Author's Note: Sooooo I've been leading up to the info that comes out in this chapter for awhile. PLEASE don't hate me. If I ever do a Snowbarry Season 5 or 6, which is kiiiinda doubtful but who knows, it will get resolved.

But yeah... here we go. Now that you all are terrified aha XD

ALSO I'm sorry I've been a little snappish about when I'm going to be updating this fanfiction. I'm just... it's touchy, you know? On the one hand, I'm really sick and tired of all of this. On the other hand, I feel incredibly guilty for letting this story go, especially because it clearly means so much to all of you.

I suppose I should say thank you for caring enough to bug me about it. So thanks ;) But PLEASE DON'T ASK ME IN A REVIEW ON AV HIGH! LEAVE MY PET AU ALONE! XD

It was 11 at night on a Tuesday when Caitlin let out a cry. In seconds Barry, who had been lazily dozing in his chair, jolted upright. "Caitlin?" he asked, flashing over to her side.

She had collapsed into a chair, white as a sheet. "Oh my God," she whispered, tears welling in her eyes before the last word had even escaped. "Barry- Barry, the baby-"

Those were the last words that Barry had ever wanted to hear. His blood ran cold and he fell on his knees beside Caitlin. "What?" he demanded, voice catching. "What."

"It's... wrong," Caitlin said finally. Her hand fell heavily to her stomach. "I've been- I've been feeling so empty lately. I thought it was Frost, but..."

"What do you mean, it's wrong?" Barry asked in a trembling voice. "Like it's... it's... dead?"

Caitlin let out a sob, curling in on herself. "No, no, no," she cried, rocking back and forth. "I don't know- I don't-"

"Shhhh..." Barry pulled her into his arms and gripped her so tightly his fingers made marks on her skin. "Take me through it. What happened?"

Caitlin drew in a hyperventilating breath. "I wanted to- to check up because I was running tests on everything I had figured out about Frost, how her DNA is still there even without the dark matter. So I ran an ultrasound and- and everything's wrong. Its breathing is too slow and its heart rate is severely lowered and it hasn't- it hasn't grown right and- I should have known because I hadn't progressed in my pregnancy at all and-"

She broke off into more quick, panting breaths. "It's okay," Barry whispered, though his own chest was tightening with panic. "Do you know what caused this?"

Theories. Hypothesis. Those were things that Caitlin could handle. She clenched her fists tight and struggled to get it together and think. "Yes," she said, with as much certainty as she could. "At least... I think I do. Do you... do you remember when our baby was, um... created?"

Barry raised an eyebrow, cheeks coloring. "Like... when we-?"

"Yeah," Caitlin agreed quickly. "There was one moment when I, like... frosted out for a second? It was only for a second, but... I think that Frost was apart of the- the conception."

"Okay..." Barry said slowly, sitting back, then shook his head. "No. Not okay. I have no idea where you're going with this."

"Frost was apart of the conception," Caitlin repeated. "So with- with her gone... the baby can't function like normal." She peered at Barry, waiting for the lightbulb to hit. He frowned, and she tried again. "I need Frost to continue to grow this baby in my stomach."

"Oh!" Barry realized, eyes going wide. "Oh. That's... not good."

She shook her head. "No. The baby is- is frozen like this until we can get Frost back. No pun intended, really." She reached out for Barry's hand, squeezing them as tightly as she could without hurting him. "But Barry I don't- I don't know how to get Frost back. I don't know what to do." She let out another sob as her resolve to keep it together abruptly crumbled. "I just- I just wanted one thing in our lives to go smoothly. One thing! Was that so much to ask that our baby could just be healthy and- and okay?"

"Hey, hey," Barry murmured, rubbing her hands. "We will figure this out. I mean, honestly... this is probably the most powerful incentive we could ever have to figure something out. So we- we will."

As pep talks went, it wasn't one of his best, but Caitlin nodded. She ducked her face into his shoulder, her tears still coming, and he held her close.

This was the last thing he had ever expected to happen to his child, but Caitlin needed him to be strong right now.

Flash!

The first thing Caitlin and Barry did the next morning was work on the Frost problem.

They had decided the night before to keep the news of the baby to themselves, at least for now. The rest of the Team had enough on their plates, and Caitlin didn't want everyone to be stressed out on her behalf. Barry had understood where she was coming from, he almost always did, but at the same time he felt like their Team deserved to know the full amount that was at stake.

After some scientific consultation with Harry and Cisco, Caitlin was set up in the Speed Lab for some experimental get-Frost-back attempts.

