Life After You

Chapter Two- Life's Too Short

Caitlin knew she wasn't in her bed the moment she began stirring awake with her eyelids still closed. Wherever she was, it was super uncomfortable. She shifted under her own wait when she realized the uncomfortable bed had a heartbeat. Her lids flipped open as she startled fully awake.

"Ouch" she heard Barry mumbled as he awoke. Why was she in the middle of the desert? Sleeping on top of Barry. Her head pounded stopping her from releasing anything more than a groan and unintelligent murmurs. Barry responded in the same language, robbing his head.

"Wh-"

"No idea." she said.

"Are we still on earth-19?"

"I think so but I also can't remember much after the rooftop last night." she said.

"What did Cisco put in that cocktail?" Barry said to himself.

"Barry we have to get back," Caitlin said. She was groggy, grumpy and hungry.

Barry nodded and reached for her. He held her by the waist and she got a brief flashback of doing the same thing last night. They zipped around the earth until they found the club. The running around did nothing for Caitlin's nausea and she stepped away as all the content of her stomach came heaving up. While she emptied her stomach as a breech opened in front of Barry.

Gypsy jumped through and took a look at Caitlin with tight lips.

"Cisco was worried," she said. She then whipped around and waved at a guy on the rooftop Barry and Caitlin were the night prior.

"Thanks Vin," she called out. He waved back.

"I figured you guys would come back here,"

"Where's Cisco?" Caitlin asked, she was wiping the sides of her mouth and stumbling her way to where they stood.

"He went back to your earth to make sure the world didn't end without the flash for a night."

Barry nodded as she opened another the breech.

"Come on sad puppies, time to go home." Gypsy said.

Barry didn't need to hear that twice. He stepped through first and Caitlin stumbled after him.

Cisco was in the lab behind the monitors when they came back. Instead of good morning he said, "Barry, there's a break out in progress at Iron Heights,go."

Barry zipped past them leaving them in the lab. Cisco returned to the monitors to help Barry while Caitlin to the bathroom to help her relieve her nausea.

As the day progressed, he was beginning to return to a hundred percent. He had not had a hangover in so long he forgot all the charms that went along with it. His head still throbbed and he was still dehydrated no matter how much water he consumed but his energy levels were back up.

He kept getting glimpses of his and Caitlin's wild night. Each new memory made him smile or laugh. So much so the dull ache in his chest hadn't throbbed today.

Another memory sliced its way through his mind.

The wind was cold, felt like they were being stoned with ice cubes. Barry vibrated himself to keep warm and was about to offer some warmth to Caitlin but she shrugged and asked what cold he was talking about.

"You really don't feel anything?" She shook her head in response. She was looking down at the cliff, large eroding rocks at the bottom.

"Ronnie always wanted to sky dive, he was an adrenaline junkie." she said. Barry perked up, she rarely spoke about him. No one could blame her for that but Barry was happy she felt comfortable with him to share details, though he was sure that was Cisco's cocktail and not of her own fruition.

"You should do it, in memory of him. It might-"

"Make me feel close to him," she finished.

That was exactly what Barry was going to say.

Her lips curved into a warm smile. "Maybe I will," she said. "One day,"

Barry's amusement peaked. "How about today?" his eyes followed the cliff.

Caitlin was stunned, he couldn't be serious.

"Trust me don't you? I'll catch you." he said confidently. She knew he was right. He would catch her, without breaking a sweat.

"For Ronnie," Barry said.

Caitlin went to the edge of the cliff, her back faced the open air. She outstretched her arms and felt the robust wind whipping her shirt out of skirt and her hair blew madly. She smiled and said, "For Ronnie," before she let herself free fall backwards. She free fell about three quarters of the way when Barry zipped down the cliff and caught her. He ran them to bottom of the cliff and held even after her feet were safely on the floor.

He could see the rapid rise and fall of her chest, her cheeks were flushed giving her a complexion a charming glow…and her smile it reached all the way to her eyes. He leaned in to breathe the same breath she did and-

Barry dropped the test tube in his hands. What the hell? Had he almost kissed Caitlin? It was crazy. A side effect of the cocktail? Caitlin was beautiful like stupidly beautiful. In a sexy school teacher/principal type of way. That was obvious but he had never thought about her like that. He chalked it up to Cisco's cocktail. It had to be.

She was in the lab documenting the information on Vertigo and Mirror Master when he walked in.

"Hey where is everybody?" he asked.

She looked up from the computer, the spark she had from his memory had dulled. Her eyes looked so sad. He was finally alert enough to see it.

"Harry and Jessie quick are packing, getting ready to head back. You should go say your finals goodbyes. Cisco is somewhere pretending he won't miss Harry."

Barry chuckled and sat in the chair next to her.

"I'll go see them in a minute," he begun, "Caitlin I was thinking,"

She looked up from the monitor and faced him. "Last night was pretty awesome and we should do it again."

Caitlin laughed. "We should cliff dive again?"

"You remembered too huh?" he said, unsure if she remembered their near liplock.

"No, I mean we should hang out more often, away from super villains I mean. Life's too short for us to be this 'mopey'" he said.

"You think?" she said, not seeing the bigger picture.

Barry cleared his throat. "I didn't think about Iris once last night."

"Really?"

Barry nodded. "I feel like we're the only ones here who are gonna understand what we're going through, you know?"

That seemed to make sense to her.

"I think you're right."

Barry stood, "you and me?" He outstretched his hand for a high five.

Caitlin slapped her hand against his own.

"You and me."