A/N: Hey guys! In response to the reviews since last chapter: Review 1. (Indigene Syke) I'm glad you think the story is interesting. Even if you don't remember a lot about Agents of SHIELD, since half of the story is told from Barry, Cisco, and Caitlin's viewpoints, a lot of SHIELD details will be explained. If you ever have a question, though, just ask! I'd be happy to answer any questions about the timeline/specific details.

Here's chapter five!

Caitlin was becoming so caught up in training Barry and assisting the S.H.I.E.L.D. team that, several times, she'd forgotten no one knew where they were, or that they should be at work. So when Iris called her almost a week into their stay, she didn't know what to do. She looked at the name on the screen, tempted to call for Barry or Cisco. As her internal debate continued the call ended, making the decision for her. About thirty seconds later she saw that she had a new voicemail.

"Hey Caitlin, it's Iris. I hope you're doing okay. Barry said you were going through something with family. I haven't heard from him in a few days, so I just wanted to check in. Call me back when you can."

Caitlin set the phone down and rubbed her hand over her face. It didn't look like they would be going home in the next few days. Honestly, Caitlin guessed it would be a few weeks before Barry was fully in control of his abilities; especially considering how easily Barry seemed to injure himself. They would have to contact Joe and Iris, and S.T.A.R. Labs, at some point, to give another excuse for staying away.

She found she didn't mind the idea of staying longer. She'd stopped distrusting the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents after the first day, but she had only started actually trusting them a few days after the treadmill was completed. Once she'd seen Daisy start really training Barry. Once she'd seen Mack play video games with Cisco. Especially once she'd seen Coulson's surprise when Barry made a copy of the information from Rosalind Price – there was no way someone who planned on using Barry would be so shocked at his helpfulness.

She'd realized earlier that everyone was keeping things more formal with her, and had turned to Fitz and Simmons in the lab. "Call me Caitlin," she'd said. Then she'd turned back to looking at Barry's cells, trying to hide her smile at how pleased the two scientists looked at her request. It was silly for them to call her anything but Caitlin, with how much they were interacting.

Caitlin stood and walked over to Barry's room to tell him about the phone call – only to find him already asleep when she peeked inside. Affection warmed her core as she eased the door closed. He'd been working hard. He'd finally mastered stopping and staying upright, and was moving onto learning how to use his speed in close combat situations. (Daisy sparred with him daily, but there were guest appearances by Mack, Bobbi, and May, the last of which Caitlin never wanted to see angry.)

She went to Cisco's door and received no response from his either, though she doubted he was asleep. He was probably making someone watch a movie with him.

Caitlin started walking around without a real plan, unable to go back to her room and ignore the voicemail. That was how she found Bobbi and a man she didn't actually know, in the hallway near the hangar.

"Who are you?" the man asked in a loud voice. He had a British accent, and a very beat up face.

"Hunter, this is Caitlin. She's one of the people we brought in with the last Inhuman." Bobbi gave her a kind look. "Hunter's kind of direct, but he's a good guy. He's on our team too."

"Damn right I am," Hunter said. "I've just been hunting the psychopath responsible for half the trauma this team's endured," he told Caitlin. "The bastard escaped, unfortunately."

Unsure of the best way to respond to that, Caitlin faltered for a few seconds. "Nice to meet you," she said, somewhat appeasing.

Hunter stared at her and then laughed. "Alright, I like you."

"You look like you want to talk," Bobbi said. "Everything okay?"

"Oh, yeah, everything's fine," Caitlin said, sliding her phone into her pocket. She hadn't realized she was still holding it. "Sorry to disturb you."

Hunter gave her a sideways smile. "Wasn't much going on to interrupt, if you know what I mean."

Bobbi shot him a look, and Caitlin chuckled, waving to them and turning around. It was clear Hunter wanted there to be something to interrupt, so Caitlin thought leaving them alone was the best option.

She realized no one was going to tell her what to do. Barry and Cisco had enough on their minds. She made a plan in her head, and picked up the phone before she could chicken out of it. Iris answered before the end of the second ring.

"Caitlin?"

"Hi, Iris."

She could hear the woman's relief just from the way she breathed. "I was starting to think something was wrong with you guys. Where are you?"

"A hospital near the mountains. Reception is either clear as a bell or not there at all, you know?" She stopped, taking a silent breath. Speaking too fast would give away the fact that she was lying.

