Chapter Summary: Takes place in a distant future Flash season (where Cisco has his powers back). Cisco and Caitlin are newly married during the newest 'crossover of the year'. The heroes are fighting a group of aliens that threaten Earth Prime when both Vibe and Frost are doused in some alien sludge. J'onn and Brainy confirm the sludge to be contagious and insist the newlyweds be locked up together until the effects of the goo wear off/aren't contagious anymore.

A.N. Title from the song "My Heart Goes Boom" by Miss Li

(More) Crisis Problems:

"Nice shot Frost!" Vibe praised his wife, cheering even as he shot his own vibe blast at the alien in front of him. Frost winked at him, not even missing a beat while sliding through the air on her ice and taking out several more aliens. Flash and Kid Flash whizzed past him, throwing some lightning out, and Elongated Man rolled himself like a bowling ball that knocked out several targets.

Across the landscape, their friends and fellow heroes fought their own alien enemies. It was another "crossover of the year crisis" and Team Flash had joined the other heroes to stop the aliens that threatened Earth Prime. Cisco still wasn't really sure what had caused it all, but all he knew was that Supergirl, Director Danvers, Brainiac 5, Dreamer, and Martian Manhunter showed up at Star Labs with news of an invasion crisis from a species of alien that was supposedly supposed to be extinct but yet here they were. (They all suspected it was another quirk of the Crisis that reset the multiverse. Some of the National City crew were insistent that Lex Luthor was behind it.) Soon after, they were joined by Wild Dog, Spartan, Speedy, Arsenal, the Canaries of Star City, the Legends, Black Lightning, and Batwoman as well. They had yet to figure out what the aliens wanted, just that they didn't seem interested in communicating beyond to attack.

Now they were all in the fight of their lives (again) trying to stop the ruthless invaders. It seemed they would gain the upperhand soon enough, if everything went the way it was supposed to anyways.

"Vibe, look out!"

Cisco tensed, ducking just as a stream of ice froze his enemy to death and it shattered into a million pieces. He turned to find Frost gracefully landing on her feet beside him, a worried yet annoyed look on her face. "Thanks, babe." He nodded, reaching out to squeeze her shoulder.

"You're just lucky I've always got your back." She shook her head, rolling her eyes. "By the way, Caity says if you die she's gonna kick your ass. And then after that you're sleeping on the couch - with no sex for at least a month. Longer if she has to stitch up or relocate anything."

Cisco swallowed, shuddering. "Damn . . ."

Frost just shrugged. "Don't shoot the messenger - and no dying. For both our sakes." She held out her hand, more ice propelling outward to shield them from the alien's weapons. He added his vibe blast to reinforce the ice.

"Ha! They're no match for Vibe and Frost!" He shouted.

"You two newlyweds done flirting over there? Or we just gonna let these aliens take over Central City?" Nate laughed, punching out some aliens with his steel fists.

"It's like the honeymoon that never ends with those two, innit?" Constantine grumbled.

Ralph snickered. "They're even worse in the lab."

"They're just jealous." Cisco nudged Frost's hip with his. Frost laughed, and nudged him back.

"Yeah, I think I'm gonna need to bleach my eyes." Kate scoffed.

"We've almost got 'em!" J'onn shouted over the din, flying overhead.

"We-" Cisco was cut off by a pain-filled roar from Frost. His head dropped, eyes widening at the large spear piercing his wife through the thigh all the way down to her calf. "Cai-Fros-Shit!" With one hand he held up a vibrational shield around them, the other holding her up around the waist as she started to fall. "Little help here, guys!"

"Hold on!" Sara fought off some aliens with her bo staff, working her way toward them, with Charlie and Zari following close behind her. Frost's eyes faded back and forth between the glowing light of her powers and Caitlin's normal dark ones before she grew slack in Cisco's arms, blood draining down the fabric of her costume and dripping onto the concrete.

"Geez Frosty, you're supposed to keep that red stuff inside!" Mick shot a blast of heat at some aliens to Cisco's left.

