A/N: I just can't get over how fantastic you all are! Thank you all so much for the reviews and suggestions for future chapters - I'm looking forward to working on all of them =).
This chapter was inspired by Ebianna - thanks for the great idea!
Enjoy =).
Caitlin squeezed her eyes shut and pulled her knees to her chest, trying to make herself as small as possible.
Her breathing sounded ragged and loud - too loud.
He would hear her, would find her.
A tear trailed down her cheek, and she curled up against the wall of the small closet.
It wouldn't be long, now. There weren't many places left for him to search.
If there was any way to call Barry...but he would hear her phone or see the light of the screen. She had ruled out that option a long time ago.
There was no one to save her - she was going to die.
…
"Have you heard from Caitlin recently?" Barry asked, leaning one elbow on Cisco's desk and peering over the monitor to see what his friend was working on. It looked like a bunch of gibberish to him. "It's not like her to play hooky. Or even be late, for that matter."
Cisco shrugged, seeming unconcerned. "She didn't mention anything to me." He didn't even look up from his computer screen. "Maybe she just wants some alone time?"
"Maybe," Barry answered, still concerned. It was entirely possible that she just wanted to be alone for a while, but it wasn't normal for her not to tell them. If she wanted a personal day, he was positive that she would have called in.
"You can try her cell phone," Cisco added while typing furiously on the keyboard. "She always has it."
"Yeah, I'll try that," Barry replied, frowning. "Thanks."
Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he found Caitlin's picture in his contacts list and pressed the button to call her.
The line rang...and rang...and rang..
"Hello?" Caitlin's familiar voice came through, sounding calm.
Barry breathed a sigh of relief. "Caitlin, hi, it's-"
"...I'm not able to answer the phone right now," what he recognized as her answering message continued, "but please leave a message and I'll get back to you."
Frowning, he left a quick message telling her to call him and then hung up.
"Cisco," he asked, turning around, "does Caitlin ever leave her phone on silent?"
"Not usually," he replied immediately. "She could be busy, or not wanting to answer, though. Chill, man."
"Right." Even though he agreed, the whole situation seemed...wrong. Something was off, and it was making him more and more nervous.
"Cisco, do you have Caitlin's address?" he finally asked.
"Oh, come on," Cisco threw up his hands in frustration. "She's fine, and some of us are trying to get some work done here."
"Sorry," Barry muttered, shooting his friend an apologetic look. He must have been pretty annoying if he managed to get on Cisco's bad side. "But do you?"
Cisco rolled his eyes, but eventually looked up her address and wrote it down on a piece of paper. "No more interruptions?"
"I'm outta here," Barry promised, grabbing the slip.
…
He was in her room now.
The light had gone on only moments earlier, so she knew that it was almost time. The closet wasn't a very creative hiding spot and it would only be a matter of seconds before he flung open the door, saw her there, and...that would be it.
She closed her eyes. Some people wanted to look death in the face, but she had tried that method already, a couple times. It just made the fear worse.
Footsteps approached.
...
Barry knocked loudly on her door only seconds after leaving the lab.
To his surprise, the door swung open immediately at his touch - it must not have been shut properly.
Something was wrong.
Caitlin...Caitlin would never leave her door open and unlocked, whether or not she was home. And she wouldn't miss work.
Adrenaline started pumping through Barry's body as he cautiously entered, taking in the sight of the apartment. Nothing seemed off - it was tidy and comfortable, if a little sparsely decorated. However, there was no sign of Caitlin.
Something told him that he didn't have time to spare, so he sped through the small apartment at superspeed, casually noticing the man dressed in black holding a gun as he passed.
Then it clicked.
There was a man, holding a gun, in Caitlin's bedroom.
"Whoa there," Barry sped in front of the man, who was holding out his free hand to open the closet. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Who are you?" the man snarled, aiming the gun at Barry's heart.
"Not really important right now," Barry told him, glancing at the gun. "Where's Caitlin?"
"In here," a small voice came from behind him, muffled by the closet door.
Barry's heart leapt in his chest at the sound of her voice, feeling an intense sense of relief that she was okay, that he had arrived in time. "It's your lucky day," he told the man, a note of warning in his voice. "If you had hurt her…"
"You'd what?" the man smirked.
Barry sped around him, grabbing the gun and sticking it in the bathroom far out of reach, then using the cord that tied the curtains to secure the criminal.
"I'd do that," he replied smugly. Then he held up his phone. "Also, the police will be here in," he tilted his head to the side, towards the sound of the approaching sirens, "oh, about three minutes?"
The man just glared at him sullenly.
Having dealt with the danger, Barry turned to the closet and opened the door, revealing Caitlin curled up on the floor, the terror in her eyes just starting to fade.
"There was a gunman in your bedroom," Barry said lightly, reaching out a hand to help her to her feet. "Have you ever thought of moving to a new neighbourhood?"
Caitlin, still trembling, just flew into his arms and buried her face in his shoulder. "I thought I was going to die," she whispered. "How did you…?"
"You're never late," he whispered, bringing his arms around her waist and pulling her closer, trying to comfort her. He had never seen her this scared before, not even when they were close to death in previous situations. But then, she had never been alone and helpless before either. "What happened?" he asked after a moment, allowing her to pull away when she was ready.
She swallowed. "This morning I saw...something. A drug deal? Something obviously illegal, and I saw their faces. I just ignored it and continued home, but I guess one of them followed me home because I heard them picking the lock and so I ran and hid and then-"
"Shush," Barry pulled her back into his arms, interrupting her babbling. "You're okay."
"Thank you," she said fervently. "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been here."
"You'll never have to find out," he promised her. "I'll always be here for you."
The police arrived a couple seconds later to arrest the prisoner, breaking up their moment. Barry wasn't terribly grateful for the interruption - moments with Caitlin were rare enough that he cherished every second of them - but he appreciated the prompt response.
"I guess we should get to work," Caitlin finally commented after the police had left, her voice only slightly shaky.
Barry ginned charmingly at her. "Or, since we're already late, we could go get lunch?"
She looked uncertain for a second, but then smiled at him. "Why not?"
Her response surprised him, but he didn't let it show. He didn't want to ruin this chance. She may not consider it a date, but he certainly did.
At the very least, it was a start.
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