39

Slow Down

Barry was pulled out of his blissful slumber by the sound of low voices that reached his ears, blocking out the rapidly shifting dream he was having. Nothing that he could particularly remember, his dreams shifted within seconds. One moment he dreamt he was at the beach, the next he dreamt he was fighting Savitar, the next he was with his parents, then he was back in high school wondering why he was there with his best friends when they hadn't known each other then.

Nevertheless, Barry slept soundly. His dreams didn't permeate his thoughts as much as they would. TO the point that he found himself to be completely refreshed when he woke up. No nightmares, he realized. Still, he couldn't quite place the voices he was hearing. It took him a second longer than he was used to, though gave him reprieve to know he wasn't going crazy. Not as he'd thought when he first understood the less than ideal side-effects of his powers; having too many thoughts at once that tended to blur together into nothing but a dull noise that kept him up.

Twisting around, Barry looked over his shoulder to find Cadence sitting up in bed, watching TV. Images on the TV flickered across the lenses of her glasses, momentarily hiding her eyes form him. Barry watched her for a second then turned, running the back of his hands over his eyes. He flopped onto his back, bringing his arms up to stretch over his head. Then he sat up and glanced at the TV, still rubbing at his eye. A sigh immediately escaped his lips, reading the headline that scrolled across the bottom of the screen.

Nuclear Tragedy in Central City.

Cadence brought her hand up to her mouth, started to chew on her thumbnail. Barry sat up as well, resting his arms around his upraised knees. He studied the screen, watched the same images flicker across. The burning forest, the blackened crater, the police cars and ambulances racing past to help those that ended up caught in the blast.

"There are still those in the hospital, but it is unknown whether or not they'll survive the ordeal."

Barry swiped the remote from between them and jabbed it at the TV to turn it off. "Stop watching that," he murmured, voice scratchy from sleep.

Cadence lowered her hand from her mouth, gently shaking her head. "I can't help it," she murmured. Silence stretched between them for a moment. "We could've saved those people." Finally, she looked at him. Sadness swirled through her eyes.

"You don't know that."

It was a hollow statement because deep in his heart he knew it was a possibility. Something that, if he were still traveling through time, he would've gone to make happen. It was the hardest decision he ever had to make once the news first broke, not to go back. It kept him up at night. But there was nothing he could do. Time travel had some of the worst consequences any of them had seen and he wasn't about to make things worse for it.

It was the hardest decision as a hero to make. To let other people suffer because he knew the consequences. He tried hard not to let it get to him. But a big part of him, when he wasn't paying attention, would let himself wonder 'what if'. What if Grodd had given them enough time to stop all the missiles. What if they'd kept Grodd from firing them off in the first place. What if Caitlin had been strong enough to help stop the last one. Then what? From how long she'd been unconscious after the long exposure to her powers, Barry was sure she'd have ended up dead.

But was that better? One of them dying to help save hundreds of others? It was easy to say 'yes' on paper, but when presented with the situation, it was a tough pill to swallow. Barry tried to make peace with it, but without his job at the CCPD he found it difficult to keep himself preoccupied with anything other than 'what if' games. Patrolling the city didn't take too much time, cleaning up the apartment, which was already immaculate due to his daily cleanings didn't take long, even studying up on all things mechanical engineering and biochemistry didn't take so much of his day. Especially when things being converted from his short term memory to long term took nothing more than a few seconds of speed-reading through a book.

"I guess not," Cadence agreed. She shrugged, playing with the blanket that laid tangled between her legs. Finally, she climbed out of bed and grabbed the corner of the sheet, pulling it into place. Barry followed her lead, getting out the other side of bed and helped to fix the sheets. "Seems like the city's already made their decision over everything, anyway."

Barry tried not to grimace. That was the other part. As there were with other metahuman struggles that came up, it split the city in two. Some were still in favor of The Flash, Flare, and other metas that were working to keep the city safe because 'if metas can't do it, who can?' but there were others that used the incident to continue claiming 'all metas need to be destroyed'. It was no wonder the MRA had been brought up on conversation again. Lex Luthor's presidential campaign with it was beginning to gain ground as well.

