Episode 16 - Out Of Time

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T H I R D P E R S O N

Barry Allen is looking at his beautiful wife lovingly. They were snuggling underneath the covers naked and had just finished another session of lovemaking. They were now relaxing in each other embrace.

Caitlin rested her head on Barry's chest. She breathed in deeply and exhaled listening to his heartbeat. She smiled as she heard his relaxed heart rate. It seemed to go at a perfect, gentle rhythm whenever she leaned in and listened.

"I can hear your heartbeat, Bear," Cait said quietly. Barry kissed the top of her head gently and smiled. She loved cuddling into him. He was so warm and soft. It always reminded her of the teddy bear she had as a kid her dad gave it to her for her 5th Birthday.

They ordered room service and ate while watching a movie that Barry suggested renting. It was Big Hero 6.

"It's a shame our honeymoon has to end today. I was enjoying this." Caitlin said sadly. "Don't worry; we'll still have plenty more adventures in the future, Snowflake. You can count on that." Barry reassured giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

Caitlin grinned. "Good." she sighed. Barry got up and placed their empty plates on the table. Caitlin lay back on the pillows and stretched her arms waiting for her husband to turn around. When he did, he immediately noticed Caitlin's position and smirked.

"You trying to tell me something?" he teased. Caitlin smirked back and shrugged putting her hands across the pillows by her head.

"Well, we do only have a couple of hours left today. So how about we make the most of it." She asked cutely. Barry slowly slid on the bed between Caitlin's legs. He kissed her deeply and broke it smiling down at her. "If my wife wishes it, so it shall be."

~ S.T.A.R. Labs ~

Cisco and Sophia smiled and waved as they saw the lovely couple walks towards them.

"Cisco! Sophie!" Caitlin exclaimed running up and almost tripping. She attacked Cisco in a tight bear hug. Cisco let out a short chuckle and hugged back. And Caitlin did the same to Sophia and hugged back.

"Careful Mrs. Allen." Cisco teased. She smiled brightly at him and Sophia.

"How was your honeymoon?" Sophia asked.

"It was phenomenal," Barry said walking up behind Caitlin and pecking her on the cheek.

"Let's go to Jitters. So, we can have some girl talk," Sophia said grabbing her arm.

"Sure. I'll text Iris that we're coming," Caitlin said. She kissed her husband goodbye and left the guys alone.

"So, where are Ronnie and Dr. Wells?" Barry asked.

"Ronnie had to leave and continue his training and Dr. Wells is not here yet." Cisco answers.

"Also Sophia told me recently that she broke up with Ronnie."

"Is she okay?"

"Yeah, she's doing fine. A little heartbroken but she'll be okay."

"That's good. With Ronnie leaving it makes sense they would break up. Sophia thought he was dead then it turned out he was alive but now he has to leave again. It was for the best besides maybe Sophia has already found someone to be crazy about."

"Can I ask you something?" Cisco asks fidgeting with his fingers.

"Shoot."

"I like Sophia," Cisco said.

"Oh..."

"I'm telling you this because you're her brother and I wanna date her."

"It's okay with me. Don't worry I actually think you guys will make a cute couple."

"Thanks." Cisco lets out a sigh of relief. They smile and Barry pats his back. Then an alert popped up on the computer.

"Situation at the CCPD morgue," Cisco said. Barry flashed out and began to run.

Barry continued to run towards the city morgue. Coasting down the lit-up streets of Central City, Barry was suddenly startled by a mirror image... an enigma of another speedster. With unfaltering speed, Barry stared into this blur of a man. Barry sensed something oddly familiar as he rushed beside him.

As the speedster bolstered forward in an unmatched speed, Barry screeched to a halt, breathing heavily as he scanned the street for any sign of where the speedster went. Barry's eyes scanned around him but there was nothing out of the ordinary besides him. Continuing ahead, Barry reached the morgue before any of the officers on call had arrived.

