song: And The World Was Gone, Calibre and Snow Ghosts

"Whatever happened, whatever is still happening…" Cisco started, "you can always count on us. You know that. You could've…"

"Will you stop it, Cisco? Please, just… stop… What do you need me to do?"

"Helping Barry is one reason, yes," Rachel admitted, "but that's not why we've been looking for you. We have been looking for you, because we care about you, because we love you and we want you back. We want everyone back. The team isn't complete without Caitlin Snow and Barry Allen," she emphasized.

"Just tell me what you've got so far…"

It was so surreal to suddenly have Caitlin back at the Labs. Caitlin. Not Killer Frost. The change was so not expected and it felt as though she was never truly gone. And they jumped right back into doing their best to save Barry and suddenly, after so many weeks of their work leading absolutely nowhere, after all the time Rachel had just been doing her best to go on with her life, to pick it up right after giving up her own powers to finally breath, yet still having to deal with Barry being gone… She had absolutely no idea how she would react on seeing him again. They'd left things in such an ambiguous place just when she'd finally opened herself up to the idea of being with him. She'd admitted that she, indeed, had very strong feelings for him and she wanted to see where it would lead them. She'd even kissed him and the memory of that kiss had been haunting her ever since. It was like a promise they'd given to each other before forced to say goodbye…

And now, she was standing in the cortex, feeling completely disoriented and with her heart beating way too fast in her chest as she was listening to
Cisco, Caitlin and Harry discussing bringing the Flash out of the Speedforce and Cait having the brilliant idea of an orb that would fool the Speedforce into thinking Barry never left…

"Hey, are you ok?" Julian was suddenly there by her side, his hand gently touching her shoulder. She didn't even register him coming closer. "Must be quite overwhelming, right? To be so close to finally getting him back."

She could only nod in response, glad that he understood what she was going through and then, barely an hour after their arrival at Ferris's old airport strip, fear hit her all over. She simply was afraid of what would come next. She wanted Barry back so badly, but in the same time she felt this paralyzing fear because she had no idea how to even act once he was back. It'd been so long, the memory of their parting so vivid in her mind, yet he himself blurry. She didn't know what to expect and it was driving her crazy. Especially after everything was put into motion and… nothing happened.

"I… I really thought this would work," Cisco commented in a disappointed voice.

They all looked pretty defeated, not understanding why Barry wasn't standing there with them, why he wasn't back. And Rachel… well, she froze, realizing what that fear she'd been feeling truly was all about – it wasn't that she was scared of seeing him again. She was terrified she wouldn't… that he was truly lost to them forever.

"Rachel…" she heard her name coming from Harry's mouth as he made a step in her direction, but she was never going to find out what he wanted to
say to her since Julian's phone rang and he seemed quite shocked when he picked up.

"What?! Really?! Ok… no, no… don't call a doctor! I'll be right there! Please, let me handle this first… It's Barry," he informed the team when he hung up and turned around to face them. "A police patrol just picked him up. Apparently, a truck almost ran him over. He was also… um… naked." They all opened their eyes widely in shock.

"Just be careful…" Julian gave warning instructions as he was leading Rachel, Cisco and Caitlin through the halls of the police station; Harry not present for obvious reasons being that he was wearing the face of a murderer. "They say he's in shock, probably caused by the accident he was in… but something tells me it may be a bit more than that. I managed to convince them not to call a doctor. I told them we're close friends and I knew he was coming back, but the accident… anyway… Here." He pushed a door open at the end of a long corridor and let them in.

Rachel's heart was beating so hard in her chest and she was inhaling so much oxygen that she felt dizzy. She still couldn't believe this. She couldn't
believe that they actually had Barry, that whatever they'd done, it had worked. He was back with them and he was there to stay. She could have him back. She…

He didn't change much. They could tell the police gave him a station's t-shirt and sweatpants, but he still looked like himself. Well, except the beard he'd
managed to grow during his absence, that awas. His face, though, even with the additional facial hair, and his eyes, they were just as handsome as they always were and…

"Barry?" Rachel couldn't help it. She said his name and wanted to just come closer, led by instinct. Her heart was calling out to him and she smiled brightly with tears fresh in her eyes, nearly hyperventilating; still feeling his kiss on her lips and then seeing him disappear in the Speedforce.

Now, he was finally here again. He was back. Her mind didn't want to believe it just yet, but she saw it with her own eyes. She stopped in her tracks, though as there was something in his face that seemed foreign out of the sudden and she found out why immediately.

"Who's Barry?" he asked and they all paled. "Stars are melting… Nora shouldn't be here... Your honor, I didn't do this, I didn't kill anyone…" he was mumbling pure gibberish before he started screaming and that was when Caitlin came closer to him and injected him with a sedative.

Rachel should've known it wouldn't be that easy. That nothing in their lives ever was and when it came to her own personal relationship with him, well… it had been a disaster from the start; the memory of seeing him die in agony in her vision still so painful to recall. She didn't even know whether this was something yet to come or maybe it'd already happened once he'd given his powers to Zoom… She didn't know anything anymore, because her own powers were gone and it was a blessing. But also an invitation to huge unknown. Then again, even if Rachel was still haunted by that vision, she would never be able to tell whether it was real or whether – as Cisco suspected – might've been put there by Thawne himself in order to keep her and Barry apart. She would simply never know. All she and Barry ever had and would still have was the present and now, even that seemed to be taken away from them.

Now, she was just standing there, almost shaking whole listening to Caitlin's possible diagnosis. She so did not like the idea of Barry having already spent so many years in the Speedforce that his mind had become senile. She much more liked the other theory that his synapses were moving way too fast for a human brain at the moment.

