Barry was excited. Caitlin's birthday was coming up. The last year she spent that day in a coma. The speedster himself didn't even have a clue that it had passed till after he saw her file at STAR. This year however he decided to make it special and considering he had all the money he could have ever wanted after Eobard left him STAR Labs, he could make plans for a perfect birthday for his beautiful girlfriend. The day however was not fortunate, since it did fall on a Monday, It didn't really matter since well, she was working for him and in the end they could always take a day off from work, he would have thought that a weekend away might have been better, but that's what he had to work with.
First of all it had to be a surprise. She could not know what was happening until it actually happened. That might have proven to be easy if the two didn't have their link. He hoped that she would not be able to pick up the fact that he was hiding something. At first glance the best cover-up that he could come up with would be a proper date. Not the usual date in which was something the two were very familiar with. He admonished himself not being able to come up with something more covert, but that would have to do.
The real issue he encountered was that he had no idea about nice locations to make everything click into place. Now that he had the money as well he turned to his good friend Oliver for advice. Making sure that he was out of the ear range of anyone in the labs he called the archer.
"Hey, Oliver" The speedster greeted.
"Barry. To what do I owe the pleasure of the unexpected call?" the voice asked a bit surprised
"I need some advice. You were rich once and total playboy to boot so ... you must have travelled to exotic locations in this country or outside of it. Something that would leave a nice memory to the person you are taking to that particular place" Barry managed to voice.
"So, you want to take Caitlin out on a date and you have no idea where, considering at this time you have all the money you could ever spend and more" Oliver snickered. He knew about the money from Eobard because he called Cisco for advice and the engineer kind of let it slide about most of what happened. Barry knew this, because Cisco had told him about his … small mishap.
"Actually, I want to surprise her for her birthday. The date is a smoke screen" The speedster replied.
"Wow. You really don't have a clue about dating don't you. Listen here, dork. You can take her out on a date and make it all about her in one go. You don't need to use one as a smoke screen for the other. Something I recommend you doing actually since you mentioned both" The archer told him pretty bluntly.
"I already knew that, Grumpy. I was planning to use the date as a cover but then I realized, just as you told me. Why not both?" Barry half expected an arrow to materialize from the phone and hit him in the face. Of course that couldn't have happened.
"I thought I told you not to call me that. Anyway, I do have some places you could go to, depending on what you want to plan. Since we reached that, what IS your plan?" the voice enquired.
"I was thinking either sea or snow. Somewhere out on the beach just me and her. Or just rent out a retreat somewhere in the mountains and have a weekend to ourselves, only since her birthday is on a Monday, that week end turned into Sunday and Monday" Barry replied truthfully
"Well, snow is a bit scarce at this time of year. I can only think about … maybe two places that you have a high chance to catch a snowfall. Unless your plan includes her tiring herself out to participate in her birthday, which is not something that you want to happen. It would totally be a bad idea if she falls asleep from exhaustion while you sing Happy Birthday" the archer stated quite bluntly
"Hmm. So few huh? I guess you are right, it's not even winter, autumn has barely started which means that snow will be hard to find. No, I don't intend to have her strain herself to actually make it snow" Barry realized that himself.
"The other solution would be sand and beaches. I know of at least 30 island resorts that are amazing and also offer services that are akin to those you require. You know, two people just spending an anniversary or a birthday or a honeymoon, the type of trip that requires them to be alone and undisturbed. Most of them are really private as well which would help" Oliver told him.
"Then I guess sand and beaches it is. Can you send me a list of those locations?" Barry asked nonchalantly
"I can do better. I'll put you in touch with a friend of mine. Someone who actually managed all my trips back when I actually did them. He just happens to be in Central City visiting someone. So I'll call him and set up a meeting so you can sit down with him and discuss things. He does take a hefty fee for himself, but I doubt that is something that will stop you" the archer replied.
"That would be awesome. I can't set this up by myself. Even if I did have the speed to run around the world, I would still have to leave Caitlin alone for at least a couple of hours. She will probably notice something is wrong by that point. When will you tell him to meet me?" Barry acknowledged.
"I'll set it up for an hour after we finish talking. He'll meet you at Jitters, that way you won't draw any unneeded attention. Barry, let me ask you this, though. Are you sure you want to go full rich guy on her? I mean for some people a simple birthday party with the people she considers friends will do a lot more than spending the weekend in a luxury resort. You know her best, but I'm just asking" Oliver made a pretty good point and had Barry in a bit of a stump.
"She would probably enjoy both, to be honest. But I would want to go big. I don't intend this to be a regular occurrence, you know, doing the same thing over and over again is the definition of insanity. But I would like to go all out at least once or twice and show her how much I love her" The speedster replied after a bit of thinking.
"Very good. Now with that decision in mind go talk to Andre. He'll set you up with all you need. I don't have to send you the locations, he will take care of that for you as well. Including a private plane and / or anything you might need to go to and from the location you choose. He is not cheap, but he is the absolute best at what he does and he has connections all over the world" the archer assured him that everything will go smoothly
"Thanks Oliver. Sorry to have disturbed you, I'm pretty new to all this rich guy stuff" Barry told him truthfully
"You`re pretty new to women too. I mean you did fawn over one without saying anything for 10 years. Have you even had a girlfriend before Caitlin?" Oliver started to laugh loudly
"Thanks for reminding me of how alone I was, Jackass" the reply came and the archer started to laugh even harder. Barry realized that Oliver out of all people was teasing him. It was more than any friend, the way he acted about that stuff was comparable to a big brother making fun of his sibling rather than someone who were friends.
