Author's Note: Now that I've built up the plot a bit, I'm hoping to start having the chapters be a liiiiittle bit longer and more in-depth. Let's see how I do :P

Barry met Caitlin in the hallway when she came up the elevator from the outside exit door, but not for the reason she expected.

"I was just thinking," he said, falling into quick step beside her as he turned and headed back toward the Cortex. "If Nora is your daughter, how come she doesn't have cold powers?"

Caitlin frowned. "Um... genetics? I mean, she doesn't have green eyes and you do."

"No, but she has blue lightning," Barry pressed.

"And if I somehow got speed, I guess my lightning would be blue, like how Iris' was purple and it rubbed off on Nora," Caitlin shrugged. "I don't understand why you're so concerned about this."

Barry looked suddenly guilty. "I just... well, I couldn't help remembering that in the original timeline... Iris had put a speed dampening chip in Nora."

Caitlin's eyebrows went up. "And... you think that I put a cold dampening something in Nora? But Barry, we learned that my powers came from my father's cure because I showed signs of ALS."

"Yeah, I know, I know," Barry rubbed the back of his neck. "I just... I'm starting to forget it, but I remember how much resentment Nora held for Iris. I don't want that to happen with the two of you."

"I would like to think that I wouldn't hide her powers from her," Caitlin said. "But... well, I suppose that if I didn't want her to have to deal with Killer Frost like I had to.. it wouldn't be so off. But if there is some sort of power dampening in her, how would it not effect her speed?"

Barry shrugged. "I've got no clue," he admitted. "I mean, Cisco probably could have designed something that would dampen dark matter specific to cold powers."

Caitlin's mouth twisted to the side. "To be honest... I'd say we deal with one problem at a time," she said softly.

His eyebrows furrowed. "What problem are we dealing with now?"

She glanced down, rubbing her hands together and picking at a loose frayed edge on one nail. "Us."

"Oh," Barry mumbled. "We're a... problem?"

"No, no, I didn't mean it like that," Caitlin assured him quickly. "I just meant that... well, we should talk. About all of this. Sooner, rather than later, please?"

"Yeah, yeah, of course," Barry agreed, nodding. He checked his watch. "You wanna go get a early dinner at Big Belly Burger? It's Thursday; there shouldn't be much of a crowd."

She nodded, and the two of them made a quick u-turn in the hallway and started back for the elevators. Once they got outside, Barry picked her up and ran the two of them to the restaurant. Soon they were seated in the cushy yellow, white and maroon Big Belly Burger booths with their meals. Barry looked up at her.

"Alright," he said. "You go first."

She nodded, taking a slow sip of her milkshake to allow herself to collect her thoughts. "So, um... I was talking with Cisco this afternoon about... all of this. And I don't think I've been quite fair to you."

Barry tilted his head, ate a french fry, and waited for her to continue.

"I have a lot of belief in consent," Caitlin continued. "And in free choice. I've never liked it when we start to let ourselves be controlled by the glimpses of the future we sometimes get. Some people may take comfort in knowing what happens later in their lives, but I just feel like... well, what's the point of living if you don't have control over the outcome?"

"But you do have control over the outcome," Barry told her gently. "Cait... this thing between us... it doesn't have to happen. It's like everything that went down with Iris: Nora may have come to our present while she was her daughter, but now the future has changed. It could change again."

"That's the thing," Caitlin said. "I don't want it to change again. I want this, Barry- it's like I told you when Nora was starting to vanish from existence. I want us. I wouldn't trade us for anything in the world."

"Than what's the problem?"

"I don't know," Caitlin sighed, running her hand across her forehead, pushing her hair back. A drop of condensation rolled down the glass her milkshake was in and she snagged it with her finger, watching the water droplet glisten on her skin before it slid down and landed on the table. "I guess I just wanted to have a normal relationship for once. Not one that's been broken by a painful not-death-turned-actually-death, or one where my boyfriend tried to kill everyone I care about, or one that's predetermined by a girl from the future saying that I and a man who's not even my boyfriend are her parents."

Barry face scrunched. "Would it help if I asked you to be my girlfriend?"

Despite herself, Caitlin laughed. Barry grinned, reaching forward and taking her hand. "Our lives are always going to be crazy," he told her softly. "Which means are love-lives are, too. it's one of the things all of us agreed to when we became superheroes. We're not going to be normal, Caitlin, we never were. And honestly, the chances of us working out are like getting struck by lightning and surviving."

"But you did that," Caitlin murmured, intertwining their fingers. "And came out even stronger than before."

"Exactly," Barry agreed, stroking the top of her hand with his thumb. "And if I can get struck by lightning and come out alive, then we can figure out a way to push through all the madness and make us work, too."

Author's Note: Okay I REALLY liked this. There is something about this story that is just so darn writable :D :D :D