~ City Morgue ~

Barry entered the room, each step splashed as he walked further into the room. Barry peered down noting the floor was covered with a thin layer of water. The gleam of the water shimmered under the flicker of the fluorescent light of the morgue.

"Hey what do you see?" Cisco mumbled through the earpiece.

Barry carefully stepped around the metal table, his eyes scouring for evidence or any sign of trouble. When the sight of the medical examiner lay frozen, sprawled on the floor Barry gulped before replying.

"...a dead body."

"Barry you're in a morgue. You're going to have to be a bit more specific than that." Cisco cleared.

"The coroner... he's dead," Barry whispered closing his eyes as he looked away.

~ S.T.A.R. Labs ~

Barry leaned by the doorway as he watched everyone catch up to date with the new but familiar meta they were now hunting.

"So, Clyde Martin has a brother," Caitlin said sounding surprised.

"And both brothers survived the plane crash and then the dark matter released from the particle accelerator explosion, affects them both in virtually the same way." Dr. Wells continued.

"Only that Mark's power seems to be a lot more precise. To be able to control the weather like that indoors..." Barry added his eyes glued to the monitor screens in front of him. His gaze transfixed on the mugshot of one Mark Martin. Barry's eyes savored to burn his face into memory. He wouldn't let him get anywhere near Joe. He wasn't about to lose another father.

"You'd have to be a... Weather Wizard! Ooohhh I've been waiting since week one to use that one!" Cisco bellowed before slurping heavily on his milkshake.

Barry looked at Cisco, raising one eyebrow. For real? Barry just watched as Cisco's face suddenly cringed bringing his hands to his head.

Sophia chuckled.

"Trigeminal headache?" Caitlin's voice echoed as she approached Cisco.

"Wh-what-what?" Cisco stammered sounding disorientated.

"A trigeminal headache" Caitlin explained.

"Brain freeze," Sophia added.

"So, I'm guessing you running around in a twister in the opposite direction isn't going to do the trick this time?" Joe asked looking towards Barry as he nodded his head no.

"I just remembered during our run-in with Martin... Clyde Martin, I was tinkering with something... something to help track unbound atmospheric electrons." Cisco called out, setting down his drink on the desk.

"Like a grounding mechanism?" Sophia said.

"Yes! Cause the only way that Martin can control the weather is if he could tap into the atmosphere's natural electric circuit. If we take away that circuit... clear skies." Cisco replied.

Joe's phone rang "Singh's checking in. I have to go." Joe leans over to Barry, showing his phone.

"Yeah, I'll meet you at the station," Barry replied.

Clearing his throat Wells drew back Barry's attention. Barry noted that his expression darkened in concern for Joe.

"Joe we'll find Martin. Don't worry."

"I'm not worried at all," Joe said unfazed.

"Well, he's taking being targeted by a revenge-seeking metahuman rather well I must say. Don't worry Barry, Joe will be fine I promise." Dr. Wells reassured him.

"Yeah, I know... um, I actually wanted to talk to you about something else."

Looking down at Wells, Barry motioned for them to speak privately. Cluing in, Wells moved further away from Caitlin, Sophia, and Cisco until they were well out of earshot.

"Last night on my way to the morgue... I saw something." Barry whispered.

"What did you see?" Dr. Wells sounded concerned.

"I was running and I turned and I saw myself... or I don't know... another Flash running beside me." Barry's voice sound strained as he began to panic that he might be going crazy.

"Interesting." He mumbled.

"Yeah. What do you think it was?" Barry pressed, pleading for a rational explanation.

"It could have been an optical illusion. A mirroring effect is caused by wind shear and light. A speed mirage if you will."

"It didn't seem like that... it was... he seemed real." He whispered as he recalled the fleeting experience.

"I tell you what... Let's focus on finding Mark Martin and once he's safely contained in the pipeline we'll investigate this." Dr. Wells offered with a small smile.

