizing the teacher's scrawling handwriting. She then studied her son with rapt attention, waiting to see something in his face that would give him away. "What'd you do?"
"I set the mice for our science class free in the school," he replied simply. As if he had just been asked what 2+2 was.
Cadence stared at him for a moment before bringing her hand up to her forehead. "Why couldn't you just say 'nothing' like a normal kid? At least then I could defend you."
"You don't have to defend me." Brady shrugged then flopped back into the seat, pulling his new Nintendo 3DS out of the pocket of his cargo pants and turned it on. "Just don't get me into trouble."
Right eyebrow hiking upwards, Cadence noticed the sudden attitude shift in his tone. She thought to say something about it, but knew from the last time she had been called to the school—when he had gotten in trouble for fighting—that the principal could be impatient. Instead, she reached out and lightly tapped Brady on the son with the note. "We'll talk about this later."
Eyes still on the screen of his video game, Brady shoved the piece of paper away from his head. "Whatever," he replied.
A/N: Thanks to 06bromleys, Alisha Winchester Collins, Guest, and Dead stroke360 for reviewing.
