Hello everyone. It has been a while since I uploaded and I'm sorry about that. This chapter stumped me but hopefully it is an enjoyable read. This chapter will be focused after the events of episode (4x20). It has some fun moments but of course there is always some cheesiness sprinkled in.

Paige: Thank you for the review. I really hope they do include more moments between these three but I'm worried about Cisco's status on the show.

stars90: Me too. I miss these three having fun together.

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

Feel free to write a review on your thoughts.

P.S. Thoughts on Season 5? Season 5 was okay for me but there were a lot of things I didn't like. I really didn't like how they handled Cisco's character and their explanation for taking his powers away. I for one have never saw Vibe as the thing that made Cisco special because he didn't start off with those powers and I loved his character from the beginning. Vibe is Cisco and vise versa. Vibe is not an alter ego of Cisco and shouldn't be compared to Killer Frost because she is an actual different person/personality. This idea came out of nowhere and now I'm left with confusion. I guess I will have to wait till Season 6 for clarification but I'm nervous for OTF.

Chapter 13: Hanging on By a Thread.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it." A loud voice captured Barry's attention as he neared the medical bay in Star Labs. Caitlin, distressed, was slouched over a computer as she took deep breaths to try and calm herself. "It's okay Caitlin, we can just start again." Caitlin whispered to herself as she frustratedly crossed off something on her notepad.

"Talking to yourself is definitely not a good sign." Barry voiced cheekily.

Caitlin, who was so focused on her research, flinched at Barry's voice. "Ahh geez Barry, don't do that."

Barry chuckled. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you."

"I should buy you a bell like how people have on their cats to know where they are." Caitlin said in a jokingly manner and closed her notebook.

"But where's the fun in that? It's thrilling to tease you as much as I can." Barry responded as he pulled a chair to sit next to Caitlin. "So, care to explain to me why you left the baby shower early and instead is here grumbling to yourself?"

Caitlin bit on her lower lip. "It's nothing, just a miscalculation in my latest research. Nothing to concern yourself with Barry."

Barry tilted his head. "After all that we've been through. You still think you can lie to me? Besides you biting your lower lip is always a dead giveaway."

"Drop it, Barry. I don't want to talk about it." Caitlin said with a harsh tone before turning away from him.

Barry gripped onto Caitlin's chair and turned it back to face him. "Like hell I will after what you did with DeVoe."

"Barry- "

"-No, you don't get to do that Caitlin. You don't get to go charging in risking your life and then turn around and expect me not to be concerned. You scared the hell out of me. Do you get that, Caitlin? DeVoe could have killed you and I was useless. This is all a game to him. He could care less who he kills, and he could have killed you just to provoke me for his amusement." Barry's grip on Caitlin's chair tightened as his hands trembled at the thought of all the scenarios that could have played out.

An unbearable silence clouded the air. "I'm sorry. It was never my intention to force you into that situation. I just thought…that if I…" Caitlin sighed and interlinked her hands together. "That if I re-encountered DeVoe, like the first time, then I could get her back. You and the team were shielding me from him, and I couldn't take it anymore. Me hiding wasn't going to bring her back. I wanted her back. I thought I had it handled. I know it was stupid. I know how dangerous it was of me to do that, but it didn't matter because I had convinced myself that this was the solution. In hindsight, it could have been planned better, but it was an opportunity and I took it."

Barry ran a hand through his hair. "Look I get that; I get the need to bring a loved one back. No one gets that better than me. But Cait-." Caitlin looked up at Barry. "-we don't have the freedom to act thoughtlessly. We can't keep playing into DeVoe's hands and give him these opportunities to toy with us. We're exposing all our weak spots and we're never going to win this way. This isn't just your fight. You aren't fighting this on your own and I don't intend to let you do so. This is our battle and we will fight together. You and me, okay?"

Caitlin hesitated. This was her fight, wasn't it? DeVoe made it personal when he took Frost away and she wanted to be the one who brings her back. However, she had to admit, begrudgingly, that every solution she tried on her own so far had backfired greatly. Maybe it's time to let her stubborn side go and consider what Barry was saying. Caitlin grasped onto Barry's hand and nodded. "Okay. You and Me."

Barry tugged onto Caitlin's hand and pulled her into his arms. "I'm sorry Cait for what happened to Frost. We will get her back but for the millionth time. I can't do this without you so please don't do something like that again. Please be careful."

"You know I messed up when you're the one giving me the "be careful" talk." Caitlin mumbled under her breath.

Barry laughed. "Just know that I'm never letting you forget this, and I plan to use this against you in the future."

Caitlin pulled back from Barry. "Watch it. I have way more ammo to use against you then you do for me."

