No new warnings this chapter, though questionable medicine rears its ugly head. I did...a lot of googling for some of the terms used here, but inevitably a lot of it is still going to be off. Bear with me.

Enjoy!

If there was a record for number of times startled by a ringing phone in twenty-four hours, Caitlin certainly would have held it. The vibration was too close to her face, too sharp-sounding. Caitlin jerked awake, disoriented. Her arm muscles cramped. A crust of drool stuck to her cheek. Her foot banged against the edge of the metal cot she had fallen asleep on, and that sound alone oriented her. Sometime in the night she'd decided to take a rest there, and, from the stiffness in her muscles, it seemed as if she hadn't stirred an inch from her curled-up position.

As she reached to answer her phone, she glanced at the time. 9 am. She couldn't remember exactly when she'd elected to take her break in the middle of the night, but she felt as if she'd been asleep for years.

"Hey, Joe," she said, alarmed at the morning scratchiness in her voice. "What's up?"

"Where are you?" came Joe's voice. Even through the phone, it sounded taut like stretched wire.

"I'm..." Caitlin cleared her throat. "I'm at STAR."

"Did you—did you sleep there last night?" Joe said. "Caitlin, you—never mind. We have a bit of a problem."

Caitlin swung her legs over the edge of the bed and slid her bare feet into the carelessly discarded heels on the floor. "What's wrong?"

"It's Barry," Joe said, and those two words on their own sent a jolt of panic through Caitlin's system, shocking her fully awake. "I don't know what's wrong with him. He's having trouble moving."

"What?" Caitlin said.

"I don't know—just get over here. Fast."

Caitlin stumbled to her work station and rifled through the contents of the drawers. "I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

Joe hung up without a goodbye. Caitlin shoved her phone into her pocket and dumped as many supplies as she could into her purse. Even though some of what she was gathering probably would never be useful, it was better to go in prepared for anything. It was one of the things she had learned from her reluctant position as a superhero's personal physician.

Once she had packed up the requisite supplies, she marched into the cortex and reached for a pad of paper and a pen.

Cisco,

Change of plans. Going to Wests'. Be back later.

Cait

She set the paper on top of the keyboard, along with a granola bar; Cisco was notorious for forgetting to eat when he was stressed out. Satisfied that her setup would be enough for the time being, she slung a jacket over her shoulder and strode out, not even bothering to turn off the lights behind her.

"Thank God," Joe said. "Sorry for being so brusque on the phone."

"No need," Caitlin said, shouldering her way inside the house, noting Joe's briefcase lying haphazardly on the floor, one shoe on his foot and the other cast off nearby. "What's happening?"

Joe closed the door behind her and tracked her gaze to the discarded items. "Sorry. I was just on my way to work when Iris found Barry. She's up with him now."

Caitlin was off like a shot toward the stairs, Joe trailing behind her. Even in her heels, she took the stairs two at a time. The morning haze had completely cleared from her eyes, and she saw the path clearly lit before her.

Barry's bedroom door was ajar, so Caitlin pushed her way inside without so much as a knock. Iris sat in a chair at Barry's bedside, but she rose at Caitlin's entrance. Barry lay in the bed, breathing shallowly.

"I found him like this," Iris said. Her hands shone red with blood. "It's like he's…paralyzed, or something."

A closer look at Barry was like putting together a particularly troubling puzzle. He appeared fully cognizant, his eyes tracking her as she moved closer, but they were fearful eyes. One hand lay curled on his chest, the other balled at his side. It looked as though Iris had peeled back the bandages on his leg—that would explain the blood. While much of the damage had healed, the larger lacerations still wept crimson, and spidery blue lines spread out across his skin around the cuts.

Caitlin took all of this in in the blink of an eye. Processed it. Moved on. From out of her purse, she drew a blood sampling kit. She took Iris' place in the bedside chair and placed a hand on Barry's arm.

"Barry, can you hear me?" she asked, trying her best to blend tenderness and firmness in equal measure.

With alarming slowness, Barry's lips moved. "Yeah."

"I'm going to take some blood, okay?" She took his sluggish blink as consent and swabbed the crook of his arm clean. "You can't move? At all?"

His next words were preceded by tension in his jaw, an obvious effort. "A…little." As if to demonstrate, he flexed the fingers on his left hand at an agonizing pace. "'s…better."

