AUTHOR'S NOTE: Just a bit of warning before you proceed reading. Things between a certain couple of characters heated up a bit in this scene, so consider yourselves warned. Also, I might've used some of the lines from the episode wherein this chapter was based off on, so again consider yourselves warned about that before you scream PLAGIARISM, thank you. Also I'd like to thank ShanouNash for pointing out my error way back in the first chapter regarding the eye color; it's corrected now.

III – Barry

Thirteen months later (give or take a week or so)...

A breathless Cisco greeted Iris and I as soon as we got out of the elevator and headed for the Coretex.

"Guys, you have to come see this," he said then dashed away with Iris and I following after him.

Iris and I exchanged confused looks but followed a very excited Cisco.

"Cisco, what's..." my voice trailed off the moment we entered the Coretex and movements from my peripheral caught my attention, making me turn my head towards where I saw the movement and staggered to a halt somewhere between the woman seated on one of the rollie chairs we have floating about while being examined by my father. "Caitlin," I whispered her name as I slowly dragged my feet closer to her, dropping on my knees and taking her hands in mine.

"I'm okay. I'm okay. He-he let me go. I didn't think he would. I thought he was just setting up a trap, only he didn't," she said, her voice shaky but her smile didn't quite reach her eyes. Gone was the light that was relit shortly after I started working with her and Cisco after I found out I became the Flash. She looked like a fragile shell of a woman shaken to the core. I wanted to pull her in my arms and keep her safe there forever if I could. She has been through enough since the particle accelerator exploded; just when she gave love and relationship another go again with Jay, he turned out to be the baddest and insanest mothereffer from another earth.

I gave her hands a reassuring squeeze. I needed to know that she was indeed here and safe even though she looked worse for wear.

"He told me you were dead," her voice broke when she spoke and looked me in the eyes, her hand reaching up to cup the side of my face, reassuring herself that I wasn't a figment of her imagination.

"I'm not. I'm alive," I reassured her, covering her hand with mine. "You're safe now, Caitlin. Zoom's not going to hurt you anymore," I promised her.

"He's-he's strong, Barry. And with your speed gone—"

"It's okay," I cut her off, not wanting her to worry any more than she already have. "I got my speed back. I took a trip in to the speed force and got my speed back," I gave her the Cliff's Notes version on how I got my powers back, but later, after she has eaten and rested, I'll fill her in on what happened.

She frowned and cocked her head to the side in her usual Caitlin style whenever she was confused about something. She really looked cute and adorable whenever she did that. I was tempted to reach out and kiss her, but I had to contain myself. I didn't want to make a spectacle of ourselves in front of friends, family and colleagues. God knows we have had quite a few awkward moments between us since our paths crossed that we both kept on shoving to the back and not bothering to touch on again.

It took a while for Caitlin to understand how I got my speed back after Zoom (masquerading as the good guy, Jay Garrick) took my powers and kidnapped Caitlin for whatever insane reason he deemed fit at the time of taking her. I was powerless and was nearly choked to death by the maniac who was actually Hunter Solomon (where he got 'Jay Garrick' from I have no effing clue!), so I couldn't rush off and beat Zoom to a pulp and save Caitlin.

I watched her sleep off the rest of her fatigue after making sure she had enough liquid and real food in her system before she went to sleep. I was afraid to take my eyes off her even for a nanosecond. Although S.T.A.R. Labs was well fortified with top-of-the-line security, still, Zoom was fast and could be in and out before anyone could blink. Unless he ran into me, of course, that would give him pause as I pummel my fist on his face for even attempting to harm Caitlin again.

"How is she?" Iris appeared behind me in the med-bay where my dad put Caitlin after we convinced her she needed to sleep in order to regain her energy.

"Fidgety," I answered without looking at my childhood best friend and the object of my affection, or at least she was until Caitlin walked in to my life and started to cloud things.

"Side effect of her abduction?"

I shrugged. "Nightmares most probably," I assumed. Now I really wanted Zoom dead more than ever. Caitlin would probably suffer from nightmares of what he put her through when he took her back to Earth 2 and kept her locked up in his twisted world for weeks.

