Hello everyone. Yay shorter update time. This chapter will be focused around episode (5x19) and this episode had a lot of drama so of course I had to write about it. I also took some inspiration from The Chronicles of Cisco. I'm kind of puzzled why a lot of people keeps blaming Barry for what he did to Nora but to me I understand it and not everybody is going to agree with me. I thought both Iris and Barry had valid points but I found Iris' argument weakening when she brought up the Speed force incident. It's so frustrating. Can they have a moment to just settle that? Anyways, hope you all enjoy this one.

Paige: Thank you so much for the review.

Write-To-You: Gosh you are always so kind with your reviews. Thank you. I'm glad to fill those plots holes, there are a lot of them.

All characters, story plot lines to the writers, producers of The Flash and The CW. Some characters and plot lines also belong to the writers, producers of Arrow. I do not own the rights to any of them just the idea is my own.

Note: Phone Conversation: Normal text: Cisco. Italicized text: Barry.

Feel free to write a review on your thoughts.

P.S. What are your thoughts about Nora this season? For me, I really enjoyed her character for most of the season but now I feel like the writers are writing her so annoyingly. What was with the whole "How can he not love me?" part? Like why? Barry loves you. Don't be mad just because he put you on a time out (hahah time out, get it?). I really hopes this change and I really want Nora to truly apologize to her dad and not just Barry being sorry but knowing CW, probably not.

Chapter 14: Are You Okay?

Caitlin walked around Star Labs hoping to find Barry after coming back from the hospital. She wanted to make sure that he was okay but then again, she doubts that anything she can say or do would help Barry at this point. However, her doctor duties urged her forward as her feet brought her to the lounge room to see that Barry was leaning against the balcony railing staring out at the city.

"You're going to stay here tonight?" Caitlin asked as she approached Barry.

Barry glanced back at Caitlin and nodded with a frown. "Doubt Iris wants to talk to me right now and to be honest, I don't really want to talk to her either." Barry said as he raised his held beer bottle up to his mouth. "And before you ask, yes I'm okay. Physically. I just have a lot on my mind right now."

"Fair enough." Caitlin willed her doctoral concerns down and stepped beside Barry.

Caitlin bit on her lower lip. She felt like she was walking on broken glass with Barry. She didn't know what to say and she was afraid that a wrong word would tick Barry off. Whatever was said between Iris and Barry is clearly bothering both and everything felt awkward. Silence seems to be the safer option at this point, at least till she can get more information.

"Do you think what I did was wrong?" Barry questioned softly.

Caitlin raised her eyebrows, cueing to Barry for more information.

Barry sighed as he turned around and leaned his back against the railing. "Do you think sending Nora back to the future was wrong?"

"Well you were going to have to do it eventually at some point, right? As much as these last few months have been interesting, Nora doesn't belong here." Caitlin answered, choosing her words carefully.

"Then why do I feel so guilty? Why does it feel so wrong?"

"Probably not the goodbye you were imagining."

"No, definitely not. Definitely not Iris' either."

Caitlin eyed Barry. "Is that what you and Iris are not seeing eye to eye on?"

"One of many. She wasn't too happy that I didn't consult her about Nora before sending her back to the future."

"Okay, that is understandable."

"I know I should have talked to her prior but when I saw Nora and I thought about how she lied to us for these past few months. I couldn't stop myself from distancing myself from her. I just don't…-."

"-trust her." Caitlin finished Barry's sentence.

Barry looked at Caitlin to see her nod without a need for further explanation. "Yeah. Iris didn't feel the same way I did."

"It's not something that is easy to fathom. Thawne is your kryptonite. He always has been, and he will always continue to be. No matter how much time has passed, you will always be apprehensive about him and that is to be expected."

Barry groaned with frustration. "WHY?! Why can't I let this go? Why does he continue to haunt me like a ghost? You know what, Nora asked me a while back if anyone can be forgiven. If bad people can change, even Thawne. Guess now it makes sense why she asked that. I even said that maybe Thawne could change but now no matter how much I try; all I see is hatred and I don't want to forgive him."

"He killed your mother Barry. You had to watch Thawne kill your mom not once but at multiple points in your life. You had to at one point personally ask him to kill your mom. How does one move on from that? Don't blame yourself for feeling rightfully angry."

"Guess Iris is right about me using my emotions when making decisions." Barry said somberly.

"If we're basing on that logic, then aren't we all at fault? Like when you became desperate when Iris died in the future. Cisco helping Snart when he took his brother. Me when I kept a piece of the Philosopher's Stone. Fear, anger, sadness are powerful emotions that are hard to control but that is what make us human. We aren't perfect. It's a nice notion to think that we can sort out our options and calm ourselves prior to each decision but sometimes we don't have the luxury or the time to do that."

"Maybe I need to be less human then."