It seemed that he was doing his best to instill fear and trepidation within those that wanted metahumans to go away so that it'd push his numbers even higher. Barry didn't pay too close to politics in that mean, he kept his head down when office conversation broke out into the subject. However, it was growing harder and harder to ignore. Especially when Tess was put right in the middle of it.

She'd reassured the team that there wasn't anything moving forward, but even Barry noticed the glimmer in Chief Paulson's eye whenever he took the podium to speak during police conferences and with his words to the city when questions were asked. It was one of the few times Barry was glad he didn't have to go into work every day, so that he didn't have to live in even more fear of his secret being revealed and what it meant for other metas.

Julian hadn't said anything—why would he, Barry rationalized, they weren't the best of friends—about any of the meta encounters he had within the last few weeks and the climate around the CCPD. Even Joe had said, albeit distractedly, that he didn't hear anything about it either.

"They're going to change their minds," Barry said confidently. "They're just scared right now. And who wouldn't be? Watching a horde of sentient gorillas come charging toward the city?" The two flapped out the sheet, dropping it to the mattress. "If I didn't know metas were a thing, that's what would really get to me."

Cadence laughed to herself. "You'd be able to handle everything but the sentient gorillas?"

Barry shrugged and side-stepped a pile of pillows and blankets making a makeshift bed on the floor. "Even before my powers, I thought the 'weird' was interesting. I traveled to Star City just to follow a lead on a man who could lift more than ten times his body weight." He bobbed his head back and forth. "If it wasn't for the Reverse-Flash, who knows what I'd be doing now."

"You'd probably end up in the same place," Cadence pointed out. Barry cast her a curious look. Cadence smiled back. "You couldn't give up your sense of justice no matter what. I mean, your parents were still alive on Earth-2 and you were still in the CCPD. But then again, you were a lot more skittish and fearful."

"Excuse me, but even without powers over there I tried to help everyone."

"You're still proving my point."

"Okay, but I wasn't that scared."

"Uh-huh." Cadence threw a pillow to him. Barry caught it against his chest and shook it out of its pillow case before speed-changing it. He then noticed Cadence looking at him curiously and lifted his eyebrows to ask a silent, 'what's up?'. Cadence kept her eyes on him, shaking out her own pillow. "You sure you don't want to look into the future and see what's changed?"

What could have changed? They hadn't been able to stop the missiles, and there were more than enough headlines that they could change later. As it was, Killer Frost hadn't made an appearance yet and while Caitlin continued to permanently sport a blonde streak in her hair, she hadn't had any issues with her powers. Cisco's meta-dampening necklace seemed to be holding up well.

"No," Barry said. It rolled easily off his lips. Not a lie. Not even a struggle. He'd made the decision long ago he wasn't going to time travel anymore, and that included traveling to the future if he wasn't going to be traveling to the past. Time travel simply was too dangerous for anyone to live comfortably with. Barry shook his head. "I'm done with that."

"You sure?" Cadence pressed. A teasing smile came to her face. "I mean, I'm sure anyone else with your powers would want to do it. It took a while to convince Wally it wasn't a good idea after Harry threatened him."

Barry tried his best not to smile. It wasn't funny, not really. But watching the way Wally's face had paled when Harry had not-so-subtly threatened him about Jesse staying on their Earth was something he couldn't quite ignore.

"Just so we're clear," Harry said, stepping up into Wally's face. So close that his nose nearly touched Wally's. He reached out and pointed toward Jesse, who rolled her eyes, used to her father's antics and waiting for it to be over. "This is my daughter. There's nothing more important to me. So you do right by her or there's nowhere in the multiverse where I won't find you."

"Dad," Jesse groaned in warning.

Wally swallowed hard against the nervous lump that formed in his throat. "They'd have to kill me," Wally agreed.

Keeping his eyes on Wally, Harry moved to Jesse and wrapped his arms around his daughter. Jesse hugged him tightly, a simultaneously warm and sad smile on her face. "Bye, dad," she murmured.

