"Squat down!" Caitlin yelled from across the cortex holding a timer in her hand.

Cisco was standing on the office chair in her lab, waiting to ride it down the ramp into the cortex.

"If you stand up you're going to fall. Squat down you idiot." Caitlin warned.

"I'll get more speed if I can push off the doorway." Cisco argues.

"Yeah, more speed falling into the ground." Caitlin scoffs. Fixing Cisco was a whole other story from fixing Barry. Cisco didn't heal as fast and whined twice as much.

Cisco ignored Caitlin and took off on his chair, standing tall (as tall as Cisco could), reaching for the door frame to push himself off. He pushed too hard, catching the chair off balance, and wobbled to try to catch his balance. Failing to do so, he starting falling backwards off the chair. Caitlin squealed running forward, only to be greeting by an upright Cisco being supported by a grinning Barry.

"I win." Caitlin said, tossing the timer to Cisco. "You never made it to the finish line.

Cisco started to argue until he heard Dr. Wells clear his throat.

"Nice of you to join us Mr. Allen. Caitlin, Cisco, could I have a word alone with Barry?"

Cisco and Caitlin exchange looks and scurry out of the cortex laughing.

"What do you think that's about?" Cisco asked.

"He said he wanted to talk to Barry about his focus. Wants him to get faster. He's got something in mind, but I can't figure out what it is." Caitlin explains.

""What does getting faster do for anything? Other than, you know, just being awesome." Cisco asks.

"No idea. He thinks if he gets faster we can learn more from him. Maybe develop something from his powers." Caitlin answers. "I mean he's dropping words like cancer cure and Alzheimer's."

Cisco's eyebrows raise and they both let out a sigh.

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

"His DNA looks the same. It's just...not regenerating anymore. There is no sign of him having any abnormal capabilities, Wells. It's just normal human DNA. With a little...spark." Caitlin chuckles, looking over at Wells who is staring at her screen intensely. She immediately regrets making a joke.

"Are you sure it looks the same? There has to be some difference." Wells snaps.

"I have looked at this DNA every day for over a year. Yes, I'm positive it's the same." Caitlin defends. 

Wells sighs, regretting snapping at Caitlin and feeling very confused. He rubs his eyes with one hand and looks back at the screen.

"This doesn't make any sense." He says to himself and wheels away. She sighs, looking back at her screen.

Barry had lost his speed. A new meta, Farooq Gibran, who could siphon energy from people, had somehow taken Barry's speed when he attacked him earlier that day. None of them could explain it, but Barry was extremely upset about it.

He came back to the lab later that evening to help the team work on ways to get his speed back.

It's been an hour and all Barry has done is sit and stare at a screen, willing the world to give him a break. Caitlin is sitting across the room, quietly doing the same. 

Caitlin walks over and sits on the desk in front of him, blocking his view of the screen.

"Say we can't get your powers back. Then what?" She asks.

Barry turns to her, pushing his chair back and leaning forward to put his hand in his hands.

"I don't know Cait. I know I haven't had my powers for long but...I've never felt anything like it. The wind in my face. The way everything around me looks when I run. I can't even begin to describe it." He starts to stare off into space. Caitlin smiles down at him.

Barry stands up out of his chair and moves next to the desk. "I just don't know what I'll do. How do I move forward from this?" He runs his hand through is hair and rests it on the back of his neck.

"Hey." Caitlin scolds, reaching up to pull his hand away from his neck and puts hers on his cheek. "Even without your powers, you're still you, Barry."

"But I"m not," he says, not moving away from Caitlin's hand. "I'm not the best version of me."

Barry leans his head into Caitlin's hand, taking a step closer to her. She moves his head up to look at her.

"You're still an amazing person who wants to help people even if you don't have the speed to do it the way you have been, we can find other ways to do it." She says softly, almost at a whisper.

"How can I even begin to help the amount of people I have or stop metas without it? I need to get my speed back, Cait. It's part of me now. " He looks at her with sad eyes.

"Then lets find a way to do that." She says, smiling at him.

He smiles and catches her eyes. They stare at each other for only a few seconds before Barry finds himself leaning forward, for no other reason than the fact that being near her is comforting and always seems to lift the weight off his shoulders that he doesn't realize he's carrying. His forehead hits hers and he lets out a sigh of relief.

The lights go out.

"What the hell?" Caitlin says, standing up and walking over to the control panel.

She pushes a few buttons, hoping something will happen. Something does, but not because of her.

"Dr. Harrison Wells!" A voice comes in from the camera that is being projected onto the computer.

"Is that..." Caitlin starts.

"Farooq." Wells answers, wheeling into the cortex.

"What if I just go talk to him?" Barry suggests.

"That's not going to work." Wells scolds, currently at a loss for what to do.

Barry calls Joe to check if the power outage extended past S.T.A.R. Labs. Joe doesn't answer and Barry starts to worry. He walks out of the cortex to call Captain Singh.

"Guys the lights all went out!" Cisco yells running into the cortex.

Caitlin and Wells both look to Cisco then to each other, rolling their eyes and returning their attention to the angry man on the camera.