"The thing to do to get Killer Frost to appear," Harry was saying as he connected a few wires to stickers on Caitlin's upper chest. "Is to get that massive spike in your adrenaline. So Ramon is going to use his vibes to shake-" he jostled her shoulders, as a demonstration, "you on a cellular level and let's see if we can't get your old friend Killer Frost to come out to play."

Caitlin nodded her acquiescence.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Iris asked uncertainly. "And that it won't hurt the baby?"

Caitlin and Barry exchanged glances of barely-disguised misery as Harry shrugged and waved his hands in the air. "Well, I mean, like with any hypothesis, you test it to get answers- that's what we've all done since the fourth grade; it's known as the..."

He stopped talking abruptly and squinted a little. "Scientific method?" Barry supplied, raising his eyebrow.

"Right you are, Allen!" Harry cried, pointing a finger gun at him. "Of course. Ah!" He'd just spotted Cisco, who jogged into the Speed Lab with his hair bouncing behind him. "Here he is. Okay, good. So. Get in position!"

"Don't worry," Cisco said as he moved to his spot in front of Caitlin. "I lowered the amps on this thing. It'll be totally safe for your kiddo."

Caitlin felt a knot twist in her gut but she smiled weakly and gave him a thumbs up.

"Ramon, you set?" Harry asked.

"Yep."

"Snow, you ready?"

Caitlin narrowed her eyes a little and planted her feet, preparing herself as Cisco tucked his hair back behind his ears and raised his gauntlet-covered hand. "I'm ready."

"Three- two- one- and..."

Cisco let loose a fairly gentle vibe blast. The blue light went straight through Caitlin's midsection and out the other side and she spread her hands, waiting eagerly to feel Killer Frost overtake her body.

But she didn't feel anything at all.

Frowning, Caitlin glanced down at her body. "Nothing," she reported with a shrug.

"Alright, Ramon. More power," Harry ordered.

Cisco tried again, and this time Caitlin felt a little bit of a burn when the vibe hit her. But there was still no Killer Frost, and her frustration started to rise.

"You know what? This isn't working," Harry decided. "Ramon, full power."

Cisco looked at him uncertainly and Barry shook himself. "Whoa, whoa, hold on; what do you mean, full power?" he asked, looking at Harry with a slightly irritated expression on his face. "We don't want to blast Caitlin across the Speed Lab."

"Well, we want to spike her adrenaline," Harry said, shrugging blankly.

Now it was Iris' turn to look at him incredulously. "Harry, she could get injured."

"Well, I- this is- this is gonna work," Harry spluttered, making his way from the monitor back down to the floor of the Speed Lab. "Look, nothing has changed, alright? Snow's DNA tests- they confirm it. Her DNA was not spliced by Null's powers-"

"You mean Melting Point's powers," Caitlin corrected, shaking her head.

"Yeah- that's- right, yeah. That's what I said. Melting Point's powers."

Barry frowned. "Wait, but, Harry, there's no Dark Matter in her system anyway. We're just trying to spike her heart rate."

Harry looked bewildered. "What do you mean there's no Dark Matter?"

"Harry, you knew that," Iris reminded him. "We all did."

This, paired with mixing up the metas names, all added to the fact that he had forgotten what the scientific method was called, was giving Caitlin some cause for concern. "Harry..." she said, peering at him. "Are you okay?"

It turned out that no, Harry wasn't okay. His use of his precious Thinking Cap had seriously overwhelmed his synapses, causing them to slow down. In other words... he was losing his intelligence.

It was a tough blow to the Team. Their only plan, really, had been to have Harry use his elevated cognitive abilities to outthink DeVoe. Now, Caitlin was worried that he'd walk into STAR Labs and not even know their names.

She offered to work on the problem, but Harry turned her down. He knew as well as the rest of them that their forefront issue was stopping DeVoe. Unfortunately, none of them knew exactly how anymore.

Flash!

Caitlin found Barry pacing up and down the hallway when she got back from a quick lunch at Jitters. He, Iris and Cisco had just gone with Joe to their newest crime scene, where a super-solar-panel had been stolen and a security guard had committed suicide, both of which the Team figured out DeVoe was behind.

"Hey," Caitlin said, nodding her chin curiously at him. "You alright?"

"Hm?" Barry glanced up absently and rubbed his hand at the back of his head. "Uh, yeah, yeah, fine. How was lunch?"

Caitlin looked at him, unconvinced. "Barry," she said firmly. "Tell me what's going on."

