"What the heck was that, Caitlin?!" Cisco exclaims, breaking everybody out of the uncomfortable silence, that had befallen the group.
"You told me to do what he'd least expect," she reasons. "And I'm sure, me kissing him is something he'd never expect."
"Okay true, but even I would never have expected that," Cisco says, but the look he gives her alludes to more that he's not saying.
wonder what that means, she thought, looking back towards Barry. He was still just looking at her. It was as if his mind and body couldn't comprehend what was going on at the moment. She decides to look around at everyone else in the room to gauge their reactions, and noticed that at some point, Iris left the room. "Where's Iris?" She asks.
"She uh... left when you kissed Barry," Wally answers. still completely confused as to why Caitlin did what he just saw her do.
"Barry?" Joe says, waving his hand in front of the man's face. "Are you okay, son?"
In that moment, Barry went on a completely different rant. "Harrison Wells's progress in quantum theory is light-years ahead of anything- We've been through too much together to let- The universe wants us to be- I can't lose my dad-We knew this wasn't gonna-I got you Zolomon-No!" He screamed before collapsing.
"What the hell just happened!?" Joe asked, face agape.
"It's as if his brain went on overdrive with the memories he's reliving, but his mind couldn't grasp on to them. So they were changing constantly, before it became to much for him to handle," Caitlin answers, worry evident in her face and tone.
"Well then, do you think it worked?" Wally asks hopeful. "Will he wake up normal again."
"Maybe. It's hard to say," Cisco answers. "We'll know for sure once he wakes up," Cisco continues, picking Barry up, and placing him back on the bed.
"I'm gonna go find Iris. She'll want to know what happened," Joe says walking out of the med bay in search for his daughter.
"Um... I'm gonna go help him," Wally says, following Joe out of the room.
After they left, there was a tense silence in the room for a few minutes. Cisco broke it, deciding to voice his thoughts. "So are we gonna talk about what happened, about why you did what you did just now?" He asks, turning to Caitlin with a knowing look on his face, and a slight hint of a smile.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Caitlin replies, feigning ignorance. "I just did something he would never in a million years expect me to do."
"Come on Caitlin. We both know you're in love with him."
"N-no I'm not! What makes you say that!?" Caitlin asks worried she'd been found out. She thought she hid it so well.
"Really Caitlin? It's obvious," Cisco deadpanned. "I've even walked in on a few close moments between you two. Not on purpose, I swear!" Cisco defended raising his hand in the air in surrender.
"Like when?"
"Um let's see. When we were fighting the mist and you guys were down in the pipe-line, after Barry lost his speed, when you kissed him as killer frost." Cisco answers, to name a few.
"What are you talking about?" Caitlin asked her face full of surprise after the last statement he let slip out. How did he even see that. He was hiding behind a tree the entire time.
"Okay, I promised myself I would never tell you this, unless you decided to act on your feelings," Cisco says, frantically. "But since the cat's out of the bag. When you were fighting me and Barry the first time you turned into Killer Frost, he knocked you down with a speed kick, before apologizing to you. I saw you climb on top of him and kiss him, in an effort to freeze him to death."
"But if I was trying to freeze him to death, that means there was nothing romantic about it," She reasons. Even though she herself, knew that was bull-crap.
"If you were only trying to kill him, you could've just grabbed his arm or something. You didn't have to kiss him."
Damn It! She thought that explanation would work.
"Another time I knew it was true, was when Iris showed us the ring. Anyone who was truly looking would have noticed the sadness in your reaction," he says knowing he caught her in her lie. "Come on Caitlin, just admit it."
"He's my friend. Of course I care about him. But that does not mean I am in love with him."
"If you don't love him why would his engagement to Iris make you sad," Cisco questions not believing her for a second.
"It could be because it reminded me of Ronnies death. Did you ever thing of that?" She was grasping at straws, she knew it. But was she supposed to do. Even if she told him truth of the extent of her feelings for their friend, they would never be reciprocated. There would be no point.
Cisco still was not convinced. "Then why did you almost kiss him during that conversation after he lost his powers the first time."