"You are most welcome, Forever Alone Speedster. Although, that doesn't really apply now since you have a girlfriend" the archer spoke chuckling "Considering how much time you and Caitlin spend together on a regular basis I would more than likely have to name you, the Never Alone Speedster"
"That seems appropriate. To be honest that makes me the happiest man in the world" A blunt answer almost closed Oliver's mouth.
"Remember. Jitters. One hour. If Andre can't make it then I'll text you with a time and location according to what his schedule is" the archer made his point.
"All right. Thank you again" Barry replied.
"No problem. Have fun you two" The voice told him and Barry closed the call. He walked back to the Cortex and started to fiddle with some stuff, trying to appear like he was working.
"What are you tinkering on?" a voice almost startled him. He turned around and nobody was there.
"I really need to get used to this. You startled me half to death. I'm fine where you`re in the room, but random questions out of nowhere when I'm alone still get me some of the time. Where are you, Cait?" he asked.
"Right here" he felt a familiar rush of wind and two hands were around his waist.
"Hey you" He gave her a bright smile.
"Who were you talking on the phone with?" she asked "It was quite a long call and I didn't want to disturb you"
"An old college buddy actually. He is in Central City and asked me if we could go out for coffee. You know, to catch up on stuff" he lied
"You actually had friend in college? That's something. I was literally the nerd of my class always studying and with my head in the books" Caitlin told him and he looked quite surprised.
"You mean to tell me that nobody saw how beautiful you are and how smart you are because you were a nerd? Oh well, what can is say except, more for me" The speedster chuckled.
"As much as I would like to come with you. I have been having issues with my car, so I need to get that looked at" She was serious
"You mean to tell me, Frost, the fastest woman in the universe at this time, needs a car to go around. Why do you ever repair that thing? You know we can get a new one like ... any time. Right?" Barry was surprised that she was actually taking care of that old thing.
"I don't really need a car, per se. But that old thing is a piece of history for me you could say. It's the first thing I bought without having to ask for money from someone else. That car represents the beginning of my independence and my life away from my mother. It's a memory more than me actually using it" She answered truthfully.
"Ah, I see. Then by all means. Go take care of it" Barry smiled brightly at her. She was surprised by his reaction. She had thought that he would tell her to just forget it, leave it where it is or sell it and buy a new one. Instead she realized that after his mother died he knew the values of mementos of times long passed.
"I will. I'll see you after you return?" She asked and gave him a short kiss.
"Most definitely. You know I can't be away from you for too much time. Well, I can, but I don't really want to" The speedster turned then stopped "Caitlin, would you like to go out on a date this Sunday?" he asked quite bluntly
"What kind of a question is that? Of course I would love to go on a date with you. Where did you have in mind?" She replied almost instantly
"I'm not sure yet, but nowhere near Central City. Actually, maybe you can help me decide where. What would you like, beach, sun and bikinis or snow, slopes and skiing" Barry asked her flat out.
"You might find this odd, but while I did spend a good part of my youth in Coast City, I have never really been to the beach. I don't think I've ever worn a bikini before either. Besides, I'm cold all the time, a little heat might do me good. Last time I tried skiing… I had to spend 3 weeks in a cast, so I would rather not have a take two on that" Caitlin answered truthfully. The two were very blunt with each other, there was no lying between them and no hidden things. They had an example of how badly that could go in Oliver. Except when someone wanted to surprise the other, but it was never more than that.
"All right. Sun, beach and bikinis it is" the speedster smiled at her.
"Barry Allen. I am not wearing a bikini in public" she told him sternly. He had forgotten that even if he had seen every inch of her and more, that was because they were together. In reality the beautiful doctor was very much shy and a bit insecure about her body.
"Duly noted. Thank you for the idea, I was sincerely at a loss to where we should go and since you`re the one that's coming with me, I thought I should ask" Barry smiled at her brightly.
"I'm glad you did. While I do like snow now thanks to your shenanigans at Christmas, I would rather go somewhere warm" she stated, blew him a kiss and got into the elevator. Barry looked at his watch and flashed out himself. The discussion with Caitlin took a while and he thought he should not be late talking to the person that Oliver had recommended. Thinking ahead, Ollie sent him a picture of the man he was supposed to meet. He entered Jitters and scanned the venue to find the man sitting at a table in a corner.
"Andre I presume?" Barry offered his hand to the person who stood up and shook it.
"That would be me. Barry Allen?" the person inquired.
"Yes. Thank you for meeting me on such short notice. Oliver Queen tells me you are the best in planning ... special events no matter where in the world they might need to be. I am in need of someone with your particular set of skills" the speedster told him quite frankly.
"Mr. Queen must have told you that my services don't come cheap. Will that be a problem?" the man spoke his mind.
"Not at all. At the moment, I am the actual owner of STAR Labs. I would like you keep that to yourself until we have a chance to make everything public. So you could say that the only issue that I don't have right now is money" Barry replied bluntly
"I see. Very well then. Tell me what would you be interested in and I will see how I can help and what we can come up with" Andre responded politely
"The premise is simple. I want a very special date with my girlfriend to celebrate her birthday. Sadly while the premise is simple, the execution is what has left me in a bind" Barry explained to the man.