"Bye, my Jesse Quick." Harry squeezed her back, pressing a kiss to the side of her head.

Harry then let go of Jesse and moved over to Barry. He reached out and shook his hand firmly, giving him a warm smile. His blue eyes flashed in amusement. "Always another way, Flash, always another way," he said.

Barry smiled and nodded back. He had wanted to ask Harry to stay, to help them out with Savitar, Alchemy, and the Assassination Bureau. He knew it would be fruitless. Harry had work to finish back on Earth-2, Grodd or no Grodd, he was going back to his work and do his best to ensure the city didn't continue to suffer through the fallout of Zoom's presence. Then he turned and gave Cadence a hug, surprising her despite her eagerness to return it. "That advice goes to you as well."

Now, as Barry stood in his apartment, he was sure of nothing more than wanting to spend some time away from the past and the future. If they were going to defeat Savitar, they had to be one step ahead of him, that was sure. He needed to get faster than ever. But after numerous days of being questioned on whether or not Flash and Flare should be run out of the city, he needed nothing more than to sit back and take time to himself. Something he hadn't been able to do, even without his job at the CCPD.

"I'm sure," Barry agreed. He paused. "For now, anyway."

"That's what I thought."

Barry threw the pillow back to her. Cadence caught it against her chest and flashed a teasing smile, placing it carefully back against their headboard. Barry took a step to the side, ready to tuck the sheets underneath the mattress. He smiled back at her, his eyes lowering to the engagement ring that sat on her left hand.

"You know, my great-grandfather gave that to my great-grandmother after World War II," he said. Cadence glanced to her ring then up at her fiancé. "He wanted to propose before he was shipped out but he didn't have the money and he bought it three years later when he was stationed in London. He fought his way across France all the way to Berlin and…" he nodded toward her hand. "that ring, around his neck with his dog tags, and when he got back she was waiting for him at the dock of the Brooklyn Navy Yards. He proposed on the spot. After my mom passed away, Joe held onto it for me."

"Wow." Cadence extended her hand, tilting her head to the side to examine her hand. "Now I really feel bad about nearly knocking it down the drain this morning," she teased.

Barry rolled his eyes and stretched across the now completely made up bed. "Good to know you're taking such good care of it."

Cadence followed Barry's lead and curled up in Barry's lap. She wrapped an arm around his shoulders. She leaned against him, her eyes searching his. "So, Grodd's been taken in by ARGUS, Savitar hasn't shown himself in weeks, and the city's been quiet for a while now." She crossed her legs. "Are you finally going to get some sleep tonight?"

A smile came to Barry's face. He reached up a hand, brushing Cadence's hair from her cheek, running his fingertips around the shell of her ear. "That's entirely up to you."

An amused laugh escaped Cadence's lips. "Oh, really?"

"Really." Barry brought his hand around to cup Cadence's neck, moving his face against hers, giving her a breathtaking kiss.

Cadence kissed him back then sighed through her nose, leaning away from him. Undeterred, Barry lowered his chin to kiss her neck and collarbone, gently nuzzling her skin with his nose. "Barry, we just made the bed," She pointed out.

"I'll do it quickly," Barry replied.

Cadence snorted. She leaned back to look him in the eye. Her eyes flashed with a mischievous fire that Barry easily recognized to mean she was about to tease him about something. It'd happened so much since they met that he could tell from a subtle change in her face or even in her voice when it was coming. And reminded him he was still looking for something he could tease her about.

She wasn't easy to embarrass, and he wouldn't stop until he found at least one thing to do it.

"Selling yourself a little short there, don't you think?" She teased.

Finally, Barry leaned back and glared at her, both affronted and amused. "I meant making the bed."

"Sure. Okay." She gave him another kiss, patted him on the shoulder, and climbed off the bed, leaving their room to go to the kitchen. She'd only made it to the bottom of the stairs before she suddenly found herself sitting atop the kitchen counter, hair blowing out of her face. "Really?" She asked.

