Hey everyone, thank you for all the reviews, they really do get me to write the chapters faster. Thanks especially to Flash frost for asking that I write a chapter from Barry's POV. So this is just a quick chapter that revolves around Barry at S.T.A.R labs, next chapter will be back to Caitlin and Zoom. Enjoy!
Cisco started to chew on his pen. He only did that when he got really nervous. He had listened to the first part of Caitlin's message so many times.
"Cisco, I care about you so much, and I need you to tell everyone how much I love them all," he repeated the line, over and over again. He could hear she was crying, he knew her well enough to hear the change in her tone. So he turned the speaker on.
"Guys," he said into it, taking a deep breath. "I need you up here now," he said, resetting the recording to the beginning. Everyone came in, Barry coming through in a red streak. He had lost his speed, Cisco understood him using it now as much as he could.
"News on Zoom?" asked Barry, moving to stand by the computer screen.
"I missed the call because we were dealing with the whole potential zombie apocalypse," started Cisco, as Joe was the last to enter the room. "But Caitlin rang. And I think you will want to hear it," he said, pressing play. They all went silent at the sound of her voice.
"Cisco, it's me. Listen, you need to know, Zoom has an army of metahumans ready to attack, you need to protect yourselves. He has said I can leave, Zoom is letting me go. But I can't. If I leave there is no one to stop him, stop him from hurting the people I love. So I can't. I have to stay with him if it gives me even the smallest chance to stop him from killing all of you. Cisco, I care about you so much, and I need you to tell everyone how much I love them all," they heard her say. Barry felt his heart slump, she sounded so weak, so broken. What had Zoom done to her? What was he putting her through?
"We need to save her," Barry muttered.
"Wait," said Cisco. "There is more," he added, turning the recording up.
"And I don't know if Barry is dead or not," started Caitlin. "But if he is still alive, can you please get him to listen to this?" she finished and Cisco paused the recording.
"I don't know what she says next," muttered Cisco. "But I figured these words are for you and you alone," said Cisco, sending the file through to Barry's phone.
"I need to go and…" stuttered Barry, moving out into the hallway. He paced the corridors, every second growing more anxious. He wanted to hear what Caitlin had said to him. The only issue was, what if what she said wasn't what he wanted to hear? He was so worried, because right now she was imprisoned with Zoom. Stuck in a physical and psychological prison, and he didn't know how to save her. It was likely that he had her trapped in the precinct, surrounded by a battalion of metahumans to protect her. He pulled out his phone and opened up the audio file. Barry always got nervous around this kind of thing. But this was different to the nerves about talking with Iris, or when he had asked Patty out. These felt twenty times worse. Maybe it was because there was a chance he would never see her again. Or maybe it was because there was something more to his relationship with Caitlin than just friends.
He pressed play.
"And I don't know if Barry is dead or not. But if he is alive, can you please get him to listen to this?" he paused it, hearing her voice so broken hurt. He felt the pain she was feeling.
He pressed play again.
"Barry, I need to be honest with you. I love you. I have for some time. You are so much more than the Flash, you are so kind, and caring, so intelligent and brave. You are everything that I have ever wanted to find. And I understand, that for you there will always be another person, like Iris. And I respect that. But in case I never see you again, and in case something happens to me, I want to know that I told you the truth. Barry Allen, I love you. And I am so, so sorry for everything I have put you through. I love you Barry. Goodbye," Barry froze.
His phone hit the ground.
She did love him, it wasn't Zoom's manipulative behaviour.
Caitlin loved him.
He reached up to his cheeks, feeling the tears running down them. Barry had never had the most luck in love. He had been in love with a girl who had never looked at him that way. And then a girl he lost because he couldn't be honest. Maybe that was why he had tried to see Caitlin as only a friend, because he couldn't see her as anything more or else he might lose her too.
But the truth was he did have feelings for her. He couldn't help it. And they went past the idea of friends, past the sibling bond that Caitlin and Cisco shared. There was so much more between her and Barry, that both of them had tried to bury.
He loved Caitlin.
Caitlin had lost the love of her life, and Barry had thought Iris was his. Maybe Caitlin was lucky enough to get two, and Barry had only had one the whole time.
He loved the way she smiled when she finally solved a problem no one else could solve. The laughs that echoed around the lab when her and Cisco would joke together. Her willingness to do whatever it takes to protect those she cared about. Her fighting spirit, he knew that no matter what Zoom did, Caitlin would always fight back. He loved her intelligence, her wit. If he needed to talk over evidence, she was the one to go to.
Caitlin didn't open up to many people, and Barry realised she had opened up to him. She had trusted him with so much of her life, and she was now so much of his life. When Zoom had taken her, and then forced her to say those things at Jitters, it had shocked Barry's system.
When Barry lost his speed, he thought he had lost what he was, everything that made him special.
"You are so much more than the Flash, you are kind, and caring, so intelligent and brave," she said, and it made Barry smile. She loved him, even though he had lost his speed, become regular, become ordinary.
Barry picked himself up off the floor, feeling the anger flash through his body. He could feel the electricity flash through his eyes. Every minute she was stuck with Zoom was another minute Barry was failing her. And that needed to change. He walked back towards the main room, everyone waiting for him. They tried to look like they hadn't been talking about him and Caitlin, they failed.