"That's why I'm here. Mr. Queen used to be a champion in simple premises. The executions however were always very … shall we say, elaborate" the man snickered "So what did you have in mind?"
"Sand, beach, maybe a nice dinner with a cake. It would be preferable if the venue we stay is private. Something akin to a villa or a house. Also the beach that comes with it has to be private as well. My girlfriend is a bit shy so I would like not to cause her any sort of discomfort. Everything should be private, including the dinner. We are the sort of people that don't like to have spectators when eating, so the staff should be gone as well" Barry told him as much as he could think of at the time.
"That doesn't seem complicated at all. I think I might have the perfect place. Give me a moment" The man pulled out a laptop and was searching for something "There we go. What about here" he turned the laptop and showed Barry some pictures. They were of a resort somewhere in the Canary Islands "This is a resort that is very sought after. It consists of villas all across the shore, each with its private stretch of beach and with its own staff. The view is wonderful, you can be alone, because the staff will just prepare the food you want and leave it and then you can serve your girlfriend yourself. The problem is, because it is so sought after the venue is almost always booked. When do you want the event to happen and how much will you be staying?" The man asked.
"I need it for this Sunday and Monday. Two days" Barry replied.
"Well it seems that you`re in luck. Another client of mine just cancelled for those exact days. I can make the reservation now if you so wish" Andre replied.
"Yes do that. I suspect you know how to set up a romantic dinner and have things done for a beautiful birthday cake and maybe something special to top it off for the night?" The speedster asked.
"Of course, I can give you the special pack. Unless there is something you would like specifically to be done to your design" The man answered quite sure of himself.
"Surprise me. If Mr. Queen recommended you then you must know your trade very well. I'm going to leave that to your discretion" Barry smiled "Also I do need something bought and delivered to the villa"
"What would that be?" the question came.
"How good are you at buying bathing suits?" Barry chuckled, pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it over prompting a grin from the man in front of him.
"Quite proficient. I do however require the measurements of the person I'm supposed to buy something for. Even though that is a bit of a surprise considering Mr. Queen never asked me for anything like that" the answer came.
"That's what's on the note I just gave you. So Oliver didn't really need clothes for his dates? Why doesn't that surprise me" the speedster chuckled.
"I can neither confirm nor deny that statement. I only take care of the arrangements, not of anything else" the man said with a professional, but comical tone.
"I also need you to get this for me and have it delivered to the villa. I cannot carry this around with me since she might find it and I don't want to spoil the surprise" Barry showed him a picture of a jewel. It was a simple necklace with a ruby heart in the middle of it. Something he had his eye on for a while, but never managed to put money aside for. Now that he had all the money he could ever want, that jewel is the first thing he wanted for Caitlin.
"That doesn't seem so hard to procure. Of course, with the money in hand I mean" Andre assured him "Will you be requiring transport?"
"Yes. While we can make it to the airport here and back on our own. We would need a private jet chartered and transportation to and from the villa while we are there" The speedster replied.
"I can always order you a limo to take you to the airport if you so need" the man said seriously.
"That won't be necessary. We can handle that ourselves. Besides we enjoy walking" the answer came.
"Very well. So let me make some calculations and tell you how much this is going to cost. The moment I have the money I'm going to start preparing everything" Andre replied
"I would like you to plan ahead for the fact that we would like to be at the beach Sunday around noon, so take into account the air travel time and everything else and we do need to be back in town by Tuesday morning as well" Barry thought he should mention so the man could have every piece of information required. He ordered two more coffees and waited for Andre to finish his summary of the expenses.
"All right. Everything that you wanted me to plan for: the plane ride back and forth, the car ride back and forth, two days of renting the cabin with the special romantic dinner package, birthday package, payment for the staff, aerial permits and the likes, without my fee, amounts to this" Andre showed him a number. Barry took point of everything but asked himself what the aerial permits were for. He let it go, he thought it was part of the special package for the dinner.
"That's fine. Just out of curiosity, what is actually your fee?" Barry asked nonchalantly
"150k dollars" The man said without much discussion "I suspect I don't have to ask that the number I just told you should be kept private"
"Of course. Send me the account where you want the money to be transferred" Barry told him. In the back of his mind he was wondering why the man would keep the price secret. It could be something that simple as trade secret or maybe so that he could charge some people more and some people less. He shrugged it off, Oliver did recommend the guy so that had to account for something. The man showed him a numbered account on his phone. Barry logged into one of the banks that held the numbered accounts which belonged to Eobard and transferred the money instantly "If everything goes all right and we love how it turns out, well she loves it more than me, since it's her birthday, I will send you your fee again, in the same account Tuesday morning. Be sure to check that"
"That is highly irregular, my fee is quite large and not many people would actually pay it twice, no matter how well everything goes" Andre told the speedster visibly surprised.
"As long as you do a good job and she enjoys herself. I see no problem of giving you a bonus for a job well done. I do like to reward people that are good at what they do. I don't think that will be a problem" Barry said pretty bluntly.
"No it wouldn't. Thank you, Mr. Allen. I'm going to get to work preparing your outing. As soon as I arrange everything you will receive a message with the schedule and everything that comes with it. Expect it by Saturday afternoon. What color do you want the swimsuits to be?" Andre assured the man. He stood up and extended an arm which Barry shook.
