31

Finally

"Karaoke on Christmas?" Caitlin's eyebrows rose, tearing her gaze away from the fill sheet in her hands. "That's a new one." She gave Cisco a small smile, then nodded to her clipboard. "I'd love to go, but I've got too much work to do here."

"It's Christmas," Cisco insisted.

"And if we're going to get this museum off the ground, then I need to get this work done," Caitlin reminded him, her voice holding the same amount of earnest. She flipped the sheets back down, her gaze shifting over the numbers and tallys in front of her. She wasn't paying too close attention to it, she knew Cisco knew it. There was only so much she could do to avoid him and the elephant in the room before he pressed about it. "And it's a lot of work that we've bene neglecting."

Cisco gave her a funny look, folding his arms. "You didn't think this museum was a good idea."

"Honestly, I'm really skeptical it's going to work. But it's what HR wants to do and he's really insistent and—"

"—And you're avoiding things, Cait." Caitlin didn't snort, she never made a sound that 'so unladylike' as her mother deemed it, but she did make a face of displeasure. It was the most reaction Cisco was going to get from her. "I know…I know this time of year is hard for you, Cait. Because of your dad—"

"—Cisco," Caitlin broke in.

"It's not like it's not hard for the rest of us," Cisco continued. "I don't see my family during Christmas, Barry's parents aren't around, Jesse's here by herself, we just got told that we may not make it through this fight with Savitar and Alchemy and, at this point I think we all deserve to have some fun time to ourselves. And you do, too."

Caitlin tilted her head back, closed her eyes. Cisco, as much as she loved him, had a very bad habit of working on her nerves when she wanted to be left alone. He was trying to be there for her and she appreciated it. Really. He was always there for her. Always. Through everything. Not many people knew how much she equally loved and hated Christmas. He was patient with her each time it came around. Was the one who worked hard to get everyone in the right spirit when it came closer.

But she, simply, wasn't in the mood.

"Sorry," Caitlin finally said. She turned her back on Cisco, moving her attention over the Medical Bay and all the drawers and closets that were opened, mentally counting the items inside. "'But I have too much stuff to do. Have fun for me." She heard Cisco sigh and added, "You'll find another duet partner. Maybe ask Kara."

"Of course, Kara can sing."

"Her name is Supergirl, it kind of is implied."

Silence stretched between them for a moment. Then Caitlin heard Cisco shift closer to her and heard him place something beside her before he placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezed it, and left the medical bay. Caitlin waited for his footsteps to fade before taking in a deep breath and getting back to work. She moved across the Medical Bay, writing down each and everything they had in inventory and what they needed to order. That was always the tricky part; ordering more things for a laboratory that was supposed to be defunct in some way.

Or, had been defunct. Now that they had the grant from Bruce to be put into metahuman research—which Barry seriously needed to get on implementing—STAR Labs had every means of getting all the pieces of technology they needed to create even more scientific advancements they could sell the patents to later. Not to mention she needed to keep track of all the medicine they used for Barry, Cadence, and Brady when they became injured. Not to mention the resources wasted when looking over Barry's and Kara's vitals and running their tests to ensure their Speed Force and Kryptonian levels were okay.

It had been hard to see, even as a bystander. Watching as the two heroes were left powerless and watched their friends put themselves in danger. Caitlin saw it every day, unable to go out and fight herself. Unable to put herself out there in case….in case she was unable to keep control. If anything happened while she used her powers, she wouldn't be able to forgive herself. To that extent, she understood Barry's hesitation of killing. It was something that couldn't be taken back and would consistently sit on her conscience. She couldn't handle the idea of what'd happen.

"And I thought Alex worked a lot." Caitlin looked over her shoulder and smiled at Kara as she stepped into the medical bay. She looked around, pressing her glasses up her nose and smiled at Caitlin. "I'm guessing you're a bit of a workaholic."

"What gave it away?" Caitlin asked.