Caitlin turned to face Barry. "Then you would be depriving the world of what makes you the Flash. Yes, you are impulsive. Yes, you act on your emotions, but I think that stems from the fact that you act on your need to protect people. It's like a reflex and you will always do what is necessary to protect them regardless what it costs you. I'm not blind to how much pain you are in for sending Nora away. The agony you must be feeling to choose us over your daughter. That isn't something that I can condemn you for. Just as you chose to go into the speed force to protect Central City and the team. You did it again by sending away your daughter and sacrificing the chance of ever seeing her again. How can I be against you for choosing to protect us?"

Barry found himself being awestruck by those words and found himself truly grateful for her support. "Thank you for standing with me Caitlin."

Caitlin shrugged. "What are best friends for?"

Barry grinned a little before frowning again. "What should I do now?"

"Hand me a beer, go with me to the Cortex and let's try to figure out what to do with Cicada. From there we will figure out what to do with Nora. Let's take one situation at a time, okay?" Caitlin ordered as she stepped into the lounge and headed towards the Cortex without a second thought.

Barry smiled and flashed grabbed two beers from the fridge before joining Caitlin.

Caitlin held her glass as she swirled the contents in it as she thought over everything that happened in the last couple of hours. She must have done something horrible in her past life because the world really does have it out for her. Of course, within 5 minutes of having her family whole and returned to her, it would be ripped away from her just as quickly. She just can't get a break, but with all things considered, it wasn't all too bad. Her dad died as a free man after being lost for so long. Plus, she was able to receive some closure with her dad and her mom was back in her life. Admittedly, it was slightly awkward to share a drink with her mom since they haven't ever done it before. Luckily talking about her dad had been a nice ice breaker and they laughed, grieved and cried together over the shared memories. She wasn't sure exactly where she stood with her mother, but she was happy to try and see where this goes.

"Hey, this table taken?"

Caitlin glanced up to see Barry give her a quick wink and grinning down at her. "How did you know that I would be here?"

"I'm psychic." Barry joked as he wiggled his fingers, Jack Sparrow style.

Caitlin tilted her head and looked at Barry unamusingly.

Barry pulled a chair next to Caitlin and sat down. "Your mother texted me where you guys were and told me that you were here. I'm glad to see that you guys are getting closer."

"I don't know about that but we're heading in the right direction. Baby steps."

Barry looked at her tentatively. "How are you feeling?"

Before Caitlin could respond, a hand on her shoulder grasped her attention away from Barry. Caitlin looked backwards to see Cisco panting loudly beside her. "Cisco?" Caitlin faced towards Cisco with concern.

"Caitlin….I heard….Sherloque…Icicle…your dad…then Barry…pub…okay?" Cisco spoke out in gasps as he attempted to catch his breath. His fragmented words provided no clarity and Caitlin gave a confused look towards Barry.

Barry raised his phone for Caitlin to read the conversation between Cisco and Barry.

-Hey, just texting you to say that I'm back from Earth 19. Mission Breacher was a total bust by the way. He was so angry that I turned down his offer to become him and for breaking up with Gypsy that I spent the whole time there hiding from him. Turns out he didn't have a tracking device for Cicada and just lied to me to lure me there to try and kill me. You bet I will be giving him a good talking to…okay a nicely worded e-mail to Gypsy to talk to him. You think he can breach here to hunt me? Okaayy scary. Anyways, did I miss anything while I was gone?"

-Nora is GONE? Aww our fangirl. Are you okay?"

-CAITLIN'S DAD IS DEAD?! WHAT? HOW? WHAT? WHY IS SHERLOQUE THE ONE UPDATING ME? WHAT IS GOING ON? WHERE'S CAITLIN?"

-CICADA KILLED HIM? WHAT?!

-?

-Hello?

-BARRY, stop ignoring me.

-Yo, Barry.

-Baarrrrrryyyyyyy

-Ba

-rry

-Answer me

-Barry, I'm going to spam you till you reply.

-Dude

-Yo

-Bbb

-Missed called from 2108978302 09:02 PM (4) time(s) Call/text me back.

-1 new message waiting. Call 00042 to listen to it directly. Or press and hold 7 for VM menu.

-Geez, stop Cisco. Man, I put my phone down for 5 minutes. It's kind of hard to explain over the phone right now. Caitlin's mom just texted me that they are at the pub near Main St. I'm going to go down there now to check on Caitlin. Meet me there.

Read 9:05PM

Caitlin turned away from the phone screen towards Cisco. "Did you run here?"

"I'll go get us some drinks." Barry pocketed his phone and headed to the bar.

Cisco who now sat slumped against a chair, his breath now more even, nodded. "You weren't answering your phone…and…I…worried" Cisco breathed out as he wiped the sweat that accumulated on his brow.

"Why didn't you just breach here?"

Cisco froze at her words and swore under his breath. "Damn, forgot that I could do that."

Caitlin let out a small laugh and smiled widely at her best friend's actions. "Maybe you should work on some cardio." Caitlin teased as she lifted her glass to her mouth.

Cisco who now has caught his breath frowned at Caitlin. "Hey, give me a break. I did a lot of running today."

"Read that you had a rough time on Earth 19. Did you see Gypsy today?"