"Black. Thank you for taking the time to meet with me. Will be looking forward to see what you arrange" the speedster was excited so see what would happen.
"One last thing. I have already put the "birthday package" in with the dinner. I do require however the name of the person who's birthday it is" Andre told him quite bluntly "I can't arrange what I'm thinking of without that"
"Her name is Caitlin Snow" Barry replied. The two separated and Barry flashed back to STAR Labs. Caitlin hadn't arrived yet from the shop, but he was greeted with a very eager face by Bette and Cisco.
"Dude, Caitlin's birthday is coming up. Shouldn't we ... you know... do something?" the engineer asked.
"I already have that covered. If you want to throw her a little party or something I'm all in favor, only it will have to be done after. We are not going to be here on that day" Barry didn't want to reveal too much about his plans.
"What do you mean, you won't be here on that day?" Bette asked with a surprised face.
"I'm taking her out. Well ... out of the country, that is. Since we rarely had a proper date since we became a couple, I thought we could combine the two occasions" The speedster told them "Not a word out of you. I want this to be a complete surprise for her"
"You won't hear a peep out of us. Where are you going anyway?" Cisco asked with a gleeful smile.
"On an island. That's all I'm going to reveal on the subject. She wanted some beach and sun, that's what she is going to get" Barry replied sternly. They head the sound of Caitlin walking through the halls and stopped the discussion all together, separating and going their own ways. Cisco went back to his lab with Bette and Barry went to the Cortex. After a little while, she came in.
"Oh, you`re here. I thought it would take way longer than my car repair" She spoke with a smile, but Barry could feel something was wrong.
"You mean your botched car repair, don't you?" he told her
"How did you know?" she asked very surprised.
"I can feel the sadness coming off you. Since I doubt you have seasonal depression, the next thing that came to mind was that the people you sent your car to didn't manage to fix it" the speedster replied
"You`re right. The engine block is completely shot. The time that it spent gathering dust in the heat in front of the precinct has done a number on it. It was already old as it began. They told me flat out that the only way to fix it is to replace it completely. Which would cost more than the car's actual value at this time. Which is a bummer" She told him with a frown.
"Wait. You`re telling me that you didn't really have it fixed because of … money?" Barry looked at her with a quizzical smile.
"Well, yeah. I thought you might be right. Maybe it's time that I let it go and just buy another car" She told him.
"Hell no. You told me yourself what that car means to you. No way am I letting you give that up because of money. You get your ass back there and tell them to fix it. I don't give a rat's tail. Go put a race car engine in it if you want. Rebuild it from scratch, but get your car fixed. Money is not an issue. I'm a freaking billionaire. What use I have for all the money in the bank if I can't pay to fix my girlfriend's favorite car? Come on, are you even serious right now?" Barry told her with a bit of indignation, but his voice was authoritative and kind.
"Ok" That's all she managed to utter. She looked at him almost crying. It was surprising how he could make her keep the car after she decided to let it go, yes she was sad, but she came face to face with the fact that her car was dead. Of course the realization and the decision came with sadness. That was indeed a memory for her and he here was, telling her with the most demanding voice she had ever heard that he won't stand for that. The whole thing made her love him just that bit more. She came over to him and kissed his lips while he hugged her "Thank you" She didn't say anything more than that, it wasn't necessary "I'm going to go back on Monday and talk to the people to get it fixed"
"Good. That's what I wanted to hear" He smiled brightly and his stomach started to grumble. She smiled.
"I'm going to go get us some food. Be right back" she gave him a beautiful smile and flashed out. Barry took this opportunity to flash down to Cisco's lab. He and Bette were still there.
"Since you want to help with Caitlin's birthday. I have a job for you" the speedster told them.
"What would that be?" Bette asked.
"You know Caitlin has a car, right?" the two nodded "Ever since she became Frost she rarely uses it"
"I know that car. It has a lot of sentimental value for our doctor. Something about representing independence and freedom from her mother. She told me that once in a random conversation. Too bad I have a good memory" Cisco smiled
"Yes. The thing is that car has now broken down. This is what I need you to do. We will be gone Sunday and a good part of Monday, if not all of it. I want you two to take her car and fix it up. You`re an engineer Cisco, make sure she would have anything tech related in her car she would ever need. I hear that the engine is destroyed, Replace it. You can even turn that little thing into a race car with 500 HP if there is enough space between the wheels for you to put in such a monster. I don't care what you do as long as it runs. Can you two take care of that for me?" Barry asked them.
"You bet. It can be our little birthday present for Caitlin. All we need to get are the keys" Barry held up a set "And the money to fix it" the engineer said
"I might have pickpocketed Caitlin to get these" The two looked at each other and started to laugh "Let's hope that she doesn't realize they are gone. As for the money, use one of the accounts of the labs. There should be enough cash there to buy a plane, fixing a car shouldn't be a problem" the speedster told them.
"Ok, we can start taking care of that right away, if you don't need us here. The sooner we get to work on it the faster it will be ready" Bette replied.
"Go, if she asks where you went I'll just tell her I gave you free time to go on a date. Just so we keep our stories straight" Barry smiled making the two blush profusely. They said nothing however, nodded their heads in agreement and left. He got back to the Cortex just in time to welcome Caitlin who had bought a lot of food.
