A/N:Thank you to everyone who is reading and reviewing! You all are so great and you inspire me to continue writing. Enjoy this next chapter =)

"How is she?"

Barry sighed. "Physically or emotionally?"

Cisco crossed his arms and leaned against the desk. "Both?"

"Physically, she's healing up well," Barry responded absently, glancing over to where Caitlin still slept peacefully in the bed in the lab's medical area. She was a little pale and weak from the small blood loss, but she should be good as new in just a couple days, especially if her metahuman healing kicked in to help. "Emotionally? That's hard to say."

Cisco nodded, then asked in a lower voice, "Why didn't she tell us?" There was a hint of hurt in his tone.

"Fear," Barry said softly. "She didn't want us to see her differently, didn't want us to think that she was going to become Killer Frost. She did everything she possibly could to mask her powers and their effect, but it was too much for her. I only found out because I was around in one of the moments when her control slipped."

"But we can help her," Cisco insisted immediately. "It doesn't matter if she's a meta that's likely to go crazy at any moment; she's still our Caitlin."

With a smile, Barry jerked his thumb towards Caitlin's sleeping form. "Tell her that, not me. She's the one who probably really needs to hear that kind of unconditional support at the moment."

"I will," Cisco promised, "just as soon as she wakes up. In the meantime, though," he added, turning away from Barry and heading towards his lab, "I have to start brainstorming ideas for power nullifiers or dampeners or something."

Barry clapped his friend on the back. "Caitlin's lucky to have such a great friend."

"Look who's talking," Cisco said with a grin. "Seriously, dude, with Vibe and the Flash on her side, Caitlin shouldn't be worried at all."

Out of the corner of his eye, Barry saw Caitlin stir in her bed through the glass wall separating her room from where he stood. "Hey, man, I think Caitlin's waking up."

"Go," Cisco said immediately. "Like I said, I have lab work to do." Then, his friend gave him a wink. "Besides, it's not like I haven't noticed the way you look at her."

"The way I...what?" Barry sputtered. "No no, it's nothing like that. I mean, there's Iris…" Though I don't know how I feel about her lately, he thought guiltily. "Caitlin and I...she's pretty, of course she's pretty, and smart, but we're just friends. Nothing more. Do I want to be more, though? It was a question that Barry was pretty sure he knew the answer to, but didn't want to admit to himself. Not until he knew how she felt, of course.

"Suurre," Cisco said, rolling his eyes dramatically. "That was convincing. Don't try to fool Vibe, dude. Not possible. I see everything."

"Whatever." Barry crossed his arms in front of him. "Don't you need to go tinker with things?"

"We'll talk about this later," Cisco promised threateningly as he left Barry alone to go check on Caitlin.

…

"Feeling any better?" Barry entered the small medical room, a worried look on his face.

It touched Caitlin, probably more than it should, that he seemed so concerned for her. Of course, he would probably look that concerned if anyone from the team was hurt, she told herself. Don't read too much into things. However, she wanted to read into things. She knew that her feelings towards Barry were becoming more and more...complicated...since he had found out about her powers. They had spent much more time together, and she felt closer to him than she had felt to anyone in a long, long time. Was it so bad to hope that some part of him felt the same way?

"A little bit," she responded finally. "My leg aches, but I assume that's pretty normal after being stabbed with a flying shard of pure energy."

Barry smiled and came over to perch on the side of her bed. "Cisco says hi. He would have come in, but he has some ideas for power nullifiers to help you keep control and he wanted to test them out right away."

A rush of hope flooded through Caitlin, and in her excitement she found herself gripping Barry's hand tightly in hers. "Really?" she asked. "You and I weren't able to come up with anything, though…"

"We mostly looked into biological solutions, aimed at getting rid of your powers completely," Barry pointed out, looking down at where they were holding hands on the bed. Caitlin blushed, but he didn't let go, and she didn't want to be the one to break the contact - Barry's hand in hers felt much too comforting for her to pull away. "Cisco might have something technological that could work better to just nullify them instead."

"Is he mad?" The thought of Cisco being upset at her was hard to stomach.

"I don't think so," Barry said, running his thumb along the back of her hand. Though it was probably meant to be a comforting gesture, Caitlin felt her heart speed up at his touch and the blush return to her cheeks even more intensely. "I'm sure he wished you would have told him, but you know Cisco - loyal no matter what. He just wants to help you, same with everyone else.

Caitlin relaxed back into the bed, relieved. It had been one of her biggest fears that everyone would see her as the monster - as Killer Frost - instead of as herself.

"Cait?" Barry asked hesitantly, scooting slightly closer to her on the bed. "Can I ask you something?"

"Anything," she said immediately, her heart leaping at the sound of her nickname on his lips. "You know I don't have secrets from you. Or anyone, anymore," she added wryly.

"How do you feel about me?" There was a vulnerable look in his eyes as he asked the question, like he was worried about her response.

"I, uh, Barry," Caitlin started, stumbling over her words. How was she supposed to respond to that? I know we're not dating and you've been in love with Iris for almost forever, but I think I may be falling for you? "I like you," she said slowly. "You're a wonderful friend, and you're always there for me, especially lately with everything going on." It seemed like a safe answer - one that would assure Barry that she cared without causing awkwardness and drama in their relationship. "Why are you asking?"

"No reason," Barry shook his head quickly, but she thought she saw a flash of disappointment in his eyes before he looked away. "Just curious. Anyway, I should go check on Cisco." He left before Caitlin could say another word, leaving her feeling surprisingly empty inside.

…

That night, Barry paced the hallway outside the door to Caitlin's apartment, where he had left her a couple hours ago after she insisted that she was well enough to return home to finish healing and she promised that she actually would take it easy.

Hearing that she considered him as a friend has stung more than he thought it would, and that alone made him wonder if his feelings for her ran deeper than he had previously believed. It was clear that she didn't return his feelings, but that only made his confusion worse.

And then there was Iris. Lately, they had spent almost no time together, and Barry had barely noticed. Should that say something? Did that mean that he was just so used to thinking that he was in love with her that he hadn't noticed when that love had changed to a deep friendship? Or was he reading way too much into a week apart?

Still, thoughts of Caitlin occupied his mind constantly. The way so wrinkled her nose, her smile, those legs in her fuzzy bathrobe, her bravery against Blockade, the constant desire to kiss her…

Finally, Barry reached a decision. He couldn't pace here all night - he had to act. His relationship with Caitlin meant enough that he wanted to be honest about how he felt with her, even if he was confused as all heck.

He knocked on the door before he lost his nerve, and then used the spare key to get it.

"Barry?" Caitlin looked up from where she lay on the couch, wearing loose pajama bottoms and a polka dotted tank top. Her hair was piled in a messy bun on top of her head, and tendrils of her hair curled enticingly along her neck. She was absolutely breathtaking. "What are you doing here so late?"

"I needed to see you," Barry replied, coming to kneel on the floor next to the couch, since he didn't want her to have to move the leg she was obviously elevating on the armrest. His heart sped up as he took her hand in his. "I like you, Cait," he said, looking into her eyes. He wasn't ready to commit to anything more at the moment, but he knew that, at the very least, he was attracted to her physically and emotionally.

"I...uh…" Caitlin started to say, but her lips parted slightly with the words and Barry was no longer able to resist the urge to kiss her.

He leaned in, slowly, giving her the chance to move out of the way if she wanted to, and gently caressed his lips against hers. It was sweet and tender and left Barry wanting more, but he reluctantly pulled away, keeping his eyes closed and savouring the taste of her on his lips.

"Barry?" Caitlin asked breathlessly, and he finally opened his eyes to look at her.

She was smiling.

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