Barry appeared in front of her. He grabbed her knees and opened her legs, stepping between them. With a grin, he put his face closer to hers, skin tingling as he started to lightly vibrate. "Really," he replied and closed the gap between them.

Cadence giggled quietly, throwing her arms around his neck to draw him closer. Barry brought up his hands to frame her neck. Focused on feeling her skin beneath his hands. She was there. Right then. In the present. Barry pushed away all thoughts of the future and what it was to bring. It wasn't a certain future, anything could happen by then.

"Is this one of those moments where you want me to leave so you guys can do your thing?" Brady's voice suddenly came from the doorway to the kitchen, making the young couple jump. Rather than be grossed out by any form of affection like others would be, Brady stood with his arms folded, eyebrows rose. Once he had their attention, he tilted his head toward the front door of the apartment. "'Cause I can go to dad's place if you want."

"No, you're safe," Cadence replied. She pushed against Barry's shoulders, moving him away from her. Cadence jumped to the floor and leaned over to kiss her son. At first, he leaned his head out of the way, but then accepted her kiss. "Speaking of your dad, though, he's going to be picking you up in a few minutes to go to the doctor."

"The doctor?" Brady's face screwed up.

"To get your shots?"

"Oh yeah." Brady nodded. Then his face screwed up once more. "What about school? Are you going to write me a note?"

"You don't have school today, I pulled you out," Cadence explained.

"Really?"

Barry laughed. "You actually want to go to school?" Nearly every morning, Brady did his best to sleep in and keep from having to go to school. Numerous times, citing he was too tired. He was just going through a growth spurt, Cadence had explained to Barry, who wondered about it. The taller anyone grew, the more it wreaked havoc on someone's body—the body needing more time of sleep to perform the necessary work needed for the rapid growth. "Are you sure you're feeling okay?"

Brady shrugged. "I get to see my friends," he said. "That's the only good part about it."

Barry wouldn't know, honestly. Iris was his friend, yes, she protected him when he was navigating school. But she was still more popular than him, with people flocking to hang out at the West house with her day after day. It helped that Joe was consistently called away to cases he needed to handle, making the house a good spot to hang out and party as there was no adult supervision. It wasn't until he started to date Becky that other people took more notice of him, nevertheless Barry wasn't quite sure if it was true or if people were just feeling sorry for him.

"Conner went back with his mom, huh?" Cadence guessed.

Again, Brady shrugged. "Oliver and Mamaw did say they were only able to have him out of hiding for a short while." He looked away, blowing his fringe from his face. "I knew he was going to go back sometime."

"Well, you're up kind of early," Barry said slowly. "Did you sleep okay?" He thought back to when he and Cade were making up their bed and the small, make-shift bed on the floor he'd stepped over. Since having heard about the future, Brady hadn't been sleeping on his own very well. And while Barry thought he was too old to want to sleep in his parents' bedroom, he could understand under the circumstances.

"I slept fine." Brady quickly leapt toward the door as there was a knock that grabbed his attention. He went to open it, immediately beaming when he saw his father. "Hey, dad!"

"Hey, buddy." Ryder reached out and ruffled Brady's hair. "Are you ready to go?"

"Almost." Brady stepped back and allowed Ryder into the apartment. He went to the counter and grabbed the lacrosse stick that leaned against it. He smiled when he saw Ryder lean over to give his mother a kiss on the cheek as well as a hug. "I just had to get my lacrosse stick."

"I was going to help him practice for the team right after if that okay," Ryder added. He turned to Barry and the two slapped palms before giving a quick handshake. "Hey man, how's it going?"

"Not bad," Barry replied. "We haven't seen you around for a while."

"Yeah, I've just been busy," Ryder explained. "I've taken on a lot of contracting jobs lately."

"Hopefully nothing we've done," Barry said, apologetically. "I try to get around to fix things as quickly as I can."

"No, I've been doing a lot of development tracks," Ryder said. "Building homes for people. Reinforcing those that have had termite damage. Things like that. A lot of busy work, I've just been trying to keep my head low."