"I saw Cisco and Bette walk out. Did you send them somewhere?" she looked at him with a quizzical look.
"Me? No. They were planning to go on a date so I just told them to take the afternoon off and get ready for it" Barry lied.
"Aww, a compassionate boss that hears the pleas of his employees. Aren't you sweet. What happened to all rich people are jerks?" she smirked and started to spread the food out on a table.
"For real, Cait? I have never acted like a boss toward anyone. Don't even know if I can act like one. Nothing happened with rich people are jerks, I'm just not one of them" Barry cringed
"I know, you dork. Just pulling your chain. You would probably strain yourself to try to be the same type of a jerk that the usual rich people are" she smiled and sat down. Barry flashed next to her and they started eating. They spent the rest of the day trying to figure out if they could maybe use the nanites from Ray's research, of which they still had one small dose left from the battle with Eobard, to use them for microscopic evidence gathering. Something that would have been extremely useful to them as CSI's.
The next day was Saturday. As per promise Andre had sent the schedule of their date over before noon. They had a plane to catch at midnight that night. The flight took somewhere around 10 hours and another hour from the airport to the villa that Barry had chosen. He was checking his phone pretty intently and Caitlin picked up on that.
"What are you looking at with such interest?" she smiled
"Oh, sorry. It's the schedule for the plane and the cars and what we have to keep to get where we need to go for our date" he told her nonchalantly.
"Planes? Cars? Why would we need those? Can you run that by me again?" she looked at him with wide eyes.
"I did say that we weren't going anywhere near Central City. Or did that slip your mind?" Barry smiled at her.
"No it didn't, I just didn't think that you were serious. You were, weren't you?" she barely managed to hold in a smile.
"Deadly serious. We have been all over Central City. Well, except maybe the venues that the snobs frequent. I thought it might be a nice change of pace. We have a plane that leaves at midnight tonight" He told her with a serious tone.
"I see. Should I even ask where we're going?" She looked at him with a smile.
"Sun, beach, warmth and bikinis. That's all you are going to get out of me at the moment" The speedster smiled. She saw his face and understood that no matter how much she would try he would not fork over more details than he already had. So she decided to just let it go for now. The rest of the day she was excited as Barry had never seen her. He made a mental note of not revealing anything so that she didn't get the idea that her birthday would be included in the mix. Barry would have thought that she had caught on that her car keys were missing, but apparently the fact that she was so excited for their date made her completely forget about them. The speedster thanked the stars that she didn't catch on. The time was approaching and as it turned dark outside Frost realized something.
"If the flight is at midnight, that means we don't get to sleep?" Caitlin asked
"No worries. The plane has a bedroom section where we can sleep without a problem" The reply came instantly
"Wait, since when commercial airplanes have bedrooms?" the chestnut haired woman inquired looking at him with a rather peculiar stare.
"Oh, did I forget to mention? We're not going in a commercial airplane. I rented our own private jet. I thought it would be nice since now I'm practically well ... rich" he gave her a winning smile. Her face simply fell. Barry Allen was playing the rich guy card. She looked at him rather crooked "What? Don't look at me like that. Doesn't mean we'll be doing this all day every day. I just wanted to see how it would feel like to go somewhere and have fun without having any care about how much it costs" She realized that him as much as her didn't come from money. Of course that would be something that he would do when he struck it big and she was going along for the ride, something she didn't mind at all.
"Nothing, I just didn't think Barry Allen could think like a rich guy" She snickered.
"I don't, at least I'm not when having to plan for a date. You have no idea how hard this was to think up. Every step of the way I was thinking, I wonder how much this costs, wouldn't this be cheaper. You know, 1st world not rich people issues" He cringed.
"Doesn't matter. I hope you know that wherever we go on a date, even if it's in a forest at the outskirts of the city, with a blanket and a barbecue, I don't really care if you`re with me and we have fun" She told him with a serious face.
"I know, Cait. I just thought, why not try this rich people gag at least a couple of times. Who knows we might actually get used to it" He replied making her smile. The couple put some clothes in a suitcase and sped over to the airport after killing some time as they usually did Saturday night. The plane was a normal jet, not too large but not too small, inside there was a small living area with TV, a computer, some wine and glasses and the likes at the back there was a door which led to a large bed which occupied almost all of the space. The two decided to make use of the bed and get some rest while they flew to their destination.
The next day at 8 AM, they landed and both got into a car that was waiting for them. The view was beautiful, Caitlin could make out from the air that they were on an island. After about 3 hours, being delayed due to some road work that was being done they reached the villa that Barry had rented through Andre. Caitlin was stunned. The venue was beautiful and way out of the way for anyone. It had two levels, the front was large and open, with a garage that would probably house a car, the roundabout in front of it had in the middle a large circle filled with flowers and there were palm trees all the way to the house along the road. The driver left and the two managed to go into the house where a set of black bathing suits were waiting for them.
"Barry, didn't I tell you I'm not going to wear a bikini in public?" Caitlin smirked.
"Yes, but how about just only for me?" the speedster put their bags in the room upstairs and flashed into his own bathing suit.
"What do you mean? Of course, I'd wear it only for you, but ... we aren't alone… are we?" Caitlin asked him seriously. She still had no idea what he did.
