Astrid arrived back at STAR Labs to find Barry hooked up to monitors on Caitlin's med-bay bed, fortunately, he was conscious. "Barry, what happened back there? How did he manage to dodge your attack? you're supposed to be the fastest man alive." She said.
"Weren't you supposed to be at home dealing with a mega hangover?" Cisco questioned her.
"I was, but I got bored… Barry… what happened?" she asked again, diverting her attention back to him.
Barry sat forward, as Caitlin checked his bloodwork from his bedside table. "That… was the blue flame." He said.
"I'm sorry, the blue what?" Astrid asked.
"The blue flame. It has to do with Eddie's family… adopted family I mean… Long story… but now it's on our streets and we have to eliminate it as soon as possible." Barry replied.
"As soon as possible isn't fast enough, Barry." Caitlin said as she had just finished examining his blood. The group turned to look at her.
"What do you mean?" Barry asked.
"That blue flame… I don't know how, but it stole some of your speed," Caitlin said.
"That could be really bad in the wrong hands." Cisco said.
"I agree. Barry, maybe you should sit this one out… Maybe we should ask Firestorm to take on this one." Astrid said.
Caitlin bit her lip and hesitated before she spoke. "As great as that sounds… that's a little hard right now…"
"Why?" They all asked her in unison.
"Well… this thing with Amunet and Frost… Ronnie and I weren't really seeing eye to eye about it this morning. I didn't mention it sooner, because I didn't want everyone to worry… but Ronnie and Stein went out of town for a few days. DR Stein had to give a lecture to some university over in Gotham City so Ronnie went with him." Caitlin admitted.
"Oh, Cait…" Astrid sympathized, as she put her arm around her friend's shoulder. "Wait… that actually happened? That wasn't some crazy dream I had where we were all standing here at seven this morning and…" Astrid's voice trailed off as she looked over at Cisco.
"So, if Firestorm isn't here… I guess we have no choice but to let Barry handle it." Cisco said, changing the subject. "But I might be able to make something up to help him… But we need to gather some sort of sample of…"
Barry cut him off, as he held the sample bag of blue dust that he had gathered earlier from the crime scene. "You're the best, Barry!" Cisco said excitedly.
"Hey… I'm going to need a sample of that too!" Caitlin said excitedly, as the two went off to begin their tests on the blue dust.
Astrid remained by Barry's side, "So are you sure that you can still run?" she asked him, concerned.
"Yeah… I mean, it must have only altered my speed a little bit, but… clearly not enough to cause permanent damage." He said shrugging it off. "Are you ok, you seem a little off?"
"I'm fine!" she said, shaking her head ready to walk away.
"Astrid… hey, no there's something wrong… You have a tell… what's up?"
"I have a tell? Haha that's funny… now who's the mind reader?" she joked. "Ok, Iris is a little on to you about the whole you having a crush on her thing… it might be my fault… and I don't know why she is so keen on getting answers… but you know that girl…"
"Yeah I do… and I'm not surprised that she is onto me… but there's something else. I can tell. What's going on?" he pestered.
"Geez, Bar. Did you and Cisco go to the same camp about how to be annoying, when you were kids? But ok, if you must know… Whenever I see you as the Flash… I dunno… I just get reminded of a dream that I had once. I'm not sure if I ever told you this or not, I don't even think that I told Cisco… but it was one of the reasons I was a little off when he chose red as the color for your suit…"
"Astrid, what are you getting at?" Barry questioned her sternly.
"Well, when I was little, I remember that I was in the back of my parent's car. Some truck drove through a red light… We should have been killed, all three of us but it was like some sort of miracle saved us that night. I guess I had been falling asleep in the car and my dad must have pulled me out or something… but I just remember standing on the side of the road, a little disorientated and a man… who looked a hell of a lot like you in your suit, was standing by a tree watching us. I guess I thought that that man must have saved us… But then I grew up, and realized that it was all impossible. Logic won out… and I became a psychologist… Besides, you only just got your powers when the meteor hit and unless you can time travel, I …" she was interrupted by Cisco calling for their attention.
"Hey, you guys… I think I have it! Bar… your suit is already flame proof… but if I can somehow use this dust… counteract its powers and build it into your suit… in theory… you may be able to also become Cobalt Blue flame proof…" Cisco was very excited about this idea.
"Cobalt Blue?" Caitlin asked him.
"Well think about it, it's the opposite to regular flame… It's just a name… let it go… ok? Sheesh!"
Barry realized that that was the end of he and Astrid's conversation… but it was also alarming. She had seen him that night, that he had saved her. But he was not going to break his promise to Dr Fate and reveal to any of them the truth about that alternate reality.
"I'm sorry… I'm still stuck back at your 'in theory'. What do you mean by that?" Astrid asked Cisco.
"Well… it could either work or… the suit itself could dampen Barry's powers." Cisco admitted.
"Make sure you test it out, first…" Astrid warned.
"Ok! I'm on it!" Cisco said, "…but it might take a while."
"Ok, while you get it sorted. I'm going to head back to CCPD." Barry said, "Let me know if you guys need anything."
"We always do," Caitlin called out, realizing that Barry had already left.