Cadence frowned, noticing the sudden shift in tone in her ex-boyfriend's voice. "What do you mean, Ry?"

"It's nothing to be worried about," he said quickly. "Just some stupid inter-industry politics going on."

"Sounds boring," Brady remarked.

"'It is," Ryder agreed. "Ready?"

"Yeah." Brady hugged his mom tightly, then moved to Barry and did the same. "Bye mom, bye Barry! I'll see you later."

"Bye." Barry waved after the two. He didn't speak again until the door to the apartment closed. Then he turned a curious look to Cadence. "I don't think Brady's ever hugged me before," he said.

Cadence gave him a funny look. "It's not that weird," she pointed out. "When we get married you're going to be part of the family. He's probably going to hug you sometime."

"No, I understand that, I just mean…" Barry trailed off.

He wasn't quite sure what he did mean. That he was worried over Brady deciding to sleep in their room. That the display of affection from a boy who ducked, bobbed, and weaved out of his mother's way to not get kissed as he felt he was too old for it was concerning. They hadn't really had a chance to talk about what the Assassination Bureau's want with Brady meant.

There hadn't been a good time.

Since Grodd had been taken away and the missile blew, they'd kept as much conversation away from STAR Labs and Team Flash as much as possible. Even so Harrison practically banning them all form going to STAR Labs. The city was quiet, he'd call them over if something went wrong, he promised. He didn't want them to get too bogged down with everything they saw, they needed to keep a low profile.

And Barry agreed.

To an extent.

Sometime soon they needed to come together as a team to talk about everything. But it wasn't the time.

"I mean I didn't expect it," Barry finally said. "It's different; going from just your boyfriend to now being your fiancé. And then him getting another parent out of it. I just wonder if it might be too much for him."

"The fact that you're that concerned about it shows you really do care," Cadence pointed out. She reached out and ran her fingers through Barry's hair, a featherlight touch that made goosebumps appear on his arms while simultaneously making his fears wash away. "And that we're on the same page because I worry about it, too. You're not just boyfriend or just my fiancé." She grinned wickedly. "You're both of those things."

Barry laughed. "So, what are you doing today?"

"I'm getting breakfast with Caitlin and Cisco. You want to come?"

"Can't. I'm having breakfast with Joe, Wally, and Iris."

"They can come, too."

"It's a family thing," Barry said. He noticed Cadence's eyebrows rise and he quickly added, "I'd invite you, too, I mean, if it weren't a family, not that you're not family, all you guys, but—uh—I mean—it's a West thing."

"I'm going to be a West," Cadence pointed out. "Technically." Then her eyebrows furrowed. "And a Nash…and a Wells…and an Allen." Barry grimaced, realizing, technically, he'd be the same as well. "Our family tree is going to be so messed up." Barry laughed in agreement. "Have fun, we'll just meet up with you guys later. It's been a while since all four of us hung out without meta stuff to worry about."

"Don't jinx it," Barry said.

With that, he pressed a kiss to her forehead before super speeding through the apartment to get dressed and race out the door.

Caitlin sighed, twirling a pair of scissors in her hand. She lowered her hand, tapping the blades against her desk top. She lifted her chin and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her meta dampener necklace shone brightly against her brown eyes, making the blonde streak in her hair turn silvery in comparison. That darn blond streak that didn't seem to be going away.

A constant reminder of how closely she'd come to losing control. It would've been worth it, she knew. A way to take care of those within a city she loved. If it meant making sure that her friends were okay…Caitlin briefly closed her eyes. What would it have meant? More blackouts? More lost time?

Since putting on the dampener necklace she didn't have those moments. She remembered everything perfectly, didn't have random purchases popping up. It didn't take long for her to figure out the connection between them. But did it mean she couldn't use her powers ever again? It had taken a lot out of her to even stop the missiles and without the adverse effects, it didn't mean it wasn't going to happen again.

Didn't mean that the meta dampener necklace was working. Maybe it meant she was still holding back. Holding back the potential to help others.