"Actually, yes we are. This villa comes with its own private strip of beach. About 2 miles of it actually in both ways. So in effect, if you`re going to wear that, you are wearing it just for me" Barry grinned.
"Are you serious right now? You rent a private plane and now a villa with its own private beach. You`re really trying hard to spoil me aren't you?" she laughed.
"Not only you, but myself as well. I still remember when I went to the beach with my folks. It was so crowded that I didn't even have space to build a sand castle. This is payback for that time. Now we can do whatever we want" he replied. Caitlin sped into her bathing suit and put the rest of her clothes in the upper room. Barry smirked, but in reality he was gawking at how beautiful she looked in the bikini she had just put on "Whoever says Caitlin Snow isn't beautiful wearing that must have his eyes examined"
"Shut up, you charmer. Thank you" she grinned at him, but his compliment was not lost on her. She was blushing profusely and her face showed that. The two went outside to what was the backyard. There was a pool with places to stay, to the right there was a small gazebo between some trees that were obviously not from there but have been planted and taken care of to grow as they did. A bit further of the pool a large stretch of beach and the ocean was in front of them. Caitlin was enthralled by the beauty of the spot Barry had chosen. The azure sea and the sand made a strong contrast just themselves, but with the green of the trees and the red and yellow of the flowers that were put in planters all around the space, it was absolutely breathtaking.
"So, beach chairs or blanket?" he asked.
"Blanket. Unless they have a beach chair for two. I came here to be close to the person I love, not stay on two different chair and look at each other" she replied with a smirk. The two spent the better part of the day just lounging around in the sun and kissing, a few times that almost went too far, but they realized that it was better not to do anything since they were still outside, even though they were on a private stretch of beach, there were still helicopters flying overhead from time to time. Barry flashed to the house in the early afternoon and brought in 20 pizzas to quench their hunger and a bottle and two glasses of wine. After the couple ate the food they just sat down, Caitlin with her head on Barry's shoulder, him with his hand around her waist and each with a glass of wine in their free hand.
"You know, this is perfect. No metahumans, no emergencies, no crazy speedsters, no bank robberies. Just you, me, the sand and the sea" Caitlin commented making an inadvertent rhyme to Barry which smirked
"I did ask you where you would want to go. I know we don't get out much with all the superhero stuff and the work at the CCPD and now we have to manage STAR as well. But at least once in a while, we can just enjoy life and being alone with each other in places like this. Can't we?" Barry spoke softly to his girlfriend.
"Yes we can. I love being with you, Barry. Spending time together, I think I got the taste of never being alone anymore. The way I used to feel before, like I had nothing in the world and nobody would give a damn about me is something that I think I will never feel again in my life as long as you are with me" she smiled sweetly at him taking a sip of wine.
"You aren't the only one. I might have called this anything else. An outing, a trip I chose to call it a date. Maybe that was very inspired since us just lounging around not doing anything doesn't really classify as a date per se. But to be honest, I don't really think I care. Spending time with you alone away from everything is all that I wanted" The speedster told his girlfriend who was looking at him with sweet eyes.
"It's very much a date. With Pizza and Wine. Come on, our dates were mostly at home cooking together. Of course you can call this a date" She smiled brightly. The couple finished the bottle of wine, which of course had no other effect on them except making them want to go to the bathroom, and took a long swim together. Of course neither of them could actually swim, that's why they sat on the shallow side of the beach just floating. Barry thought it would be cool to try to play Jesus by vibrating his legs and trying to walk on water. Of course that didn't work, furthermore his stunt instantly wet Caitlin from head to foot. She decided to take revenge and threw a torrent of water at him with her speed. It all degenerated into an all-out speedster battle with water spouts and cannons. The two were having the time of their lives, their faces were all a smile and they could feel the happiness that came off one another only to boost their own feelings.
At sunset the two decided to take a long walk on the beach frequently interrupted by a lot of kissing. Barry knew that he had to get her away from the house for a bit while the staff would get the romantic dinner ready. Caitlin realized something was up and simply asked. She knew that he had no reason to lie.
"So is there any reason we're straying so far from the house on our walk?" She inquired sheepishly.
"Of course there is. The staff has to prepare the romantic dinner for us. Come on, Cait. No date is ever complete without a romantic dinner" He looked at her and grinned.
"Aha! That's what you were hiding, you devil" She smiled and gave him a long kiss. "So? How long do we have to walk around?" then she realized "A romantic dinner? But I didn't really take anything to wear from home" and pouted.
"I don't really care what you wear. That bikini looks really good so why not wear that then. It doesn't matter, you could wear nothing and you would still be the sexiest woman alive for me. I think I don't say that enough. So there you go" The speedster had never been that subtle and she understood what he was saying. A romantic dinner between them could be anything from eating lasagna in front of the TV in their pajamas to going full out snob mode and go to a restaurant. She didn't really care, much like him actually. All that mattered would be that they were together. She did however blush hard at his obvious compliment. She had never felt sexy or enticing or anything of the sort. Until she met Barry Allen that is. His gazes after the two have gotten together gave her butterflies in places she didn't know she could have them in until then. She liked that, he made her feel wanted, beautiful, sexy and loved all at the same time.
