Only Because I Need You Too

Chapter 1: Ethaitlin

Caitlin was curled on her side. Warmth cradled her entire body and soft bedding wrapped around her. The doctor would happily admit that the good thing about sharing a bed with a speedster was that it was always warm. Analysing the gentle curves and contours of Ethan's face, a soft smile pulled at her lips. The speedster's scar had healed well after her intervention. With a little bit of TLC, Caitlin had made it look like any other burned scar tissue. Shiny and tight. Even his left eye had progressed a lot. Colour had returned to his iris, not quite the same deep hazel it used to be, but more of a pale green. Caitlin didn't mind the scars or the eye. It had been a long time since she had even noticed them. Whenever they were brought up in conversation, she often found herself surprised as though she had forgotten their existence. A smile split the speedster's face.

"Are you going to keep staring at me forever or are we going to get up to go to work?" Ethan asked groggily, peeling open an eyes and staring at her from under thick lashes.

"I don't know, I am enjoying the view," Caitlin hummed.

Ethan snorted and pushed himself into a sitting position, "that's my line," he grumbled, rubbing his eyes with the base of his free palm. Copying his actions, Caitlin herself sat up, ignoring the way the movement made her stomach lurch and brain tingle. Staring down at her stomach, a smile crossed her face. Her abdomen had grown large, roughly the size of a melon. One thing the doctor could always be grateful for, was that her PhD allowed her to be more alert and in tune with her body. Ethan gently placed a hand on her stomach, splaying his fingers out, "she's getting big," he smiled, an unmistakable glitter filled his eyes.

"Only a little while until she's due," Caitlin replied, stretching her arms far above her head.

"I can't wait," Ethan grinned.

Caitlin placed her delicate hand on top of his. "Me either,"

In a whoosh of wind, Ethan was by Caitlin's bedside. Outstretching a hand, he asked, "shall we," grinning Caitlin grasped it and hauled herself up. Waking up with Ethan always put her in a good mood. The right mood to tackle any problem thrown at her by the universe. Including Ethan himself of course.

*

Caitlin strode into the buzzing cortex with Ethan at her heels. Team Flash turned to greet her. Barry and Iris were sitting at the welcome desk and Cisco was seated right by them. Ralph on the other hand was seated on the floor, a tiny pink toy grasped in his hands as he played dolly with a tiny little girl in a tiny little dress with cute curly little bunches. The girl turned on her heels, her face lit up with delight. The girl squealed in excitement and ran to meet the doctor. In preparation Caitlin got down onto one knee and opened her arms wide. "AUNTY CAITLIN!" The child cried as she ran over to Caitlin and threw herself into the woman's embrace.

'Oh, here comes trouble,' Killer Frost's icy voice rumbled through Caitlin's mind. The meta would never admit it, but Caitlin could see that Frost had a soft spot for children. Especially Nora.

"Hello Nora," Caitlin cooed back, hugging the child close. "Now this is the welcome I wish I would get every morning," she sent a pointed glare to team Flash. Barry and Iris traded a love filled gaze before they set their trained gaze on the child.

"Guess what!" Nora squeaked as she jumped up and down in excitement, pulling away from Caitlin's embrace. The doctor almost immediately wished the child had just stayed put a moment longer.

"What?" Caitlin asked, raising her eyebrows and unwillingly letting go of the little girl.

"Snow cancelled preschool!" Her childish voice cried in excitement. The toddler could barely get her tongue around the word preschool, but Caitlin was amused by her apparent exhilaration at having a snow day. The doctor could only wish she had that much energy.

"Are you going to play in the snow?" Caitlin replied, wearing a cheesy grin.

Th toddler jumped up and down on the spot, "We going sledging. You come too?" She giggled, clasping her hands behind her back and batting her thick lashes.

'Go, I want to see her face when I leave her in my dust,' Frost growled happily. Caitlin stopped herself from rolling her eyes. There was no way she would let her cold counterpart beat little Nora. It was not happening.

"Well, I can't," Caitlin patted her baby bump gentle, then cocked her head round towards Ethan, "but Uncle Ethan has no excuse," Ethan sent her a playful glare.

Nora giggled, "will you come?" She waddled over to him and gripped his trouser leg in her tiny fists.

Ethan squatted down to her level and pursed his lips, "of course, but only so I can beat you down the hill," He wiggled his eyebrows. Caitlin sighed inwardly, ex-criminals think alike!

"No, I will win," she stuck her tongue out.

"Game on," Ethan replied, patting her head gently. The child nodded, and in a streak of purple and yellow lightning she was in her father's lap. Caitlin and Ethan stood to their feet. The doctor had a sly smile on her lips. She could only imagine what Ethan would be like as a father, but from what she had seen of his interactions with Nora, he was going to be great. The speedster met her gaze with a wink.

"It been quiet overnight," Cisco announced, "little to no crime, and I highly doubt there will be many criminals out in the snow,"

Caitlin hummed in curiosity and joined her teammates at the desk, followed closely by Ethan. "It's always been a dream of Killer Frost's to fight in the snow," she hummed.

'Don't you throw me under the bus,' Frost murmured unhappily. 'You want to do it just as much as I do and you know it,'

"I don't think Killer Frost will be doing much fighting any time soon," Cisco gestured to her stomach with his eyes. Caitlin let out a short bark of laughter in return but her icy alter ego had a few more choice words to say. The doctor opened her mouth to reply, but clamped it tightly shut when a bright blue breach ripped open in the centre of the cortex. The whole team whipped around to face it. It's quivering form shook and trembled, but it was long until a dark silhouette staggered through. The breach dissolved into thin air, leaving their new guest standing at the centre of the room.

Barry and Iris were on their feet in seconds. It was Nora. Nora was wearing her speed gear, but it was torn and ripped to shreds. She had one had clamped around her shoulder as she turned slowly to face them. "Hello," little Nora called out to her older self from beneath the welcome desk.

"Hi there," Nora replied with a weak smile. "So, umm, there may or may not be a psychopathic murderer from the future lurking around your time," her eyes began to droop and her voice softened.

"Woah, Nora slow down," Iris spoke gently, rushing to her daughter's side. The speedster looked unstable on her feet, as though the world was spinning around her. Caitlin took a few steps forward and readied herself to jump into action. "What do you mean there is a murder from the future in our time, how?"

"It's Medusa, she began to steal materials from surrounding laboratories and it didn't take us long to realise she was building a time machine," Nora huffed. "We were too late to stop her and now she is in your time," Iris grasped onto her daughter's arm, ensuring she was okay.

"To kill me," Nora breathed, her eyes drifting to the image of her infant self. Barry opened his mouth to question her more, but the speedster from the future collapsed, landing in her father's arms.

"Take her to the med bay," Caitlin instructed, making her own way the medical lab.