third time's the charm

Do you believe in destiny?

— Iris, to Caitlin

Team Flash, being Team Flash, cobbled together a plan.

And so Barry was here, getting all up in Hunter Zoloman's face. Relishing it maybe a little bit too much. Knowing that his mistrust, his anger, was justified. That this man had killed so many just to save himself.

Eddie was right, he thought. He'd have to give Eddie props for that one.

But once again, they all underestimated Zoom, and he got the best of them.

This was the guilt Barry carried with him as he read the message scrawled on Joe's wall: Your speed for Wally.

S.T.A.R. Labs

"I'm glad we could catch up," Iris said, smiling widely at Caitlin.

"I know. It seems like we're always running one place or another. Maybe not literally, Barry does all the running, but you know what I mean," Caitlin replied, giving the other girl a smile of her own.

"I know. I've been thinking — has Barry said anything to you lately?"

"Hmmm? No, what would he say?"

"Well," Iris grinned mischievously, "He was quite jealous of Jay — Bar thought you were into him."

"Wha —?" Caitlin simply shook her head.

"Do you still have feelings for Barry?" Iris asked, point-blank.

"I…" Caitlin swallowed. I think I love him. I've never been so sure of anything in my life. But I'm afraid that like everyone else I've truly loved, he'll get ripped away from me. I'm afraid that one of these times, he'll never come back. That he'll die protecting the city… or worse, me. I have no idea how he feels. I can read everyone so well, but Barry remains a mystery. I don't know if he's in love with you, Iris. I don't know anything.

"I do," Caitlin answered simply, contrary to her inner monologue.

"Do you believe in destiny?"

Caitlin simply looked at her. "I do. For you… I don't think it was a coincidence that you and Eddie met and fell in love. I think that was meant to be. And Eddie shooting Eobard Thawne? That was Eddie changing his destiny, and changing all of our destinies too."

"But what about for yourself?"

"I've never thought much about my destiny. I'm a scientist, after all."

"So is Barry. But my point is — I think destiny brings people together, but I believe that you have to make the choices to get you there. It can bring you together time and time again, but if you don't act upon it, you'll always be missing each other." She looked meaningfully at Caitlin.

"But what about the byline on the article in the Time Vault?"

"Iris West-Allen?" Iris asked. "I've never thought I was a hyphenator. Have you ever thought that it was Earth-2 Iris who wrote it? After all, she's married to that earth's Barry Allen."

"So you don't have any feelings for Barry, at all?"

"Caitlin," Iris smiled kindly. "Barry has been, and always will be, like my little brother. I love Eddie; we're getting married. And I'll be Iris Thawne soon. Speaking of which, I still need to go through my wedding binder and send you all invites." She paused. "Plus, I see the way Bar looks at you. My dad sees the way Bar looks at you. Hell, even Henry said something, and he was here for 0.2 seconds."

Caitlin laughed a little. "I love Henry."

"We all do. I truly believe that we'll defeat Zoom, but with everything on the line, don't you think it's time to tell Barry how you feel?"

Caitin's face fell a little. "I did already, remember?"

"I know. And believe me, I yelled at Barry for not saying anything in return. It's kinda unlike him. But things have changed; we've all changed."

"You're right." Caitlin nodded, seemingly to herself. "I'll tell him."

But before she could even think about what exactly she'd say, Barry flashed in. "He took Wally," he gasped. "He wants my speed in exchange for getting him back alive."

Both womens' eyes widened in shock, and they scrambled out of their chairs. "What do we do?"

"I have to give it to him. I can't let Wally die."

Iris reached for Barry, tears streaming down her face. "I can't trade one brother for another," she said softly.

"I know, but it's the only way," Barry said softly.

Caitlin watched the exchange, her own eyes tearing up. It was always like this — one thing after another, a desperate game of trying to keep everyone safe and alive, trying to stop meta after meta, villain after villain. She wondered briefly if the good guys ever truly won, or if their existences were always spent trying to keep the bad guys at bay.