Face it, Caitlin, you really helped them, Caitlin thought, looking at her reflection. Even if you couldn't stop that one missile…her hand shook, fingers curling into her palm. That one, damn, missile. Caitlin brought up her scissors once more, moving it toward her hair.

A knock at her bedroom door startled her into slamming her hand down to the top of her desk. She looked in her mirror to see the door edge open and Cisco step inside, hand over his eyes. "I know I'm broaching the sanctity of your room, but I just wanted to make sure you didn't pass out or something."

Caitlin smiled. "Cisco, I'm fine."

''Okay." Cisco lowered his hand. "Now I can ask, what's taking you so long?" He crossed the room to stand behind her. "You know you don't wear enough make up to make you take this long." He held up a finger, wagging it back and forth. "And you better not be thinking about cutting off that sweet piece of blonde hair out your head."

Caitlin gave him a pointed look.

"Cait, no!" Cisco gave an overly dramatic gasp that nearly made him choke. It's super badass and makes you even more of a badass than you already are."

"Sorry if I don't feel very badass about it," Caitlin replied. She turned in her seat, crossing her legs at the knee. "If I could have—"

"Cait, stop." Cisco's voice was stern yet held nothing but warmth in it. "We can't save everyone, we knew that going into what we're doing now. If we keep wondering about it, it'll drive us all crazy. And you know what does good to keep us from driving crazy?" Caitlin tilted her head curiously. "Breakfast at Jitters. And while the idea of Valentine's Day absolutely repulses me at this point, they make some amazing love doughnuts."

Caitlin smiled to herself, watching as Cisco rubbed his hands over his stomach, licking invisible frosting and sprinkles from his lips. Then she noticed his smile fade and asked, "What's up, Cisco?"

"Everyone else gets to have their love doughnut," Cisco said. Caitlin paused for a moment, trying to figure out what Cisco was trying to say this time. He had some wacky euphemisms and sometimes his pop culture references went over her head. Most of the time, though, she could figure it out within seconds. "When am I going to have one?"

Oh, that was it. Valentine's Day was approaching, and Cisco was starting to feel left out. "Love is complicated," She said soothingly.

"Understatement of the century." Cisco snorted. "So, uh, what about you?" He asked, gently pinching her bedspread between his fingertips. "Anything new on the love doughnut front for you?"

"No." Caitlin shrugged. "Nothing. I've been too busy to even think about it. And I still don't think I'm ready for it, there's too much going on. Even if I were just to be friends with someone—"

"Ah, the friendzone." Cisco nodded sagely. "I know it well. Pretty sure I have a permanent residence there." His voice dripped with sarcasm. "You know, maybe I should just swallow the pill. Maybe my game just aint' strong."

Caitlin sat up, shaking her head. "Your game is so strong." Cisco glared at her, making Caitlin smile sheepishly. Maybe she hadn't been as convincing as she'd like to be. Or maybe she was so convincing Cisco saw right through her attempts to make him feel better. Nevertheless, Caitlin said sincerely, "For what it's worth, I think Lisa Snart was totally into you." Cisco started to smile a smile that Caitlin quickly shut down. "Not that I'd actually let you date her."

"Jealous?" Cisco taunted.

"You'd want to date a criminal?"

"Hey, a girl that fine is hard to come by. I wouldn't mind visiting her in prison every now and then."

Caitlin laughed. She moved to Cisco's side, throwing her arm around his shoulder. "Cisco, I promise, there's a beautiful, intelligent woman out there who's going to challenge you and make you the best version of yourself." She gently shook him. "In fact, she might just be right around the corner."

Cadence took that opportunity to teleport into Caitlin's bedroom. "Or under your nose," she remarked, sending Cisco what appeared to be a sweet smile, but was actually a knowing one. Cisco glared back at her while Caitlin laughed. She shifted aside on the bed, giving Cadence space to sit next to her.

"I mean, our gorgeous intruder Gypsy, could've been the one," Cisco remarked, his tone turning wistful. Cadence rolled her eyes while Caitlin smiled encouragingly. "If we had the chance we could've talked over coffee or dinner…I think the Thai place would've been good. Would Thai have been good?"

