"Okay, Barry's vitals are looking good, but his blood pressure is lower than normal".

"What are you talking about, it's off the charts".

"His normal Cisco". All of a sudden the monitor started to beep sporadically, causing Caitlin to rush for the talk back button. Through the window Barry ran at super speed on a custom made treadmill built by Cisco and Caitlin. It was made of molded plate conveyer strips and a titanium alloy frame. It was designed to run and handle high pressure and heat. Barry himself was running more slowly with each passing second. He could feel his body start to tire, but it was Caitlin's voice over the intercom that caused him to stumble and get flung into the padded wall behind him.

Barry slowly regained conciousness. He hoped that waking up in a hospital bed wasn't becoming a thing. He found he had an IV in his arm that connected to a hydration bag. "Heyhey, sleeping beauty Awakens". Barry rolled his eyes at his newfound friend's humor. While he was sleepy, groggy would be a better word, he felt anything but beautiful, his body was sorry and his head hurt like somebody had set off a bomb inside it. "What happened? It feels like I got hit by a train".

"Try slamming into a wall at 300 miles an hour," Caitlin said, walking over with her signature tablet in hand, "if it wasn't for your healing I'd be worried about you ever walking again. You were severely dehydrated and had extremely low blood sugar".

"So, what? A couple bags if this stuff and I'm good to go?"

"Heh, try fourty. With your increased metabolism you need to consume, mmm... roughly 850 tacos. Unless we're talking cheese and guac which is like, a whole not set of equations". With that Cisco went off to do more calculations, leaving Barry and Caitlin alone. Barry had noticed something about Caitlin over the past couple of days as he worked with the three scientists. He couldn't help but stare at her, the way her eyes and mouth we're set and the heart breaking pain in them. Caitlin, annoyed by the blonde man's stare, looked at him coldly. "What"?

"Nothing... I just notice you don't smile much". The hard, icy ices told him he said too much. "The explosion that gave you powers and put you in a coma ended my promising carreer as a biochemist, put my boss in a wheelchair and killed my fiancee. So forgive me if this blank expression is what you get". With that Caitlin forcefully, and quite by accident, ripped out Barry's i.v. line. "I'm sorry. I'm just not used to talking about it".

"I understand".

"How"?

"The night you lost your fiancee I lost my brother".

"Barry. I'm sorry I..."

"I know. It's just after being away from the world for nine months I wake up and everything has changed. At least you've had nine months to mourn. I'm just getting started". And with that Barry Allen walked out, leaving a stunned Caitlin Snow to consider his words. Maybe he was right. Maybe after nine months it was time to get on with her life.

Patricia Spivot, though she prefers Patty, was working hard on the Mardon case. Nine months ago Mark Mardon had died when the plane he was escaping on was struck by on of the lightning bolts caused by the particle accelerator explosion. At least, that's what everyone thought, u til just earlier that day he was spotted robbing Central City Bank. Finally, she was on the right track. After all these years. But beyond that there was something that grounded her to her job more than Mardon. True she had always been a fan of his articles for the cases he worked on, but her feelings had always been juvenile and related more to that of a school girl crush. But meeting him and working with him? Not to mention becoming friends with him. All of this had just sent her feelings for Barry Allen into orbit. At first it was reading his forensics reports and the detail with which he painted the crime scene that drew her in, and then meeting the man in real life and finding out he was just as wonderful in person as in her dreams. And then nine months ago the particle accelerator explodes and he was comatose for nine months. Now, working side by side with him was a newfound dream come true. Julian Albert, the CSI that had replaced Barry while he was gone, however was a major pain that no amount of Advil could get rid of. True he was an expert in forensics, but social skills, well let's just say he had a long way to go before he would be somewhat pleasant to be around.

Barry walked silently down the street. In only a matter of months his world had been turned upside down. Eddie was gone, in a 'Who Knows Where' sort of way, his lab had been taken over by who appeared to be Draco Malfoy incarnate, bright side of the whole lab thing was he was able to work with an actual friend. He liked Patty, she was smart, kind and generous, but he knew that he would be foolish to pursue any relationship. He felt his heart ache at the thought of anyone other than a certain brown headed biochemist.

"Baby girl, you know I love you, but you can't stay in this house forever. Just , please...do something, anything". Joe West loved his daughter, and he sympathized with her loss, but he knew better than anyone that nine months was long enough to mourn and then continue with life. Tears stains covering her face Iris looked up to see her father looking down, not on her but to her. "How daddy"? The brokenness of her voice almost made Joe turn around and leave, but he knew he had to do something. "The same way I did when your mother died, remembering the people who love you and being grateful for what you do have, baby. You still have me, your friends at work, and you still have Barry. I know for a fact that that boy loves you and would do anything to see you smile again. Just like I would".

Barry sat alone in what Cisco had dubbed 'The Speed Lab'. He sat on the treadmill, absentmindedly rubbing the patch logo of his Chuck Taylor Converse sneaker. It wasn't until he heard a femenine cough that he looked up. There stood Caitlin, not smiling, but not scowling either. "Hey Barry".

"Hey".

"Could... could I talk to you about something"?

"Sure". Barry made room for her to sit, being careful to avoid the control lead that ran to the control panel behind the window of the control room. "First of all, I'm sorry for my attitude. I've had no reason to be cold with you".

"It's all right. God knows I haven't been the most sympathetic person". A light silence hung in the air as the two sat. "Look, I'm sorry about what I said. I'm just...I miss my brother". And with that Barry's emotional barrier broke down. Tears that had been held back now flowed like a torrential rain. And amidst the storm the umbrella of Caitlin's hug took him in and together they mourned the loss of the two men they loved most in the world. The men they knew...they would never see again.

(Okay, so this idea of SpAlbert(Julian Albert and Patty Spivot) has been on my mind recently. The idea is to have a friendship there that could turn into something. I don't know, ehat do you guys think?)