Caitlin was an utter mess. She couldn't believe Jay had reached out to her after the restraining order was put into effect. But, if she was being honest with herself, she wasn't surprised. Jay always did do whatever the hell he pleased, damn the consequences. She liked her lips, watching Maddy sleep in her bed. Barry, Cisco, and Hartley were all in her living room, talking with Joe and her father, and she knew the men in her life would do whatever it took to protect Maddy. Especially Barry.

Her heart warmed at the thought of Maddy calling him daddy. If Caitlin could have anything in the world, it would be for Barry to be Maddy's true father. She didn't want Jay and Maddy to have any ties to each other. But not everything worked out the way people wanted it to, and she had to make do with the best she had.

Runing a hand through her daughter's curls, she pressed a gentle kiss to the crown of her head, and then walked out of the room. Leaving her daughter's door cracked open, she made her way to where the other people were in her apartment. Hartley and Cisco were sitting side-by-side, with Hartley reviewing the restraining order, and Barry and Joe were talking quietly in the corner. Hartley saw her first and spoke up. "Caitlin, I don't know if Cisco told you or not, but I'm a lawyer. I know Jay called you once when he was served the restraining order. That's he's get out of jail-free card used up. If he so much as breathes in your direction, we'll have Joe arrest him."

Caitlin sighed in relief. That was exactly what she needed to hear. "Thank you, Hartley. I cannot tell you how much that means to me."

The other man smiled at her kindly. "You mean the world to Cisco, which means you mean the world to me, too. And Maddy is a good kid. Cisco and I will do anything to help you protect her."

Caitlin swallowed the lump in her throat discreetly. Again, she wondered why it had taken her so long to come back home. Had she come when Maddy was born, she would have had all this support from the start. She nodded her head, throat too tight to say anything, and Cisco patted her knee. Then Barry and Joe walked towards them. "Caitlin, do you want to get a guard dog?"

Caitlin looked at Joe, thinking about his question for a moment, before sighing. "I would love to get a pet for Mads one day, but I don't want her first pet to be a guard dog. I wouldn't be able to explain to her why we needed one."

Barry looked at Joe. "Thought that'd be the answer. Maddy deserves a dog that can play with her; not one meant for guarding their apartment."

"Okay," Joe agreed after a moment. "But at least, let me station a couple of men outside of your complex. Plainclothes."

Caitlin was already shaking her head. "I'm not going to upend Maddy's life. We cannot have the complex crawling with cops. Yes, I would feel better if there was one or two – so if you could make it a small number, I'd feel better about that.'

"I can do that," Joe assured her. "Let me look at my men and see who I have."

"Okay," Caitlin replied after a moment's worth of hesitation. "That'd be good, then. Thank you."

Joe stepped out of the room, cell phone in hand, and she could hear him calling someone. Hs voice became a low murmur, and she looked back at Barry. He brushed his lips against her forehead and squeezed her hand gently. "Not one of us are going to let anything happen to that little girl." His tone was strong in his conviction and Caitlin couldn't help but believe him. She expelled a sigh.

"Thank you," she murmured. Hartley and Cisco came to stand by them, Cisco placing his hand on her shoulder.

"We're not going to let anything happen to either one of you, all right?" Cisco asked.

"It's not me I'm so much worried about," Caitlin admitted. Barry squeezed her hand.

"I know Maddy is your number one concern right now. I get that. But you both are my number one concern, and Jay seems to be obsessed with you. Please, please, don't do anything reckless."

Caitlin studied his face, taking in the urgency in his tone. She knew he had a point. Caitlin would do anything to ensure her daughter's safety, even at the cost of her own. But that didn't mean she wanted to leave Maddy without a mother. She closed her eyes the next moment. When things had become so complicated, she didn't know. She supposed they had always been complicated and she was just better at dealing with it when she was on her own.

But no, that wasn't necessarily true. Sure, she and Maddy had solely relied on each other for the first couple of years of her life, with her grandparents helping whenever they could. But now they had Barry and Cisco and the rest of her friends and family. Barry and Caitlin were refamiliarizing themselves with one another and that was beautiful. They were -

CRASH.

Caitlin jumped to her feet, sprinting to Maddy's room with Barry hot on her heels. She flung the door open and turned on the light. "Maddy? MADELINE!" Caitlin screamed but it was no use. Her daughter wasn't in her room, and the window had been shattered to pieces. She raced out of her room, stomaching bottoming out because she knew she saw blood on the glass, and she ran outside. "MADDY!"

Barry shouted her name too as Joe called for backup. "CCPD, this is Joe West. We have a possible kidnapping. I repeat, we have a possible kidnapping." He called off the address to the complex as Caitlin collapsed in Barry's arms. Where the hell was her daughter?