Collateral Damage (snowbarry)

Daily Grind

Wake up. Go to S.T.A.R. Labs. Get poked with some needles by Caitlin. Answer some seemingly unnecessary questions from Cisco. Get a lecture from Dr. Wells. This was the life of Barry Allen since he woke up from his coma. Or so it seemed at first. Eventually it turned into morning coffees with Caitlin while she went on about some new medical advancement that she read about. Barry didn't mind. He always enjoyed interjecting with his random knowledge of interesting things he's read about. 

Cisco would usually join in the morning coffee after he woke up from his thirty minute power nap he took after him and Caitlin arrived at the labs. The three of them would laugh about some movie, or get an extremely detailed tutorial that neither Caitlin nor Barry asked for, over one of Cisco's new toys.

Dr. Wells would roll in just enough time to witness them all laughing over something or to see Barry and Caitlin silently mocking Cisco to each other while Cisco remained too distracted by his own world. He would smile because she's smiling. Caitlin is smiling again. All the time. Sure he would catch her zoning out every now and then when she was bored and her face would turn sad, but when she was present, she was happy. He would look to Barry and be grateful for how he's impacted her life. Then he would remember, and he would scowl. 

That was Barry Allen. The Flash. His enemy. Any affection Dr. Wells might be developing for the young boy needed to be stopped. He would not let anything interrupt his plans. 

Wells cleared his throat. Then the daily grind would begin. Caitlin would take a blood sample everyday as his powers progressed. Barry would run on Cisco's high powered treadmill while the three S.T.A.R. Labs employees would monitor him in a windowed room next to him. Once or twice a week they would work on his ability to multitask. Caitlin and Cisco liked to come up with new ways to do this. Wells was partial to board games. Cisco loved model building and small activities (e.g., ping pong, hopscotch, etc.) and Caitlin liked puzzles and riddles. Each time, Barry would do a combination of these set up by each of them. Barry was partial to the riddles Caitlin would set up and the activities Cisco would have. Those were the most fun. 

After his morning training was over, Barry would head to his day job at the CCPD. He'd comb through files and boxes of evidence until lunch time came around. If Iris didn't have plans already arranged, he'd usually run back to S.T.A.R. Labs and eat with Cisco and Caitlin. They liked to monitor his calorie intake to make sure he didn't pass out, and they just liked having him around. He had to admit, he enjoyed being around them too. He never really saw eye to eye with people his own age. They thought he was weird, nerdy, and weak. 

Caitlin and Cisco were like him though. They liked this science stuff. They got excited over little things that he did. But they were different enough that they didn't clash. Caitlin was laid back. She didn't get worked up unless she was talking about something that excited her. She was calm. She wasn't much for cracking jokes, but she could laugh all day with her friends. Cisco especially made her laugh. And Cisco, he was quick with the jokes. Had a movie reference for everything. And he got excited about everything. He wasn't as calm as Caitlin, but they balanced each other out well. Barry's personality fit right in with the two of them. The three of them together meshed so easily. He may have only known them for a couple of weeks, but when they were all together, he felt like their relationship had developed over years. 

Even when he was done with work in the evening, he found himself wanting to go hang out with them. He always heard them talk about their movie nights and ice cream runs, but he wasn't sure if they wanted him to tag along. He was waiting for an invitation. 

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