Always Running

Zoom in the Shadows

Caitlin wakes up, gasping for air.

"Snow!" Harry jumps awake.

"I'm fine." She assures him, pulling her knees to her and leaning over. She takes a deep breath and looks at him, giving him a weak smile. "I'm fine."

They sit in silence for a moment before Caitlin turns to hop off the bed.

"What are you doing?"

"I rested. You said I could help." She reminds him.

He sighs and follows her into the cortex. "We've been trying to think of a way to take out more metas at once. Or, ideally, all the Earth 2 metas at once."

Caitlin stands in front of the board Harry's been working on and looks at the dead ends him and Cisco have been working through.

"Woo!" Cisco bounces into the room, Wally and Henry close behind. "Only lost two windows tonight." Cisco cheers.

"Cisco." Wally says, putting his hands on his shoulders to calm him down. Cisco looks at Wally's stern face and turns to see what he's looking at.

"Caitlin?" Cisco breathes out.

She smiles weakly at him and nods.

Cisco runs up to her, throwing his arms around her, and this time she's able to hug back. She buries her head in his hair and he bites his lip to keep from crying.

"What happened? How'd you get out? Are you hurt?" Cisco rambles, pulling back and looking her over. Caitlin half-heartedly laughs at his excitement and shakes her head. "You smell, by the way." He says with a grin. She chuckles and he pulls her in for another hug.

She looks at Wally and smiles, then at Henry. She wants to smile, but she knows why he's here. She knows he just lost his son. She can't bring herself to smile at him.

"C'mon kid, what do you say we get you checked out?" Henry says, smiling at her and walking her into her lab, gently holding onto her arm.

No one is saying anything to her, not sure where her head is at and not wanting to overwhelm her. She wishes someone would say something. Anything about Barry. About the metas. About something, other than just watching Henry and waiting for him to tell them what's wrong with her. She watches as Cisco runs out of the room.

Out in the hallway, Barry gets off the elevator, exhausted from the night. He only gets two steps before Cisco comes running into the lobby.

"Barry!"

Barry raises his eyebrows waiting for him to continue.

"It's Caitlin." Cisco says, slightly out of breath.

Barry's eyes widen. "What about her?" He asks, terrified of what Cisco is gonna tell him.

"She's here." Cisco says with a small smile.

Barry races off into the cortex. When a gust of air blows past Caitlin she gasps and flinches back. She looks up and sees Barry, a face of disbelief that matches hers, staring back at her.

"Cait." He breathes out, disbelief turning into happy relief.

Caitlin gets off the bed and walks up to him, looking him over to make sure he's there. He's careful not to startle her so he just stands still. She reaches out and touches the emblem on his chest, the one she's been holding. Her breathing as shaky as her hands. She looks up at him and he gives her a comforting smile.

"You-you're...he said you were dead." She mutters to him.

"I'm here, Cait." He says, gently reaching out for her hand, keeping his eyes locked on hers. "I'm okay."