"I wasn't going to kiss him, I was going to give him a conforting hug." She was lying straight through her teeth.
Cisco knew she wasn't being honest. "Then why would you be so desperate to save him from Zoom, after his speed was stolen. Why would you risk your life like that?" The engineer was not going to let this go.
Caitlin let out a frustrated sigh. Why wont he give this up already. "Because, as I said before. He is my friend and I care about him."
Cisco really hoped he wouldn't have to resort to this, but she was giving him no choice. "Fine. Then what about when everyman was pretending to be Barry. He kissed you, and sure you pushed him away. But that was the first time. The second time he kissed you, you kissed him back."
Caitlins face fell. Needless to say she did not have an explanation for that one. "How do you know about that? And How long have you known about that?"
"It's called we have security cameras," he responds sarcastically, gesturing to all the cameras around the room. "As for how long. It's been ever since I was scouring every inch of star labs schematics and digital footage, to see if there was anything there that might help us stop Eobarde Thawne. You know, when we found the time vault. I was not going to say anything unless you had told Barry about your feelings for him." He was about to say something else, but paused when he saw somthing in the doorway.
Caitlin couldn't figure out why, until he pointed behind her. She turned around and standing in the doorway, was Iris, who had come back into the room just in time to hear Ciscos last statement.
"Iris," Caitlin paused hesitation in her voice. "I'm really sor-" Iris interrupts her.
"How long?"
"Excuse me?" Caitlin replies, wanting elaboration on the question.
"How long have you been in love with Barry?" Iris clarified, clearly angry.
"I don't know. I guess since the blackout incident. That's when I noticed my feelings began to develop. But if I'm honest, it probably goes back further than that. Like when we were dealing with the mist." She looked to Iris, in an effort to gauge her reaction. The woman did not seem pleased.
"So pretty much right after you got to know him."
"Yeah... I guess," Caitlin replies with a shrug of her shoulders. "If it's any consolation? I was never planning on telling him."
This response confused Iris. "Why wouldn't you tell him that you love him?"
"Multiple reasons. Most specifically, he's totally head over heels in love with you, none of my romantic relationships ever work out. But most importantly, it could possibly ruin what little friendship we still have."
"yeah, wouldn't wanna do that," Iris replies. A smile began to develop on her face. She realized she had nothing to worry about. Barry would never leave her. If only she truly knew what he went through while in the speed-force. She was in for a real surprise.
Joe and Wally came back into the room. They both notice the awkward silence filled with some intense tension between, Caitlin and Iris.
"Now, what is that supposed to mean," Caitlin responds, some of the Killer Frost ice in her voice. No one seemed to notice however, thinking she just felt insulted. Joe and Wally however had no idea what was going on, having come in late.
"All I'm saying is that you and Barry are not very close anymore, and you wouldn't want to completely destroy your relationship, especially if you were in love with him. You'd still want to be around him in any way that you could," she explains, still fully confident in the fact that it would never happen in a million years. I mean they're Barry and Iris. They're meant to be together.
This infuriated Caitlin even more. "The only reason we are not as close as we once were, is because he got so wrapped up in saving your sorry ass from Savitar. He couldn't lose you the way he lost his parents."
"Well he wouldn't have had to if he didn't create flashpoint. And hey, your relationship might be better than it is now, you know, had you not gone full Killer Frost and betrayed him. But hey, what you just said proves something, that we all already know!" Iris retorted, snobbishly.
"Oh yeah, and what's that?" Caitlin wondered.
"That he will never care about you as much as he cares about me." Iris invaded Caitlin's space, a smug look on her face. "Face it! Even if you told him your feelings, he would never choose you over me. So you can just forget it."
Caitlin shoved her backwards, before advancing, menacingly. "Listen here you little Flash Groupie. I don't care about that. I'm okay if we just stay friends, and nothing more. But something has been bugging me ever since I got back." She got up in Iris's face, before continuing. "Why are you even here? You don't know anything about Science or Technology, you don't have powers, and you don't even have the first clue as to the rules you need to follow as a hero's or superhero's lover. I mean what was that ridiculously idiotic stunt a few hours ago. You're not supposed to out yourself as a hero's weakness. That just makes you a target to all his enemies. That was the dumbest thing you've ever done, and that's saying a lot. You've done quite a few stupid things over the years I've known you!"