His shield beginning to fail, Cisco could barely breathe, holding on to Frost as one of their enemies threw up a dark purple sludge all over them as it died. The sludge burned on his skin, sizzling through both his and Frost's clothes. The only thing that gave him comfort as he screamed on the edge of consciousness was that his wife had already passed out and couldn't feel what he was feeling.

Day 1

Cisco awoke with a start, still shouting. He looked around in confusion, taking in the sight of his own bedroom. But why was he wearing Star Labs clothes? "Holy frak . . . was it all a dream?!"

"Sorry buddy, 'fraid not."

"Gah!" Cisco jumped at the sound of the voice, eyes scanning around for the source of it. He found Caitlin asleep on their bed beside him - also in a Star Labs t-shirt and sweats, which only confused him because the voice he heard was definitely male. "What the . . ."

"Zari, Chester, and I rigged Gideon's system around your guys's place while she did diagnostics of the two of you on the Waverider. Alex checked you guys over too - she said Caitlin should wake up soon." Barry's voice surrounded the room.

"Barry, what the hell happened?!" Cisco threw his legs off the bed, breathing heavily.

"You were both hit with some nasty alien ooze. J'onn and Brainy said that stuff is super toxic - and contagious. As of now we've got the two of you under mandatory lockdown until it wears off."

"What, we talking a couple hours? Maybe a day?" Cisco rubbed his temples. "What are the symptoms? It's not fatal or anything right?"

"Yeah about that . . ." Barry trailed off.

Cisco glanced down at his wife, watching the steady rise and fall of her chest. She seemed peaceful in her sleep, one hand up near her head and the other resting loosely over her middle - protectively. He caught sight of the framed black and white print on her nightstand."Omigod, Barry …. C-Caitlin's - She's….We haven't exactly told anyone yet-"

"Pregnant? Yeah . . . Gideon and Alex sorta figured that out from her scans. But they both said the alien goop shouldn't affect the baby at all. It's all mostly neurological I guess. And the wound from the spear that ka-bobbed her already healed, thanks to Frost's metabolism. Congrats, by the way bud. You guys are gonna make the best parents, seriously."

Cisco let go of the breath he'd been holding. "Ugh - thank god! Dude, why didn't you lead with that!? God . . . I didn't even want to let her go out into the field today, but they're both just so damn stubborn, those two . . ."

"From what I took from what Alex told me, you'll both be just fine. I swear. You'll just . . . well let's just say you'll both be feeling a bit . . . off. For a while. Maybe longer. It all depends on how long the toxin takes to go through your bloodstream. Could be longer for Caitlin, I guess, because Frost's anatomy within her is different from a human's or meta's or alien's from the experiments their dad did and they're not sure how the toxin will react to it. Plus the extra hormones from the pregnancy so...yeah apparently it'll slow it's reaction in her and drag it out longer than yours. But hey, they are definitely for sure certain the toxin won't hurt Caitlin or Frost or the baby either."

"What exactly can we expect here, Barry?" Cisco breathed deeply, letting his heart go somewhat back to normal. He reached over, softly laying his hand on his sleeping wife's arm.

"Um . . ." Barry paused - which didn't help Cisco's anxiety. "Nothing much really . . . bit of anxiousness, giddiness, hyperfixation. Heightened emotions. Overreactions. Perhaps paranoia? But Brainy wasn't too sure of that last one - I guess it's only certain types of aliens that react that way. Oh - and I guess you guys'll sleep a lot too."

"Dude - I already had those in spades from my pregnant wife. And that's just how she describes me! You're telling me it's going to get worse?!" Cisco winced as Caitlin stirred in her sleep. She turned to her side, mumbling and wrapping her arms around her middle.

"Good luck, buddy. There should always be someone on comms at Star Lab if you need them - but only if you activate them. We didn't wanna completely bug your house and invade your privacy - not to mention barge in on anything we don't wanna-yeah." Barry stopped, coughing. "Look, we've got the aliens covered. You two just focus on getting better. We can get whatever you guys need to you through the little transport chamber Chester made up in the backyard. Alex is staying close to keep watch over Cait's and the baby's labs until this stuff is out of her system. Gideon can always send us a message too."

