Falling Slowly [Barry Allen]

Chapter 16

I arrived at STAR Labs and quickly made my way through the building to the lab area, where Cisco and Caitlin were chatting with Barry. Luckily, Dr. Wells was nowhere to be found at the moment. I rushed in, carelessly throwing my coat down on a nearby chair.

As soon as Barry saw me, he patted Cisco on the shoulder and excused himself from the conversation with his friends. "Hey, what's going on? You sounded distressed on the phone..." he trailed off. Then his eyes flickered to mine. "Are you alright? What did I do?"

I took one of his hands in both of mine. "Barry, it wasn't anything you did, I promise. I haven't been sleeping well, and Iris said you were worried about me. I was just in a funk from not being able to sleep."

His face twisted in concern. "Katie, why didn't--"

"But I'm fine now," I added hastily, not having the courage to tell him about the nightmares or the fact that they are still occurring. I didn't want him worrying about me. I stood up onto my tiptoes to peck his cheek. "How could I ever be angry with you, Barry Allen?" I flashed him a smile.

He laughed. "Good. I thought you were avoiding me because I had to run off after our date. Or maybe you thought I was a bad kisser." His tone was joking, but his face seemed like he was asking for reassurance.

Cisco and Caitlin had their backs to us, buried in their own conversation.

"Barry, I understand that you have a duty to your city, and that you want to do good. I love that about you." I moved in a little closer to him, wrapping my arms around his neck. He had to lean down a little because of his height, and he let his arms wind around my waist. I pulled his face down to mine, and tilted my head to place a kiss on his lips.

Barry seemed surprised, but didn't hesitate to kiss back. He moved one hand to my face, pulling me toward him. I sighed quietly into the kiss, and let myself relax in Barry's arms. He doesn't need to know about my dreams at night. As long as he's happy... Well, that's all that matters.

I pulled away slowly and raised my eyebrows at him. "Now, would I kiss you like that if I thought you were bad at it?"

His face flushed with color, and I gave myself a mental pat on the back for the clever compliment.

"Are you lovebirds about done making out over there?" Cisco called from across the room.

"Contrary to popular belief," Caitlin said, eying Cisco and then Barry, "we have a mystery to solve and a possible metahuman to catch. Katie, are you a part of our team or not?"

It wasn't a very nice way to ask, but an invite is an invite. "Of course I'm in."

I laced my fingers with Barry's and we strolled over the the computer system where Caitlin was tapping a keyboard.

"Get me up to date, Caitlin. What's going on?" I asked.

She quickly filled me in, but I couldn't really help. I barely know anything about Barry's abilities, let alone the widespread effects of the explosion that caused all of this to happen. I was beginning to feel deflated. On top of having nightmares, now I'm not smart enough to help Barry's team solve a case?

I kept my hand in Barry's, letting it be my anchor so I wouldn't get emotional. He didn't seem to be paying attention. He was helping Cisco analyze some type of material they found at a crime scene Barry had investigated that day.

Given up on being able to help, I zoned out and focused on my recent dreams. What could they mean? Why in the world would I run away from my mom? I knew what she looked like from pictures my grandparents had of her, but I never really knew her. What memories I do have of either one of my parents are vague and fuzzy from infancy.

Barry broke me from my trance by squeezing my hand. I glanced up and smiled at him, and he looked at me expectantly, like he was waiting for me to say something.

Now I really feel stupid. "Sorry, what did you say?"

Barry chuckled. "I said, we're thinking about calling in for a few more sets of eyes and hands for this case. I told you that you would have the chance to meet Team Arrow."

"Team Arrow?" I asked, bewildered.

"I'll call over to Starling City right now," Caitlin stated enthusiastically, jumping out of her seat and pulling her phone out.

"I hope that they can be more helpful than I was tonight," I told Barry as I headed for the door again. He followed close behind.

"It's not your fault," he reassured me. "You'll get into the swing of things here."

"I hope so, because I feel pretty useless right now," I admitted. "Maybe I should head home and make dinner for Joe and Iris, so I don't feel completely worthless tonight," I joked, although a small part of me wasn't completely kidding.

Barry nodded. "Okay, I think we can handle things here tonight. Meet you back here tomorrow after work?"

"I think I can make that happen," I teased, slipping my coat back on.

"Good. I think you'll really like Felicity. She's crazy smart and beautiful and a super nice girl," Barry said with obvious enthusiasm, and a pang reverberated in my chest, but I felt obligated to ignore it. I'm not allowing myself to get worked up for the second time tonight. It's probably just the lack of sleep getting to me again.

"Awesome! I can't wait to meet her," I said, and it was the truth. If Barry likes her so much, then maybe I will too.

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A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for the short chapter, it's kind of setting things up for the next part. But I've been getting so many nice comments about my writing and about "Karry," so thank you all so much for your support! And also... THANK YOU for over 6K reads! You guys are great and I hope I keep hearing from you! :)