"No, thank god for that. I'm not completely ready to see her just yet with all things considered. I saw a lot of her dad though. He sent me on this wild goose chase all over Earth 19 while screaming "I'M GOING TO HUNT YOU!" Cisco shouted as he attempted his best Breacher imitation. "I barely got back here. He literally threw his machete at me as I opened a breach. I have it back at Star Labs. Good thing his age has permitted him from breaching, or I would be minced "Ciscky". Cisco muttered as a shiver ran down his spine at the thought.

"We're back to square one with stopping Cicada." Caitlin groaned and shook her head with disappointment.

"We'll get her." Barry said as he walked in balancing rounds of shots, 3 glasses of water and an order of buffalo wings.

"But at what cost, look at what happened to Cai-." Cisco stopped immediately refusing to finish his sentence and looked at Caitlin with apologetic eyes. "Shit I'm sorry, Caitlin."

Caitlin smiled, one that didn't reach her eyes. "It's okay. It's not a taboo topic."

"How are you feeling?" Barry repeated his previous question and placed a glass of water in front of Caitlin and Cisco before proceeding to take a sip from his own glass.

"I…It's complicated to describe my feelings at this moment. On one hand, I got to embrace my dad who I thought was gone for most of my life. An experience that I had only dreamed about. Yet on the other hand, I only got to be with him for a short period of time. He had been gone from my life for so long and a part of me is numbed from the fact that he is dead because to me he's been dead up till recently. It absolutely sucks that I didn't get to enjoy being with my father for a longer time. It absolutely hurts and I have a deep rage and hatred for Cicada but I'm trying my best to remind myself about the good that has come from this experience. My dad died free from his Icicle persona and he died protecting me. As much as I want to cry on his chest and blame him for leaving me again… I can't. I now know that my dad loves me, he came back for me, and he is so proud to call me his daughter. I am grateful for the time I had with him regardless of how short it was. I don't know if I should be happy or sad. It's bittersweet."

Cisco reached out and placed his hand onto Caitlin's hand as a sign of support and Caitlin enclosed her other hand around his, grateful for the comfort. "I wasn't there. I should have been there; I could have helped. I'm-"

"Cisco don't, you're here now and that is more than enough." Cisco smiled.

Barry watched Caitlin as she explained her thoughts and her words rung deep within him. It's odd just how much her family situation mirrored his own and hearing her talking about her dad confirmed the mistake he had made with Nora.

Caitlin looked at Barry as he kept his gaze on his glass. "It's not your fault." Caitlin reassured, knowing exactly what Barry was thinking about.

Barry sighed. "Your dad's final words: family shouldn't leave family, made me realize my errors. I think I really screwed up by pushing Nora away. I placed her back into Thawne's grasp and that is my fault. Unlike your father, I did leave her. Now she is angrier, is following Thawne, and is somehow back in this time."

"If that's true then at least you have the chance to explain to her that leaving her doesn't mean you love her any less, Barry. Plus, you can't condone Nora's behaviour either. She made those choices and they weren't right." Cisco pointed out.

"You know in the past; I had forgiven others who have done wrong things. For example, Snart. Hartley being another."

"Hartley?" Cisco and Caitlin questioned at the same time.

Barry brain blanked for a moment when he realized that he mentioned a time change that Caitlin and Cisco weren't even aware of. "Whoops, I don't know why I said Hartley. That's weird."

Cisco and Caitlin furrowed their eyebrows with suspicion but shrugged it off as a slip of the tongue.

"Me." Caitlin raised her hand as an example.

"Well that had different parameters but yes sort of. All those times, I have looked beyond the actions and looked at the person but I'm somehow unable to do that with Nora. I don't even know why. I mean it's not like I haven't worked with Thawne in the past; it's not like I haven't asked him for advice. Why is Nora so different?" Barry said with a puzzled voice.

Caitlin sipped on her water and thought about it. "I think because like most parents, you have the highest hopes for your children. That whatever mistakes you've made wouldn't be repeated. You hope that they would do better; be better." Caitlin offered some insight.

Cisco nodded with agreement. "We place them on this pedestal because our kids are our future. We can only hope that our future is brighter than what we have experienced."

"Should I bring Nora back?"

"That's up to you and Iris to decide. She's your child. Whatever choice you make we will stand by it."

"That's also because we are completely biased towards you, Barry." Cisco admitted.

"It's not that easy. I don't know if I can trust her. I don't know if it is worth the risk to make our team vulnerable. Thawne didn't just hurt me." At that, Barry established eye contact with his best friends. Out of the team, they knew best the dangers of Thawne. This was the man who manipulated them for months. This was the man who set their lives into this chaos. They were all personally affected more than anybody else.

Cisco ran his hand through his hair. "This time it is different. This time we know what is coming. –"

"-This time we will be prepared for him if he comes our way. We've stopped him before; we will do it again. Together." Caitlin finished.

"Together." Barry and Cisco echoed back.

Barry reached to the shot glasses beside him and handed one for each of them. He raised his own towards the centre of the table. "To family."

Cisco and Caitlin brought their glasses closer to Barry's and clinked them together. "To family."

That's a wrap on this chapter.

-V