"Other than the fact that you're not coming to karaoke with us?" Kara tilted her head, eyes shifting. Then she nodded. "The pile of food wrappers in the trash can, honestly. It's the same down in the DEO. Winn works down there so much that his desk is filled with bags from Noonan's." Caitlin smiled politely. "Wait, do you not have Noonan's on this Earth? You haven't lived until you've had one of their sticky buns."

"You should try the ones from Jitters," Caitlin suggested. "I bet they'd give Noona's a run for their money."

Kara nodded. She took in a breath, placing her hands on her hips. "So, you're really not coming with us?"

"No. I have too much work to do."

"Are you sure? It's going to be a lot of fun. We go to karaoke all the time."

Finally, Caitlin put down her clipboard and turned to face Kara completely. She lowered herself into the empty office chair next to her. She flicked her hair from her face. "Well, karaoke's not so fun when you can't sing. And I'm not being modest, I can't sing. Just ask Barry, he was with me the last time I went. And not even being drunk could help me."

"Really?" Kara laughed. She couldn't quite imagine Caitlin ever getting drunk. She seemed to have her life together too well to do it. Then again, with the amount of stress they were all under, they couldn't be penalized for letting lose every once in a while.

"Really. And you know Barry's an amazing singer, you saw it in your dream. No one can compete with that. So, it's probably good that I'm hanging back here."

"Is it?" Kara folded her arms. "I came in here to thank you for everything you did for me and Barry while we didn't have our powers. You didn't give up on us. But…" The area between her eyebrows wrinkled together. "It seems like something else is bothering you."

Caitlin waved her hand. "I'm just tired. I have a lot of work to do to help out HR and I have to do inventory and to scan the city and…I can't take a break." She couldn't take a break from the pain she was trying to hold back. That slowly encased her in darkness as the time of year drew closer. Seasonal depression was a serious thing and it was hell.

"Well, I was just hoping I'd maybe be able to convince you to change your mind and come out with us," Kara said. "And yes, thank you as well." She turned to leave then spotted a box sitting next to Caitlin and picked it up, turning it over in her hand. "What's this?"

Caitlin looked over it, eyebrows twitching in confusion. She took it from Kara's hand and twisted it back and forth in her hands. "I don't know. I guess Cisco left it for me." She flipped it open and read the note inside. "So we don't have to worry about losing you again. Every time you go outside, solar energy will recharge it."

Kara and Caitlin exchanged a glance. Then Caitlin moved the note aside and her face was immediately illuminated by the bright blue glow coming from a snowflake imprinted on a necklace. It nestled within the velvet lining the inside of the box, as light as a bird. Kara gasped when Caitlin pulled it out and held it up to the light.

"That's so beautiful," Kara said. "Cisco made that?"

"It's an inhibitor," Caitlin explained, immediately recognizing the look of the circuitry inside the glow being similar to the BOOT. "So I don't have to worry about using my powers."

"It looks like something's written on the back," Kara said. She gently tapped the necklace so that it bobbed around. "A date?" Caitlin grasped the necklace and turned it around. For the second time, she gasped, running her thumb over the date stamped on the back. "Is that your birthday?"

"No," Caitlin murmured. She stared at the numbers, honestly dumbfounded. At a complete loss for words. He remembered? "It's…when I was…" she took a deep breath and held the necklace in her palms. Tears came to her eyes. He remembered.

"Caitlin?"

Caitlin swallowed hard. "When the Particle Accelerator went off…I was pregnant," she admitted. Finally speaking the words out loud since that night. "I wasn't too far along, I only just told Ronnie…this date, it's the day the baby was going to be born."

"Oh, Caitlin." Kara couldn't understand what it was like to lose a baby like that. She'd never been pregnant, had adopted Deity when she came to her Earth. But she couldn't fathom losing Deity now, the pain associated with it would be too much to handle. But to lose a child before they were able to grace the world? Kara put her arm around Caitlin's shoulders, hugging her to her side. "I'm so sorry."

Unclasping the back of the necklace, Caitlin lowered it over her neck. It rested heavily against her chest, cool to the touch, she could feel her power stripping away. Just as she wanted it. She needed the Philosopher's Stone to have it done permanently. But if there was a temporary fix, Cisco had created a hell of a fix.