"She'll pull through it, Barry," I felt Iris' hand over my shoulder giving me a reassuring squeeze. "Caitlin is a tough person. She bounced back from losing Ronnie, her husband of just a few hours. I'm pretty sure she will bounce back from this ordeal with Zoom too."

"I sure hope so, Iris, I sure hope so," I reached over and placed my hand on hers, squeezing it in return. I still kept my eyes fixed on Caitlin.

It was hours later, after everyone left and sought the solace of their beds, when Caitlin stirred from her sleep. Dad had to put her down with low doses of thiopental whenever she started having panic attacks. Her last injection of the barbiturate had been over three hours ago; she slept through the last one and was now just stirring.

I quickly moved from where I was sitting close to the door keeping watch of her to her side on the hospital bed. She looked groggy still from the meds, but at least her lips and cheeks showed some semblance of colour compared to her death-white appearance when I first saw her. She was disoriented at first when she opened her eyes, and I could tell another panic attack was about to erupt, but I acted quickly and started soothing her.

"Shh, it's okay, Caitlin. You're safe," I whispered, gently petting her head, my hand cradling hers and giving it light squeezes.

Her eyes flicked over to focus on my face. The room was dimly lit and I had the light behind me.

"Barry?" she croaked.

"I'm here," I moved off the bed, hooked my foot on the chair I'd been using and pulled it towards me so I could sit down without letting go of her. "You're safe now," I repeated.

She bit her lower lip, a Caitlin trait I'd grown to love and recognized as one of her ticks whenever her mind was racing thinking about whatever it was she was obsessing about at the moment.

"Am I? Am I really safe, Barry?" she whispered, her voice breaking and tears fell from her eyes.

It broke my heart to see her like this: defeated and definitely broken. This wasn't the Caitlin Snow I know. She was strong, optimistic, very science-minded, but fierce especially when she was fighting for what she believed in.

"I promise you, Cait, as long as I am breathing, I won't let Zoom touch a hair on your head or lay a finger on your skin," I vowed, squeezing her hand a bit harder than I intended to.

"Oh Barry," she gasped and surprised me when she reached over and put her hand behind my neck, pulling me towards her. She lifted her head slightly off the pillow and pressed her lips against mine.

I was momentarily shocked to stillness by the unexpected action. But the shock wore off quickly and I responded to her kiss. I could hear a thousand and one voices screaming at the back of my head that this was wrong; I should pull away and put as much distance between us, which I did try to do, but Caitlin's grip on my head tightened when I tried to pull away.

"Cait, we can't," I whispered against her lips, nibbling on her lower lip while trying to coax her to let me go.

"I want to make sure that this is real," she replied, suckling on my upper lip just so before opening her mouth for me, her tongue snaking between our mouths and sought mine.

Oh this was real enough, trust me. And this time it was me she was kissing and not some other face-changing metahuman. I growled against her mouth and pushed myself up so I could sit back on the bed, pulling her up with me without breaking contact with each other.

I pulled up surveillance footage of that day when Everyman impersonated me and caused Caitlin to act jumpy around me. I didn't believe her when she told Hannibal Bates didn't do anything to her. When I saw the footage and saw how he was all up in her personal space, taking advantage of her sweetness, I wanted to pummel his non-existent face.

Caitlin latched on to me like someone who has been exposed to the harsh elements in the dessert and found an oasis teeming with fresh water for drinking. Things were getting a bit hot and heavy between us, and since I was the most stable between us, I should put a stop to this make out session before we got jiggy right on this damn bed in the med-bay where anyone (Harry or Jesse most likely since they lived here in S.T.A.R. Labs) could walk in on us. Heck, I don't want either one of my dads (Joe or Henry) walking in on me getting it on with a girl even though I know they were both aware I was no innocent when it comes to what goes on between a man and a woman. That would be one helluva awkward situation, and the conversation that would most likely ensue after that would be twice as awkward, not to mention the sermon I'd be receiving not only from my two father-figures, but also from Harrison Wells who'd most likely spew something about fornicating with a colleague.