"Oh yeah, like what?" Iris shot back, issuing a challenge.
"Hmm let's see," Caitlin responded. She pretended that she had to think for a second. "For one, walking up to the barrel of that guy's gun last year. Anytime you posted anything about the Flash, going into an empty building at night with gunman, and all for a scoop no less. Shall I continue," she ended with her signature, Killer Frost smirk, turning up the left side of her mouth, slightly.
Iris didn't know how to respond. But it didn't matter, since Caitlin stated to speak again, interrupting any possible come back from her anyway.
"Back to the reason that you're here instead of your job though. I don't believe you've given me an answer. As far as I can tell. The only thing you're good at is giving recycled hope speeches to Barry that we've all given him multiple times, before you even knew he was The Flash." She paused waiting for an answer, but Iris never even rose her head to look Caitlin in the eyes. "That's what I thought."
Joe, who had been silent the whole time, decided now was a good time to speak up. "Come on Caitlin. That was completely unnecessary."
"Yeah, I think you hurt her feelings," Wally chimed in.
"She wasn't exactly nice to me either. She practically said that I mean nothing to Barry," Catlin reasons, turning around to walk back towards the bed with, Barry on it.
"Yeah, and we all know that is definitely not true," Cisco spoke up again, agreeing with his friend.
Turning back towards Joe and Wally, "Honestly I'm more surprised that you don't seem to care much that I'm in love with Barry. Come on, are you not even the least bit surprised?"
"No, not really," Wally answers, with a small shake oh his head.
"Yeah, to be honest it was kind of obvious," Joe chimed in as well.
Caitlin turned to, Cisco, who was smiling widely at her. "I told you," was his simple reply to her silent question.
She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly and turned back to, Barry. No point worrying about it now, she thought.
Iris, still silent as ever, walked out of the room with tears in her eyes. Joe followed close behind, in case he needed to comfort her.
With Joe and Iris
"Hey Baby girl," Joe says, coming into the pipeline where, Iris sat in the same location she was in, only hours before.
"Hey, Dad," she replies, lifting her head from where it rested between her legs.
"I know what Caitlin said hurt your feelings," he started sitting down next to her. "But there is some truth in what she said. Tell me, why did you leave your job at CCPN?"
"I don't know. I guess everyday that I stayed working there reporting the news and happenings in the city. It just kept reminding me that, Barry was no longer with us." She could see that Joe was confused with her statement so she elaborated by saying, "Every article I wrote that wasn't about the Flash was a reminder that the reason I wasn't writing anything about him, was because I couldn't. He was gone. I couldn't handle that. So I came here to see if I could at least help you make a difference. Something that would make Barry proud, if and when he did come back."
"I see," Joe replies finally understanding what was really going on with his daughter.
"But you're right. I mean... Caitlin's right. Just like I told Barry last year. My contributions here are limited. I don't know science, or have powers. The one thing I was good at, I gave up. Which honestly was really stupid of me." She put her head back down.
"Hey, hey, you made a mistake. It happens to everyone sweetheart," Joe comforts, trying to stop her from beating herself up too bad. He started rubbing her shoulders soothingly. "If you think you made a mistake, you could always go back to CCPN," he says reassuringly, pulling her up into a hug.
With Snowbarrisco
"Are you really not ever going to tell, Barry about your feelings for him," Cisco asks staring at his friend in confusion.
"yes, I'm really never gonna tell him. Why should I anyway. He won't feel the same way," she justifies.
Cisco was not 100% convinced of that outcome. "How do you know?"
"Because he's hopelessly in love with Iris," she replies with an expression that seemed to be saying, 'duh.'
"Is he though?" No one knew this, but, Cisco thought about this particular subject matter quite a lot.
"What do you mean?" Caitlin asks confused.