"Yeah sure thanks for letting me be the one to explain this to her." Cisco stood up, pacing around the bed. "Man do I sorta wish she'd woken up first. But then she would've freaked out and stressed out probably like I did and that's not so good for the baby right? Not that we can avoid much stress being literally locked in the same house. Wait . . . we've got the run of the house right? We're not just locked in our bedroom? Well, I mean there's worse places to be locked up indefinitely with my very hot wife but-"

"Cisco!" Barry shouted, cutting him off. "Dude, this conversation is edging on t.m.i. here - you two are literally like my brother and sister."

Cisco let out a deep breath. "Right - sorry. Hey, how long do you think it'll be before the toxin starts to take effect?"

Barry was quiet for a few minutes, though Cisco thought he could hear whispers in the background. "You guys just hang in there, okay?"

There was interference noise and the room felt very quiet. "Barry?" Cisco spoke out.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Ramon - Mr. Allen is no longer on the line. But I can get him back if you would like." Gideon's automatic voice sounded in the room.

"No, that's okay. Just . . . did they hook you up to our vitals too? Like you can do on the Waverider?" Cisco stood next to the bed on his wife's side.

"That is correct." Gideon confirmed.

"Can you - can you scan Caitlin and the baby? Please?" He picked up Caitlin's hand, holding it in both of his.

"Both Dr. Snow and the fetus are well within normal parameters for every scan, other than the neurological side effects of the alien toxin within Dr. Snow's brain, exactly as Mr. Allen said." Gideon told him.

"Thanks, Gideon. I just needed, yeah. Thanks." He sank down on the bed beside her, letting go of her hand to grasp her knee.

Day 2

"Cisco, wake up!"

"Bulbasaur!" Cisco startled awake, eyes wide taking in the person staring down at him. His cheek stung, his jaw numb. His wife sat atop his legs, holding her hand over his face. "What the frak!? Geez, calm down woman!" He prodded at his jaw, still feeling the sting of her slap.

"Francisco Ramon, do not tell me to calm down!" Caitlin's eyes glowed for a moment, her finger aiming pointedly and her mouth set in a tight line. "What the hell is going on?!"

"Um, yeah . . . little glitch out in the field…" Cisco shrugged. "Or . . . big glitch really but-" Her hand flew down to her stomach, tears welling in her eyes. The rage melted from her face, morphing into fear. "No, no, no - baby's fine. I swear." He took hold of her hand, bringing it up to his lips. He scooted back so he could sit up, wrapping his arms warmly around her. She gasped into his neck, falling against him. "Barry said Alex is staying in Central City, and between her and Gideon they're keeping track of you and the baby."

"What exactly are they tracking?" Caitlin sat back, her hand still on her stomach. She narrowed her eyes, sniffling and he could tell she was trying to calm down. "You're being awfully evasive."

"I just . . . I don't want you to worry too much. We're fine, really. I swear. Just . . . we won't be leaving the house for quite a while." He scratched the back of his neck, gulping.

"You're not making any sense." She scrunched her brows. "Cisco, I'm a doctor. Whatever it is, I can handle it. You said the baby and I are fine, but why is Alex concerned enough to watch over us? What happened to Frost out in the field? I was so tired I was pretty much asleep the whole time. Do I need to be on bedrest? Cisco-"

"Well, I mean Frost did get stabbed with a spear thing-" He mumbled, not missing her sharp intake of breath. "No, it was your leg. It already healed, you're fine."

"That doesn't explain why we're both stuck in our house, changed into Star Labs clothes. Cisco, just tell me!" She took hold of both of his shoulders, pushing on them.

"Okay, okay! It was the aliens!" Cisco spit out. "One of them doused us in it's goo blood when it died!"

"Ew! No way!" She cringed, shivering.

