Adventure Of A Lifetime

Chapter 18 - Body Breathing, Almost Comatose

***BARRY***

Between my counterpart, Jax, and Jesse, we've got ample space for all of us visitors to crash for the night. Kara and I stay with Other Me, who, as it turns out, is not dating Other Kara, but instead, Other Caitlin. Turns out she's Other Me's in at STAR Labs, which is how, when this Earth had its own particle accelerator accident, he wound up being one half of Firestorm. (What Jax was doing there to get fused with him, however, remains a mystery.) It also turns out Other Caitlin's a meta herself, with ice powers - which she wears gloves to contain. Most of the time.

"You should see me playing fire extinguisher to Barry and his boyfriend," Other Caitlin snickers, undoing her braid and letting her hair down. She has a noticeable skunk stripe - side effect of her ice powers?

Other Me blushes even as he laughs. "Her little joke. Like I'm not an open-minded guy."

"No, just absent-minded, Professor."

"You're not really a professor, are you?" Kara asks him. "'Cause if you are, I think I fell in love with the wrong Barry."

I suddenly feel self-conscious and underdressed enough to want to shed my hoodie, but I don't. "It's okay, man. She's out of my league too."

"Tell me about it." Other Me snaps his fingers. "Cait, where's that picture of-"

"Kara and Mon? Way ahead of you." She shows us a picture on her phone, a selfie with her and Other Me on one side of a table, and on the other side, Other Kara and this really handsome dude. I mean...whoa. I mean, I've had a man-crush or two in my day - Jensen Ackles, anyone? - but this guy, he's got the face of an angel.

"Is he Kryptonian?" I ask.

"I thought he was, 'cause his full name's Mon-El," says Other Me. "But no, turns out he's-"

"A Daxamite?" Kara smiles softly.

"Yeah, what she said."

"I thought they went extinct. Krypton's explosion took out their world as well."

"That's how you bonded," says Other Caitlin. "Well, uh, our version of you. And Mon. You two both being among the last of your kinds..."

"Sounds really sweet," Kara says.

The good news is, Other Me and Other Cait have a sofabed in their living room, which is where Kara and I are going to sleep tonight. Cisco and Conner are staying with Jax, and Clark and Diana are with Jesse. Tomorrow, we'll all be well-rested and ready to take on whatever unknown threat might be lurking at the big game...

...but for now, I just want to get snuggly with Kara. Be her six-foot-two teddy bear.

While Other Me and Other Cait sleep in their own bed (they offered it to us, but we declined, and Other Me said, "Should've known he wouldn't take it"), Kara gets in under the blanket with me. She holds me closely, resting her head on my chest. It's an adorable sight, because she's now completely covered by the blanket, her head wriggling a tad bit as she adjusts her position.

"You like that, don't you?" I ask, dropping my voice to a whisper. I know she'll have no problem hearing me no matter what.

"What, your heartbeat?" Pause. "It's not as fast as I expected."

"My resting heart rate is very low now. Until you start resting on me."

She giggles. "Aww, look, I see a bunny running on a hamster wheel in there."

"Are you seriously X-raying me?"

"You say that like it's not the first time I've done it."

"Now I feel violated."