"Come on." Caitlin set the box aside and stood up, brushing off the seat of her pants. "Let's go to karaoke."

"You're really coming?" Kara's eyes lit up.

She didn't wait for a response, just grabbed Caitlin tightly and used her super speed to race her out of STAR Labs and to the karaoke bar. The moment they arrived, Caitlin broke away to the table Barry, Cadence, Cisco, Ryder, and Iris were all leaning around. Winn was already onstage, singing (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction by the Rolling Stones with enough energy to get the bar moving.

"Hey!" Ryder greeted her as she approached, waving a beer her way.

"You made it," Iris added. She reached over to pull a chair over her for. "We didn't think you were going to come. Cisco said something about you having a lot of work to do."

Caitlin looked at Cisco, whose eyes lowered to the necklace around her neck. Then, embarrassed, he turned away, running a hand through his hair. Cadence noticed the necklace as well. Though her eyes widened in surprise, she kept herself under control and managed to calmly say, "That's a real pretty necklace, Cait."

"Thanks," Caitlin replied. She moved around the table and tapped Cisco on the arm, he faced away from her, focusing hard on Winn's performance.

"I hope Winn doesn't think his singing is as good as his engineering," Cisco remarked, shouting over the cheers and music that thumped through the speakers. "'Cause, I mean, he's got no energy, has no stage presence, doesn't know how to connect with the audience."

"Are you going to start booing now, too?" Caitlin teased.

"I might."

Caitlin chuckled. She grasped Cisco's elbow. "Can we talk? Where it's quieter?" Cisco hesitated, but allowed himself to be pulled away from the table. As they moved by their friends, Caitlin saw Cadence whack Barry on the arm, making him cry out in pain, and hiss, "You see? I'm not crazy."

"Cade, leave them alone," Barry replied, rubbing his reddening skin.

"But—"

"—drop it."

Cadence pouted, practically deflating over the table while Barry, Ryder, and Iris all burst out laughing. Caitlin took Cisco to a quieter corner of the bar while Wally and Jesse got up on stage to sing Salt-N-Peppa's Push It. Caitlin laughed, watching Wally really get into the dance moves he threw out along with their performance, Jesse's laughter breaking into the song.

"Joe didn't want to come?" Caitlin asked Cisco, both watching the stage.

"He said as much as he would've paid good money to see Barry sing and dance, that he had other plans," Cisco explained. "Which is weird because what plans could he have without us?"

"Well, you know he does have his own life, Cisco."

"Does he? I mean, even Harrison, Tess, and Maya are doing something for the holiday. Some sort of Christmas part Maya got them invited to. Which, of course, we can only hope to ever go to."

Caitlin made a face. "But you hate dressing up," She pointed out to her best friend.

"I can do it when I have to. And for those swanky things, I can do it. Remind me to ask Cade for an invite to another one of those galas, the one went to in Metropolis was dope." Cisco finally smiled at her. His eyes darted down to her necklace then back up to Caitlin's face. He cleared his throat and took a sip of beer. "I see you got your present."

"Cisco, I love it," Caitlin said, honestly. "It's one of the nicest gifts anyone's given me."

"I thought of putting your father's date on it, but I figured it'd be a bit more heartfelt if…you know…" Cisco cleared his throat again. He sat up straight. "I know this time of year is hard for you, because of your dad, because of Ronnie, because of your baby. I wanted you to have something that'd make you feel good."

"You were affected to, Cisco," Caitlin reminded him. "When the Particle Accelerator went off, you were in the hospital for a long time. Your family only visited you once."

Cisco gave a humorless smile. "And you came to visit me every day, even though you should've been resting. Let me tell you, I never got tired of watching you try to hold your hospital gown closed while you shuffled into my room with that IV drip." He laughed. "Remember when the doctors got mad at us because we snuck in all that Big Belly Burger?"

"And they tried to ban us from going to see each other because we kept being late for our check-ups? I wasn't going anywhere. I'm not going anywhere. Not now. No matter what happens."