"You couldn't let me have this one?" Barry pouted as both of their phones dinged indicating an incoming message. "It's from Iris. She can't find Cisco and is getting worried. It looks like he disappeared from the baby shower."

"I got the same message. What should we do? He's really upset about Gypsy. Should we just give him some space?" Caitlin asked as she glanced up from her phone.

"When has Cisco ever gave us space? Plus, it doesn't hurt to check in with him just to know where he is."

"Don't know if he would agree with that sentiment but I'm worried so maybe just a quick check in." Caitlin stood up and headed towards the Cortex.

"Where do you think he's headed?" Barry asked as he watched Caitlin activate the main computer in the Cortex.

"Lucky for us, watching Cisco all these years have taught me a few tricks." Caitlin said as she proceeded to track Cisco's cell phone.

CENTRAL CITY ARCADE

"You never cease to amaze me Dr. Snow." Barry stated to which Caitlin grinned widely in response.

*At Central City Arcade*

"Okay, let's split up." Barry suggested as he and Caitlin arrived in the arcade.

Caitlin walked towards the left of the arcade and searched through the alleys of arcade games for Cisco. Fortunately for Caitlin, today was a Wednesday so the arcade wasn't as packed as usual and she quickly located Cisco by the sound of his voice. His voice brought her to a shooting game and Caitlin was greeted by Cisco in a defense stance holding the gun/controller while screaming.

"DIE! DIE! DIE! Die Zombies, you ain't getting any of my tasty self. Not today! DIE! DIE! DIE!"

The thing is, no matter how confident Cisco may sound, he has always had bad aim and today was no different as the game voiced "YOU LOSE" a couple seconds later.

"Damn greedy, blood sucking zombies." Cisco muttered as he searched his pockets for more quarters.

Caitlin quickly texted Barry the location and approached Cisco. "Hey, mind if I join in?"

Cisco froze for a moment before placing the quarters into the machine. "You cover me as I move forward." Cisco ordered before starting the game.

Caitlin picked up a controller and proceeded to support Cisco in the game by killing each zombie that approached Cisco.

"Damn I forgot how badass you are in shooting games." Cisco said as he moved forward into the mission site.

"Did you forget all the times I whooped your sorry self in laser tag when we were opponents? You and Barry have always sucked at this kind of stuff." Caitlin teased as she proceeded to headshot a zombie to which the game voiced "PERFECT SHOT".

"I remember… that's why I always demanded you to be on a team with Barry and I to avoid embarrassing ourselves."

"Yes. Team Streak. Why did we agree to such a name?" Caitlin questioned with an embarrassed tone.

"Well Team Flash would have been too obvious." Cisco stated as he searched the rooms of the mission site for the next clue.

"Right and the Streak is miles away from the Flash." Barry muttered sarcastically from behind Cisco and Caitlin after overhearing their conversation. "Pay no mind to the fact that Iris publicized my alias as that first."

"Sometimes being obvious is the safer choice. Plus, no one has caught onto the connection. AHH!" Cisco shrieked as a zombie narrowly missed his head.

Barry shrugged his jacket off. "Hey, let me join in."

Caitlin and Cisco established eye contact. "Uh…you know Barry we already started, and you know…it may confuse the game to have another player and you know." Caitlin stuttered a poor excuse.

Barry raised his eyebrow. "I know that the game may be confused?"

"Well what I think Caitlin is trying to say is that we don't need someone as bait in this game." Cisco said savagely and straight to the point.

Caitlin rubbed her lips together to try and stop her laughter, but it proved to be futile as a laugh broke through. Barry glared at Caitlin in response and even though Caitlin couldn't see Barry, she knew that he was glaring at her. "Come on Barry. You suck even more than Cisco at this kind of stuff and that is saying a lot."

Cisco paused the game and looked accusingly at Caitlin. "Excuse me? No way am I near as bad as Barry. This is the guy who shot both of us, his teammates, in laser tag."

"Hey, that was an accident." Barry said defensively.

"All five times? You hit both of us on five separate occasions." Cisco pointed out.

"Okay you know what? That is in the past." Barry declared as he stepped closer to Cisco. "None of this could have, would have, should have scenarios. Let's go right now. You and me. Come on." Barry said as a challenge to Cisco.

"Oh, you think you got what it takes to handle me Barry?" Cisco questioned arrogantly.

"Oh, I know I can." Barry goaded at Cisco.

Caitlin rolled her eyes and tapped her foot. "Okay boys, the sun is setting faster than this."

"Let's settle this." Both declared and started the game.

(Five minutes later)

"YOU LOSE" The game voiced at the same time for both consoles.

"That zombie came out of nowhere." Barry said accusingly.

Cisco nodded. "Yeah it really did."

Caitlin snickered from the side. "Pathetic. You both didn't even finish the first mission."

