"I can't believe I actually let him get away!" Barry said, utterly disappointed in his self as he ripped off his mask.
"Hey-hey-hey, watch the suit, watch the suit!" Cisco said disapprovingly as he bent to retrieve the mask that Barry had flung.
"I don't care about the suit right now!" Barry said, his face livid as he turned to leave.
"Respect the leather!" Cisco called after him as his silhouette rounded the corner, brandishing the mask as he spoke. He added in a mumble, "Someone's on their man period,"
"It's stressful, Cisco. Give him a break," Caitlin said, albeit she didn't turn to face him.
"Protecting your lover now, are we?" Cisco said, crossing his arms as moved in front of her.
Caitlin didn't answer; instead, she turned and moved to exit the control room.
"You don't deny it!" Cisco called after her.
At those words, Caitlin stopped in her tracks and slowly turned to face Cisco, "I'm being a concerned, respectful friend. It's something you should look into,"
After Caitlin was a fair ways away, Cisco said with a slightly raised voice, "Sure! Hate on the Cisco! You know you love me!" and he meant the last part solely as a friend.
Meanwhile, Caitlin had made it her mission to find the place where Barry was hiding out. She had checked every room in STAR Labs three times over (and if there were more than that, she swore she was going to scream), and yet none of them showed any recent sign of the speedster. She decided to check outside first instead of going straight to Jitters, just to be safe. She walked the entire perimeter, three times over as she did the interior; Barry was nowhere to be found.
She didn't want to call a cab; she could use the walk. It wasn't like she got much exercise in the first place. A walk would do her good.
Upon reaching Jitters, she realized the walk had not done her well. It only expanded the time she had to contemplate the situation. She walked in the door, the familiar smell taking over her senses. She scanned quickly over the crowd, which wasn't very big, seeing as the sun was almost set and it was near closing time. Barry wasn't among the mix. She hung around for a few minutes to make sure he wasn't in the restroom, and when that proved to be false, she was beginning to go back to STAR Labs. Barry probably went home.
She pulled out her phone. She scrolled through her contacts (which wasn't a large sum; she didn't get out much), and found Detective Joe West's number. She pressed the call button.
"Hello?" The voice came.
"Hello, Joe? It's Caitlin. Has Barry been by?" She asked, biting her lip.
"No, I don't believe he has. Why, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing. I was looking for him; that's all,"
"Caitlin," Joe did not sound convinced.
"It really is nothing. I promise," Caitlin said, "I need to go now. Let me know if you see him, though? Goodbye," and she hung up the phone.
She would go home and try and get some sleep. She'd have to stop by STAR Labs first to grab her purse beforehand. She began to have the feeling that someone was watching her, as she did often since her capture by Zoom. She turned on the flashlight on her smartphone for a small sense of security. She heard a faint voice, but she couldn't tell what it was saying. It wasn't behind her, or in front of her or even on her left or right. It sounded as if it were emitting from above her.
She turned the light to the roof. She muffled a scream with her sleeve. Dammit, Barry!
"Barry!" She yelled. Between the dark night where not even the moon was shining, and the feeling that there was a person above her that made her feel like collapsing, along with the fact that her flashlight went out, she screamed as Barry ran to the other edge of the roof of STAR Labs. The lightning that tracked behind him reminded her too much of Zoom. She had gotten better, and hadn't had as many episodes, but they still happened sometimes. And this was one of those sometimes.
Barry, like he had always done, was quick to rush to her aid. The lightning didn't scare her this time, although she did flinch a fraction.
"It's okay, Caitlin. It's okay," Barry said, rubbing her arms up and down. His initial thought had been that the meta human was back. But as he reached the ground he had realized that that wasn't the case, and the circumstances had to be eerie to Caitlin.
Caitlin was shaking and her breathing was rapid, even if she knew she was safe and that it hadn't been Zoom. She let out a choked sob.
"It's okay, Caitlin," Barry repeated, "It's just me. You're safe,"
Barry walked her back into STAR Labs and she fetched her purse.
"I -I think I'll stay here for a little while longer," Caitlin said, glancing anxiously out the window.
"Then I am too," Barry said, sitting on the table she was standing beside.
"You don't have to, Barry. I'm fine, honest. I've just got a little more work I didn't finish," Caitlin said. They both knew that every bit of work she had to complete was already finished, organized neatly in a blue notebook.
"We both know that's not true," Barry said, gesturing to said notebook, "Zoom's gone, Cait,"
"I'll go back soon, Barry. I'll be okay," Caitlin said, biting her lip because who was she fooling? Not Barry that was for sure.
"I'm not leaving," Barry said, crossing his arms.
Caitlin wasn't going to lie, "Then make yourself comfortable. I'm not planning on leaving anytime soon,"
Barry simply nodded in return. Caitlin shuffled off to her computer, typing away as if it were noon and she had a mountain of things to be working on.
"Researching bakeries in a fifty mile radius...haven't you already done that?" Barry said, walking over and sitting in the chair beside her that Cisco normally occupied.
Caitlin didn't miss a beat and turned to him, "There are some things it doesn't hurt to do more than once,"
Caitlin returned diligently to her screen. She stayed focused for as long as she could with Barry's gaze burning a hole in the side of her face.
"What?" Caitlin said, the slightest hint of a blush forming on her cheeks.
"I was just think about what you said," Barry said, smirking as her face showed confusion, "That it doesn't hurt...to do some things more than once,"
Caitlin's heart either stopped beating or beat irregularly fast -she couldn't tell. Barry was leaning in, his head cocked and eyes shut. There was nothing left to do but lean in herself, closing the gap between them.
Barry closed the door quietly in the late hours of the night. He had convinced Caitlin to go home and get some rest only a few minutes before, and even running to take her home left him considerably later than usual.
"Caitlin called earlier," Joe said, startling Barry. He hadn't expected him to be awake, "She was looking for you,"
"Define earlier," Barry said, worried that Caitlin had needed him there again.
"A few hours," Joe said, eyeing Barry with suspicion. Barry breathed a sigh of relief, "So where were you?"
"At STAR Labs," Barry said, but his tone told Joe that there was more to the story.
"And why were you at STAR Labs?" Joe inquired.
"I had some...business, to attend to," Barry said.
"And what was this business' name?" Joe said.
"...Caitlin..." Barry mumbled, turning around.
Joe began laughing, slapping Barry on the back.
"Go on to bed, son," Joe said, still laughing.
AN: Look at me, actually updating.