Collateral Damage (snowbarry)

Blackout

Caitlin closes her eyes and bites her knuckles, trying not to make a sound. He had to go. He had to go. The phrase was on repeat in her head.

"Did you know humans naturally generate 342 watts of energy?" Farooq says from the hallway. His voice is distressed. She can hear how close he is."

"I can smell it coming from you." He says in a voice that sends a chill through Caitlin. She bites harder on her knuckle. A stripe of electricity busts the door next to her open. She crawls over to the other door and waits for Farooq to step into the room before she makes a run for it. When she does, he immediately steps out, taking only a few steps toward her before attacking her. She gets thrown into the wall in front of her and screams as she feels the electricity burn through her body.

The sudden feeling of a larger nearby energy source distracts Farooq from his current victim. He walks down the hall, past Caitlin, and turns, heading for the garage.

Barry returns from saving Iris and Joe in just enough time to save Dr. Wells from Farooq. In his attempt to attack Barry, Farooq over indulged on energy, electrocuting himself and falling victim to his own power. He collapsed on the floor of the S.T.A.R. Labs garage, dead.

Barry rushed over to check on Cisco and Dr. Wells.

"Where's Caitlin?" He asks.

"She was with you." Cisco answers, suddenly concerned.

Barry races off to find Caitlin, stopping in the hallway outside the room he left her in, seeing an unconscious Caitlin laying against the wall. He runs over to her and kneels down, running his hands through his hair.

"Cait, I'm so sorry." He cries in a whisper. "I'm so so sorry Cait." He feels to see if she's still breathing and is relieved to feel a pulse and see her chest moving, but just barely. He picks her up and runs her to the med bed, being greeted shortly after by a very worried Cisco and Dr. Wells.

"She" Barry starts but Wells immediately interrupts, instructing Cisco on exactly what to do to help her.

Barry stands back, pacing, as he watches Cisco care for Caitlin and look for any immediate injuries he should tend to. He lifts her shirt, showing a large burn with red veins branching out from it just at the bottom of her ribs. Barry winces and turns away.

Two hours later Caitlin wakes up in her own lab, laying in her med bed, a large patch over her stomach, and the feeling of fire running through her veins. She looks around and sees a distressed crew of boys surrounding her. She reaches out and touches Wells' hand causing him to immediately look up at her and let out a giant sigh of relief. Cisco rushes over to her and asks her what happened. Barry stands back, not wanting to make eye contact while she recounts him leaving her to almost be killed.

"Barry and I thought Farooq had already rounded the corner and we were gonna head back to the garage. He got his powers back so I told him to go ahead and get to Iris and Joe. That I could get to the garage on my own. We would leave and meet him at CCPD to figure things out. When he left I went out into the hall and must've made too much noise because Farooq came back and attacked me." Caitlin explained.

Barry looked at her with horror-stricken eyes. He was mad that she was lying and letting him off the hook. He didn't deserve it. She discreetly shook her head at him, urging him not to fess up. She knew Cisco and Wells wouldn't react well to it, and what good would it do for them to know? He listened, turning away, unable to ignore the severe dark circles under her eyes.

"Are Joe and Iris okay?" Caitlin asked, forcing Barry to look at her.

"Yeah." He choked out, "they're safe."