Hey guys, new chapters! I spent a great deal of time in this one and re-read it twice, hope I caught just of my mistakes, and I hope you like it
Thanks to orangefingers, for being so understanding, and giving me advice, hope you like this new chapter.
Barry half layed on the couch in the West house, killing time as he tapped away at his phone, the past two weeks had been dull, no crimes of any kind...which he was thankful for, but it felt like something was stirring somewhere, like the calm before a storm.
Agitated Barry switched his position, trying in vain to get comfortable, as he played some random game he'd downloaded a while ago. Soon his thoughts drifted to Iris he wondered what she was up too for a second before Caitlin popped into his head.
His thoughts brought him to that day just some two weeks ago, she was talented...but that reaction, something was wrong with her powers and he sure as hell was going to figure it out what.
As he thought more on Caitlin's powers Joe walked in.
"Hey Bar," he said as he moved to sit next to him.
"Get Joe," he sighed out, concern riddled his face.
"You okay Barry?" Joe asked mirroring his concern.
"Hm? Yeah no, I'm fine...Why?" He asked, quirking his right brow as he put down his phone.
"I'm guessing this is about that girl? The one who made you cookies?" A sly smirk painting Joe's face as he starred at his adoptive son.
"Joe, she didn't just make me cookies," he said as he shook his head. "And if you must know, yes this is about her..." he answered dejectedly.
"Is she like you?" Joe asked softly.
Barry answered by rolling his jaw to the left, keen on not really voicing the truth.
"Look Bar, I know how it is, you know I'm just doing my job, you brought a man too the hospital a couple months back with sever hypothermia, now I'm no expert on that but winter had just ended, and it's kind of hard to get hypothermia in the spring time. He may have been a convicted felon and all, but when it comes down too it I need to know, is she dangerous?" He questioned, wondering if he needed to be worried.
"No Joe, I promise, she was just trying to defend herself, plus I don't think she really had a clue about what was going on at the time...we're helping her slowly but surely." Barry said, though his brow was furrowed.
"So what's the problem?" Joe asked, knowing Barry, there was always something more.
"I'm worried about her, I think something's wrong, there's something she's not telling me," he said as he ran a frustrated hand through his hair.
"Okay look, you just met the girl right? You've know her for a couple months, but if something's bothering her it might be to painful to talk about, becoming a meta isn't easy, it sure as hell wasn't easy for you. You had to get into a car accident in order for your powers to surface, even then you were gone for nine months. Look if it's something that's too difficult for her to bring up on her own, then maybe some sympathy out compassion is needed." He said, patting Barry's shoulder as he moved too stand.
Barry stood as well, Joe could visibly see the gears in his head working.
"Thanks Joe, I think I've got it figured out," Barry said with a smile.
"Any time Bar, now I've got to head too the station, I'll see you later." Returning the smile, Joe made his way to the door.
With Joe gone, Barry mulled over what he'd decided to do, Joe had managed to make things seem a lot simpler when he felt genuinely confused. Making up his mind he soon vanished from the house a strong gust of wind trailing behind.
Sliding into the cortex, Barry found Cisco typing away at one of the computer, and Dr. Wells off to the left in the science lab seeming rather busy.
"Hey Barry, what's up?" Cisco asked, curious as to why he looked so puzzled.
"Have you guys seem Caitlin?" He asked in general.
"Caitlin? Is she the new girl, the one who made cookies?" A familiar voice asked.
Two sets of eyes turned to find Iris West standing in the door way.
Slightly irritated Barry made his way to as Iris, pulling her out of the doorway and away from the cortex.
Not wanting to get involved in the situation Cisco resumed his calculations.
"Iris, what are you doing here?" Barry asked, once they had made their way into the hallway, about fifteen feet from the entrance of the cortex.
"I came to see how you were doing, and if you need help with anything is that so bad?" She retorted
"Well yes and no, I told you not to come here because you never know what could be going on, and could be caught in the cross fire of a new meta, plus what if you were followed?" He replied rapidly.
"Barry I'm a journalist, no one's going to follow me," she said, her tone challenging.
"Iris, you write article mostly on the Flash and run a blog on the Flash, you give details that no one else knows-not even the cops-you never know who could catch on," he said, severely irritated at her blatant disregard for her own safety.
"Fine, I'll go, and I'll keep my distance, from here and in my writing," she said to him through clenched teeth.
"Iris," Barry sighed. "You know I just want you safe, the closer you are to the flash, the more eyes are in you, you know meta aren't safe." He finished, his demeanor heavy with sadness.
