"Barry!"

"What!" Barry snaps, turning to look at who called his name. His eyes go wide when he sees it was Captain Singh. "Sorry sir. What can I do for you?"

"Mind if I have a word?" Singh asks, looking at Barry skeptically after his outburst.

Barry follows Captain Singh into his office and sits down.

"I told Joe about this, but I wanted to talk to you about possibly expanding your responsibilities. Which would, of course, come with a raise." Singh says, sitting down on the front of his desk. "I've been very impressed with your focus and commitment this last month."

"I'm very flattered you think I deserve it, sir, but I honestly wouldn't feel comfortable accepting more responsibilities. My extra time and focus has been because of some personal matters, not a sudden change in work ethic. As much as I'd like to say otherwise."

"I appreciate the honesty, Barry." Singh says, smiling at him. "Anything you want to talk about?"

"No." Barry says quickly. "Just a lot of changes recently and I'm finding it hard to adjust. Trying to distract myself with work, I guess."

"Understood." Singh's phone starts beeping and he picks it up to see a schedule alert. "Well, I hate to cut this short, but I have a meeting with the mayor to discuss a way to get the town running again. A lot of people are still struggling with the damage from the black hole." He stands to leave, turning back to Barry before he walks out the door. "Maybe find a project to distract yourself with. Something big or small. Just something to devote your time and energy into. Might help you adjust."

"Thank you, Captain." Barry says, offering him a small smile and a nod. He stands and follows him out into the main lobby of the station.

"Hey, Bar." Joe says, walking up to him. "Did you just now go talk to Singh? Didn't I tell you to do that the other night?" Joe lightly scolds .

"I forgot, but yeah. We talked." Barry says, turning to go to his lab.

"And?" Joe calls after him.

"And nothing. I have to get back to work."

"He sounds cheerful." Cisco says, walking up behind Joe.

"When did you get here?" Joe asks, jumping at Cisco's sudden appearance.

"Ten minutes ago. When we agreed we'd be here." Cisco says, raising his eyebrows at Joe.

Joe and Cisco go sit at his desk, Cisco taking over Eddie's desk for now. They get to work on the idea they're proposing to Captain Singh tomorrow: The Anti-Meta-Human Task Force. It would ideally consist of at least ten officers who were specially trained in dealing with metas and were kept in the loop as much as possible. Cisco has also insisted on being the tech consultant and scientific advisor for the task force. The proposal though takes a lot more than a few good ideas. They had to present funding options, potential contenders for the task force, justification for forming the task force, and much more. They had been working on the proposal for over a week now. Cisco was finalizing some specs for new anti-meta human defensive tech to help the proposal. Joe was finalizing a cumulative report of all meta attacks from the last year to show the need for the task force. They tried to get Barry to help and give ideas for some meta-specific CSI equipment, but he said that's what S.T.A.R. Labs was for and walked off.

"Will I get an official badge?" Cisco asks from across the desks.

"No." Joe says without hesitation.

"Why not? I'll be officially part of a police force." Cisco argues.

"No official training. No gun. No badge." Joe says, looking up at Cisco with his eyebrows raised.

"No fun." Cisco says quietly, going back to his work. Joe chuckles at this and gets back to the proposal.

*******************************

At the end of the work day, Caitlin locks her lab door and makes her way down the hallway to the main lobby in her wing. When she gets there she sees Wally sitting at a table at the edge of the room, hands on the back of his head, staring intensely at a book.

"Wal? You okay?" Caitlin asks, sitting in the chair next to him.

"No." He whines.

She reads over his shoulder and sees him studying for his first biochemistry exam. She takes a deep breath and scoots closer to help him. They spend the next hour working on his homework, having moved back to Caitlin's lab so she could use a dry-erase board to better explain it.

"How do you understand all of this?" Wally asks.

"I started studying biochem when I was 13 Wally." She laughs. "I had a bit of a head start."

"Not fair." He says, laying his head down on his notebook.

"How about we take a dinner break? We can eat at my place and I might have a book or two that'll help you. We can finish this up there." She offers.