"Me neither," Cisco agreed. He reached across the table and took Caitlin's hand, squeezing it in his own. "We're going to help you figure things out, Cait. Even if you want your powers to go away, we'll figure something out. I promise."

"Thanks." Caitlin then leaned back. "Oh! I haven't forgotten your gift."

Cisco pressed a hand to his chest. "Good, because I was slowly starting to think I'd have to replace you as my best friend. I mean, Barry's just about there but he thinks Star Trek III is better than Star Trek Iii and I don't think I'll ever get over that." Cisco closed his eyes and held out his hands. "Okay, I'm ready. What is it?"

"It's going to be a little late," Caitlin apologized, making Cisco open his eyes and pout. "But I do have something I think you'll like just as much." She carefully pulled off her necklace and dropped it to the table. Looking around, she made sure no one was watching them, she lifted her hand and curled her fingers into her palms. As she did so, the magnificent blue glow that faded from her necklace formed around her hand.

Cisco watched for a few moments before his eyes shifted to the window, where he grinned, seeing snowflakes gently start to drift to the ground, making those who were outside bundle up even further or stop in surprise at the change of weather.

"Are you sure you want to get rid of your powers?" Cisco asked after a few moments of watching. "Because I just imagined an amazing snowball fight we could totally dominate."

"Breach and Snow?"

"Of course!" Cisco smiled as their laughter subsided. "Merry Christmas, Caitlin."

"Merry Christmas, Cisco." She reached across the table and pulled him into a tight hug which he reciprocated.

Cadence clapped and cheered as J'onn climbed offstage, making way for Iris to get her chance to sing a song. She turned in her seat to find Deity plopping down next to her. Which was strange, as Cadence noticed she and Brady seemed to be inseparable as the night went on. Nothing too out of the ordinary, but Brady was a bit happier and exited than usual. And he was one who absolutely hated to sing, especially now that his voice seemed to crack with every other word he spoke as it changed.

Now Deity looked practically miserable as she sat next to the fire meta-human. "You know it's practically illegal to frown during Christmas, right?" Cadence teased, taking a sip of whisky.

Deity looked alarmed. "Is that a thing on this Earth?"

Cadence laughed. "Relax, I was kidding. But what's with the sourpuss. I'm pretty sure most people don't frown when they're singing. I mean, unless you're that bad."

Lips pushing into a pout Deity said, "Do you know how hard it is to have a mom who's so good at singing and dancing?" She asked. "I can't go up there after she performs." She motioned to the stage where Kara crooned the audience with a rendition of Moon River. "I know she's practically invincible, but come on! Can't she be bad at something?"

Cadence laughed. "Oh, I know the feeling." Deity looked skeptical. She tilted her head, eyebrows moving upwards cynically. "My mom, before she mellowed out, was the epitome of perfection. Her hair had to be perfect, her clothes had to be perfect, the house had to be perfect, everything had to be perfect. And it was hard to live up to. Thankfully, she doesn't have a singing bone in her body and she can't dance so that helped a little." She paused the murmured, "Except when she tries."

Deity laughed. "What about you?" She leaned forward, looking Cadence in the eye. "You can dance, we know that. But can you sing, too?"

"I'm alright," she said. "And unlike a lot of people, I'm not being modest." She pointed towards the stage. "Hence why you haven't seen me up there yet. But if you ever need a backup dancer, I'm your girl." She looked up as Ryder walked over with Brady, who smiled at Deity then looked away. "What's up?"

"I'm taking Brady to your mom's house," Ryder explained. "Apparently she's got something for him that can't wait. After that I'll take him to mine and then have him back for Christmas."

"Okay." Cadence frowned in confusion, trying to figure out what her mother could've done that time. "That's fine. But, again, you're welcome to come over for Christmas."

"I'll let you know." He moved aside so Brady could give Cadence a hug and kiss goodbye, then laughed when Brady impatiently started to push on Ryder. Obviously, he was anxious to know what he gift was. "See you later. Bye, Deity. It was good to see you again."