There was only one way to find out.

"We need to try and wake him up," Caitlin agreed once they were back in the Labs, thinking about what to do next.

"And I might just have the perfect song for that," Cisco volunteered.

"No," suddenly came loud and clear from Harry, who had so far been silent, only listening on.

They all looked at him now in surprise.

"She should do it." He pointed Rachel. "And she alone. She can have the biggest impact on him. Seeing all of you at once may be confusing again, but her… he loves her. And if this were me, seeing my daughter would do the trick. Therefore, you should let her go alone and stop with those ridiculous music ideas, Ramon."

There was silence as they were all processing what he just said. It felt a little bit awkward for Rachel since Harry simply stated that Barry loved her. Yes, it was no secret to anyone present in the cortex, though still something that had never really been said aloud among them.

"Alright. I'll prepare everything," Caitlin offered. "Rachel, come with me."

Rachel had no idea what to do.

She felt ridiculous when staying completely alone with Barry once Caitlin left the lab. The doctor did mention he should wake up within a few minutes, but those minutes slowly started to turn into what seemed like hours to Rachel. The clock was just standing still while she was sitting there in a chair by the bed in which Barry lay; his face so peaceful, so different with the beard, yet still the same, dear and familiar to her.

Should she take his hand? She wondered. Or should she just wait? Would he prefer her to keep her distance? Would he even know who she was? Would this work…? She thought of him looking into her eyes, of her cupping his face and abandoning all her fears before she kissed him… and it felt so right… It wasn't fair that she needed to watch him leave afterwards, but she also knew there was no other choice to be made. He was and would always be the hero this city needed and she had to accept that. The thing was that she also realized she needed him as well. And so much. Maybe even more than she'd ever needed anyone…

He suddenly stirred and she froze, her hand suspended in the air just a few centimeters over his as she still wasn't sure whether she should touch him. And then, it was too late, because he opened his eyes and looked around till his gaze fell upon her and she waited there with bated breath, praying that he would remember everything, that he would remember her.

To her great relief, his eyes shone with recognition and he whispered, "Rachel."

"Oh my god, yes! Barry! You're back!" She reacted purely on instinct when getting up from her chair and throwing herself into his arms as he sat up in the same time, holding them open for her and burying his face in her hair as they embraced.

"I'm back," he assured her, laughing and tightening his hold on her.

"Barry… I… It's been so hard without you… I thought I lost you…" she confessed, hugging him even tighter and feeling completely overwhelmed by all the feelings she was now being bombarded with. To feel him next to her, to be able to hold him like this, to have his warm body against hers… it was too much.

"You'll never lose me," he promised in a whisper directed straight into her ear.

In that moment, the door to the lab opened and their friends spilled out, each and every one of them eager to hug him and tell him how happy they were to have him back.

"Cait, it's so good to see you back to normal," Barry commented when it was her turn to hug him.

By now, Rachel moved away, giving them all space to say hello and knowing that time would come later on when she and Barry would finally be able to talk.

"I hate to break the bubble, but…" Cisco started, "we just got an alert on some crazy Samurai wrecking the city… Are you up for it, buddy?"

"Never been better!" Barry assured him, speeding to get his suit.

One crazy Samurai-android defeat later, they arrived at a point when Julian announced he was ready to go back to England due to some unfinished business and he finally could since Barry was back to work.

"Will you come back to us?" Rachel wanted to know when she hugged him. "You're part of team Flash now, Julian."

"I wish I could say yes, but… truth be told, I need to finally face my family and… there's actually someone special I left behind. I owe it to both myself and her to tell her how I feel. Maybe it's worth the risk, if she still…"

"If she truly cared for you before, then I'm sure she still does," Caitlin said with a smile.

"You, guys, really showed me that escape is never the answer and if you have something real," Julian glanced at Barry and then at Rachel, "you should fight for it no matter what. And that's exactly what I'm going to do."

"Well, the door is always open if you want to come back or just visit, remember that. Thank you for everything, Julian. Also, thank you for covering for me with captain Singh." Barry hugged him as well.

"That was the least I could do. Take care of yourself, mate."

"Well…" Barry went over to Rachel the moment Julian left the Labs, the rest of the team following, clearly giving them the needed space. "I think we also have some unfinished business," he hinted while smiling at her brightly and she couldn't help but smile back, though her heart was hammering in her chest so hard that she had no idea how to react or what to say. "What do you say we grab some coffee or maybe dinner later on? Are you free tonight?"

"Yes," she responded with a nod and a smile, feeling like a whole new world was just opening up to her. "Yes, I am. You can pick me up at 6."

"6 it is, then."

Yet, before Rachel followed everyone else and headed home for both a well-deserved break and a quick look through her closet, she spotted Harry still working in the corner.

"Are you all right?" she asked when approaching him.

He raised his head from the computer screen he was staring at.

"Yes, why?"

"I just… I guess I'm a bit worried about you, Harry. I know things have been tough with Jesse…"

"Stop," he immediately shut her down. "Stop worrying about me. Be happy to have Barry back."

"Harry…"

"I mean it, Rachel. Don't even look at me. You shouldn't be concerned about me. Go out there and finally start living your life the way you were always meant to. Leave Harrison Wells and everything he ever did to you and Barry behind. And remember I'm not him."

"I know that."

"Then what are you still doing here? Go!"

Eventually, she did listen, but she still wouldn't give up on making him go and see his daughter. She would also need to work a little bit on convincing Caitlin to do the same. First things first, though. She had a date to go to and it was long overdue.