"I know Barry, I know it's hard, I may not be a meta but I can still support you," she said her voice flat.
"Not like this, okay? You can, but not here, not with this?" Barry said, exhaling deeply.
"Alright, I'll see you at home," she said as she moved to leave.
"Okay," Barry said as she left.
Said man ran a frustrated hand through his hair, wondering how one West could help put him at ease and the other frustrate him so.
"Hey man, if your looking for Caitlin, she moved into an apartment downtown a few days ago, I'll text you the address!" Cisco yelled down the hallway, popping his head into the hallway as soon as Iris had left.
"Thanks Cisco," Barry replied, he was glad for the run, it'd help with the agitation.
It hadn't been easy, but Caitlin had managed with a little bit of help to get all her things into her new home, it was really nice, very roomy and had a really good heating system, an apartment on the twenty-fifth floor in a thirty story building, the view was lovely.
She had spent the majority of the day unpacking and still felt like she was getting no where, her new home a maze of clutter.
Her mind drifted as she began to unpack her kitchen supplies, that day in the park stuck out in her mind, she knew that voice was her own, but too think such things about the ones who were helping her, it made her restless and put her on edge.
Just as she finished unpacking the first box, there was knock at her door, which confused her, no one would visit her now...unless it was a neighbor trying to be friendly. She opened the door to reveal Barry, holding a coffee in one hand and a small present in the other.
"How did you find you way here? No wait, stupid question," she said as she remember Barry's ability.
"Little pick me up, and a house warning gift," he said with a laugh.
She gestured him inside, as he handed her the coffee and the gift.
"This is a pretty good place you got, lugging all this stuff up here must of been a pain," he said as he looked around.
"Thank you for the coffee and gift, and yes it was," she replied with a smile, the coffee was good, a little on the sweet side though.
Setting the gift and coffee on her massive island counter, she began opening said gift to reveal a coffee mug, it was white porcelain with blue flowers in different shades, all though out the base of the cup, on the left face of the cup it read in cursive, "don't talk to me until I've finished my coffee." She couldn't help but laugh at it.
"Thanks Barry, I love it," she said with big smile.
Barry answered in kind with his usual grin.
"Yeah, I wanted to get you something nice, even though it's not much," he answered happily.
"All the same I still love it." She said as she set the cup side and began working on the next box.
A moment it two passed before either one spoke again.
"Hmm you know I've been meaning to ask, why the move?" Curiosity getting the better of him.
"Well I couldn't live at Star Labs forever, and I needed a home of my own, my old one was way too far and this one wasn't too expensive." Caitlin said, as she unpacked some glass plates.
Another moment passed between them before Barry spoke again.
"You know, I didn't just come here too bring you the gift or coffee, I actually wanted to take you somewhere if you'd be up to it?" He asked laying on some of his charm.
"I would Barry, but I've got unpacking to do and it's not going to do it itself."She replied somewhat sadly.
A small smile played on Barry's lips, and in an instant paper and flattened boxes of cardboard were sent flying.
Caitlin barely took two breaths before Barry was standing in front of her, spooked she stumbled back, losing her balance only to have Barry catch her.
"Done," he said, grinning like crazy. She looked around to find her apartment that was once filed to the brim with boxes was now clean and box free.
She could only laugh as she pulled away from him. She should've known he would've pulled something like this.
"How am I going to know what's where?" She questioned with a smirk.
Barry opened his mouth to reply, but soon after his mouth formed a 'o' as he looked around.
"I'll um, I'll write it down." He said as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
Caitlin couldn't help but giggle at his open awkwardness.
"So we should get going," he said, shaking off his mild embarrassment.
"Oh yeah we'll take my car," Caitlin said as she picked up her keys and purse.
"Oh well your car's nice, but my way would be faster," he said, leaning against her counter.
In a second he'd scooped her up in his arms bridal style, causing her to squeak in surprise.
"Better hold on tight, you might get as little light headed. Oh and we're going to have to make a quick stop on the way" he said rather thrilled at the moment. And within that moment the vanished from her apartment.
In a flurry of wind Barry and Caitlin had stopped somewhere in the outskirts of Coast City.
"Why are we all the way out here?" She asked as Barry let her down, they'd had stopped by Star Labs so Barry could put on his suite.
"There's something here that I wanted to show you," he said with a small smile.
They were at the outskirts of a massive forest preserve. Barry began walking and soon Caitlin followed, she was glad she was wearing regular shoes instead of heels.