Barry walks back in, "Joe and Iris they...I need my speed back now!" He yells.

Wells looks at Barry, down to Farooq, and then up to Caitlin.

"What is it?" she asks, seeing the wheels turning in his head.

"There may be a way to get his speed back, but I'm not sure and it's risky." He answers

"How risky?" She asks, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Doesn't matter. Lets do it." Barry says, walking up to Wells.

"Cisco, I'll need your help." Wells announces and exits the cortex with Cisco.

"Barry, you can't just jump into this. You're no good to anyone dead." Caitlin says, still keeping her eye on Farooq in the camera.

"Iris and Joe are being held hostage at CCPD, Cait," Barry walks up next to Caitlin, "I have to go."

Caitlin looks up at him, sighing, and looks back at the camera.

A few moments later Wells and Cisco walk back into the cortex. "It's ready."

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

"I'm sorry, you want to what?" Caitlin exclaims.

Wells explained the plan to channel a large amount of electricity through Barry's body in hopes of jump starting his powers again.

"Barry your body can't take that much electricity." Caitlin says.

"I'll be fine, just do it!" Barry yells, walking over and grabbing onto the treadmill the way Cisco showed him to.

"Dammit Barry, I'm saying this as your doctor not your friend. If this doesn't give you your powers back you will die" She angrily says.

There is a loud bang. Cisco runs into the cortex to look at the cameras to see what is happening.

"He's inside." Cisco announces, running back into the training room.

"You two stay here and get this done." Wells says. "Cisco and I will take care of Farooq.

They both exit the room and Barry stares at Caitlin through the window pleadingly.

"Please Cait. I have to." He begs.

Caitlin bites back a response, she's not gonna win this argument and she knows it. She bites her lip and clenches her fist against the desk.

"Caitlin do it!" He yells.

Caitlin hits the desk and glares up at Barry. She grunts in defeat, flips the switch, and closes her eyes as Barry screams.

She looks up to see if anything has changed, and jumps backward at the sparks coming from the treadmill as the electricity overpowers the machine and Barry is thrown into the wall.

"Barry!" Caitlin yells as she runs to him.

Barry is laying against the wall, appearing unconscious. Caitlin drops to her knees, immediately pulling him up to see if he's okay. He comes to and pulls himself up to a sitting position next to her. He looks down at his hand, hoping to see it vibrating, and sees nothing.

"It's not back." He says, defeated. "You were wrong though, I'm alive." He says, breaking a half smile at her.

"Never been more happy to be wrong." She breathes.

"Did it work?" Cisco yells as he runs into the room.

Him and Wells had managed to send Farooq on a detour, buying them some time. Wells wheeled in right behind him. Barry shook his head at both of them.

They go back into Caitlin's lab to look at his DNA now to see if there was any change.

"Your cells are regenerating like crazy. Faster than before. Your powers should be back." Caitlin says, confused, and looking at Barry.

"You have the yipps!" Cisco yells, making Caitlin jump.

"Hush," she whisper yells back at him. They had no idea where Farooq was now, and they didn't want to draw attention to themselves.

"It's what athletes get when the choke. Golfer misses an easy putt. Missing a free throw. You need to calm down, man." Cisco explains.

"How can I calm down? We're trapped in here with a meta that we have no idea how to stop, and Iris and Joe are being held hostage at CCPD and I have no way of getting to them." Barry whisper yells back at him.

The sound of electricity bouncing off a wall causes them all to duck down behind the desk.

Caitlin looks around. "Cisco, take Wells down to the garage and get a car going. He hasn't siphoned the energy out of those yet. Get Wells in and wait for Barry and I."

"Where are you two going?" Cisco asks.

"We're gonna stall Farooq. It's gonna take you a little bit to get down there and get Wells settled. We'll distract him and meet you down there." Caitlin answers.

"Why can't you go down to the garages?" Cisco asks.

"It was my idea Cisco. I'm not letting you take the bigger risk. He's gonna argue less if it's you anyway," she says, pointing to Wells over the desk.

Cisco sighs, knowing she's right. He looks to Barry who nods at him and gives him a reassuring smirk.

"Go." Caitlin urges.

Her and Barry stand up while Cisco gets behind Wells and whispers half of the plan to him, leaving out the Caitlin-as-a-distraction part.

Caitlin and Barry walk out into the hall, making sure to catch Farooq's eye and round the corner quickly, as a stripe of electricity hits the wall next to them. They run ahead of him, being sure not to get too far ahead and lose him. Barry pulls Caitlin back around a wall, barely dodging getting hit. They both stop to catch their breath, looking at each other in panic. As they hear Farooq near them, they duck into a room off to the side, being sure to be quiet closing the door, and duck down below the window showing into the hallway.

Caitlin scoots closer to Barry, holding his hand and burying her face into his arm. He feels her jump when they hear Farooq throw another bolt down the hallways as he rounds the corner, nearing the room. He grips her hand tighter, pulling their hands to his chest.

Barry feels his body light up. The electricity runs from his hand all through is body. He holds his vibrating hand up in front of him. Caitlin looks over at the now empty space next to her.