At first it seemed like a great idea, but once they were made Barry kind of saw the error of his ways even if Cisco refused to just yet, now arguing with a very worried and a little bit mad Caitlin. Then again, nothing bad actually happened. He saved quite a few people and despite the minor incident he couldn't understand just yet when he got dizzy and lightheaded there for a second, he could pretty much call his and Cisco's operation a success.

Caitlin Snow clearly didn't think so, still worried that he might've injured himself or run down since they didn't know enough about his powers, so he was relieved when he heard his phone ringing, giving him an excuse to leave two of his new friends to their fight. Well, at least until he realized he was late for an outing with Iris as he promised to go with her to Stagg Industries' presentation and explain the science behind it all for her article.

On second thoughts, Barry quickly decided, already there by the side of the girl he claimed to have feelings for, this wasn't going exactly as he planned. Iris welcomed him with a playful accusation to why he pushed her towards journalism if it could be so boring – like really? Then why was she even still doing this? Couldn't she find something she liked on her own? And then it only got worse as her eyes glazed over the second he started talking science – and he needed to add that he did it in the easiest way possible.

"Iris, are you even listening to me?" he finally asked in exasperation and she immediately apologized. "Sorry. Of course. It's just… I got lost there for a second. Could you maybe repeat that last part?"

Barry was just about to sigh when they heard a gunshot.

And just like that, his day got even worse.

Or scratch that, was his last thought when after following the shooters that strange dizziness hit him again and he actually fainted.

He couldn't help but break a little smile while sitting on the cot in dr. Snow's lab, watching her gesticulating wildly while she was berating him again. In fact, she was screaming and he couldn't even focus on her words - though he could tell that she would understand him trying to explain science - because she was so damn cute when angry. By the time she finished, almost shaking in her intensity, there was a look of awe appearing on his face.

"Dude, I think you broke him," Cisco commented, directing that to Caitlin while munching on some colorful candy.

"This isn't a joke, Cisco!" she immediately berated him as well when whirling to him with a huff, her hands set on her hips. "In science we share! We do not keep secrets!" After that she simply strode away and Barry could just stare and marvel at this woman.

"Damn, I haven't seen her that angry since Ronnie," Cisco murmured under his breath. "Oh, wait…" he then came to a stop when raising a hand with a candy up. "Scratch that, because I have never actually seen her this angry. You take the cake, man! High five!" Only his hand just hung in the air because Barry didn't pay much of attention to him at the moment. "Hey! That's not cool! You gotta high five when…"

"I need to eat," he eventually said and left the Labs, oblivious to dr. Wells watching him warily from the door.

Of course the day just had to get even worse, Barry thought when sitting over a cup of his favorite at Jitters. He came here to vent, but found Iris superbusy with the clients, so he ended up sitting alone and brooding. He barely even managed to find a free table.

Maybe Joe was right this time. Maybe he was in over his head. Maybe dr. Wells had been right, too when he told him that he wasn't a hero.

Maybe he was just a boy who got struck by a lightning and nothing more, after all.

Still, he was tired of everyone seeing him this way. He was closer to being thirty than twenty, so why the hell people still called him a freaking boy?!

"Brooding much?" he suddenly heard a voice and not the one he expected. He raised his head to see Caitlin Snow standing there, looking at him expectantly when holding her own cup of coffee. "Is this seat taken? And before you say anything, know that no, I am not going to yell at you again and I did not come here to try and persuade you to come back. I needed a pick me up and I saw you. Besides, there are no free tables left."

Well, as she put her case that way…

"Go ahead," he encouraged, pointing the free chair in front of him and sending her a smile.

"Thanks."

"It's weird," he then said and she sent him a questioning look. "You said you needed a pick me up and if you have your favorite here, then it means you must be coming to this place often. And yet, I never saw you around."

"Maybe you didn't pay enough attention," she teased him when taking a careful sip of the still hot liquid.

"Oh, I think I'd remember," he assured her and her eyes immediately flickered back to his before she settled them on something behind his back.

"Well, actually, no," she finally answered his question. "Before the explosion we were always extremely busy at the Labs, working at the accelerator, so we usually sent someone to pick our orders up."

"Yeah, that would do it," Barry agreed with a nod.

