(Barry's POV)
Even with being a speedster, an hour takes forever. I was sitting on the floor of my old bedroom, the speedforce was sitting with me. We were playing a game of cards together to pass the time.
"Do you have any threes?" I asked, looking up at the speedforce. It was still wearing the face of my mother. I had gotten used to it for the most part. I think it would always be jarring, seeing her like this, but it was nice to see her so full of life.
"Your time is up." The speedforce said, setting the cards down face up. They did have a three. Rude.
"Thanks for keeping me company." I smiled, standing up and taking the vial of the meta human cure with me.
"Of course, Barry Allen. Come back anytime, you are always welcome." The speedforce smiled up at me. I smiled back before running back through the portal and into the cortex again. It was empty except for Cisco.
"Hey man." He smiled. "All cooked?"
"All cooked." I confirmed. "Are you sure you want to take this?" I asked as I made my way over to him. No matter his choice, I was going to support him.
"I'm sure." He nodded. "I feel terrible that I won't be able to help take out Cicada if he causes any more issues, but I know that we need to be sure about this cure."
"Don't feel guilty, you are helping so much by doing this." I said, patting his shoulder.
"He was looking for Vibe too, if there isn't a Vibe anymore, maybe he'll lay off and be more willing to take this cure as well." Cisco sighed. "Now, I am going to inject this puppy and you are going to go find Caity and the girls."
"Where did they go?" I asked. I was a little curious as to why they were all gone.
"The tornado twins took off after Cait mentioned that you were taking them to dinner. Cait took off shortly after." Cisco said, putting the cure in the piece Caitlin made to inject it. He pressed it to his forearm and injected it without a second thought.
"Do you feel any different?" I asked after a moment of silence. He looked up at me, his eyes glassy with unshed tears.
"A little, yeah." He nodded. "It feels weird, like a piece of me is missing. Not it a bad way though."
"I'm glad it's not bad." I smiled. "I am going to stay here for a moment, if you don't mind. Just to make sure you don't have a bad reaction to this."
"I'm okay, man." Cisco chuckled. "Go be with your family."
"Cisco, you're family too." I said, reaching out to pull him up into a hug. I felt my shoulder get a little damp, I chose not to mention it.
"Thanks man, you're family too." Cisco said when we let go. "I am okay though, honestly. Go have dinner with the girls. I'll call if something goes wrong."
"Okay." I nodded. I changed out of my suit at superspeed before stopping in front of him again. "I love you, you know that right?"
"I love you too, Barr." Cisco grinned, pulling me in for another hug. "Now go!"
"I'm going!" I laughed. I ran back to the loft, phasing through the door.
Nora and Dawn both screamed, not expecting me to run through the door, I'm sure.
"Seriously, dad?" Nora groaned, holding her heart.
"My bad." I laughed, holding my hands up in surrender. I looked them both over, noticing that they were both dressed well. Dawn was in a plaid dress with a white long sleeved shirt under it and Nora was in a pair of white jeans with a light blue knitted sweater on. Both were in a pair of converse. Yeah, they were definitely my kids. "You two look very nice."
"Dad!" Nora groaned, rolling her eyes.
"What?" I asked, confused. I was only trying to be nice.
"Don't you know that you don't actually look nice if a parent tells you that you do?" Nora asked, giving me a pointed look.
"I was being honest!" I said, shaking my head at her.
"Yeah, that's what makes it worse." Dawn laughed. "With you it's a little different though, you aren't good at lying so we know that our outfits are actually nice."
"Kids are confusing." I groaned, making my way up the stairs. I dressed in a suit at super speed before coming back downstairs. "I'm going to go get your mom, I'll be back in a minute."
"Be quick, I'm starving." Dawn called after me. I rolled my eyes, phasing back through the front door.
(Caitlin's POV)
I had just finished curling my hair when I saw Barry appear behind me in the mirror reflection. I screamed, dropping the curling iron. Barry caught it at superspeed, unfortunately he caught it by the barrel instead of the handle. Barry let out a girly scream, dropping it and letting it hit the ground.
I let out a laugh, covering my mouth as I reached down to pick up the hot curling iron. I set it on the counter and unplugged it, making sure it wouldn't set anything on fire. I turned to Barry who was cradling his hand to his chest, a betrayed look on his face.
"Barry-" I started, but he cut me off.
"You laughed at me!" He gasped out, glaring at me. I giggled and covered my mouth again.
"Barry, I'm not laughing because you got hurt." I said softly, unable to keep myself from grinning. He was still glaring at me, but he gave me his hand when I reached out to take it.
"Was it the scream?" He asked, pouting. I waited to answer him, checking over his hand. It was red and irritated, but I could tell that with a little burn cream it would be healed in seconds.
