Collateral Damage (snowbarry)

Movie Night

Barry was sitting in Caitlin's lab. He spends a lot more time in there than he'd like because he's always injured, but less time than he'd like considering he gets to talk to Caitlin. They had become better friends than he would've guessed when he first met her. She was quiet when they first met. A little uptight. Now she was smiling and laughing all the time when he saw her, and they talked a lot.

He had coffee and breakfast with her and Cisco every morning. He had lunch with them almost every day. Most nights they would all go out for drinks or ice cream and just talk more. Some days, and he'd never admit that these were the days that he found himself the most at ease, he would come to the labs to find only Caitlin sitting in her lab, working on something by herself. He would go in and sit in a chair across the room and just talk to her. About Iris. Joe. Work. Wells. Being the Flash. Things she was interested in. Things he was interested in. Just everything and anything that could come up, they would talk about. He found it easy, and with how much he felt like he had to watch what he was saying around Iris his whole life to avoid letting her know how he felt about her, it was a new and amazing feeling having people who were easy to talk to.

Today, however, was not an easy subject. Bette, also known as Plastique, was just murdered by General Eiling, and Barry was not taking it well.

"Just because you weren't able to save her doesn't make it your fault Barry. It is Eiling's fault and that's it." Caitlin says, sitting directly across from him.

"I just stood there and watched him shoot her Cait. I didn't get there in time." Barry argued.

"If you keep up that mentality then you're never going to be fast enough. There's always going to be something that you're not fast enough to stop and that's not your fault. Every time there is something good then the bad will try to catch up. The world balances itself out. The faster you get, the more things will try to catch up." Caitlin tried to explain. She kind of lost her direction halfway through though and she's not sure if it really made any sense.

"But that doesn't mean we should stop trying to be good, does it?" Barry questions, leaning back in his chair. He felt a little better. Caitlin was right after all, but it didn't completely take away the guilt.

Caitlin smiled at him, realizing he understood what she was saying. "Absolutely not."

They were silent for a few minutes. Not uncomfortably silent. They were just taking in the events of the day. Caitlin took a deep breath and smiled at Barry while he stared at the ceiling. She wasn't used to this. Being able to be quiet with someone. Her and Barry never had trouble thinking of things to talk about, so when they were silent, it didn't feel like there was a need to talk. There was no pressure to be interesting. In this moment, she was happy that he wasn't like Ronnie.

Barry and Caitlin both turn to the sound of a chair wheeling into the room. Cisco rolls in backwards in an office chair, his head hanging over the back.

"I was going to cancel movie night because of today's events but...I thought maybe that was a good reason to have it." Cisco says, looking at them upside down on the chair.

Caitlin smiles at him and looks to Barry. "What do you say? Wanna come along?"

Barry nods, stretching out in his chair and standing up. He grabs hold of the chair Cisco is in, "Wanna spin?" He smirks down at Cisco who immediately stands up out of the chair, tripping and having to steady himself on a nearby table.

"No!" Cisco points at Barry. "This is precious." He motions to his body. "It doesn't heal in a few seconds."

"Few hours, but.." Caitlin corrects.

"Hush!" Cisco yells and leads the way out of the labs as they go back to Caitlin's to watch a movie.

*****************************************

"We're not watching Monty Python again!" Caitlin argues.

"It's a classic, Caitlin and we've never watched it with Barry, so it would really be like the first time." Cisco says, pulling the movie up.

Caitlin rolls her eyes and leans her head over to look at Barry. Barry smiles at her and she notices him flash in and out of focus. Caitlin looks to the TV and sees Ghostbusters start playing on the screen.

"What the hell?" Cisco says, trying to get up off the couch.

"Whoa there!" Barry says, throwing his arm over Cisco to pull him back down.

Cisco huffs and relaxes into the couch. Barry looks over Cisco's shoulder at a chuckling Caitlin. He winks at her and she leans back into the couch to enjoy the movie.

Halfway through the movie Barry has made his way through a pack of Twizzlers and two bags of popcorn. Cisco was halfway through a two-liter of soda, and Caitlin and was licking her plate of nachos clean.

Cisco paused the movie. "Refill?" He looks around at them. They all run to the kitchen, some slower than others, and grab their second round of food. They return to the couch, Cisco with a handful of Tootsie pops, Caitlin with a piece of triple chocolate cake and a glass of milk, and Barry with a plate full of hot dogs.

By the end of the movie, all three of them had fallen asleep. Cisco moved to the floor, sprawled out completely. Barry fell asleep against the arm of the couch and Caitlin was leaned up against him.

When Barry woke up, he felt a weight on his side and turned to see Caitlin sleeping against him. He looked forward to see a drooling Cisco, still sprawled out on the floor. He already had his arm wrapped around Caitlin, so he shook her a little to wake her up. She grumbled and tried to pull away, but he pulled her back and shook her lightly again.

"Go away," she mumbled, her voice raspy from sleep. Barry laughed.

"We're gonna be late for morning training." Barry warns her.

"You're gonna be late for morning training." She corrected. "All I have to do is take your blood. I can do that here." She opens one eye and looks up at his confused face.

"You wouldn't."

"I have a kit in my bathroom. Don't test me speedster." She mumbles, her voice returning to normal.

She takes a deep breath and removes herself from Barry's side. He reluctantly takes his arm out from around her. Caitlin immediately walks to the kitchen and returns with a glass of water that she holds over Cisco's head. She looks to Barry who immediately smirks and nods. Caitlin pours the water slowly onto Cisco's forehead. It takes him a few seconds, but he eventually rolls over and yells "go!"

Barry races the three of them to S.T.A.R. Labs where Cisco immediately starts his daily thirty minute power nap and Caitlin starts sipping on a glass of water.

"No coffee this morning?" Barry asks, sipping on his own.

"My stomach is turning at the thought of anything with flavor after last night." She admits, sipping her water.

"Racing here maybe didn't help." Barry says guiltily, but smirking at her.

Caitlin laughs and shakes her head, agreeing. Her sugar hangover from last night may make today a little rough, but the way she woke up was definitely a good start to the day.