"Bye." Cadence glanced at Deity, who blushed and looked away from Ryder, placing her hand on the side of her face to block her view of him. Ryder and Brady left and Deity dropped her hand from her face to glare at Cadence, who laughed. "It's not funny! Stop laughing."

"Sorry, but that's never not going to be funny," Cadence admitted. "But I think I'll cut you some slack. I have your gift for you." Deity immediately perked up, eagerly sitting up straight, eyes darting around to find said gift. Cadence opened her purse and pulled out a wrapped box. "Actually, it's from me and Barry."

"He just put his name on it, didn't he?" Deity guessed as she took it, then started to rip through the wrapping.

"Yeah, he didn't really know what to get a teenage girl." Cadence watched as Deity finished pulling open the gift to reveal a music box. Once she flipped open the lid a mess of shooting stars started to spin as a classical tune floated out. "Do you like it?"

"I love it," Deity gushed, turning it back and forth in her hands.

"I figured you'd like the box by itself, but now that you have some jewelry you can use it as a jewelry box, too." Cadence smiled as Deity did her best not to roll her eyes. "Though I'm not quite sure how long it'll last during fights with other aliens."

"I'll take care of it. I promise." Deity set the box aside and leaned over the table to give Cadence a hug. She let go once the notes of a new song started, signaling her to get up to the stage. Cadence shooed her away before Alex took the then empty seat.

"That was really nice," Alex said, setting down her beer. She kept it close to take a sip when needed, but not so close that she'd find herself downing it too quick. Alex tucked her short hair behind her ears and added about her niece's gift, "The music box, I mean."

"Yeah, I thought she'd really like it," Cadence said. She crossed her legs at the knee. "Plus, I thought it'd be a good way to apologize to her for nearly knocking her head off the last time she came." Alex gave her a funny look. Cadence waved it off. "Long story."

"Seems to me like there's a lot I need to catch up on," Alex agreed. "The differences between Earths…it so funny to see what's the same here and what's different." She cleared her throat. Cadence waited for her to get to her point. She could sense it, Alex wasn't being quite forthcoming. "Deity seemed to really like it when she was here. With everything that you've done for her, I mean. You're great with her. And it shows, with how great you are with Brady, too."

"Yeah, it seems like I'm just adopting more kids left and right." Cadence made a mental note to call Frankie and tell her 'Merry Christmas'. She still hadn't gotten back to the young meta since the last message she'd left.

"It can't be easy."

"Definitely not," Cadence agreed. But it wasn't something she'd ever want to change. If that was her way to be a hero for Central City then she'd do it. Tired of the runaround, Cadence said, "You can be as mad at me about the Kryptonite thing as you want—"

"—I took it out on you," Alex said. "And that's not fair. I just…I don't like the idea of someone having something out there that can really hurt Kara. I don't like seeing anyone use it, like there's not much thought to it."

"Like a regular gun can hurt you?" Cadence asked.

"It's not just the bullets it's the Kryptonite in general. Knowing there's a lot out there that keeps her from being normal…" Alex frowned, struggling over the word. It wasn't that Kara wasn't normal, but… "I've seen her at her weakest and I can't see it happen again. Knowing people have that weapon against her kills me."

"I can understand why you'd be upset. And thank you for the apology, but, honestly, I don't think we're ever going to get along," Cadence admitted. "At least, not until you get over what's making you overcompensate." She looked Alex in the eye. "I get you're overprotective, anyone would be. Put my friends and family in danger and I'm like an atomic bomb. But I think it stretches more for you. And I hope you figure out what it is."

Alex smiled, shaking her head. "When would I have the time? With the DEO, this new Kryptonian we found, and everything."

"But it's worth it."

Cadence glanced around the bar, laughing as Deity finished her song and Iris then dragged Barry onstage, resisting the whole way, to sing All I Want For Christmas Is You while Cisco and Winn continued to argue over something—probably the mechanics of Caitlin's necklace from it sitting between them. Kara sat along with them, laughing at each other's rebuttals as they argued back and forth.