"We are getting her back," said Barry, and everyone in the room knew how serious he was. Barry had only sounded this determined on a rare occasion before. When hunting down the reverse flash, when trying to stop Zoom.
"Alright," said Harry.
"We need a way to stop these metahumans, take them all out in one go, and lock them all away," said Barry.
"I'll have a think," said Harry, grabbing Jesse and racing down to the workshop. They worked well together as a team.
"Cisco, can you come with me?" asked Barry, and Cisco nodded.
"I'm guessing Caitlin came clean with you in the recording?" asked Cisco, pulling out a stool to sit on.
"You knew? About how she felt?" said Barry, leaning against the table, wiping his cheeks.
"Caitlin couldn't hide it from me, I know her too well," he replied. Barry looked at Cisco, who caught on as to why he had been pulled away. "You want me to vibe on Caitlin? See how she is?" he asked and Barry nodded. "I'll go get her lab coat," muttered Cisco, needing something that he could connect to her.
"I'll come with you, in case you vibe when you get closer," said Barry, and they both headed to where Caitlin kept her belongings. It felt slightly invasive, going through her belongings, but it was worth it if Cisco managed to see her.
Barry found her lab coat first. All he could see was her smiling in it, delighted at solving the impossible. He had always loved it when she smiled, it was so contagious that he couldn't resist grinning from ear to ear as well. Or the way she would chew on her pencil while waiting on a lab result. Or nervously tap her ring finger while waiting for an email to come through. He loved everything about her. He held the coat close to him for a minute, needing the small comfort it provided. With her coat here, Barry could almost convince himself that Caitlin was there with him, by his side, smiling and laughing. With no Zoom to worry about. Just the two of them, finally being honest with each other, being together. Barry extended the coat out towards Cisco who took a deep breath. He had been vibing so much recently, he hoped it wouldn't have a negative effect on him later. But Caitlin was worth it.
She was sat in the Captain's office on a makeshift bed, the windows blocked out. Metahumans littered the corridor outside. She looked so pale, so weak, he doubted she had slept or eaten much at all.
Cisco came out of the vibe with a gasp. "She is alive, Zoom is keeping her at the precinct, in the Captain's office," he muttered, gathering his strength back. He passed the coat back to Barry, not wanting to accidentally vibe on her again. "She's weak though, it doesn't look like she has been eating or sleeping much," he added, and Barry fell down into a chair. Caitlin needed him more than ever, and he had no clue how to help her now. "Metahumans are patrolling the whole precinct, no way even you can get to her with all the people around her," Cisco added, leaning back against a table.
"Then we think of a way to take them all out, and save her. Before…" started Barry, unable to finish the sentence. Both knew what could happen to Caitlin, and neither planned on attending a funeral any time soon. "Cisco, can you vibe me to her? So I can let her know I'm alive?" asked Barry, even though he knew what Cisco would reply.
"There is at least five people with eyes on her. They would see you instantly, and that could end badly for her," replied Cisco, stuttering over the last couple of words. Both of them wanted to prevent any extra harm to Caitlin, she was clearly going through more than enough already, and Barry didn't want to be the reason she was hurt more.
"Cisco, we are going to save her. And then we are going to do whatever it takes to stop Zoom so that he can never hurt her, or anyone else again," said Barry, gripping her lab coat tight.
"Barry," started Cisco, slightly hesitantly. That wasn't like him. Normally Cisco was fairly straight up with him, they had become like brothers and that removed a lot of the need for a filter between the two. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to," he continued and Barry started to worry. What was so bad that he had to give Barry a way out before he started? "How do you feel, about Caitlin? I know where she stands, but do you feel the same for her?" he asked, looking at Barry. "I have seen Cait heartbroken so many times Barry. I can't let her go through it again," he finished. Barry reached for his phone, skipping the recording slightly ahead.
"Barry, I need to be honest with you. I love you. I have for some time. You are so much more than the Flash, you are so kind, and caring, so intelligent and brave. You are everything that I have ever wanted to find. And I understand, that for you there will always be another person, like Iris. And I respect that. But in case I never see you again, and in case something happens to me, I want to know that I told you the truth. Barry Allen, I love you. And I am so, so sorry for everything I have put you through. I love you Barry. Goodbye."
"I didn't realise she felt that deeply, muttered Cisco, wiping a tear away from his eye. He knew she had strong feelings for Barry, but a part of him thought that no one could come close to Ronnie. But the way she spoke about Barry, she did truly love him. And that made Cisco's question matter a lot more.
"I love her Cisco. I love her so much, that knowing how she feels and that right now we cannot be together is driving me completely mad. I always thought that Iris was the only one I would ever truly love, but Caitlin has always been there, and I can't lose her now that I know how I truly feel," he said, new tears rolling down his cheeks.
"We will get her back, I promise you that Barry," said Cisco, gripping his hand tight.
"Cisco, Barry we need you in here now," they both jumped as Harry's voice came over the speaker.
"Let's do this," said Cisco. Barry nodded.
"Let's bring her home."