About a mile or two in, the came upon a small cluster of houses, about eight houses in all, four to the right and three in the left, and another in the middle father back than all the rest.. Each house had a second for to it, so Caitlin guessed a lot of people lived here.
Caitlin couldn't help think that it was beautiful here as they made their way closer. A high pitched scream rang out scaring her as Barry hit the floor, or it was more like he was tackled to the floor.
A small child who looked to be around 9, was laughing and holding Barry tightly, Caitlin soon realized that the child was a girl. He soon stood up laughing, carrying the child with ease.
Soon multiply people began piling out of the houses, they all greeted Barry happily, their were children who all swarmed Barry begging to play, he sadly declined. Soon the children ran off to play together.
"So what brings the infamous Flash, to our humble abode?" Said a man as he approached the group, Caitlin remembered seeing him exit the furthest house at the center.
"Hartley, it's good to see you man," Barry said grasping his hand in greeting.
"You too friend, and who might this lovely lady be?" He asked as his eyes finding Caitlin off to the side.
A little shyly she greeted him, "Dr. Caitlin Snow, nice to meet you."
"Hartley Rathaway," he said with a nod. "Come, you must have questions," he continued as he gestured at them to follow.
The people who had crowed around Barry, peeled off making their way home. Barry stayed close to her as they walked, maybe it was so she wouldn't feel so it off place.
"Please have a seat, sadly must of the people who live with me aren't home at the moment, so you'll have to put up with me Barry," Heatley said, once they had entered the house, they found themselves in the kitchen first all three moving to sit.
"Oh I'm not sure I can endure it, I could barley deal with hearing your voice over the phone," Barry retorted with an amused smile, as he pulled back his mask.
"So you brought her here, I assume it was for a reason?" He questioned as he sat across from him, Caitlin to Barry's left.
"Yeah she's a new one, wanted to show her around, let her know about everything. Caitlin, as you know this is Hartley, also known as Pied Piper, his abilities are akin to that of a hypnotist, hence the name. Along with a few others he built this place, a sort of safe haven for those like us, plus he's also a brilliant engineer and scientist. As you can see he knows who I am, he was in fact apart of the team and still kind of is, but he's chose to take a break after what happened with the lab a while back." Barry explained, his expression a bit grim.
"You see Ms. Snow, Coast City is way more lenient towers us and allows us to live in peace, no tags or surveillance, bi-yearly check ins. We can live in the community, and most of us do, but those of use here don't like they eyes and silent ridicule, so we opted to moving here, the city has no qualms about it...plus this area was already vacated, as an old horse ranch use to reside here, it was already abandoned long ago so again we met no problems. Occasionally a few of use will venture into town to gather what we can't out here, we also work in our own ways. We're happy out here, and we know the humans are happy that not so many of us are living in town." Hartley explained more in depth, a sad smile tugging at his lips.
"I'm amazed, you guys built this place, it's so different from Central City, you have me slightly wish I could live here," Caitlin said with a smile.
"Oh you can, if you choose, and we don't just have those like us, their are humans here as well, some are family and some are friends. I'm also kind of the one in charge here, so if you need anything, come straight too me." Hartley said with a small smile dancing on his lips.
"I wanted to show you this, so you knew that it's not all bad, and if you ever needed a place too stay, this would be the place." Barry said softly.
"Thanks Barry," she said with a smile.
Hartley stood from the table and moved over to the counter, and began boiling some water in a kettle. After some rummaging and other conversations about Central and Cost city, three streaming mugs were placed on the table. Caitlin found hers to be filled with a tea and about a spoon full of honey...along with the spoon, Barry's smelt of coffee while Hartley's smelt of a different kind of tea.
"Hope you don't mind, I pegged you as more of a tea person rather than coffee." He said with a smile.
"Not at all, tea always tastes better with company," Caitlin said returning the smile.
"Hmm now I may be so prudent to ask, but what kind of ability do you have?" He asked gently.
Taking a sip of her tea, she bit her lip lightly as she looked over at Barry, he nodded to her lightly. She inhaled sharply and slowly pulled off her necklace, holding her right hand up cold air began curling off of her hand, the temperature in the room dropped to where the others could see their own breath curl in the air. Quickly she put her necklace back on fearing that she might do something and cause trouble or hurt someone.
"Hmm chilly," Hartley said with a wink, causing Caitlin to smile slightly.
"Don't worry Caitlin, you did great." Barry said reassuring her.