"Well between me and you, I think he's more in love with the Idea of being with her, given the fact that he's loved her since he was like eleven."
"Exactly. Now you see my point," she responds, thinking he'd finally understood her predicament.
"No I don't. Yes he may love her. But I don't think he's in love with her. Not anymore at least."
"Okay then what about last year, he was willing to risk me losing control of my powers, just to save her life. Remember that?"
"Yes I do. Like I said, I have no doubt that he loves her. Think about this. He already lost both his mother, and father to an evil speedster. Iris is his best friend, and someone really important to him. So of course he would do anything to save her. He doesn't want to lose her, like he lost them. In all honesty he would've have been the same way if it was one of our lives that was in danger from Savitar. He's Barry. His whole life is full of tragedy and loss. I can understand how desperate he'd be to prevent anymore loss in his life." Cisco looked to see if she understood his explanation. She had a somewhat blank look on her face, so he wasn't entirely sure. "Also, I don't think you turning into Killer Frost the first time helped either." She was about to retort, before Cisco cut her off. "I know you didn't mean it! But you had made that statement about a lot of people dying around him. That probably made him even more desperate to save her. And it's not just her. After he came back from the future, him and Wally searched the entire city multiple times, trying to find you, but to know avail. He never gave up on you like I almost did, and I'm really sorry for that. Out of all of us, he had the most faith that you would come back, even after seeing the future you so far gone."
Caitlin was still trying to grasp what he was trying to tell her, but she couldn't understand. "What's your point, Cisco?"
"My point, is that it's not to crazy to believe, that he might also be in love with you as well."
"yeah, maybe," she replies, still not believing it to be of any possibility.
"Ugh, my head," Barry says waking up.
"Barry!" Both, Caitlin, and Cisco exclaimed rushing towards their now conscious friend.
"Everyone! Barry's awake, and it seems like he is back to normal!" Cisco yells over the intercom excitedly.
Barry was a little confused. "Back to normal? What are you talking about, Cisco?"
"You went a little crazy on us for awhile there buddy," Cisco answers, a huge smile on his face and happiness in his tone. Their friend really was alright again.
"Okay, what am I doing here? I thought I went into the speed-force. Did it not work?" Barry asks surprised that he was back in S.T.A.R Labs with his friends. "Caitlin? I thought you left!? Seriously, what is going on?"
"You're right. You did go into the speed-force. But that was 6 months ago. Something happened, so we had to get you out," Cisco explained, trying to calm Barry down.
"6 months?" Barry asks, completely shocked with the information his friend just gave him. "It feels like I just left. What was it that happened, why did you need to get me out?"
"There was kind of an evil robotic Samurai. I called him the Samuroid, not important. Anyway he threatened to destroy the entire city, unless we gave him the Flash."
"Uh huh?" Barry replies still a little confused with the situation. He decided to change the subject. "Did you find what you were looking for, Cait?" He asks, slight hope in his voice that she was back for good.
"I guess you could say that," She replies not wanting to disappoint flashes him a genuine smile. "Forget about me though. How do you feel?"
"Besides the confusion of what exactly went on in my absence, and the fact that I don't remember anything from when I went into the speed-force to right now, I'm good," he replies with a smile of his own. "In fact I feel better than I ever have before. I don't know how to explain it."
"How do you mean?" Caitlin asks wanting to know more.
"I don't know. It's like, all the sadness and loss I've experienced in my life is gone, I'm finally at peace and can move forward with my life. I guess you could say, I feel reborn."
"Okay, Speedy Jesus," Cisco replies, a smile on his face as well.
"Well whatever happened while I was gone," he says looking at Caitlin. "I want you to know, that I'm really glad you're back." Barry paused. "Is it for good?" He asked, hoping she'll say yes.
"Let's not worry about that. For now, let's focus on you ok?" Caitlin rested her hand on his shoulder for a second, before removing it when, Joe, Iris, and Wally came running into the room.
"Barry!" Iris exclaimed, rushing over and pulling him into a hug. "Is it true? Are you really back to normal? " She asked tears streaming down her face, pulling away slightly, but keeping her arms around his neck.