"It's kind of stupid, really," Barry admitted. "It was just this... this security guard that supposedly killed himself, right? According to Joe he and his wife just had a baby. And it just like... any talk of babies and death right now is just... hard to hear, you know? Especially because, like... no one knows."

Caitlin bit her lip, reaching out to rub his arm. "I know," she said, letting out a sigh. "When everyone was reassuring me that the vibe blasts wouldn't hurt our baby, it was really hard not to just let it all out. But... with everything- and now with Harry, too? I just don't want this to be yet another struggle on our plates."

"You're allowed to have a- a 'struggle'," Barry told her, reaching for her hand. "I know you don't want to burden anyone with this, Caitlin, but I don't know how long we -I- can keep this ruse up. When are we going to tell them that our baby is- is- whatever it is?"

"In stasis?" Caitlin supplied, before letting out a deep sigh. "I don't know, okay? But maybe- maybe we can get Killer Frost back and figure all of this out before any of them even need to know."

Barry looked displeased, so Caitlin sighed again and stepped a little closer, putting a hand on each bicep. "I promise," she said seriously. "If this goes on too long, we will tell them. I won't keep this a secret forever. Just... let me have a little more time. Let me try a few more things to get Frost back." She smiled a little. "Let the Team be just one worry less for a little while longer."

"Fine," Barry relented, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "A little more time it is."

Flash!

Gypsy had been brought in to help Cisco with the complicated task of vibing through DeVoe's usual defense layer. They figured out that DeVoe's next target would be a shipping container down by the dox, but instead of catching him, Cisco and Gypsy ended up locked in a serious argument, DeVoe escaped with a new piece of tech, and the Team was back to square one.

By the time Team Flash reconvened, Barry was trying to get Cisco and Gypsy onto the same page about whether Cisco wanted to replace Breacher on Earth 19 or not. He seemed to think that letting them both know how each other was feeling by telling them himself would make it so that they could successfully covibe and actually doing a proper job of catching DeVoe this time.

Caitlin was both exasperated and amused by Barry's attempt. It was clear by the looks on Cisco and Gypsy's faces that it hadn't worked at all, a fact that was made even clearer when they tried to covibe on a piece of metal from the shipping container.

Instead of figuring out what DeVoe was planning, the two of them were thrown forcefully back. Iris ran over to Cisco and Caitlin and Barry hurried over to Gypsy. Thankfully, both of them were fine, but Caitlin herded them into her lab to make absolutely sure there was no lasting damage, physically or powerfully.

When she walked out of her lab about a half hour later, Barry glanced up worriedly. "Are they okay?" he asked.

She could tell he felt bad, and gave him a half-smile. "Tests show that, physically, they're fine. As a couple... not so much."

Barry gritted his teeth and began to walk towards Caitlin's lab. "Excuse me, mister, where are you going?" she asked him, raising her eyebrow.

"To get these two back in sync, I mean, we gotta try and get ahead of DeVoe somehow," Barry explained. He turned back to the lab but Caitlin grabbed at him.

"Hold on," she said, giving his arm a squeeze. "I love you for trying, Barry, but... I think you've maybe done enough. Or a little too much."

Barry looked at her uncomprehending.

"Cisco and Gypsy are clearly going through something," Caitlin went on. "And it's not up to us to counsel them through it."

"Well then, who's it up to?" Barry asked, already trying to pull away.

"Just stop for a second," Caitlin pleaded.

"We can't stop!" Barry cried. "The second we do, everyone could fall apart. The Team's hanging on by a thread- I'm hanging on by a thread."

"But we're hanging on," Caitlin reminded him.

"But for how long?" Barry asked. "Look what's happening! DeVoe is killing innocent people. He's stealing pieces of tech for who knows why! Just trying to keep up with him is tearing us apart."

"Honey," Caitlin murmured, rubbing his arm. "It's not your job to hold everyone together. We are all struggling, and we all have to work through those struggles in the way that is best for us. For me, that means not telling people that my baby won't be able to grow anymore without Killer Frost. For Cisco and Gypsy, that's being able to work through their differences and their issues in their own way. Problems within a couple are hard enough at it is; I can't imagine the added stress of having to covibe to find DeVoe resting all on their shoulders is helping any."

Barry leaned back against the desk, his face falling a little.

"I know it's hard," Caitlin said softly. "I want Cisco to be happy just as much as you do. But sometimes, you have to let them figure out things on their own, whether their together or apart."

