A/N: Hi guys! This is the final chapter of The Meta Games. I just wanted to thank everyone who read, and those who reviewed. Hope you like it!

Cisco drew a third line on Barry's side of the board as Caitlin and Barry packed up Clue. "I was worried you had it, at first," Barry said to her.

"I wanted to double-check."

"Me too. You just kind of did it for me." Barry and Iris used to do that to each other whenever they played Clue. He wondered if Nora had played before, and realized he hadn't heard from her today. Maybe she was with Iris. He thought they would have to play Clue tonight.

They looked at Cisco and saw him spread his arms wide. "Lady and Gentleman. We've reached the conclusion of today's events. Congratulations to the winner, of the first annual –

"Annual?" Caitlin murmured.

"- Meta Games, BARRY ALLEN!"

Caitlin clapped, and Barry faked a deep bow. "Thank you, thank you."

"I should go," Caitlin said. "Frost wants to train."

"Yeah, I need to go see what Iris and Ralph have found," Barry said. He looked at Cisco. "You leaving too?"

The engineer was back at the desk, all light signs of humor gone. A set of concentration had replaced the childish expression. "Nah, I'm gonna do some more work on the meta cure. I'll see you tomorrow."

Barry rode the elevator with Caitlin, leaving Cisco in the lab. "He's really serious about that cure, isn't he?"

"Cisco may like jokes, but he's serious about all of his projects. Even the games he had us do today."

Barry half-smiled. Yeah, that was Cisco alright. "They were pretty fun."

"You let me win the ice skating trial."

"What?" If she'd been planning on catching him off guard, she'd succeeded. She'd blindsided him, actually, so he didn't have time to hide his shock.

She raised an eyebrow. "Can you honestly tell me you tried your hardest?"

He opened his mouth immediately but took a few seconds to respond. When he did, it was by placing one hand to the back of his head, a slight upturn coming to his lips. "I guess I could have tried a little harder. But you were embarrassed, and if the ice had been yours it would have been a different story," he justified quickly. He let his arm fall back to his side, looking at her carefully. If she was calling him out… "You've seen me play chess before. You had to recognize the strategy I was using."

Her lips pursed and she tried to look innocent. He saw right through it. "You let me win the chess trial."

"I guess I could have tried a little harder," she teased. "You're still the better chess player." She walked toward her car, then paused. "Why did you really let me win?"

It seemed easier for her to ask it with her back to him, and he felt a twinge of guilt. That was exactly why. "I wanted us to have fun like we used to. Before evil speedsters started wrecking our lives and family pulled our attention away from our friendship."

She turned, her mouth open, concern in her eyes. "Barry, I would never say -,"

"I love my family more than anything. But I've missed this. I've missed hanging out with you and Cisco. I've missed you, Cait."

"Even if we don't spend as much time together as we used to, you're still one of my best friends," she said after a few seconds. "Nothing's changed."

Barry met her gaze. "I've changed. And I'm gonna make sure we don't drift apart anymore."

Barry didn't really see Caitlin's reaction. Not her expression, anyway. She closed the distance between them with a swift step and embraced him. Barry immediately wrapped his arms around her, sighing in content that she wasn't mad at him. He really owed Cisco a drink for making them do the ridiculous tournament. It had given him a chance to say what had been on his mind for a while.

Caitlin let go and took a step back, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I better go."

"Sherloque should have his plan for helping Grace tomorrow. One step closer to stopping Cicada."

She knew what he was saying. Things would only get more hectic from this point on, for the foreseeable future. "See you at next year's Meta Games, Mr. Allen."

Barry smiled. "You've got a year to practice, Dr. Snow. I'm not pulling any punches next year."

"Neither are we," Caitlin and Frost said together. Brown hair, ice-hardened voice.

Barry grinned.

Back in the lab, Cisco worked on the cure for hours. When he grew too tired and frustrated to continue, he pulled up the surveillance footage from the day, scanning through for his favorite moments from the Games. That brought a smile to his face. It hadn't been as hilarious as he'd expected, but he thought he'd done a good job. He would be able to look back on this day with a smile for years to come.