Author's Note: Some Nora and Caitlin in this chapter! :)
Nora was back to living at STAR Labs. She figured that her Dad deserved some space after everything that had happened with Iris, and it was too weird to see him moping around alone at the loft while she was trying to sleep on the couch.
Iris had, kindly enough, left Barry with the loft. He was relieved- it would have felt incredibly weird to go back to living at Joe's after breaking up with his daughter. Besides, he had paid for the place... even though it was Iris' Christmas gift.
Not being in a relationship with Iris was strange. He had either been in one or had wanted to be in one with her for almost his entire life, and it was partially relieving and partially lonely to see it end. Nora, for her part, was 80 percent relieved and 20 percent confused. If Iris and Barry weren't together... then how was Iris her mom? Even scarier, if Iris wasn't her mom, what was going to happen to her?
She had found out last night, with the rest of the Team, about Iris and Barry's official split. She had known they were taking some space (or that's what they had told her), but she hadn't know they had broken up.
She had also accidentally walked into the Cortex after Barry got back from the newest meta fight to find he and Caitlin hugging in the laters lab. Grinning from ear to ear, she had quickly backed out, not wanting to interrupt.
Nora was pleased. She liked Caitlin (a lot more than she had ever liked her mom), and she personally thought that she and Barry were much more compatible than Barry and Iris were. For starters, Barry and Caitlin were both scientists. Cisco was both their best friend, they were both superheroes, and they had had a lot of shared life experiences. They had both lost their fathers at a young age, and Caitlin had lost her husband (twice) while Barry lost his mother (also twice).
So, Nora was happy to see them talking again. In the Flash museum, all the old stuff from year one of Team Flash had documented terrific wins where Caitlin and Cisco would come up with the plan and Barry would execute. They were the OG Team Flash, and Nora thought they were pretty darn schway.
She was organizing all of her clothes in the guest room that Harrison Wells and Jesse Quick had once stayed in (so schway) when Caitlin found her.
"Nora!" she exclaimed, surprised. "What are you doing back here?"
"I moved out of the loft," Nora shrugged. "I think dad deserves some space. And I kinda of look like mom so that might be a bit of a reminder of everything that's happened."
Caitlin nodded her understand. "Are you sure you're alright here? I can't imagine these beds are very comfortable."
"It's okay!" Nora chirped, sitting down. "This is where Harry and Jesse Quick stayed, according to the Flash museum. Jesse Quick is so cool. She was the first female speedster superhero! I want to be just like her."
Caitlin smiled. "Jesse is pretty awesome," she agreed. "But I don't know, Nora, I think you might be even faster than she was."
Nora's eyes went wide. "No way, really? Schway. I mean, cool."
"You can say schway, Nora, I don't mind," Caitlin laughed. "I think it's kind of fun, actually."
Nora grinned. "Awesome, thanks! Mom just always seemed kind of annoyed when I said it so I guess I thought it was weird...?"
Caitlin shook her head, keeping the smile on her face. Inside, though, she felt her stomach tighten. How you could get annoyed with this bubbly, adorkable girl was completely beyond her. "I like it," she reassured her. "Do you need any help unpacking?"
"No, I think I'm okay!" Nora said, hopping back up from her bed. "I'm almost all done. I could do it at super speed, I guess, but then I'd be hungry and I don't exactly have enough cash for a Big Belly Burger at the moment."
Caitlin's eyebrows furrowed. "Nora!" she exclaimed. "You never have to be ashamed or nervous to ask for money for food. Here at STAR Labs we all know from experience how much calories it takes to keep a speedster going. Trust me- we've been around your father during pizza night."
Nora laughed, eyes lighting up like they did whenever someone mentioned Barry. Caitlin smiled. "Come with me," she suggested. "I'm going to give you something."
Eagerly, Nora bounced to her feet and followed Caitlin out of the room. Caitlin led her to the cupboard inside the Cortex and pulled out five wrapped items. Nora frowned. "Granola bars?"
Caitlin nodded. "Granola bars. But these, Nora, are special granola bars. This is your father's favorite snack."
Nora squinted at her, corners of her mouth lifting. "Um... I pretty sure that's pizza."
"Okay, fine," Caitlin sighed, smiling. "They're your father's most useful snack. These have enough calories to charge you up for a full three hours. I designed them myself."
Nora eagerly opened one and took a bite. She pulled a face. "No offense, Aunty Caitlin, but you maybe should have thought to give them some better flavor."
Caitlin laughed despite herself. "Maybe you can I could work on that sometime," she suggested. "Bit of a science project. We would need to keep the sugars down to prevent a crash-"
"That's why it tastes like cardboard," Nora said, pulling a face. Caitlin raised an eyebrow and she quickly backtracked. "No offense, I mean! I'm sure they're super helpful."
Caitlin shook her head and smiled. "It's alright," she allowed. "They're probably pretty bad."
Nora grinned. "...yeah, kinda."
"Maybe that's why Barry always says he's just eaten when I offer him a bar," Caitlin wondered allowed.
Nora burst into giggles. "Yeah, probably. If I know anything about my dad, it's that he's always hungry."
She took the calorie bars from Caitlin and stuffed them into her pockets. "Thanks, Auntie Cait!" she exclaimed. "And I would love to make some flavor stuff with you. That'd be fun. Now I gotta go finish unpacking- see ya later!"
She flashed off and Caitlin shook her head fondly, smiling after her. Then, on an afterthought, she took one of the bars and broke off a piece.
"Ugh," she muttered, pulling a face. "This really is disgusting."
Author's Note: I hope the short chapters are okay... I'm kind of doing this like an episode and each of the chapters are a scene?