Barry blinked, a wondering expression coming over his face. "That's it," he muttered, turning to face her. "The pieces of tech don't seem to fit together because they don't. DeVoe's not building one thing... he's building multiple."

Flash!

The Team had finally found DeVoe.

Barry wasted no time in flashing off, and Caitlin hurried to a chair to man coms with Iris. Cisco leapt into a breach to keep a hand (literally) on Marlize, Gypsy right behind him, and the fight began.

"Barry," Iris said. "Knock him out and then cuff him."

"On it," Barry replied, speeding off.

Once a lightning bolt had brought DeVoe to the floor, Gypsy sent a blast of her red-tinted vibe at the professor, keeping him on the ground.

"Stop it, you're killing him!" Marlize yelled, agonized. A moment later, she had take Cisco out with a few quick self-defense maneuvers, unsheathed her pet sword, and run at Gypsy.

"Gypsy, look out!" Iris cried, and Caitlin got up from her desk to hurry into her lab.

"Barry, hit him again!" Iris ordered while Gypsy was busy defending herself. Barry ran at DeVoe but he sent a terrific wave of power and knocked the speedster backward. Caitlin, meanwhile, was rooting through her desk, searching for the item she needed.

Finally, her fingers closed around a triangular piece of metal and she pulled it out into the open, immediately opening a breach and stepping through. DeVoe had his hands raised and pointed at Barry, who was on the ground, but he turned when Caitlin lifted the other object in her hands.

A cold gun.

At the sight of his wife, Barry struggled to get up, but DeVoe quickly immobilized him. Without hesitation, Caitlin pressed the trigger on the cold gun and DeVoe was coated in a piece of ice.

"Caitlin!" Iris squawked. "What the heck are you doing?!"

Caitlin gritted her teeth. "Bringing her back," she said, and let go of the trigger.

"DeVoe is creating a sonic pulse," Iris reported as a high-pitched ringing began to reverberate from the newly-formed, DeVoe-shaped ice sculpture. "You need to get out of there before-"

Her words were cut off as the ice exploded, and the ringing intensified sharply in volume. Caitlin's hand slapped instinctively over her ear as she felt pain shoot through her head. The moment she'd recovered, however, DeVoe waved his hand and she was immobilized along with everyone else in the room.

"Oh I get it," DeVoe said thoughtfully. "You'd like me to frighten you into becoming your better half." He smirked a little. "Gladly."

With another waved of his hand, Gypsy was lifted off of the ground in what looked like the DeVoe version of a force choke.

"DeVoe!" Barry grunted, pushing himself up.

Irritated, DeVoe rolled his eyes and immobilized him again. "Ugh. Children should be seen and not heard. Though..." he glanced over at Caitlin. "I'm very sure seeing your hubby die would be frightening enough, but I can't kill the Flash!" He paused. "Well. Not just yet. No, my plan for the enlightenment requires his further participation."

Still unable to move, Caitlin could only watch in horror as DeVoe dragged Gypsy forward. "You, however... are somewhat less fortunate."

"Guys, he's gonna kill Gypsy," Iris said, somewhat unnecessarily.

Gypsy started to gasp as DeVoe squeezed at her neck with his powers. It was about then that Marlize woke up, pushing herself to her elbow with a groan. "Clifford..." she warned, eyeing the seen in front of her anxiously. "This isn't part of our plan. Our plan is to save them."

"Cisco, wake up!" Iris yelled. "Wake up!"

Marlize was on her feet now. "You can't save everyone, my love," DeVoe replied with a shrug, and shot out his other hand to speed along the choking process.

"DeVoe!" Barry yelled, rage steeling his voice.

"Perhaps," Marlize allowed. "But I won't watch you kill an innocent life again."

She turned away, but DeVoe used one of his hands to make her glow greenish and slowly turn her around. "Yes you will," he said simply, then continued to choke Gypsy.

Her gasps were getting more strained. "Please, Clifford," Marlize begged. "Remember who you are! Is this truly the lesson you wish to bestow today?"

DeVoe looked from her back to Gypsy. For a terrifying moment, Caitlin thought that he wasn't going to listen.

But then he dropped his arms. Gypsy fell, collapsing into a heap on the floor. She wasn't moving.

Caitlin felt her breath leave her in a rush. "Get the case," DeVoe said to Marlize, his face impassive. She nodded, hurrying to grab their miniaturized stolen tech, and the two of them vanished into their alternate dimension.