"What happened?" Iris asked.

Caitlin told her the fabricated story: that her mother had contracted a rare disease from a patient, and needed to stay at this specific hospital to receive the treatment. "She just needs me to be here," she finished. "And Cisco and Barry are making it all so much easier."

Iris had been quiet while she spoke, and then she sighed. "Caitlin, I'm so sorry you're going through this."

"It's just gonna take some time."

"I'm glad you're not alone. Just do me a favor, and make Barry call my dad at some point? He really needs to hear from him."

Caitlin could hear how much Iris wanted to hear from Barry as well, but told her she would have Barry call Joe the next day and hung up. For not lying very well, she thought that had actually been pretty convincing. She could do something similar with her call to S.T.A.R. Labs, when she asked for a leave of absence. Though she might need to have a disease in mind, since they were scientists and more curious by nature.

She found a suitable example and made the call. She didn't actually have to worry, because it went straight to Tess's voicemail. She asked for a leave of absence for herself, Barry, and Cisco, and said she could have the others call for themselves if it was an issue. Then she hung up, confident she would wake up to a return voicemail in the morning.

She thought about going to the lab to see if Fitz and Simmons wanted to do something, but decided against it. She'd already strolled from her room once. She could wait to see them until tomorrow.

0-0

Barry woke up at six in the morning, and was surprised. He never saw the clock this early without setting an alarm. Then again, he'd crashed about twelve hours ago, so he guessed it made sense. He honestly could probably sleep longer, but he was starving. His growling stomach was probably what had woken him.

He expected the kitchen to be empty, but the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents seemed to be early risers – or they had been trained to be, anyway. May was taking a tea bag out of a mug. She looked up as Barry entered. "You're up early."

He smiled sheepishly. "I'm hungry."

"Daisy says you've been training hard," Coulson said. The man poured creamer into his own mug, then capped the container.

Barry opened the fridge and grabbed a carton of eggs. "Yeah, I need to."

"She also says you're doing great," Coulson said. "Don't wear yourself out before you've had a chance to do more than train."

"You might be able to really test your abilities soon, if you're interested," May said.

Barry looked up from preparing the scrambled eggs, curious.

Coulson took a bite of toast. "One way to make sure you've really got control of your speed is sending you into the field. We might have a low-risk opportunity coming up."

"Low-risk meaning less danger?"

"Exactly," May said. They were both quiet for a few minutes, long enough for Barry to be scraping the eggs onto a plate. "Do you think you'd be interested in going on a mission?" she asked.

He hadn't thought he would actually have the chance, but he was definitely interested. It was the reason he was throwing himself into training so hard. He knew he would have to go back home sooner or later, and wanted to take advantage of this opportunity. Knowing he had this awesome power made him want to do something with it. He thought May and Coulson could see that as he turned to face them, because Coulson smiled, and May almost smiled.

"I think it's time to call Andrew in," Coulson said.

"Who's Andrew?" Barry asked, swallowing quickly and instantly regretting it as the food burned his tongue.

"A psychologist who consults for us. He interviews all the Inhumans we help. Before we get you ready for a mission, you'll need to speak to him so he can see you're adjusted."

A psychologist… fun. He'd been through that before, when he was a kid. Fortunately, he'd only been made to go twice before Joe realized it wasn't helping: talking to a stranger about the murder of both of his parents only made it worse. Barry had only been able to talk to Joe and Iris about it, months later. A stranger had no chance.

But this man wasn't trying to help a grieving child. He wanted to do what Daisy had started to on their first day together, and make sure Barry was handling having his powers well. That seemed easy enough, because Barry wasn't acting any differently. Or if he was, it was only an added excitement at the seemingly impossible things he could now do with ease.

"When will this happen?" he asked.

"Andrew should be here in the next few days," May said. "I'll leave him another message to see if he can come sooner rather than later."

"We should get you some real gear to train in, to get you used to it," Coulson said. "It can take a little getting used to, but it's good for protection."

"Right. For the low-risk mission."

Coulson half-smiled. "Exactly."

Barry shook his head as he inhaled the rest of his breakfast, amused despite the potential risk.

0-0

"How do you think he's doing?"

"I'm sure he's fine," Jemma said, looking over at Daisy, Caitlin, and Cisco. They'd been gathered in the rec room since Dr. Garner started his session with Barry, about half an hour ago, and Jemma was surprised that Daisy seemed the most nervous.