"I know a great take out place we can try." Wally suggests.

"Sounds great." Caitlin smiles, helping him pack up his stuff.

They stop and pick up some take out and head back to Caitlin's. Wally makes fun of her for her book collection, but gladly accepts the three books she gives him to help with his classes. They sit and talk about Central City, metas, Cisco, and Joe. He tells her about his mom, her love for music, and her declining health. They talk for hours before Caitlin reminds him that he has homework. The next half hour is spent explaining the final concept on the assignment to Wally before Caitlin steps away to take a call.

"Hey Iris."

"Hey Caitlin!" Iris shouts through the phone.

Caitlin flinches away from the noise. "What's up?" Caitlin asks.

"Just checking in. Dad said Cisco came to visit. How was it?"

"Really good. I missed him. How's New York? You started your new job last week, right?" Caitlin asks.

"Yes! It's great. There's so much more to report on here. Well at least more that I can report on. You guys always stayed so hush hush about meta stuff." Iris scolds.

Caitlin laughs. "Sorry. How's Eddie liking it?"

"He likes it, I guess. He hated all the meta stuff at first, but I think he kinda misses it. But there's plenty of excitement here to keep him busy." Iris says.

"Have you two thought about taking time for a honeymoon?" Caitlin asks, peeking into the living room to check on Wally who has his hands clasped behind his neck in frustration. She lets out a light laugh.

"I think Eddie wants to. I considered our week-long road trip here a honeymoon. We had a blast, but I think he wants something more official. More tropical." Iris laughs. "But it's gonna be hard to take time off since we just started. Maybe as an anniversary present."

"That'd be nice. Give you two time to settle in before you go." Caitlin agrees.

"Exactly." Caitlin hears Eddie excitedly yell something in the background. "Eddie says 'hi'." Iris says.

"Tell him I said hi and I miss him." Caitlin laughs.

Iris laughs. "He misses you too. He doesn't have a girl to talk to anymore to help him figure me out."

They both laugh and finish catching up on new friends, new restaurants, and Iris planning Caitlin's trip to come visit which Caitlin told her wasn't happening any time soon.

"Well, I gotta go. Early morning." Iris says. "I'll call you later this week?"

"Sounds good." Caitlin responds. "Bye."

They both hang up and Caitlin walks in to see Wally has fallen asleep on the couch. She walks back into the kitchen and takes out her phone to call his mom.

"Francine? Hi, it's Caitlin Snow. We met at Wally's orientation." She introduces herself. "Wally fell asleep finishing his homework. Is it alright if he stays here tonight? I'll make sure he's to work on time."

She gets permission and a 'thank you' from Francine for helping Wally out and hangs up. She walks in and takes the book off Wally's stomach, closing it and putting it on the table. She throws a blanket over him and leaves a pillow next to him in case he wakes up and wants it. She turns off the lights and gets into bed, falling asleep the second her head hits the pillow.

******************

Back in Central City, Cisco has fallen asleep at Eddie's old desk. His face is stuck to a stack of papers containing the finalized designs for a new meta-cuff. Joe's arms are crossed over his stomach. He's leaning back in his chair, his head hanging to the side. He fell asleep proofreading the proposal him and Cisco finished just an hour ago. Barry walks down the stairs from his lab, not noticing the two sleeping figures in the office.

The people of Central City are settled in for the night, none out to notice the streak of lightning speeding through town, looking for his first project. Tomorrow they would all wake up, and the morning after that, and they would notice. Things would be better.

A/N:

Book One is officially over. I've started on Book Two, but I want to have a few chapters done before I post anything, so it'll be a bit before I get anything posted. I do need some suggestions on the following:

Middle name for Harrison and Caitlin. I've got some ideas, but they aren't set in stone.

Shortened, Cisco-fied nickname for the Anti-Meta-Human Task Force. It's just too long as is. 

Thank you guys so much for all your feedback and love! Can't wait to get the second book out! Hope everyone is still doing alright with quarantine winding down and what-not, but stay safe! Stay in and read some fanfiction! Or rewatch the Flash like I'm doing.

Peace and Love! -Ali