She met Barry's eyes over Iris's shoulder, and they exchanged a look. His green eyes said it all: that he would do anything to protect his family, even if that meant giving up the one thing that made him a superhero.

There was no way Caitlin would let him do it without a fight, but while she tried to come up with an alternative plan, she might as well put this one into action. "I'll talk to Cisco," she said softly, and got up to find her other best friend.

S.T.A.R. Labs, Pipeline

"There has to be another way!" Cisco practically shouted. "We can't let Barry give up his speed!"

"I know, Cisco, but I can't think of anything right now. Jay – Zoom — Hunter, whatever, has out-smarted us at every turn. I can't believe we didn't figure it out before." Caitlin shook her head sadly.

"Vibe him, Cisco," Barry said from behind her. "Tell him to come here and bring Wally with him, and we'll give him my speed." He had Jay/Hunter's helmet in his hands. "Here."

Cisco swallowed and nodded, reaching out to take the winged helmet. Closing his eyes, he concentrated hard. "We'll do it," he said, speaking to a Zoom they could not see. "Barry will give you his speed."

And so here they were, standing in a semicircle with their guns ready and loaded around Hunter Zoloman, who clutched Wally by the neck like he was some wayward kitten. Hunter shoved Wally at Iris, who lowered her gun and pulled her keys out of her pocket. "Go home," she whispered, giving her little brother a quick half-hug. "Quicky!"

Wally nodded and sped off, shock and adrenaline running through his system.

Hunter surveyed each of them smugly, his eyes brighter than they've ever been. "Ah, how the mighty have fallen," he crowed. As he answered each of their questions, his ego seemed to get bigger and bigger. Like the narcissistic maniac he was, he explained in very clear detail exactly how he got there and why he did what he did.

"Why run around like the Flash?" Joe demanded.

"Why, to give them hope, detective." Hunter grinned wolfishly, a crazy light in his eyes. "So I could rip it all away."

Barry looked like he wanted to throttle Hunter right then and there. Caitlin swallowed and wished she could hold him or even grasp his hand for comfort, like he had for her so many times.

"It's so much fun pretending to be a hero," Hunter continued, eyeing Barry almost hungrily. Watching to see what he'd do. Waiting to see if he'd snap.

It was Caitlin that snapped first. She couldn't stand the jabs that Hunter threw Barry's way anymore. "You'll never be a hero," she spat. "You're nothing but a monster."

The smile slid right off of Hunter's face. He glared at her, and if she didn't know better, she'd say he had an almost… haunted… look in his eyes. Jolting himself back to the present, Hunter plastered on his smug grin back on. "Well, let's stop wasting time," he said. "Let's have the Flash's speed!"

Caitlin could barely watch as Barry ran on the treadmill. Her hand found Iris's for support, clasping it so tight, she was sure the other girl would lose circulation. But Iris squeezed her hand just as hard, and she knew they were in it together. Watching the man they loved lose his speed… and lose hope.

As Barry fell off the treadmill, beads of sweat dotting his forehead, they ran to his side.

"Barry, are you okay?" Iris asked.

"Yeah… I'm okay," Barry answered. But the look in his eyes — it was a look of utter defeat.

Hunter injected Barry's speed into his arm with a victory cry and flashed over to them, throwing Barry against the wall and grabbing him by the throat.

"Thanks for your speed, Flash," he said. "Now… I guess you'll just have to die."

"No!" Caitlin heard a voice scream… then realized it was her own. "Hunter — if you ever cared about me, if you ever cared about anything at all, please, please, please don't do this. Let Barry live."

He loosened his hold on Barry, turning around to face her. "I told you that Barry Allen didn't care about you," Hunter said dangerously. "You didn't listen to me."

"I'm sorry!" Caitlin was crying now. This couldn't be the end. The good guys always have to win, a small part of her thought. This can't be over. "I…" she took a shuddering breath. "I'll do whatever you want. If anything that you ever said to me was true, please just let Barry go. Please."