"I don't like shrinks," Cisco said.

"Me either, but Dr. Garner's a good guy," Daisy said. "He helped me a lot when I first got my powers." She looked over her shoulder, then lowered her voice. "He's also May's ex."

Cisco dropped the manual he was paging through, a devilish look on his face. "She was married?"

"It shouldn't be that surprising," Jemma said.

Daisy raised an eyebrow in her direction. "Like we weren't asking for all the details."

"It wasn't surprising that she'd been married; just that they still got along so well."

"Yeah, you can tell yourself that." Daisy turned to Cisco eagerly. "He traded me details about their marriage for info on how I was coping." She started telling Cisco all about it. Jemma shook her head and turned back to the analysis of the orange goo from the ATCU. She'd been puzzling over it for more than a week, so her frustration was at an annoyingly high level. Coulson said he was supposed to meet with Rosalind Price soon, and would try to get an answer from her. Jemma kept hoping she would figure it out before that point, as a matter of pride.

"Still stuck?"

Caitlin had walked over, and as Jemma looked up the scientist sat on the couch next to her. "Yes," she admitted. "I've memorized the structural formula, and all the properties of the components separately and combined, but I still don't have a clue."

"Maybe you're thinking too much," Caitlin suggested in a low voice. "Cisco tends to catch me over-analyzing projects every once in a while, and when he makes a joke out of it, something usually clicks."

Jemma thought for a second and closed the notebook. "Maybe a few hours away from it will help," she conceded. "Coulson does have another project he wants us to look into."

Caitlin looked curious, but didn't ask for more information. She seemed to realize Coulson would tell them all about it later. Jemma herself didn't know very much. Fitz only knew a bit more than she did.

Fitz was actually out with Mack and Hunter at that moment, scoping out the building Coulson was monitoring. Jemma would be worried, but they were keeping their distance. Hunter had gone as an extra hand, in the very slim chance they were noticed and drew fire, but most of their work would be done by walking around the perimeter, allowing their tools to do the work for them. Though HYDRA had been quiet in recent weeks, Coulson had caught word of a growing cell, not far from the Playground. He wanted to shut it down, quickly and quietly. He was hoping to have Barry's assistance, as long as Dr. Garner cleared him in the psych evaluation.

It was another ten minutes before Barry and Dr. Garner appeared. Daisy and Cisco's animated conversation drew to a suspicious stop, and all heads turned towards Dr. Garner.

"Well that's one way to walk into a room," he joked weakly.

"The verdict?" Daisy asked.

"I'm going to write my official report now."

"Oh, come on," Daisy pleaded. "All you have to say is pass or fail."

Dr. Garner hesitated, then looked at Barry. "In that case, pass. But you'll have to look over the report!"

This last part was barely heard, as Daisy started moving immediately, and Cisco fist-pumped the air. Barry was smiling as Daisy came over talking about teaching him more combat skills.

"I'm guessing he passed?" Coulson asked, walking into the rec room.

"Yes. Against my better judgment, but I can tell Daisy won't stop until I pass someone for her team."

Coulson walked back out and came in with a pile of folded black gear. "Then it's time to put this to use." Jemma recognized the tougher fabric of the gear they wore as uniforms. It was slightly heavier than the ones they used to train most of the time (well, May and Daisy mainly), because it was more resistant to weapons. He handed it to Barry, who zoomed out of the room with a static burst and returned wearing it.

The gear always fit well, and Barry's slim musculature was clearly defined by it. It was strange seeing him in all black, though she knew it shouldn't be. Most of her teammates wore black frequently. She hadn't seen Barry, Cisco, or Caitlin in any more black than a tee shirt, though, so she supposed that was why it seemed off.

Apparently she wasn't the only one to think so. "Nuh-uh," Cisco said, walking around Barry and inspecting him. "No, this isn't gonna work."

"What do you mean?" Barry asked. "It feels fine."

"You're not a black gear kind of guy," Cisco said, shaking his head. "No, you need something with more POP!"

"But it's for missions," Daisy said. "Black is stealthy. Stealthy is safe."

"But not bold. I should look at the texture too, make sure it works well with the friction from your running."

"So you want to change the color?" Coulson asked.

"Among other things."