Caitlin shook her head. "Thai would've been great, Cisco. But you know what I want right now? Some of those love doughnuts you keep talking about. I'm starving."

"Starving for something," Cadence murmured.

Cisco reached over and flicked her on the ear. Cadence shoved him back. "Come on, children, we don't want to miss out." She moved back to her dresser and looked in the mirror. She tucked her blonde strand of hair behind her ear, made sure her dampener necklace was in place around her neck, and turned back to her friends, holding out her arms.

Cisco moved between Caitlin and Cadence, looping his arms between theirs. "To Jitters," he declared, opening a breach.

Caitlin smiled as the three stepped inside.

Barry's eyebrows furrowed. His footsteps slowed along the sidewalk leading up to the West house. He pressed his phone against his ear, working hard to ensure he was hearing the words correctly. A British accent wasn't difficult to ascertain, he could hear Julian's words clearly. It was making sure he wasn't getting his hopes up that was the problem.

The message ended, Barry quickly replayed it. "I spoke to Captain Singh, and he was only in the middle of the process of your resignation work," Julian's voice said. "What with everything that's been going on around here. So, if you'd like your old lab back, or, I mean, like to share it again…the offer's there. Cheers, mate."

Barry slowed to a stop. He pulled his phone from his ear, staring at it. Not that he wasn't excited for the chance to have his job back but…why now? Why all of a sudden?"

"Barry!"

Barry looked over his shoulder and grinned as Iris and Wally headed his way. They shoved each other back and forth as they approached. "Hey." Barry greeted Iris with a hug and Wally with a man-hug. "What's going on? You guys look annoyed or something."

"Or something," Iris agreed. She nudged Wally with her shoulder. "Wally here thinks that he doesn't need to study for any of his upcoming exams. And that he doesn't need any help on any of his papers." She put a hand next to her ear. "What grade did you get on the last one, again?"

"It wasn't that bad," Wally defended himself.

"Didn't you get a 'C'?" Barry asked, falling into step with them as they moved toward the house.

"Only because my writing wasn't that great," Wally admitted. Iris gave a loud 'ha' then smiled sweetly at Iris, knowing her point had just been proven. "But my professor did say my ideas were spot on. So what if my spelling and grammar isn't so good?" He shrugged. "I'm an engineer, not an English major."

"Why does that sound so familiar?" Iris turned her gaze to Barry, who held his hands up, defensively holding his palms out.

"I never said that," he declared.

"But you did continuously make fun of me for my interest in our English classes," Iris said. She folded her arms and wiggled her neck. "And look where I am now! One of the best reporters the CCPN has ever seen! So, excuse me, Mr. I'm-In-Every-AP-Class-In-Existence, but how is that treating you now?"

Barry smiled at Iris. "You know I would've failed AP English if it wasn't for you."

"Thank you." Iris shoved Wally once more, propelling him up the steps of the house. "All I want is a little recognition."

"And by recognition you mean a cake, a parade, a day for yourself…" Wally took out his keys and used them to unlock the front door. He pushed his way inside, turning back to Iris. "A national holiday—"

"I think a parade would be a bit too much, don't you think?" Iris asked.

Barry laughed along with Iris and Wally. At the same time, the three swung toward the living room and stopped laughing. Barry's mouth dropped open at the same time his eyes widened. He was sure Iris and Wally had the same expressions on their faces.

Joe certainly did. As did the woman who was in his arms, gaping at the three young adults in the stunned silence that moved through the living room.

"I, uh," Wally stammered.

"Weren't we supposed to be having breakfast?" Barry blurted. "Ow!" He cried out when Iris elbowed him in the side. She shot him a glare and turned back to her father and the woman who finally moved and scrambled to their feet. Barry rubbed the sore spot he was hit and looked closer at the woman. She looked familiar to him.

And from the way she was looking back at him, it was obvious he looked familiar to her as well. Or else the nervous smile flittering across her face certainly was because she'd just been caught making out with the police detective by his children.