A moment passed between the trio, Caitlin wondering how Hartley wasn't fearful of her, or skeptical in the last...she chalked it up to him just being and understanding person, given his situation.
"Hey Hart, you wouldn't mind me taking her up to the roof?" Barry asked feeling like Caitlin could use the air, plus he noticed that the sun has set. It had been pretty late into the evening when he'd gone over to Caitlin's though the sun wasn't even close to setting
"Sure, though I do hope you fall off," he said with a smirk.
"I think I'd throw you off first," Barry said with a smile as he and Caitlin moved too make this way upstairs, the drinks forgotten.
Up on the roof, they sat in comfortable silence for about several minutes before Barry spoke.
"I figured you could use a little time away, seemed like you had a lot on your mind." Barry said, he seemed more relaxed.
"I guess it's not that hard for you to read other, I guess I'm still trying to deal with losing Ronnie..." She said with a sigh.
"Losing someone isn't easy, I know very well what it feels like..." he said softly.
"Barry you don't have too-" she said trying to stop him.
"No it's fine, it was uh...it was my mom, she was killed by another speedster like me when I was twelve, my father fought him in vortex of lighting circling around my mom, and he somehow managed to get me to safety when he knocked the other guy out of the house, I was blocks away and by the time I got back my mom was gone, and my father was being arrested for it. That man murdered my mom...I tried to tell them but no one would listen because the only had one speedster cataloged-my dad-so they carted him if to Iron Heights, without a second thought. I made it my mission to free my dad, no matter how long it took. Thanks to Joe I found my way into law enforcement as a CSI agent." Barry explained with more ease than she ever could've.
"I lost my dad when I was 14, he had cancer and no matter what the Doctor did it just kept coming back, finally my father resigned to his "fate" and I watched him die slowly, it was hard to watch and I made it my goal to become a great doctor and help others as much as I could. I soon became and expert scientist in bio engineering...losing Ronnie was something else entirely and at times I feel so cold and empty...I'm not sure what to do." Her voice filed with sadness as she told the story of her younger years and the pain of losing Ronnie still twisted inside her.
"It's strange isn't it? How tragedies in our lives brought us both here, made us who we are today...and even though it's painful I wouldn't have it any other way. You know that we'll always be here for you, Caitlin." He said with sincere smile.
Barry reclined on his arms his legs outstretched and Caitlin sitting with her knees pulled to get chest, they had corrupted through one of the attic widows and were resting at a slanting section on the roof. They both gazed up at the stars in awe at their brightness, at how many that were there, millions and millions, to both it was breath taking.
"I'm...glad I'm here too," Caitlin said though she expected to fell sadness at her words she actually felt the opposite, she felt her body relax more as tension that she didn't even know was there, left her body. Being with Barry and the others had made this ten times easier than it would've been on her own.
Soon the two made their way downstairs to find Hartley in his living room reading a book, they said their goodbyes and thanked him for his time. Barry pulled his mask back on before he stepped out of the house and soon had Caitlin in his arms once again.
Reaching her home in a matter of minutes, he gently put her down her down just outside her apartment door.
"Thank you, for today Barry, it was a really nice change of pace."She said sweetly.
"No problem, and if you need anything else just let me know," he said as he hugged her.
"I will, I promise," she said as she pulled away.
"Oh and before I forget," he said as he pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed out to her.
"What's this?" Caitlin asked curiously as she took the paper.
"I did say I'd write everything down," Barry said with a small chuckle.
"You know, with how well you got my house in order, maybe if you ever stop being a superhero, you should become an interior decorator," she said jokingly.
Barry couldn't help but laugh fully, so much so that his stomach began to hurt, his laugh was infectious because Caitlin was laughing too.
"You know I might take you up on that offer," he said finally after he caught his breath.
"Goodnight Barry," she said with a small chuckle.
"Goodnight Caitlin," he said with a full on grin.
For a moment he lingered, then sped off leaving a swirl of wind being him. Content Caitlin made her way inside, and got ready for bed. Perhaps this small break might let get a full nights rest.
Oh my stars! I looked back on my old chapters and saw how bad my writing was, but what's to be expected when you're out of practice? Hoped you like this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Oh and I wanted to ask you guys about who else you want living with Hartley(at the main house), I couldn't decide who to pick from, also while I'm on Hartley I hope he's not too OC, because we never got much of him from the series so I've a hard time figuring out his personality...though I did have fun giving him and Barry a somewhat hate/love relationship...anyways give me your answers and reviews on the matter, how to see you soon, my lovely readers!