She looked to J'onn, who was conversing with Caitlin as if they were old friends—Caitlin always had that knack of getting along with people. Or, as Cadence also thought, she had a thing for older guys. She looked at Deity, who sat along with Alex on her other side, cheering along with the crowd as Barry and Iris sang. She looked up at the stage while Iris and Barry sang, catching both their eyes. Iris grinned and pointed at her while Barry managed a smile. His first genuine one to her in so many weeks.

Abruptly, Cadence smiled back and pulled out her phone. She dialed her mother and leaned over, hoping to block out the sound as the songs kept going. Finally, her mother answered with her familiar trill of, "Hell-o?"

Cadence smiled. "So, do you want to tell me what gift you've got for Brady that you didn't tell me about?" She asked.

Maya made a clicking sound. "Did Ryder tell you? I've always said that boy can't keep a secret."

"I could've told you that." Cadence laughed. "He was hardly able to keep it quiet after I told him he was pregnant."

"Honey, that had nothing to do with him saying anything, the shell-shocked look on his face did him in. You'd think he'd had gone off to war from the way that boy was looking." Maya huffed. "So, how much did he tell you? I have to say, it was hard keeping the secret this long. Having to keep him fed and out of the way and making sure Brady didn't see—"

"—Mom," Cadence said slowly. She tightened her grasp around her phone. "Don't tell me you got Brady a dog. I told you I didn't want him getting a dog."

"I didn't get him a dog," Maya said, sounding offended. "You told me loud and clear. Don't get him a dog. I didn't get him a dog."

"Mom. What'd you get him?"

"I got him his best friend."

Cadence's eyes shot open. "You found Conner?"

"Oh, you're acting like it was hard. It only took a few phone calls and signing some sort of a Non-Disclosure Agreement thing. But it wasn't hard. I just thought he'd be a bit happier if he got the chance to see his friend." Maya paused. "I mean, all this meta stuff has been getting him down. Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine, mom. You did an amazing job. Have a good time at your party."

"You too, Cadey. I love you."

"I love you, too." Cadence smiled and hung up.

Yes, it was worth it.

Barry paced the floor of his apartment-former. He rapidly tapped his phone against his palm. How annoying it was to be the Fastest Man Alive with all the time in the world and every second felt like an eternity. Even watching a text be sent out made nerves shoot through his body. What if it didn't send? What if it took too long to get a response? What if he didn't get a chance to say what he needed to say?

He looked at the face of his phone once more, smiling at the picture they'd taken of everyone before Team Supergirl headed back to their Earth. It was sad to say goodbye to them after what they'd been through. There weren't too many people who knew what it was like to have their powers stripped away and be so powerless when things were so dire.

Kara even wiped tears away from her eyes before giving Barry a huge hug. Thankfully he had his powers back or else he was sure it would've really hurt. "Thank you, so much." She then moved to give Cadence a hug. We couldn't have done this without you."

Barry smiled and nodded back. "Our Earth is always open for you guys," he reminded her. "Whatever you need, just pop on over."

"And same to you guys," Kara agreed. "We'd love to have you back in National City." She smiled and stepped closer to Barry, lowering her voice to ask, "So, is everything okay with you guys?"

Barry's eyes shifted. He took a deep breath and said, "We'll see." He reached out and hugged her again, bid farewell to Deity, Alex, Winn, and J'onn and stepped back, watching as they moved through the breach. That'd been hours ago and Barry had spent most of the night patrolling the city.

He needed to run, needed to use his powers again. Needed to get back to feeling like himself. Needed the time to clear his head and figure out what he was going to do next. So he ran and ran until he had it all figured out.

Barry stopped pacing once he heard the door to the apartment open. Cadence glanced at him as she stepped inside, closing it behind her. "I got your text," she said. "What's up?"

She barely got the words out of her mouth before Barry started speaking. Nervous energy making him rush forward. "So, look, love isn't perfect," Barry said. "But you can't let your love for someone cause you to be afraid of what might happen. You've gotta take the good with the bad, no matter what. And that includes…admitting the mistakes you've made and knowing when to apologize for those mistakes. Knowing when to…when to admit you were scared and that's what's been holding you back.