"Yes, I'm back," he responded, assuring her with the finality of the statement in his tone.
She leaned forward, smashing their lips together in a searing kiss. He kissed her back just as enthusiastiacally.
A few moments later, Iris pulled back from the kiss, tears of joy, still running down her face. After she let him go, he got out of bed and walked over to Joe.
Joe pulled him into a crushing hug, as if it had been years since he last saw him. "You have no idea how much I missed you son," he said, a mix of sadness and happiness in his voice as well.
"I missed you to, Joe," Barry replies, returning the hug, just as fiercely. A minute or so later, he turned to, Wally pulling him into a hug as well. "So how did you do as the flash in my absence?" Barry asks somewhat jokingly.
"Honestly, we were only successful a third of the time I hate to admit it, but we really needed you man," Wally says, jokingly as well. "No but seriously, it was definitely a wake up call, for how unprepared I was to take up the mantel."
"I'm sure you were a great Flash. Don't be so hard on yourself. We all start off as ametures, even me. But hey, I remember you have a lot of potential, and I mean that," Barry reassures, before turning to Caitlin and Cisco. "Now come on guys, group hug, just like old times." With an even bigger smile on his face he walked up to them and pulled them both into a hug. "I really missed you guys, and I promise, it will be better."
"That's what I'm talking about! We back, baby." Cisco says, coming out of the hug.
"So, anything else I miss?"
"Well you did break the record for fastest speed we've ever recorded," Caitlin answers like it was no big deal, slight smirk on her face.
"Okay," Barry responds, not really believing it, until he saw everyone had serious looks on their faces. "Wait really!?"
"Yeah, you went like 5 times faster than you have ever gone. Mach 65, I think it was. Right guys?" Wally asks, turning to Caitlin and Cisco.
"Pretty much. All that time in the speed-force, definitely amped up your speed. Who knows. Maybe you were absorbing it while you were in there," Cisco answers matter-of-factly.
"Maybe." Barry says not thinking much of it. "So nothing else big happen?"
"Welllllll, Caitlin did something pretty big," Cisco turns to Caitlin, a smirk on his face.
"Okay, like what?" Barry asks, wanting clarification.
"You'll never believe it. She actually-" he started, before he was interrupted.
"Was the one who came up with the idea that allowed you to escape the speed-force!" Caitlin finishes, a look toward Cisco, that promised pain, if he ever told Barry what she did while he was in his memory craze.
"I can believe that." Barry turns and smiles at her. "Thank you Caitlin. I really did mean it, when I said that I'm really glad you're back. I can't thank you guys enough for bringing me home."
"Of course," she replies, a smile on her face. "You'd do the same for us."
"I got to ask," Cisco spoke up. bringing the attention back on himself. "Do you really not remember anything from the time you went into the speed-force 6 months ago?"
"I remember some things. They're kind of fuzzy though."
"yeah, like what?"
"I remember saving Iris from the Samuroid, or whatever you had called it, and then something about, 'this house is bitching.' I have no idea what it means though."
"Yeah, well neither do we," Iris pulls him into another quick hug. "It doesn't matter though. All that matters, is that your back, and we can start planning our wedding again."
"Actually, can we hold off on that for now?"
"Why?" Iris asks, confused. Did he not want to marry her anymore.
"I just need a little time to sort some things out, is all." Barry can't let them know that he actually remembers some events that he witnessed in the speed-force. He has to keep the timeline in tact. If he told anyone what he knew, he could jeopardize that. He could do this. All he needs to do is pretend like he doesn't know anything and it's his first time learning it all. Shouldn't be too hard. He can't get over that kiss with, Iris. In the moment it was fine. But thinking back on it, it didn't feel the same. He couldn't explain it.
Alright guys that's it. Shocker, Barry knows things. I hope I didn't keep you guys waiting to long. I'm sorry if the dialogue gets a little cringy. I could not figure out a way around that. Tell me what you think of this chapter. I hope you enjoy, and I'll see you next time.