"I have some burn cream I can put on this and it will be good as new." I said, moving to grab it from the medicine cabinet. I uncapped it and turned to take Barry's hand again. I squeezed the cream out onto my finger and rubbed it into the red parts of his palm. "I'm sorry you got burned."
"It's my own fault." Barry sighed, looking up at me with soft eyes. "I scared the girls when I got home earlier too, I should know better."
"You should." I said, laughing softly. He glared at me again and it made me laugh ever harder.
"I need advice." He said suddenly, looking confused. "The girls dressed up for dinner too, they looked nice and I wanted them to know so I told them and they told me that since a parent said it, that meant that they didn't actually look nice at all."
I laughed again, turning from him to put the burn cream away again.
"Caity stop laughing at me." He whined. I smothered my laugh and turned to face him again, he was pouting and looked so confused. It made me want to kiss him. So I did. "What was that for?" He asked once we pulled away.
"It was because you're cute." I smiled. "Now, the parent thing is true. Sometimes."
"Why, though?" He asked. "I never thought my parents were lying when they told me I looked nice, or when Joe said it later in life."
"I never believed my mom when she told me I looked nice." I said. "Parents are supposed to tell you that you look good or pretty no matter what because they are your parents, it's something to do with unconditional love and all that." I explained, pulling him closer to me.
"They said they believed me because I don't know how to lie. It was different with me, I guess." He said, shrugging. He wrapped his arms around my waist.
"I believe it." I nodded, reaching up to fix his tie. "Obviously all kids don't feel the same, but it's most common for teenagers to be embarrassed if their parents like their style."
"That's weird." Barry sighed, leaning his forehead against mine. I pulled back quickly. "What?"
"I have makeup on, Barry. You're going to ruin it." I said, frowning at him. He frowned back.
"You don't need makeup." He said, leaning in to kiss me. "But you look very pretty. This is my favorite dress on you too."
"You love him"
I chose to ignore Killer Frost for the time being, smiling up at Barry. This was the same dress I had worn on our first date.
"Thank you." I said, feeling my cheeks heat up. "You are very handsome."
"Why thank you." Barry grinned. "Now come on, the girls are waiting on us and probably getting impatient."
"No!" I said quickly, stopping him before he could run with me. He paused, giving me a confused look. I pulled back, moving over to the bathroom counter again so I could brush out my curls. "We are not running, it'll ruin my hair."
"You just brushed out all your hard work." He frowned.
"They look better brushed, trust me." I said, fluffing up my hair a little. I watched his eyes widen in surprise as he saw the finished product.
"They look really good." He said, cheeks a little red. He cleared his throat, changing the subject. "If I can't run you to the restaurant then how are we getting there?"
"You call the girls, have them meet here. I'll drive us." I said, smirking. It felt nice to know I could fluster him too.
"Sparky looks cute with a little pink on his cheeks."
She wasn't wrong. He really did.
"Okay, give me a second." He said, pulling his phone from his pocket to call the girls.
I led him out of the bathroom while he talked with Nora on the phone. I grabbed my coat from my closet, watching him plop back on the bed like he'd done it before. It made me blush, I turned so he wouldn't see.
"Nora asked if she could drive." Barry said, catching my attention again.
"Does she have a license?" I asked, turning back to face him. He shrugged.
"I don't know. Do you have a license?" He asked, reaching over to pick at the things on my nightstand. I walked over and slapped his hand away. He pulled his hand back and stuck his tongue out at me. "She said yeah."
"Sure." I shrugged. "Tell them to hurry."
"We're here." Dawn said, stepping into the room. I jumped, startled for the second time that day. Barry let out a yelp, sitting up on the bed, glaring at her.
"I'm surprised you didn't scream." Nora teased, peeking her head into the room. I looked at their outfits, they were dressed nicely, I smiled.
"He screamed earlier." I laughed, slipping my coat on. "Keys are on the hook by the door."
"Yes!" Nora said, running to the front hallway to grab my keys.
"Why did dad scream?" Dawn asked, she looked seconds away from laughing.
"He grabbed my curling iron." I said, grinning down at Barry. He rolled his eyes.
"Why?" Dawn asked, looking over at Barry.
"It was falling, it's not like it was on purpose." Barry huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.
"So you grabbed the metal?" She asked. Barry rolled his eyes again.
"Alright, let's get going." He said, changing the subject. I grinned, moving past Dawn and out of the bedroom. I met Nora in the front hallway.
"Ready?" I asked, she nodded and headed for the door. We slipped out, Barry and Dawn hot on our heels. I was excited for this family dinner with them.