"Breakfast?" Joe repeated. He carefully smoothed his tie back into place.

"Uh, yeah," Iris replied. She nodded to him. "Monday morning breakfast. Like always." Then she looked to the woman standing beside Joe and thrust her hand out with gusto. "Sorry, I'm being rude. I'm—"

"-Iris, I know who you are," the woman replied. She shook Iris's hand then waved to Barry an Wally. "And you're Wally and Barry." She motioned to Joe. "Joe tells me about you guys all the time."

"Yeah, but…he hasn't really told us about you…" Wally slowly intoned.

At that, Joe cringed even harder while the woman's eyebrows rose. She placed her hands on her hips and fixed Joe with a stare. "You told me you were going to talk to them about us."

"'Us?'" Barry repeated.

"Uh." Joe ran a hand over his mouth. "You see…Cecile and I…we, uh…"

Barry slightly tuned out when he heard the name 'Cecile'. It took a second for him to put the pieces together. Where he'd seen her before. She was DA Cecile Horton. Worked for the CCPD with those who were going through the court process, even represented some of those on the force who were being sued or accused of being too rough when arresting criminals.

"You're together?" Barry asked.

The words felt foreign on his lips. Not that he hadn't thought that Joe could've dated. There were many, many, many times he and Iris tried to convince him he was ready to date as they were growing up. But Joe insisted he was too busy taking care of them, too busy working to even think about dating. Now all of his abrupt disappearances and short words made sense.

"Like…together, together?" Wally asked. He took a step back. "Like we interrupted something, together?"

"Wally, shut up," Iris and Joe said in unison.

"Okay. Look." Cecile held up her hands. "I'm sorry you all had to find out about us like this. But…I've been telling Joe that I've wanted to get to know you guys. Things have been so crazy around here that we haven't really had the chance to just…slow down and talk." Joe drew a hand across his forehead, wiping away his nervous sweat. "So…you guys have breakfast every Sunday?"

Joe finally found his voice once more. "Yeah, uh, we at least try to," he stammered.

"It'd like to join…if that's okay," Cecile said.

"No, yeah, uh, the more the merrier," Barry said. He looked to Joe, who visible relaxed, then back to Wally and Iris. They both nodded.

"Yeah, we'd love to have you," Iris said. She moved forward, placing a comforting hand on Cecile's shoulder. "It's not every day people see all the charm my dad has managed to pass on to me, so I'm glad someone realizes it."

"Have you ever noticed that whenever Iris is congratulating someone else, she managed to congratulate herself, too?" Wally murmured to Barry, watching as the two women giggled their way into the kitchen with an apprehensive Joe following them..

"It took you this long to notice it?" Barry shot back. He laughed and patted Wally on the shoulder. Wally shrugged and moved to follow his family. Barry turned to close the door behind him.

In the distance, he saw a flash of white light. A flash that signified Savitar was up to something, That Savitar wanted Barry to follow him, to tease him even more with his presence and not knowing what he wanted. To show him what it truly meant to be a speedster. To tear him down just to prove how strong he was.

But, for the first time, Barry didn't run after him.

A/N: Well, they all deserved some time for themselves and we deserved to have a nice, happy chapter for everyone. I finally got to some more family stuff with Cadence, Brady, and Barry, got to some more friendly stuff with Caitlin and Cisco, and Barry even got his job back—as odd as Julian was about it. Lol. And the first appearance of Cecile! Did anyone guess this was coming with the way Joe was acting? I hope that, at least, explains why he's been so MIA as of late.

Thanks for being so patient as my work really threw me for a loop. Things are slowing down now and I hope to get back on schedule for all my updates.

Cheers,

-Riley

Review Replies

Ethan: Maya was probably too glued to the television with the threat of the nuclear missiles falling to make a cake, honestly, lol.

DarkHelm145: Yeah, it was kind of weird, but she had her friends around her to take care of her. It was meant to be like that, that they were there to protect her. Yes, with Oliver it'll be explained in the next chapter and when it is I'm sure you'll find it to make a lot of sense.