"It's a lot harder than it looks. I bet you can't play that well either." Cisco shot back at Caitlin.

Caitlin crossed her arms. "Oh yeah, I'll take that bet. Why don't I raise the stakes? I bet I can past further than both of you as a team. 2 vs 1."

Barry and Cisco's faces whitened as they realized they had metaphorically shot themselves in the foot.

"Well that doesn't seem very fair." Barry tried to point out.

Caitlin smirked widely. "Yeah for you two. You too chicken to lose to me?"

Barry straightened himself in response. "Prepare yourself Cait."

"Bring it on. Barry and I are the dream team." Cisco said confidently.

(Five minutes later)

"YOU LOSE"

"That damn zombie again, I thought you had me covered Barry?" Cisco accused as he placed the controller down.

"You said you got it Cisco." Barry said, directing the blame to Cisco.

"MISSION SUCCESS"

Barry and Cisco peeked at the console beside them to find Caitlin with a smug grin.

"Like I said a couple of minutes ago. Pathetic. Man, if you guys together are supposed to be a dream, I'd hate to see what a nightmare would be." Caitlin remarked.

"Two players playing together is harder because you need to account for communication." Barry argued.

Caitlin scoffed. "Right."

Barry and Cisco stuck out their tongues at Caitlin in response.

Caitlin shook her head. "Children. Well you guys are paying for my coffee at Jitters for losing the bet and I am also craving a cinnamon bun as well. Do you guys want a snack as well maybe something a little salty?" Caitlin said in a teasing manner before walking away from them.

Cisco and Barry grumbled at that and followed Caitlin out the arcade.

*At CC Jitters*

"Mmm that really hits the spot." Caitlin sighed after her first sip of her paid for coffee.

"Now that I'm thinking about it. How did you guys know I would be in the arcade?" Cisco inquired as he set down his own coffee.

"Oh, you know, good old intuition." Barry turned away from Cisco and took a sip of his coffee.

Cisco glanced at Caitlin and Barry suspiciously. "You tracked my phone."

"We were worried." Caitlin offered as an explanation.

"For playing video games?"

"You didn't let anyone know you were leaving the baby shower." Barry noted.

"I wasn't aware that we needed to check out of a party. You guys didn't notify me when you left the baby shower."

"Well after everything with Gypsy- "

"- Everything is fine. I'm fine…. I'm fine. I'm okay…okay I've been better." Cisco admitted weakly before Caitlin could finish.

"Cisco, you don't have to hide your emotions. You can talk to us." Barry stated sincerely.

Cisco eyes softened at that. "I know I can talk to you both but it's hard to put my feelings into words." Cisco closed his eyes and sighed. "I really thought she was the one. I thought for us, one plus one would be one, not two. I knew going into this relationship that there would be challenges because well the multiverse, but I thought that we could do it. I had never felt anything that came close to what I feel for her and I was prepared to fight for those feelings. I was ready. Whether it be DeVoe, her dad, or a whole planet. I was ready to fight for her. She was it for me. I love everything about her." Cisco's paused as his voice started to shake. "I love her." At that statement, tears leaked out from his closed eyes. "Can I have a moment, please." Cisco requested wholeheartedly.

Caitlin laid her head on Cisco's shoulder and Barry placed his hand on Cisco's other shoulder. In silence, they let Cisco have a moment to let his grief sink in; to somewhat try and accept the reality of the situation.

"This hurts so much." Cisco voiced after a good while.

"It will get better." Caitlin said in a hopeful manner.

Barry nodded. "Yeah it will."

Cisco looked at both pointedly. "Okay, coming from the guy who could have created the word friend zone and from the girl whose love life could literally be the next Shakespeare romantic tragedy is not very encouraging."

"Okay, you don't have to take by our example."

"Speak for yourself Caitlin. Need I remind you that I got out of the friend zone. Albeit that it took a very long time, but I still got out it." Barry reminded.

Cisco sighed deeply. "Forget about it, I won't find love again."

"Maybe or maybe not."

"Caitlin." Barry said in a scolding tone.

"What? Like I'm not in a similar situation? But look on the bright side. We may never find someone that we feel for the way we did with Gypsy and Ronnie, but we are no stranger to love. You and Gypsy may have been two but one (points at Cisco), plus one (points at Barry), plus one (points at herself) equals one."

Barry shuddered slightly at the cringe. "Ooh sooo cheesy Cait, but it's true. Cisco, you and I are not the dream team. You, Caitlin, and I are."

Cisco laughed out loud at that. "Wow we are really packing on the cheese here." Barry and Caitlin shrugged at that. "But I like that about us. To the end I will always have you both." The dream team smiled widely at that.

No truer words have ever been spoken.

That's a wrap on this chapter.

-V