The goofy smile was the first thing her eyes landed on. The familiar smile meaning home, meaning safety. A smile that erupted the pit of butterflies in her stomach and easing her worries, carrying them away as though they were never there. For a split second her world stopped at a halt, time standing still. Barry was ok. She wiped her tear stained face, it had been 12 hours since she last saw him, she was sure he was a goner, but here he stood in the flesh. The love of her life, alive. But something wasn't right, his eyes; they shone a dark green, they only did that when he wasn't happy...the normal, loving sea-green buried away. But right now, that was the least of her worries. Her world snapped back into play and she darted as fast as her legs could take her and leaped into Barry's arms, he stumbled a little but held his balance, closing his eyes, happy he was home.
They remained in each others embrace a little longer before the others badgered Barry, wondering what happened, wanting to know the details. So Barry told them. From the moment he left Star City to go to Central City to the moment he returned. Zoom was gone, definitely gone this time, Barry did what he had to do, even if he was a hero, he couldn't have Hunter coming back and wanting to kill his family again. Caitlin realised that was the look Barry had when he came in, part regret and part relief. The stunned faces around the room, turned to sympathy, Oliver gave Barry advise, knowing how it felt to first kill someone, knowing how horrible it felt.
"You took one life to save many Barry, of that's what a hero has to do to save thousands of lives then every hero would have done it, your only human Barry"
"Yeah" Barry replied, he took in the advise but he felt horrible, even though he gave Hunter a chance to leave his city, he didn't leave, giving Barry no choice. He didn't enjoy taking Hunters life but it kept people safe and that was enough. Cisco hugged his friend, he didn't care if it wasn't manly. Caitlin joined in, creating the original Team Flash group hug, making them grin. Iris and Joe hugged him to creating a larger group hug, until finally Oliver, Thea and Felicity joined. All of them began lightly laughing before they were holding each other in fits of laughter.
"We love you Barry" Caitlin called over the pile of bodies, quieting her words but they all heard loud and clear and nodded, calming their laughs, they didn't even know what they were laughing at.
"I love you guys too" Barry smirked, "But your kind of crushing me"
They all released him, a half-grin spread across each of their faces and Barry hugged Oliver, Felicity and Thea, thanking them for letting them stay. All his friends saying their goodbyes too, Barry flashing them home one by one. It felt a relief to be back in Star Labs. But he still had to get Caitlin, he put down Cisco and darted back to Star City. Caitlin was just letting Felicity go. "Visit again soon!" Felicity smiled, nodding to Barry again as a small goodbye.
"Knowing our jobs, I probably will" Caitlin chuckled lightly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ears before turning to Barry, allowing him to lift her into his arms. "Let's go home"
In seconds Caitlin was in her lab coat in the middle of a trashed Star Labs. Desks flipped, drawers thrown across the room, Caitlin screamed seeing her lab, it was destroyed. Her equipment broken and bent, things scattered across the floor, her desk in half, Caitlin was an extremely organized person and this lab was far from what it should be. Barry and Cisco were at her side in split seconds, wondering what was wrong, both sighing at her reason. Barry was cleaning the room within ten minutes, a brand new desk, new set of drawers, new equipment stored in each of them, all in alphabetical order the way Caitlin liked it. A new chair, any other mess gone. Barry was out of breath and Caitlin gazed at him love flooding her eyes, a joyous smile curled on her lips. She kissed his cheek, before skipping into her lab, spinning to look at it, it was perfect. "Your the worlds best boyfriend, Barry Allen"
"What can I say?" Barry grinned, looking proud of himself and Cisco punched him, gesturing to the rest of the trashed Star Labs. Barry groaned. He was going to be broke by the time he finished buying new things to replace the old ones. He'd still have to replace the things Jay broke in Joe's house. The cortex took most of the heat, Hunter storming in tearing it apart like a cheetah to a gazelle. Barry rolled his eyes and red lightning was dancing around the cortex, Cisco and Caitlin watching it with a smile, loving the way it looked.
"You know, it kind of looks like the northern lights when he does that" Cisco grinned, snapping a quick picture, Caitlin slapping his arm as he held it frowning at her.
"If someone sees that photo, your going to have a reason as to how you got that close to The Flash" Caitlin scolded, turning on her heels and sitting down on her new chair, trying to find a comfortable spot on it. Welcome Back To Central City, She told herself, a dazzling smirk across her face as she logged in on the new computer.