Caitlin concentrated on collecting her blood, but once the syringe was full, she looked back at Barry. The fear in his eyes was primal, raw. She knew how much he hated being trapped—small spaces, restraints, confinement had always been panic-inducing, so it wasn't a stretch to imagine what he must have been feeling trapped in his own body. In an attempt to soothe him, she rested her hand on top of his. "It's alright. I'm right here. We'll get this figured out."

She didn't have the depth of technology she might've at STAR, but Cisco had been a marvel at retrofitting their portable devices. She allowed herself to break from Barry while she set up her laptop and hooked up the proper equipment.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Joe lingered near the door, looking unsure of his place. He might have looked ridiculous, standing there with one shoe and a suit jacket half-on, in the right circumstances.

"I just need to run this blood scan," Caitlin said. "See those blue lines on his leg? I have an idea—"

The computer dinged, and Caitlin scanned over the results. The more she read, the further her brows knit.

"Just like I thought," she said. "There's a drug in his bloodstream. A strong paralytic, infused with…" She looked up from the screen at Joe and Iris. "With the serum I helped Canton and Jason create."

"But what…" Iris visibly swallowed. "What does that mean?"

"I think it was on the barbs of that net," Caitlin said. "It was designed so that once Barry was out of the net, he wouldn't be able to make a getaway."

"And it confirms that Jason is in league with Eiling," Iris said grimly. "How else would Eiling know about the serum?"

"Christ," Joe said. "This is worse than I thought. Do you think he's planning on continuing Jason's work? You know, spreading that serum around to all of the metas?"

Caitlin bit her lip. "It doesn't seem like his usual prerogative. But I could be wrong."

"Okay." Joe cleared his throat. Barry clenched and unclenched his fingers slowly. "What do you need from us? I mean, you can help Barry, yeah?"

"I've brought a few things that might help," Caitlin said. "But I think ultimately he will burn it off himself, just like the last time he got injected with that serum. It can't have been a large dose, not coated on the barbed wire like it was." Her hand went automatically back to Barry's arm, subconsciously feeling for his pulse. "You two go to work. I'll stay here until Barry's back in shape."

"But—"

"Go," Caitlin said resolutely. "I don't have a boss to report to, and, besides, there's not much to do but wait. I'll call both of you if anything changes."

Joe still looked unsure, but Iris sighed. "She's right, Dad. Come on, you're going to be late. And you'll need to cover for Barry with Singh."

"Right," Joe said. "Severe allergies again?"

"We both know that's a lame excuse," Iris said. "You might as well say he has Ebola."

Joe grumbled something that sounded suspiciously like "maybe I will" before turning out of the room. Iris moved to the bed and rubbed Barry's good leg.

"You get some rest," she instructed. "Listen to Caitlin, and don't push yourself. I'll be back as soon as I'm off work." To Caitlin, she mouthed a soft, sincere, "Thank you." Then she too was out the door. Reluctantly.

Caitlin waited for the door to close downstairs before reaching for her phone and typing off a quick message:

Change of plans. Barry's sick. Long story. Everything's fine. Start without me.

"Just letting Cisco know." Caitlin gestured with her phone. "I left him a note at STAR, but figured he'd like an update." She set down the phone and rifled around in her bag for a new syringe. "I'm going to give you an anticholiner—" She paused, recognizing the confusion even in Barry's immobile state. "Something to help counter whatever muscle-inhibitor you've been dosed with. I'm afraid the best we can do, though, is wait. It may take a few hours.

She prepped this new drug, and Barry managed, "You?"

"Brought a book," Caitlin said, sliding the needle into Barry's arm. "Don't worry about me. I can read to you, if you'd like." A long groan. "Or not. It's probably best if you try to sleep, anyway. Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable?"

"'m…good." Barry moved his right arm down to his side as Caitlin finished administering her drug. "Peachy."

"You should take your own advice sometime." Caitlin placed the empty syringe on the bedside table and offered a smile. "You don't always have to be okay. Just remember, I'm right here. If you are having any more trouble breathing, or if the stiffness gets worse, let me know. If you sleep, though, the healing should seem quicker."

Reluctantly, it seemed, Barry conceded by closing his eyes. Whether or not he would actually sleep was unclear, but it soothed Caitlin's nerves somewhat to see him closing his eyes. She wouldn't actually admit it to him, but it was unnerving seeing him lying so still with his eyes open. Like a corpse.