"I have actually been coming here a lot since… since that night," she spoke carefully then, the painful memories still fresh in her mind, "but for obvious reasons I couldn't bump into you."

"Well, for what is worth, dr. Snow, I'm glad we finally got to meet each other," Barry told her, sending her way a sweet smile and at that sight something jumped inside her chest. She shifted in her chair nervously, ignoring the sensation and followed with, "So, are you really done?"

He sighed in response, finishing his coffee and placing the empty cup on the table.

"Honestly… I think Joe may be right. I may be in over my head, but then again… if I have these amazing powers, I should do something about them, shouldn't I? If I stop, it seems like such a waste."

"True," she agreed carefully as not to scare him off again. Then she decided to just go with, "Well, if you ask me, I really believe we can do this. We're a team, right? Together we can get Black and any other metahuman standing in our way. You already have everything you need, Barry - us and the equipment at the Labs."

"Yeah…"

"Also, I just want you to know that you really changed something for me," she then picked up rather shyly and he just had to look her in the eye. "I'd been living the same day over and over again before you woke up. I didn't know what to do or where I should go once leaving the Labs or if I even should leave. And then you happened and suddenly, I got excited about something again. I could feel alive again just because we could do something good for this city."

Barry smiled when hearing that, but then that smile faded away as he said, "I'm sorry. For what happened that night. I guess we all lost something."

"Yes, we did, but it's not exactly why I… why I understand your pain," she suddenly confessed and his attention was immediately piqued. "I did lose my boyfriend that night, but I also lost my father. It happened many years ago as it happened to you and I know I can't possibly compare an illness to being murdered, but… he hid his symptoms for a very long time. It was ALS."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Caitlin."

"It's ok. He was an amazing father and I miss him every day. I just thought that you should know I at least have an idea of what you must be going through. I'm happy Joe took you in. He's kind of like your dad, isn't he?"

"He is… Yes," Barry admitted, the smile finally coming back to his face. "I couldn't ask for a better one in those circumstances."

"You really like her, do you?" She wanted to know then, taking him off track and he had to follow her eyes to tell that she was looking at Iris still busy behind the counter.

"I… Um… I don't… I mean… It doesn't matter anyways, she's taken," he finally stammered, feeling off when telling that to Caitlin.

"Well, you never know what's right around the corner."

"Yeah, but… we grew up in the same house and I call Joe my dad and I kind of started wondering recently…" Barry came to a stop before finally confessing, "doesn't that make her kind of my sister? Even though it sounds so incredibly wrong when considering my feelings for her."

Caitlin shrugged. "The world is a strange place, Mr. Allen. Anyways, I'm probably not the best person to be giving any relationship advices. Also, I need to head back to the Labs. There's a project waiting for me there and I think that what I needed just reached its right temperature."

"Oh, sure."

"It was nice, though. We should do this again sometime," she said in what seemed like a completely platonic way before she sent his way another radiant but shy smile and headed to the exit. And he could only watch after her like an idiot, not able to understand what her presence did to him exactly.

"She's pretty, you know," he suddenly heard Iris's voice coming from behind him and almost jumped in his seat. "Whenever I came to visit you at the Labs, she was always there, taking such a good care of you. Was this a date? Though I hope not, because it was most definitely too short."

"Um… no… We… we kind of started working together."

"At S.T.A.R. Labs?" Iris got interested as she took the previously occupied by Caitlin seat.

"Yeah… After everything that happened, they're short on staff and I figured I could lend them a hand since they took such a good care of me," he lied smoothly.

"Oh, you're such a good guy, Barry! And she seems nice. You two should totally try and go out. You look good together," she added in the end and winked at him. Then, before he managed to react to that, she started on another topic, "There's actually something I've been wanting to talk to you about! They call him the Red Streak! And they are reports all over the city! You gotta see this!" She reached for her phone whereas he groaned inside. Maybe he really shouldn't have steered her towards journalism because if he knew something about Iris West, it was that once she set her mind on something, she had trouble letting go.

Or maybe in the end they had that in common…

"I tried to save him."

"It doesn't seem like he wanted to be saved," Harrison responded immediately and then followed with, "Some people when they break, they can't be put back together again."

"Some heal even stronger," Barry argued hopefully because he just needed to believe that. He always chose to believe the best in people and someday that would be his doom.