"You`re right. We should go back though. I think we have given them enough time to settle the preparations" she offered and Barry nodded. As they returned both their faces froze. From the edge of the pool all the way to the small gazebo between the trees there was a trail of rose petals coupled with candles that were marking the path. When they arrived at the gazebo the sight amazed them even further. On the trees simple paper lanterns were hung that swayed in the gentle breeze. The light from them came down almost like a mirage.
Inside the gazebo was already set up a dinner for two people complete with wine, even more candles on the sides that gave the place an aspect of fantasy. The plates were already set with a note that Barry picked up "All 35 courses of food are in the kitchen and have been freshly prepared. Enjoy" he smiled and put it away somewhere. Caitlin was still gawking at the beauty of the setup as he took her hand and invited her to sit.
"Barry this is stunning. What did you tell these guys? Make something that she won't forget until she dies?" Caitlin put it very bluntly
"Not in so many words, but I did mention that this should be something to be remembered for a very long time. I also ordered 35 courses of food because we both eat like beached land whales" Barry smiled at her warmly.
"Wait, but where are the people? I have never seen anyone around. When did all that food get done?" she asked.
"Why do you think we didn't really spend time in the house? I had to give them time to prepare everything. Besides we didn't really come here to spend time indoors. Although that is one of my favorite pass times when we're together" The speedster smirked.
"Not just yours. So you really did think of everything, huh?" she was impressed by the amount of attention to details that he had put into this.
"Neither you or me like eating with people around, precisely because we eat so much. We can only take so many stares after we've finished our 10th extra-large pizza. So I got rid of the people. That's why I told them to leave us alone to have our dinner. No need for waiters, cooks and the likes. I didn't want anything to ruin this for us. I wanted it to be perfect" Barry spoke with a soft tone.
"So who brings the food?" she chuckled
"Barry Allen, waiter extraordinaire, at your service, madam" he stood up and took a bow and Caitlin started to laugh heartily at his joke. He ran into the kitchen and saw that the staff had put numbers under the platters in the order that the courses should be eaten. He thanked them mentally since he had no clue whatsoever which tied into what and got the first dish putting it on the table and sitting down himself.
The couple took their time in eating, because of the jet lag it was well after midnight till they finished. They talked and kissed and just took breaks between courses. He looked at the watch pretty carefully not letting it be observed by her.
"There is one final course to this. I'm going to go get it. Be a good girl and wait here" Barry smirked at her.
"All right, Mr. Waiter extraordinaire. I'll be your good girl, for now" she smiled. Barry went into the house and Read the other notes. Andre had done a splendid job so far. Now the question was what he had in mind for the actual happy birthday cake. He read the instructions and took a small remote that was placed on the table. The only thing about that remote that was written was "push for happy birthday" with a smiley face. He looked intrigued at the small square thing and took it with him. He took the cake with all the candles and walked outside. Caitlin saw him and saw the cake and her face fell.
"I might have been lying a bit about this being an ordinary date. I thought it would be a good opportunity for you to celebrate your birthday as well. Since last year you were basically in a coma and the last thing you cared about was the day you were born" Barry smiled and started to sing happy birthday to her in his usual sweet beautiful voice as he came closer to the table and put the cake on it. On the cake there was an intricate design of two hearts which had not been damaged by the candles and a large happy birthday written along with her name. Caitlin was crying. She had been from the moment she saw the cake.
After the short but customary happy birthday song Barry decided to risk it and press the button that he was provided. As he did, from the other side of the yard things started launching into the air. He only now noticed the fact that there were some things that looked like firework launchers put in a line. It didn't take long for him to realize why Andre needed an Aerial permit. For a good minute, the sky was lit up with a simple message. "Happy Birthday, Caitlin Snow" He looked at that flabbergasted. Oliver was right, the man knew how to impress. The precision required for something to be written so clearly in the night sky with fireworks was mind boggling. While he was amazed by the precision, she froze, for the time the message was written on the night sky she could not utter a word, the only things that were running were her tears.
"Happy birthday, beautiful" he smiled at her with one of his patented goofy smiles. She was at a loss for words. She could feel she wanted to talk but everything was stuck in her throat. She had to clear it a few times to be able to speak.
"But how? Nobody knows my birthday besides Cisco" she talked
"Yeah, that's not entirely true. Now that I'm the owner of STAR, I have full access to the employee files. Like I said, this wasn't supposed to have been a normal date, from the get go. I wanted us to celebrate your birthday, but I thought why not do both since we were already coming here" Barry said in his sweet voice.
"Barry, what you did for me, all of this. It was breathtaking. I can't believe you wrote my name across the night sky. For my birthday. I … I have no words for tonight" She tried to explain what she felt, but it was pretty clear she didn't have to. Barry was feeling everything come off her. He pushed a small box on the table toward her.
"A small birthday gift. From me, to you" He smiled and she opened the box. Again her face fell. "Call it a different rendition of, last birthday I gave you my heart. Well you could say that, since you have been on my mind well before your last birthday. I just thought I would make it a bit more … tangible this time. Something that you could see, touch and wear whenever you like. I love you, my sweet, amazing, beautiful Cait"
"This is beautiful. I love you, Barry and I love the gift as well" she spoke while her tears still ran down her face while looking at the box "An actual heart, should I look now for a key?" she tried to joke through the tears.