As soon as she was sure he was at least attempting sleep, Caitlin shimmied off of the chair to the floor. She'd never used to consider herself a floor-sitter, but lately she'd found it somewhat calming. With her back pressed securely against the wall and the door firmly in her sights, she checked her phone one more time—no messages yet—before exchanging it for her book.

It was a cheap paperback, likely forgettable, mindless, predictable. Caitlin clutched it like the comfort it was and dove in head-first.

"Okay, two more steps. One…two. There you go. All the way down the stairs."

"Barry Allen: miracle of human evolution, able to walk down one flight of stairs," Barry jibed. He clutched Caitlin's arm in a veritable death grip as they crossed the entryway to the living room. While his movement was much better, he walked at a shuffle, grimacing with each slow step.

"Does it hurt?" Caitlin asked. "To move?"

"Not necessarily," Barry said, his jaw still too stiff for his usual inflections. "I guess it's more…burning. Wading through that burning after a really terrible workout. Am I talking slowly? I feel like I'm talking slowly."

"Better than you have been," said Caitlin, though admittedly in the time it had taken Barry to get the words out, they had made it all the way to the couch. "Here's a calorie bar for you to start with. What else would you like to eat?"

"Anything and everything please," Barry said. He sagged against the cushions and awkwardly tried to rearrange a blanket over his legs.

Caitlin stepped around the corner into the kitchen and began rummaging through the cabinets. Soup, pasta, bread, spices, beans, oatmeal. In her current state, the options were overwhelming. She opted for the easiest option. One box of pasta went into a pot of water, high heat.

On her way back to the cupboard, her eye caught the clock. Already almost five o'clock. Though she'd made it through her entire paperback, and taken a nap besides, it hadn't occurred to her that it might be that late. No wonder Barry was so hungry.

From the counter she picked up a banana and carried it back out to Barry. "Pasta's on the stove. Have something healthy first."

He still hadn't managed to unwrap his calorie bar, so she peeled the banana before handing it to him. He accepted it and nodded at her barely-stifled yawn. "Did I hear that you slept at STAR last night?"

"I took a nap up in your room."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"I didn't intend to stay there all night," Caitlin insisted feebly. "I meant to go home after starting some research on Eiling. I just needed to rest my eyes and…well…"

"Cait," Barry groaned.

"I know, I know," Caitlin said, perching on the arm of the couch. "It was stupid. I just want to be able to do something."

"I know you do," Barry said. "And we will."

The sound of a key being inserted into a lock alerted both of them to the front door opening. Still somewhat on edge, Caitlin kept her eyes fixed on it until Iris stepped through.

"Everything alright?" the woman said, locking the door behind her. She took in the scene with apprehension, as if scared she might discover a dead body or something equally horrifying. Barry blinked up at her with slow eyelids.

"Lots of improvement," Caitlin said. "Whatever this serum mixture was, it was potent. Barry's still not fully functioning."

"So you've been here all day?" Iris frowned. "Have you found out anything more about where Rose is being held?"

"Haven't had much of a chance," Caitlin said. "I don't have nearly the resources here that we do at STAR, and I've never been one much for hacking."

"Has Cisco found anything?"

"Not that I know of," Caitlin said. "He would've called if he'd gotten any leads."

"Well, we'll keep looking." Iris tossed her bag down on the couch. "My dad should be home in about an hour, then you can head to your place, if you'd like. We can handle Barry from here."

"I'm half-paralyzed, not deaf, you know," Barry said. "I can hear you."

"And I can see you," Iris said, ruffling Barry's hair as she passed. "You're still not your normal self."

"My normal self would be kicking Eiling's sorry ass right now," Barry grumbled, biting mutinously into his banana.

Caitlin and Iris exchanged amused glances. "So," Caitlin began, re-settling on the arm of the couch and watching Iris shrug out of her coat, "how was work?"

Before Iris could answer, the question was punctuated by three sharp raps on the door. All of them froze, the sound transfixing them. The dusky light from the windows seemed to grow darker.

"Are you expecting anyone?" Barry asked them both.

Caitlin and Iris' eyes locked once again. Caitlin opened her mouth to speak.

Then the door burst in at the hinges.

Thank you for reading! One more week until the new season!

And, as always, I so appreciate any and all comments! (Even if it's just to tell me how wrong my slim medical knowledge is.)

Till next time,

Penn