Only Because I Need You Too

Chapter 34: Laelolaelolaelo

Caitlin felt heavy physically and mentally. So many bodies buzzed around her. The cortex was nothing more than a smudge in her peripheral. Noise thrust itself into one ear and clambered out the other. She was numb to the feeling of the small computer desk pressing against her elbows. All she could see, all she was focused on was the feint image of her daughter speaking in hushed tones to Nora. Time ticked by. Seconds passed into minutes. Minutes passed into many. The conversation developed, evolved adapted. Soon the whole cortex was silent. Yet still, all Caitlin could see was Dawn. A warm had squeezed her shoulder, snapping the doctor from her trance. Glancing around, she realised that Loui had begun her presentation, the others were listening intently. Staring back at the hands and allowing her eyes to travel up its length, she sent Ethan a nod of thanks. He sent her a cocky smirk and folded his arms. "You've proven you can't fight the zombies head on, so I am going to teach you their weaknesses and strengths." Nora's eyes rested on Caitlin for a moment. A glimmer of warmth glittered in them. Blinking hard, she returned the gaze with a warm smile.

"Well that's not back to front," Cisco snorted. Her was silenced when Caitlin sent him a menacing glare.

Dawn, trying in vein to hold in a grin, turned to address the rest of the team. "The zombies have an insatiable hunger for heat. For each zombie, on average, after draining three people they expire and perish. This does however, create three more zombies in their wake." The speedster crossed her arms over her chest. "The easiest way to dispatch of them is to decapitate them-"

"Woah, I'm no doctor, but won't that kill them?" Barry raised his hands and interjected.

"They're already dead." Dawn replied sharply.

"Even so there must be something we can do?" Iris spoke gently. Caitlin sat forwards and leant more of her weight into her hands. There was always another way. There had to be. Those poor people hadn't deserved to be turned into heat sucking leaches. It wasn't their fault. They didn't deserve a death like that. For a moment, her eyes rested on the large statue silhouette that dominated the medical wing.

Dawn and Nora shared an impassive stare. "You don't have the technology or time to do so." Nora murmured apologetically.

"Even if you could by some miracle produce the tech, there is no way you could do it before the zombies run out of gas." Dawn added, her face the picture of stony stubbornness.

"There must be an easier way to let them go?" Barry asked, his eyes wavered from his daughter to Dawn.

"To preserve the Flashes reputation?" Dawn cocked an eyebrow. The buzz of silence dominated the room. With a roll of her eyes, she continued, "I suppose it would destroy a lot of children's dreams to see the Flash behead people in public. It would also be an issue if you just sat by and let it happen. People would question your confidence." She murmured, stroking her chin. "I suppose it you were to lure them into a trap of some sort, you could contain them within S.T.A.R. Labs until they perished."

"I could design something like that." Cisco nodded, sitting back into his seat.

"And we could lure the, to the trap with our body heat if the rest of the city was cold?" Nora offered, her voice higher than normal.

"Okay, Barry, why don't you go and get a city wide evacuation ordered by the CCPD? I'll come fill in Cecile to see if she can help." Iris instructed. Caitlin nodded, that would undoubtedly work then the only heat the zombies could follow would be the speedster's. From personal experience, she knew that they generated a lot of it.

"Dawn and I can go with Cisco to cross help him design his containment chamber for the zombies." Nora added. Caitlin held in a smile. Dawn and Nora knew a lot about the zombies. More than Cisco. Of course it made sense they would be the ones helping him.

"Let's go then!" Barry clapped happily, a cheery smile on his face. Within minutes the whole team had filtered out, leaving Caitlin and Ethan alone. Letting out a rush of hot air, she let her head collapse into her hands.

Ethan took her shoulder, gripping it tighter than before. "Are you alright? You were very quite during that meeting?" His searching eyes stared into hers holding a suppressed glimmer of concern. Leaning on the top of the computer desk in front of her, he laid his head down on his crossed arms and cocked an expectant brow.

Caitlin lifted her head and shot him a gentle smile. "I just can't believe what our daughter is going to have to go through. All the people she will loose. I missed everything in her life. I didn't even witness her first words or her first breath." She sucked in a ragged breath, "up until know I hadn't given it much thought. I always presumed I'd be able to live through the childbirth with the knowledge we have gained, but I failed to realise that there is a timeline where I did die. She lived through that time, she suffered it all." Her posture doubled in on itself, toffee strands of hair fell in front of her eyes.

"Caitlin." Ethan's voice was warmer than usual but it still held its crackling undertone. The doctor brought her eyes up to the speedster through a screen of hair. To the untrained eye his face was calm, emotionless, blank. "You're focusing on the bad. Yes, she went through her fair share of hardships. More than most, but that doesn't mean it was all awful. I've spoken to her, she seemed happy when reflecting on it. I'm sure the pile of good outweighs the pile of bad." Lifting a hand, he gingerly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and hooked a finger under her chin, tilting her head upwards. "If that doesn't cut it for you then just think, after this whole ordeal is over then she will not experience any of the bad. We will be free to mould her future. That future she knows will never come to pass." He moved his hand, cupping her cheek.

Caitlin leant into his touch, placing her hand over his. "We are going to make sure she has an amazing future."

Ethan sent her a crooked smile, "you bet we are."