"Yeah, and apparently the stuff is kinda….um….toxic, I guess?" He said, wincing as she tensed up. "Like not fatally, just as a drug sort of thing. But they're like a hundred percent sure it won't hurt the baby, it'll just apparently make us act a little weird for a while. And, it's contagious which is why we're locked in our house for the foreseeable future." He told her the symptoms Barry said they might have, including that it could last longer for her.

She settled back on her knees, letting out a deep breath. "Oh . . ."

"Dude, just be glad you weren't awake for the sludge shower cuz that hurt, like seriously." He rubbed his arms, wincing. "Like getting doused in hot lava or something."

"Hmm, Frost says she didn't feel any of that. She must've gone unconscious quickly, and deep. From the blood loss, I'm guessing? And I was definitely too far asleep to feel anything." Caitlin shrugged, climbing over his legs to sit next to him. "And neither of us have burns now - very strange. Unless Gideon did something to take them away, and now we just have to wait out the psychopathic effects of the alien viscous in our bloodstream."

"Hmm, yeah that's pretty much what Barry said," Cisco nodded. "So fun times ahead for us. Good thing we've known each other so long and are, you know, married or things could get very weird and uncomfortable."

"Should be interesting, yeah." She chuckled. "Well, it could be a nice break - strange side effects aside. Time to spend together, maybe figure out some stuff for the baby when we're, well, lucid enough. We have communication with the team, though, right?" Cisco told her that they'd rigged Gideon throughout the house. "Good. I trust in Alex's medical training and Gideon's programming completely but my brain or the rest of me isn't going to relax until I see those test results for myself."

"I'm sure they won't take offense." Cisco yawned, stretching his arms. "Maybe a nap first, though? 'M getting super sleepy." He lay back and turned to his side, wrapping his arms around her waist and cuddling up closer to her.

Caitlin grinned warmly, feeling his fingers find their way under the hem of her t-shirt to trace circles around her belly button. She lay down beside him, sighing contently. She was just about asleep when her other half spoke up in her head. "Cisco? You still awake?"

"Mmm." He groaned, burying his head against her back.

She turned so they were face to face, and she kissed him softly. "Frost says thanks for having her back out there. And you were right - Frost and I shouldn't have gone out to fight today."

"I just worry about the three of you in there. But we're all okay and that's what's important. " His fingers continued to dance on her stomach. "Even so, Frost was a badass out there today - for real."

"She enjoys it, sometimes a little too much." Caitlin mused. "I have a feeling this lockdown is going to be harder on her than us, but maybe it'll be good practice for when we get further along and won't be able to move around as much."

"Yikes…the next few months are going to be not so much fun." Cisco shivered.

Caitlin laughed, snuggling up closer to him and tangling their legs together. "If she gets to be too much, we'll just remind her that this whole baby thing was totally her idea in the first place."

"A-ha, I almost forgot!" Cisco shook his head, kissing her on the nose. "That was a memorable day for sure. Not every day your wife's alter ego greets you at the door with an unused package of birth control and says 'I picked up Caity's prescription like she asked but I really don't think she should take it.'"

"I was just as surprised as you. I mean, it's not like the thought hadn't occurred to me but I never thought she would be the one to put the baby making plan into action." Caitlin rolled her eyes. "I swear, she was relentless for ages. Every time the two of us were alone, she'd scream "do him" in my ear. It wasn't anything I wasn't already thinking about, but wow was she persistent."

Cisco just laughed. "I just can't wait to actually see Frost with a real baby. Feeding and changing diapers, who would have thought."

"That will be pretty entertaining," Caitlin agreed, not missing the way her other half was nudging at her at the moment. "She's only slowly plotting our deaths in my ear, no big deal."

"Sorry Mama Frost," Cisco grinned, planting a kiss on his wife's lips. As they kissed, Caitlin yawned and Cisco chuckled. "Okay, I think it's back to sleep time. Get some rest before these crazy side effects start to rear their ugly head."

Caitlin nodded, still yawning. Her eyes slowly closed and soon she was asleep. Cisco resumed his fingers dance on her stomach, and it wasn't long before he stilled and joined her in sleep.

to be continued...