"Barry probably won't be standing still for long," Caitlin said. "He'll be using his speed, so people won't be able to see him anyway. A bit of color doesn't seem like it would hurt."

Coulson hesitated, looking at Barry. When the Inhuman shrugged, Coulson sighed. "Okay, Cisco. Add a bit of color. But I need to approve it before we actually use it, got it?"

Cisco looked like Christmas had come early. "Deal."

0-0

It was two more days before Cisco said he was done with the suit, and called them together to reveal it. In that time, Jemma had worked with Fitz, Caitlin, and Bobbi to figure out the orange goo (they'd decided to shelf it for a while, though, since they were so annoyed). The others had all trained with Barry, working him through possible fighting scenarios. Coulson had also briefed everyone on the mission, a few hours earlier:

"We know there's a small group of HYDRA agents in a building about twenty miles from here. Fitz and Mack provided us with a scan of the building, so we know about its structure."

"I was there too, not that you care," Hunter muttered under his breath.

Coulson didn't break stride. "This is a quick op. We're going in, capturing the agents, and analyzing any data they have. Hopefully it can lead us to more heads."

"Heads?" Caitlin asked.

"HYDRA isn't run by one person," Coulson explained. "They have multiple 'heads,' so if one person dies, they still have a leader."

"Cut off one head, another will take its place," Hunter said darkly.

"Cheerful," Caitlin said.

"It should be simple. Hopefully we can get it done tomorrow, and refocus on the ATCU."

Now, they waited in the rec room until Cisco walked in. "You have it ready?" Coulson asked.

Cisco was smiling. "Okay, so it might not look the same. I made a few slight modifications, as Han Solo would say." He brought the suit out of the bag, and Jemma had to press her hand against her mouth to keep from laughing. It looked nothing like the original, for one main reason.

"That's a little color?"

The suit was now a vibrant crimson color. Like, the entirety of it. Barry coughed, trying to hide a smile. Caitlin and Fitz seemed speechless, while Coulson and the others just stared at Cisco.

"Why?" Coulson asked.

"He looks better in this color, and it makes more of a statement. You guys are heroes, right? Why not play the part fully?"

"Because if we try to sneak into a HYDRA base with all that color, we'll be shot at," Daisy said, as if she thought Cisco had a screw loose.

"Okay, maybe Barry's the only one who can dress the part. But he can, because the bad guys won't see him! Right?"

"I'll – I'll go try it on," Barry said, accepting it hesitantly and running out of the room.

Cisco looked at everyone's still stunned faces. "You guys need to have more fun," he said, crossing his arms and raising one eyebrow. "My suit is fun."

Barry walked back in instead of running, looking at himself. Jemma had to say that Cisco had been right – this color definitely suited Barry more than black. It looked like Cisco had added feet to the suit, hard soled boots that ran seamlessly into the legs of the gear. The jacket had been extended into gloves as well, so the only part of Barry they could really see was from the neck up.

"Well?" Cisco asked.

"It's more comfortable," Barry said, stretching his arms out. "What did you do to it?"

"The regular thick material might not hold up as well with your speed, so I put in a more friction-proof fabric. It took some of the stiffness out of it."

"Run," Caitlin said.

"Why?" Barry asked.

"To see if the suit is noticeable," Coulson said, nodding. "Do it."

Barry bounced on his heels for a second and then started running around. Jemma felt her hair blow back, and saw the others feel the wind from the sudden movement. She knew Barry was running around in the room, but she couldn't see him: the only thing she could see was the trail of lightning he left behind, though now there seemed to be a flash of red mixed in…

"It's pretty," she said, unable to think of another way to describe it.

"It draws more attention to your speed trail," Coulson said as Barry stopped.

"Which might be a good thing," Daisy said. "I mean, we were all just staring at it. People who've never seen it might stare at it too."

"Long enough for them to be incapacitated," Fitz said. "Yeah, I can see how that would work."

Jemma could see Coulson deliberating. "Barry, what do you think?" he finally asked. "You're the one who has to wear it."

Barry almost subconsciously adjusted his stance. "I think it'll work. I like it."

Coulson nodded. "Alright. Rest up tonight, and make sure you're ready. Tomorrow morning, we move on the HYDRA base."

A/N: And now we have a Flash suit!

Quick question for you guys - which Flash characters are you interested in seeing in this story?