Alter Egos

A Price Too High

Description: Alternate ending to 2x23.

Prompt: Snowbarry Week, Day 3: Scene stealer (an AU of your fave scene of *anything*)

Hello. So this is my contribution to Snowbarry week. I've always wanted to write an AU where Caitlin was the one that went to talk to Barry on the porch instead (right before he created Flashpoint). Because I honestly think if she had, the results would've been dramatically different.

Anyway, I hope you guys like it. Thank you for reading! :D

...

Everything was quiet and still, so very, hauntingly quiet. There was no laughter, no chatter, nor distant hum of busy traffic. It was just silent.

Barry supposed it made sense, they were all trying to recover from Zoom, even the city. Some needed to recover more than others, and some wouldn't recover at all because they were gone, never to return to this world. It felt as if there was no life, no vibrancy. There was only deathly silence and the pale glow the street lamps cast on the front porch steps.

Barry leaned his head against the banister, drawing in a few shaky breaths. He knew he should be inside with the others, celebrating or whatever he was supposed to do at this point. They had won, they had finally stopped Zoom. But it didn't feel like a victory, not to him anyway. In the end, he had only succeeded in losing more than he ever thought possible. Barry squeezed his eyes shut, gripping the railing tightly.

He wasn't sure how long he stayed like that, but when he next opened them it was to the faint sound of a knock. For a moment, his shoulders tensed and his jaws involuntarily clenched. He didn't have the energy to talk to anyone, not now, not after everything. He was practically running on empty as it was.

But the speedster glanced behind him nonetheless, his eyes falling on a familiar face. Caitlin stood in the doorway, her knuckles still resting against the doorframe. Barry felt himself relax just a bit; if anyone would understand his current state, it would be her. One, because she had always been intuitive like that, and two, because she wore the same brand of exhaustion he did. Zoom had left as many scars on her as he had on Barry.

"Hey," she spoke up, her soft voice a welcomed relief from the quiet.

"Hey," he echoed, his words feeling raw.

"May I?" She inquired, gesturing to the open space on the stairs beside him.

Barry nodded wordlessly, shifting himself to better face the spot where she would be situated. Caitlin moved forward and took a seat, crossing her legs beneath her.

They sat quietly at first, words hanging unspoken in the air. Words like 'are you okay' and 'what can I do' were just on the tip of Caitlin's tongue. He could see it in her eyes and on her face. But despite that, he suspected she already knew the answer to both questions, which was why she hadn't said anything yet. She knew that he wasn't okay and that there wasn't much that anyone could do about it. Well, not without super speed, anyway.

So she seemed to settle for simply being there, in any way she could. For trusting that if he wanted to talk, he would. She wasn't going to push him, and for that he was grateful. Barry drew in another quiet deep breath, feeling the weight of all the loss strain against his already fractured soul.

"I can't stop thinking about him," Barry admitted, his voice almost a whisper. "My dad's doppelgänger."

Caitlin turned her gaze to him, an understanding in her eyes.

"You'd think knowing he was out there would help," he continued, his vision beginning to get misty, "but it doesn't. It just makes me miss him more."