"It can be scary, it can be dangerous, but all that matters is that you're together. And when you find a love like that, you've got to hold onto it. No matter who tries to stop it. I know that now. And, I'm sorry. For everything."

"And I'm sorry, too," Cadence agreed. "But, in my opinion, it's not that we've made any mistakes, Barry. We have a communication problem. We don't talk about things. Not about the important things. I can talk to you about strategies of metahumans, why I don't like on my pizza, and what I want to do with my paid time off, but I couldn't talk to you about how said I've been since my dad passed. And you couldn't talk to me about your dad, either. That's not a good thing."

"I couldn't," Barry said. "It hurt too much."

"And if we could talk you'd know that I completely agree with you. It hurts too much to talk about my dad so I don't. But keeping things bottled up like that isn't going to help either of us." She shrugged. "So, what do we do now?"

Barry took in a confident breath. "We move forward," he said. Then a niggling thought entered his head. "I mean, unless you don't love me anymore. Which is fine, if you don't, I mean, it's not fine, but I-uh-I'll understand." Cadence slowly started to smile. "If, you, uh, if you managed to get over me that fast—"

"—It took me almost ten years to get over Ryder, Barry," Cadence interrupted. "I'd hope It'd take a lot longer for me to get over you." She gently shook her head. "I'm not over you."

"I'm not over you," Barry agreed. He stepped forward and took her hand in his. His eyes searched hers. "I was telling the truth before," he said. "That love is scary. And it's not perfect. And we'll make mistakes. But I want to keep trying. No matter what Music Meister and Lover said about our future. I want you in it."

"Every hour, every minute," Cadence teased. But Barry kept going, slowly starting to sing, voice growing stronger as the seconds passed.

This world can race by far too fast
Hard to see while it's all flying past
But, it's clear now,
When you're standing here now
I am meant to be wherever you are next to me

All I want to do
Is come running home to you
Come running home to you
And all my life I promise to
Keep running home to you
Keep running home
To you

Finally, when the song finished, Barry reached into his pocket and held it up for her to see. Cadence gazed back at him, eyes sparkling. "Cadence Nash," Barry asked. "Will you marry me?"

Cadence stepped back, dropping her hands from around his neck. She folded her hand over his, holding his hand upright, keeping the ring between them. She smiled up at him. "I've always said I'd only get married once. And I want to be sure it sticks. So," Cadence squeezed his hand. "Bartholomew Henry Allen—"

"—You don't have to full name me," Barry started to interrupt. Cadence ignored him and kept going. "Oh, so, you're going to just, okay." He couldn't keep the smile from his face.

"Will you marry me?" Cadence asked.

"Yes," Barry replied. He gently bobbed at the knees, sucking in a breath between his teeth. "But, I'm going to put the ring on you."

"You better," Cadence agreed and held out her hand. With shaking fingers, Barry slid the ring onto her ring finger before pulling her in for a kiss.

Finally.

A/N: Whew, a completely happy chapter for Team Flash. They haven't had that in a while so here you go. Honestly, I actually thought of not having Barry and Cadence end up engaged at the end of this (considering what I'd already changed from the WestAllen version) but realized it made sense if they did, considering they worked through their problems.

Otherwise, everything is picking up with the next one. There are still going to be deviations from the show with the Savitar/Breathtaker plots moving forward and I can already see how the story ends. I don't know how many chapters it'll be, but I don't write stories to be longfics, I write them to tell a story and it ends when it ends, no matter how many chapters they are.

Cheers,

-Riley

Review Replies

Ethan: The guy that 'fell to Earth' is Mon-El on Supergirl. Nothing to do with this story. I originally thought of skipping Music Meister but we came up with a better plot to it and I knew it had to stay for things that will happen later to make sense.

DarkHelm145: Haha, glad we got you to enjoy Lover in the end.

Guest: And now he can see her as his fiancée!