"Hmm…." was all Hunter said, eyeing her speculatively.

Caitlin's eyes darted frantically between Barry, who was struggling to breathe, and Hunter, who still had the maniacal look in his eyes. "I know some piece of you did care for me, so if you have any humanity left, please just let him go," she entreated desperately.

Barry's face was quickly turning pink, then purple. His eyes were closing. Caitlin prayed to a God she no longer believed in. Hunter squeezed harder.

And threw Barry on the ground. Barry fell to his knees, gasping for air. Caitlin gulped in deep breaths, as if she were breathing for him, almost disbelieving that her words had an effect on Hunter. Maybe he'll leave now? she thought hopefully.

Of course, he turned to face her fully now. Without a word, he scooped her up and flashed away.

"Caitlin!" Cisco shouted, two beats too late.

Barry scrambled to his feet, still struggling to breathe, but it felt like he was being choked to death again. Caitlin was gone.

S.T.A.R. Labs, Cortex

Three things became very clear to Iris after Caitlin got kidnapped: one, that Caitlin was the glue that held this team together, the clear-headed voice of hope and reason; two, that both Barry and Cisco needed her to be alright; three, that the woman had gotten kidnapped more times than anyone else on the team for god-knows whatever reason.

"Cisco, did you see Caitlin in your vibe?" she asked worriedly, interrupting Cisco's tirade on how much he hated Jay's helmet.

Cisco stopped short, though he still looked like he wanted to smash the helmet with a sledgehammer. "Zoom's got her in his lair. She's scared, but she's okay."

"Thank God," Barry breathed. "We need to get her back."

"Without your speed, there's not really anything we can do," Joe said. Iris side-eyed her dad, something that under different circumstances, he would've teased her for.

That's not really helping, Dad, she thought. As much as it is true. They needed the Flash right now, but the Flash wasn't the Flash without his speed.

Harry came bursting in, pissed as hell. "That's right, Detective. We've all lost something. We've lost Snow, he's lost his speed…"

As Harry carried on ranting, Iris watched him. Like the detective's daughter she was, she read through his angry act quite easily. He was worried about Caitlin and scared. She suspected it was like losing his daughter all over again. She knew that Harry and Caitlin had gotten much closer over the past few weeks, working on the Velocity-9, escaping from Grodd… Caitlin had been the first to warm up to him, to welcome him to the team and make him feel accepted.

"...and that, Allen, that's on you," Harry finished, as Iris tuned back in.

"Hey!" she snapped. Barry always carried immense guilt for whenever bad things happened to people other than himself; he didn't need another accusation placed upon him. "We made that decision as a team."

As Wells stormed out, Iris knew that the only hope of getting Wells back was also to get Caitlin back. Cisco left too; Barry seemed despondent; her dad didn't know what to do or say to this group of people who had lost all hope.

Zoom's Lair

"You don't need to be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you," Hunter said.

Caitlin shook her head. "You only care about yourself… Hunter," she spat.

Hunter wanted to kill something. Slowly and painfully. No matter what he did, Caitlin, like all the people on earth, only cared about Barry Allen. About the heroes. Couldn't she see that he was better in every way? Faster, smarter, fitter? The one who deserved her love?

She reminded him of his mother looking at his father. Always rejecting his love, looking at him with a look of distrust and distaste. Maybe even hate.

"Please, Cait," he started.

"Do NOT call me that," she interrupted venomously, wiping the smile off his face.

Only two people ever called me Cait — Barry and Ronnie — and it's a name reserved for those I love, Caitlin thought.

Why can Barry Allen call her Cait, but no one else? Hunter thought angrily.

"Why are you keeping me here?" she demanded.

"You're here," he said, kneeling at her feet, "because I love you. It might take time, but someday, you'll feel the same about me too." He looked at her almost tenderly. "Make yourself comfortable. You're going to be here for a while."