"I hope so."

Soon enough, both Cisco and dr. Wells disappeared to somewhere, leaving Barry alone with Caitlin. He smiled when he made his way to her, not even knowing just yet what he was going to say to her.

In the end, she was the one to speak first, "I'm glad you're back. I hope this means you're sticking around?" There was obvious hope in her voice and for an unknown reason it pained him that she had to worry he wouldn't be back.

"Yes," he answered, the smile still in place. "I finally realized something."

"Oh?"

"We were all struck by that lightning," he told her. "And you were right. I can really make a difference here. With your help. With all of you. We can actually save people, give them the help they need. And maybe Wells is right, too, maybe not everyone wants to be saved, but we at least have to try."

Her face illuminated in a full on smile and it was a balm to his soul and the regret he still felt at the thought of losing Black, or Multiplex as Cisco christened him.

"Yes, we do. See you tomorrow?"

"You got it, dr. Snow."

"You know you can call me Caitlin, don't you?" she teased him.

"But sometimes it's such fun to just call you a doctor. After all, you are the one who saved my life, who kept me breathing those past nine months."

"It was truly my pleasure and just so you know, it was totally worth it. Goodnight, Mr. Allen."

He was staring after her again, his hands in the pockets of his pants, a goofy smile on his face and he still didn't even know why. There was just something about Caitlin Snow, he guessed and he couldn't wait to find out what it was.

One thing he knew for sure – he considered it his own personal victory that she wasn't so sad anymore and was actually smiling more and more. And good, because if he had any say in this, she would always be smiling.

Barley had they dealt with one metahuman, another sprung up and Barry truly started to wonder whether he would ever get to have a normal life or maybe just one normal day. Maybe it wasn't in the cards for him, but he immediately remembered that despite all he'd lost so far, he'd also gained so much more. Like the friends he could nearly feel would be for life and the mentor whom he'd used to admire so much, would maybe become another father figure he could turn to. Maybe in the end his life wasn't as he'd thought it would be, but it could actually be better. It could be amazing. Extraordinary. Maybe him and Iris weren't in the cards. Maybe he wasn't meant to work till retirement as a CI, getting to marry the girl of his dreams, having kids and… and what? He could see that this seemed kind of narrow and the lightning that had struck him opened an entirely new reality for him. He was actually pretty excited about that. Also, the world didn't end with one girl, did it? People fell in love more than once.

For an inexplicable reason, he found himself watching Caitlin as the team debated with Joe over the process of catching metahumans. They couldn't just lock them up in a regular prison they were bound to escape from, nor kill them hence dr. Wells's idea of transforming the particle accelerator into a makeshift prison.

"Caitlin?" Wells asked the woman who seemed buried deep in her thoughts. From his position he couldn't see her face, but Barry did and he frowned, noticing deep anguish there. "I'm going to the accelerator right now and I could use you."

Again, Barry didn't know why, but somehow on hearing those words she seemed to tense up even more, a strange expression passing through her face.

"Actually…" he started right away, feeling the need to help her out. Maybe in the end he would get to kill two birds with one stone that meant getting to know her better. "I could use Caitlin at the precinct, analyzing the poisonous gas."

She looked so relieved when hearing him suggest that, that he frowned, wondering whether it was something Wells said or maybe she just couldn't bring herself to go down to the accelerator because of her boyfriend's death.

Working with her in silence was surprisingly easy, Barry discovered pretty fast, involuntarily comparing it to spending time with Iris. He didn't want to, but it wasn't as though he'd been very popular with girls when being his usual slow and awkward self. If he were to be honest, spending time with Caitlin did seem easy, more natural, through there was a certain kind of tension in the room he couldn't place just yet.

"What?" she finally asked him, meeting his eyes and that was when he realized he'd been staring.

"Nothing," he responded, having the sudden feeling of déjà vu since they'd been here before with him watching her carefully, trying to figure her out. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to stare. I was just wondering why you didn't want to go down to the accelerator, I guess," he said the first thing that came to his mind.

She bit her lip when thinking over her answer before finally looking at him again and saying, "It's just… it brings… unwelcomed memories, I guess."

"Of Ronnie?" he prompted.