When Dr. Wells had left Caitlin walked up to him, and lightly brushed her fingers over his arm. "You okay? You seem off."

He briefly met her gaze, then looked away. "Uh, yeah, yeah, fine." Cisco and Sophia walked over towards them.

"Somebody at Picture News got it into Iris' head that something suspicious is going on with Dr. Wells."

"Like what?" Sophia said raising an eyebrow.

"Eddie knows what happened to Simon Stagg. Apparently, nobody's seen him since the night I stopped Anon Black."

"What'd you tell her?" Cisco asked.

Barry shrugged. "That's she's wrong. She is." He strode around the desk as Cisco nodded, ending the discussion. Caitlin filed out after him.

"You sure that's all that is wrong, Babe?" She asked when they were alone in the hallway.

"I just- I feel like I should tell Iris. She deserves to know about all of this. Who I am; what I do; what we do. Especially now that there are these rumors about Wells and-" He broke off and sighed. "But Joe said I couldn't tell her."

"I think that you should talk to him about it," Caitlin told him. "Don't do anything rash without talking about it first. It could really mess up your relationship."

"Thanks for your vote of confidence." He muttered, and Caitlin laughed, kissing his lips gently.

"Whenever." She teased lightly and continued down the corridor.

~ Much Later ~

Barry stood by the waterfront overlooking the bay. It was a clear day, but as Barry looked over to the horizon, a dark storm was approaching fast.

"OMG," Iris panicked.

Spinning around, Barry grabbed Iris by the arms, looking her straight in the eyes his voice was stern and serious.

"Iris, you need to get out of here. NOW!"

"Barry, my dad?"

"I'll find him. Now go!" he ordered.

"I'm not leaving without him or you." She replied stubbornly.

"Iris, please. Do you trust me?" he looked at her his eyes soft and warm.

"Of course I do." She whispered.

"Then trust me I'll get him back. I just need you to go now." he pleaded with her.

"Barry?" Caitlin called out to him.

"Caitlin, what are you doing here? Both of you need to go now!" he ordered, his voice strained after seeing Caitlin.

"No Barry... We need to talk. It's about Dr. Wells." She said her voice shaken and tense.

Barry was taken back with the mention of Wells. Just as he was about to let her explain, Barry's eyes caught the rising tide behind them. Panic began to course through his veins as his heart ached for Caitlin and Iris to get to safety.

"There's no time... look there's a tsunami heading towards the city. How do I stop it?" he yelled back his voice hoarse and strained.

"Theoretically if you could create a vortex barrier along the coastline... a wall of wind that would be able to zap the wave of its energy before it hits the city." Caitlin rushed to explain as she too was transfixed by the rising tide.

"By running back and forth." He whispered as he tried to calculate the speed at which he'd have to run it.

"How fast?"

"I don't know if you can run that fast," Caitlin whispered fear in her voice.

Barry closed the distance between them, grabbing Caitlin by the head and drawing her to him until his lips crashed into hers. At first, the kiss was heavy and hard, but then he softened his touch, his lips savoring her touch, her taste as she opened her mouth to deepen their kiss. Pulling away, Barry leaned his forehead to hers, their eyes still closed.

"I love you," Barry said.

"I love you too," Caitlin said.

"Now go!" he yelled as he watched them leave. Turning back to face the water, Barry flashed into his suit and began to run.

Barry pushed his speed further, feeling the ground beneath him lift him up, pushing him further ahead. Feeling the electricity vibrate through every cell in his body, Barry leaned forward, edging himself to go faster. Feeling the wind and power brush past him as he raced back and forth up and down the coastline, Barry could see nothing but white. And in a Flash, Barry was surrounded by the dim streetlights of downtown. As if it were all happening again, Barry saw himself running beside him. What's happening? Barry skidded to a halt. His eyes scanning the area around him.

Seeing the taxi... the dog barking... Barry had seen this all before.

"Oh, boy..."

Everything that happened yesterday was playing over again. How is that possible?