"No? Does that look like a locket to you? You already have the key, no need to look for something like that, you have it on you at all times, my wonderful one, it's your smile" Barry joked at her, but the last part of what he said left her stunned. The key to his heart was her smile. She got up and he put the necklace around her neck. She didn't think twice about turning around and kissing him hard. While that lasted for a bit, soon his phone started to rang. She wiped her tears and the two answered the video call from Cisco.
"Hey Cisco, What's up? Didn't I mention we would be going away and not to call us even if the city is burning?" Barry replied a bit stern
"Oh there's no emergency. Since I thought you might be suffering from jet lag and be awake at this hour, I thought I'd call to say happy birthday to Caitlin, since it's already past midnight over there" the engineer smiled. "Also, I thought we would give her our own birthday present, even if she won't be able to use it until you two get home" he turned the camera toward the parking lot where Bette was doing stunts, with her car. Caitlin was struck mute. After a few more circles and some nice driving Bette stopped and came into view as Cisco appeared as well.
"We thought you might want to drive your car when you come back, even if you do it just for fun between running around at supersonic speeds" Bette replied with a large smile on her face.
"How did you two…" she didn't finish her sentence and saw Barry smirk "You did this! But where did those two get my keys?" she mock hit his arm but her face said everything
"I might have pickpocketed them out of your purse when you weren't looking" Barry looked away in a comical manner and started to whistle.
"Since you were going away, we decided to get this done. Call it our birthday present to you" Bette smiled. Caitlin looked at Barry who had an innocent face on
"Thank you so much. I wanted to go myself, but this happened. I didn't really think you guys would take the time to do this for me" Caitlin said almost crying
"Oh, we didn't just fix it. We put a few … extras in it" Bette grinned.
"What extras?" Caitlin looked at her strangely
"Well, Barry said he didn't care if we put a race car engine in your car so … we did" The engineer smirked
"Say what now? You put a race engine in my car?" Caitlin was a loss for words
"Well not an actual GT engine, because the car is rather small, but let's just say we added some STAR Labs brand improvements to it. You'll see when you get back here" Bette added. "Also good work Barry with that birthday present. That heart is big enough to see on my phone" she chuckled
"That's enough for now. Happy birthday, Caitlin. We're going to leave you two lovebirds alone. Have a nice night and we'll see you when you return" Cisco smiled and closed the call
"You put them up to this didn't you?" the doctor smiled brightly at Barry
"Nope. I only had to mention that it needed to be done. They both jumped at the chance to give you their own small birthday present" The speedster replied casually. "I don't know why you`re so surprised, Cisco is your best friend and Bette is closer to us than most of all others. Of course they would do that for you and be extremely happy when doing it too"
She realized that he was right. She was no longer alone. She had him, Cisco and Bette. She had known this ever since she came out of her coma. Something at which end the guy in front of her with a goofy smile on her face was waiting. It was one of the things that she didn't think about it at the time, but he was always there. Barry started to cut the cake and even with the mountain of food they had before, the two speedsters finished it after a little while. The couple kissed for a long while in the light of the moon. The scenery became even more beautiful when the lanterns had gone out. It was like they were alone in the world, just the two of them with nothing else. They both enjoyed that feeling immensely. As they became more passionate in their obvious snogging Caitlin got up and removed the top part of her bikini and handed it to Barry who looked at her and got up himself.
"What's this for?" He uttered.
"That's one part of your tip, Mr. Waiter Extraordinaire" She chuckled "How about you come and collect the second" She grinned and flashed in the house. Barry was dumbstruck at the obvious innuendo, but took less than a second to follow her into the large bedroom that was on the second floor of the house. There, everything restarted with an ever increasing passion and need as the moon was passing overhead.
The next morning Caitlin woke up to see Barry's green eyes watching her. She had felt him move earlier, but after all the exercise last night she felt a bit lazy to even open her eyes.
"Good morning, Cait. Happy Birthday" He planted a long soft kiss on her lips.
"Good morning, Barry. I have to say you've outdone yourself. I sincerely had no expectations about this particular day. I have always regarded it as ordinary from that point of view, sometimes even worse because it marked the passing of another year and the inevitability of getting close to death. You blew those out of the water completely. This was, by far, the best birthday I've ever had. Night time was just as good as the day. Something I didn't really get to say before you came into my life" She opened her eyes chuckling.
"Cait, you have told me before how everything went. I just wanted to offer you something that you would remember. You deserve the best I can give you and more. You are the woman I love. I thought a little light in your life on your birthday might remind you of that" Barry smiled at her and gave her another kiss.
"I love you, Barry. But you already knew that. Thank you for a wonderful birthday "date"" She used air quotes as she got out of bed. The fact that she had nothing on didn't bother her in the slightest "Join me for a shower? I can't believe how badly we started to sweat last night. I don't even do that, I'm always cold even in the hottest of places because of my powers. And yet, you managed to make me sweat. That is something you should feel proud about, mister" She started to move lasciviously toward the shower with Barry following her.
"Well then I would consider that a win and a testament to how good the "night time", as you so eloquently put it, was. About the feeling proud part, you could say that, or you could not, because it was a night for us, not just for you and for me. To be fair, however, there has always been us. I think it stopped being you and me ever since we discovered what we feel for each other" He laughed and the two got into the shower cabin. The thing is Caitlin wasn't really in the mood for an actual shower, as the speedster soon found out. Barry checked the watch, they still had at least 5 hours' time until they had to leave, so they decided to put it to good use.