She folded her arms over her chest, a defensive gesture that did not miss his attention, before she said ambiguously, "Yes and no. Well…" she started after a brief pause, "the truth is that we hadn't actually been dating for long when the explosion happened and he… just before he died I actually got to talk to him through walkie-talkie and he told me he loved me. And I couldn't say it back." There was silence as she confessed that and Barry didn't know what to say.

In the end, he went with the obvious, "Just because you couldn't say it back doesn't make you a bad person, Caitlin."

"I know that. I just wish…" she came to a stop again. "I do have regrets, Barry. You don't know me well so you couldn't possibly know, but… I guess I would have to live with them." She sighed.

"We all make mistakes," he said to that, "the trick is, I guess, to learn from them and to move on, to do better next time, right?"

Finally, she broke a small shy smile and then they were suddenly interrupted by Barry's phone beeping, a message sent by Cisco to let him know about another attack.

He got up to his feet without thinking and suddenly, there was a hand on his arm, holding him back. He saw Caitlin's doe eyes staring into his, terrified.

"No, Barry," she tried to stop him. "We still haven't fully tested that gas. It's not safe."

"Caitlin, I have to go," he just said and she was left alone in his lab. The worst part was that she'd heard the exact same words before. Just before Ronnie ran into the accelerator.

She made her way back to S.T.A.R. Labs as fast as she could, thinking they might need her help afterwards and in the same time praying they wouldn't. Only she shouldn't hope for a lucky break because maybe that was just her luck, her penance so to speak that every man she began to care for ended up hurt or worse.

Now she was faced with Barry not able to catch his breath, the gas surely already in his lungs, killing him and she started thinking frantically of how to help him, how to save his life…

…and once he was finally stabilized and woke up, he had the audacity to actually joke!

"Barry, this isn't funny! You could've died! If you weren't a speedster…" she began working herself up again. She just didn't want to lose anyone else. She couldn't. She knew she might not be able to handle it again.

"But I didn't," he told her in a soft voice that matched the look in his eyes. "You have to stop worrying, ok? I'll be fine. I heal fast."

"One day you may not be fast enough," she just said, this time not breaking a smile or reacting to him trying to calm her down any way but by walking away. If he decided to play a hero, then she would cook up a cure in case he needed one.

And he did. Only not for himself. He needed one for Joe and as they were now standing in the pipeline, Barry actually suggesting they go down there together; he thanked her for saving the life of his adoptive father. She was just relieved she could, because if something happened… Suddenly, she realized something.

"I'm overacting, aren't I?" she asked as they were standing there in silence that was more comfortable than it was awkward, something that she really liked about Barry.

"Maybe a little," he agreed when turning to her, the look on his face telling her that he was joking. Which pretty much meant she was most definitely overacting.

"I'm sorry. It's just… I guess I feel guilty. I know Ronnie knew me. I know he knew that I was still closed off and it took more time for me to open up enough to tell someone that I loved them back, but… It still makes me feel guilty, because I just wish it'd been the last thing he heard."

"I'm sure that if he knew you so well, he was all right with it all."

"He was actually the only man who just understood me in such a short period of time, you know? Cisco's my best friend, but sometimes, even now, I think he doesn't know what's happening inside of me and dr. Wells…" She sighed. "Well, that's another story entirely." One that she so did not want to come back to, welcomed for the addition that Barry was to the team, because thanks to him, they didn't even have time for talking about other things than work. And good. It should stay that way, though she was still a little shaken up by what she'd done, by what she'd let him do. Ronnie was supposed to be her fresh start; this sweet, good man who actually accepted her for who she was and liked her for it, who somehow could look inside her. Not enough to guess the truth about her and dr. Wells, but that was a good thing, too.

"Well, sorry again for… my freaking out so much," she broke another moment of silence, though, again, it did not lay heavy on them.

"It's ok, Cait. I actually understand you," Barry said and just then she realized what it meant. "We're quite similar with what we've been through and I'm pretty sure we can get through this, too. Together. I'm here for you, ok?"

She nodded, somehow unable to form a word and then he was suddenly closer and she found herself enveloped by his arms, an overwhelming feeling of safety overcoming her. It was truly all she needed at the moment. No prodding, no more follow up questions, just a hug. And he seemed to get it perfectly.