Cisco took that opportunity to come to. He started looking around and pushing himself to his feet as Barry and Caitlin were finally remobilized. Caitlin dropped her gun and raced to Gypsy's side, Cisco not far behind her. "Cynthia?" he asked, pulling off his glasses and helping Caitlin turn her over. "What happened? What did he do to her? Come on. Talk to me. It's okay. Talk to me."

Abruptly, Gypsy's back arched and she sucked in a greedy mouthful of air. Caitlin let out a breath of relief, sitting back on her heels as Cisco pulled his girlfriend into a hug.

Things hadn't gone well that evening, but at the very least, they hadn't lost anyone else.

Flash!

There were no new thefts on the horizon, but a revelation from the unlikely pair of Harry and Cecile had been made. DeVoe was using the technology to try and simplify every brain on the planet, basically creating a world of mindless minions for him to control.

Knowing his plan was comforting, though finding out what it was unnerved them all. Still, there was a certain occasion the West family had been planning for quite awhile: Cecile's baby shower. Joe and Iris were insistent that it wouldn't be put off, and so the Team took a break from Flash-stuff for that evening.

Speaking of breaking... Caitlin got a call from Cisco right before she and Barry were going to head to Iris' loft, where the baby shower was being held.

"Oh Cisco," Caitlin murmured as she listened to her best friend spill the entire story of how he and Gypsy had decided to end things because he wanted to take the next step and she was just fine where they were. "Cisco, I'm so sorry. Do you want to skip the party tonight? I can head to your place and we can binge all of your favorite Star Wars and Avengers movies and eat all the junk you want. I won't even comment on the nutritional factors."

Cisco let out a laugh, but Caitlin could tell he was crying. "No, no, it's fine," he declined. "I just, um... I wanted to tell you. I'll come to the party. I could use a drink, anyway."

"Okay," Caitlin replied simply. She refrained from telling him that tonight was going to be incredibly challenging for her, too, considering that her own baby's future was entirely uncertain at the moment. "I'll see you there, then."

When she hung up, Barry was watching her. "So she really broke up with him, huh?" he sighed as they put on their coats and headed out the door. "Do you... do you think it's my fault? For trying to push them together too hard?"

Caitlin shook her head, softening. "No, honey, of course it's not your fault. Cisco and Gypsy would have come to this whether or not you interfered. Somethings you can't control."

Barry's face fell a little and he glanced at her. "Like... how I can't control you running into the field, virtually defenseless, to try and scare yourself into getting Killer Frost back?"

Caitlin winced. Deep down, she'd known this was coming. Barry hadn't said a word to her, scolding or otherwise, about the fight since they'd gotten back. True, they'd been more focused on sending Gypsy home, but she had been waiting for the bomb to drop.

"I don't blame you for being upset," Caitlin began, biting her lip hesitantly.

"I'm not upset," Barry cut in. "I'm worried. Are you going to keep doing things like that? Caitlin, I know you're desperate to get Frost back, and our kid, and so am I. But what if trying to get them back leads to me having to lose you, too?"

"I know, I know." Caitlin let out a sigh and paused right before they reached the stairwell of their apartment. She turned and put her hand on her husbands arm, giving it a squeeze. "I'm not going to do anything like that again- trust me. Clearly, it didn't work, and trying it again while expecting different results wouldn't be smart." She hesitated, not sure how much she should delve into the thoughts she'd been having about how to solve her issue. She decided to be a little vague. "I just... There are a few more things I need to try before I can give up hope on Frost entirely."

"And those things are...?" Barry prompted, raising an eyebrow.

"Remember how I told you that sometimes you need to let people do things on their own?" Caitlin said, not answering. "This is one of them. I love you, Barry, and I love you for caring. But I can't have your or anyone else on the Team's concern for me stop me from doing what I feel I need to do."

He nodded, giving in with surprising ease. "Okay," he agreed. "But promise me one thing."

"Anything."

"Keep yourself safe," Barry murmured, cupping her face in his hands. "Do what you need to do, but if you're going to try something dangerous bring me along. I won't try to stop you, but I might just be able to save you."

Caitlin's lips quirked a little and she nodded, leaning forward to rest her forehead on his shoulder. "I promise."

Author's Note: OKAYYY I FINISHED ANOTHER CHAPTER GUYS WE'RE SO CLOSE I JUST WANT TO FINISH THIS OMGGGGGGGGGG

I'm gonna start on the next chapter RIGHT NOW so that I don't lose my inspiration before I finish. Okay okay okay here we goooooo...