"Caitlin—" I tried to reason with her once again, but like my previous attempt, Caitlin stopped me, only this time she grew bolder (a regained enough energy from the looks of it) by coming up to her knees and pushing me back against the head of the bed until I had one leg straightened out on the bed and the other hanging off the side. Once she positioned me the way she wanted me, she straddled my thighs and resumed our kiss.

Okay, I fantasized about doing something similar to this with her on and off since, oh, since that night we went to the bar and sang karaoke in front of about fifty people or so; that night might've been a complete fog as far as she was concerned, but not to me. I wasn't as inebriated as she was that night, and yes, before you harangue me for being a dickhead for taking advantage of poor Caitlin, in my defence I wanted what happened between us to happen since I saw her walked in to the bar wearing what she wore that night. But before you all completely crucify me for taking advantage of Caitlin, no penetration happened. We pretty much did a helluva lot of heavy petting and we probably got to second or third base before guilt took over and I put a stop to what was going on between us before we ended up hitting a damn homerun and hate each other in the morning. She wasn't happy that I ended things just as it was heating up, but she understood my reasoning – I hoped – and insisted we snuggle instead until she fell asleep, which was how I ended up asleep in her bed sans my clothes on.

I'd be damned if I let this make out session of ours get as out of hand as the last time (not that I didn't want it to because God knows I do, it just wasn't the right time or place, dammit!).

Cupping her face in my hands, I pried our mouths apart and I held her in place as gently as I could without hurting.

"Cait, we can't," I repeated, meeting and holding her gaze, wanting to be sure that she understood what I was saying.

"I need this, Barry," was her desperate plea.

"I understand, Cait, I do. But you're in a vulnerable state right now, and I don't want to be an ass and take advantage of you when you are like this."

She stared at me for the longest time, those expressive big brown eyes of hers looking at me like she was only seeing me for the first time before she burst into tears once again. I was surprised by this and loosed my hold on her, which she took advantage of and dove in to embrace me, burying her face in the crook of my neck and sobbed her heart out.

I don't know how long I held her like that, straddling me, arms wrapped around me and her face wetting the side of my neck with her tears. I knew she needed that release. I didn't ask her anything; I just let her be until the crying stopped and only slight hiccups remained. I rearranged us sometime later, but like before Caitlin hung on to me like her very life depended on it until she fell asleep. I dunno how we managed to fit in to the bed, but we did and that was how my dad, Joe, Harry and Cisco found us the next day fast asleep with Caitlin spooned in my arms fast asleep, our backs to the door so I couldn't see our audiences' faces.

"What the hell happened last night?" I heard Joe ask.

"She probably woke up," that was Cisco.

"Uh-hm, Caitlin woke up and invited Barry to sleep with her?" was Harry's snarky response.

"Did they?" that was my dad.

"Did they what?" Cisco asked.

"Sleep together," Dad deadpanned.

Silence.

I held my breath, waiting for anyone of them to say anything. I didn't dare stir from where I lay. I kept a still asleep Caitlin cradled in my arms, praying that she won't stir awake until after we were alone again.

"Clearly they slept together," it was Cisco who broke the eerie silence, "but in a non-sexual way obviously," he hastily added.

I felt Caitlin stiffen in my arms then.

Crap, she was awake.

I gave her a slight squeeze and since my face was nestled between her neck and shoulder, I whispered, "Pretend you're still asleep. Wait until they leave."

She acknowledged that she heard me by squeezing my arm that was protectively wrapped over her waist.

It took the four of them another few minutes of watching and probably speculating before I heard their retreating footsteps. Even then I told Caitlin not to make a move just yet.

"Well, that was awkward," Caitlin huffed once it was just us once again in the med-bay.

I chuckled in agreement, planting a kiss on the exposed skin of her shoulder in acknowledgment. Yes, this was definitely awkward. I wonder what kinda talk we'd be having about what happened between us last night...