Frost Star's Personal Observation:

To say that I was enjoying watching and hearing my 'dad' be in pain, both physically and emotionally, was exquisite music to my ears! Not only had I proved to The Flash that I can easily overpower and defeat him, but I had also taken away someone important to him as well...his and Iris West's daughter from a no doubt now lost future: Nora West-Allen, who was now trapped within the Speed Force Prison that I had created with my speed alone!

No doubt the timelines have been re-written once again because Nora is no longer presently around, and is no longer around to help her precious father, or help Eobard Thawne in 2049 with whatever it was he was manipulating her to do. I, to be honest, couldn't have cared less about what they had been plotting in that lost future. And why so I have cared?

I knew for a fact that Flash was healing from his injuries and wounds, and no doubt would be emotionally distraught at the loss of his daughter...but if I knew the Team Flash before Savitar had appeared, which I did from old security footage from my worlds S.T.A.R. Labs: mum, Caitlin Snow, would be there to help comfort Flash and try to help him, since they had both suffered loss in their lives. They were quite the pair, even I couldn't deny it, as much as it made me feel physically ill at the thought.

Well, actually that was a lie: the thought of Barry Allen and Caitlin Snow being a couple wasn't something that made me physically ill, because some part of me found them being together right...but whenever I thought of the two together, and not in that sense, instead of a normal person for 'dad', or even his alter ego The Flash...all I could imagine was that of Savitar! And yes, I did already now the real name of The Flash and Savitar, Barry Allen, but I choose not to use it because the name didn't feel right with me.

The fact remains though: Flash was my enemy, and I was out to hurt and crush him! So what if my actions brought Snow and Allen together? I don't mind or care. Let them have that for all I care, because either way: I'll be the last one standing when I'm done with Flash! After all, as of last night...I am the fastest man alive!

End of pov.:

To say that the mood with Team Flash was anything but cheerful would have been a massive understatement. Barry had isolated himself away in the Time Vault without first having his injuries seen to or patched up, for reasons that Caitlin and Joe understood all too well. Barry always took losing someone very badly, and every time it happened it broke him, even more so in cases were he was unable to prevent it.

Things weren't any better with the rest of the team either, all for different reasons: Cisco was feeling guilty for hiding the secret of Frost Star's mum's DNA match from everyone, especially from his two best friends who had more than any right to know: Ralph and Joe worried about Barry, Joe more so because he knew Barry better than most of the team, minus Iris and Caitlin, whilst Joe was rather upset at losing his future granddaughter.

Even though the detective had not gotten to know Nora as well as the others on the team: he still had liked Nora a lot and she was as much a part of the family as Barry, Iris and Wally were. Joe also felt sorry for Caitlin as well: Joe, like Barry, accepted Caitlin for who she was, Killer Frost and all, and he trusted her and saw her as a daughter-figure...even if he didn't understand even half the scientific stuff that she, Barry and Cisco spouted most of the time. And he couldn't imagine what she must have been feeling now that she had found out that the Killer Frost from Frost Star's world was the latter speedsters mum.

However, nobody knew what Iris was feeling. After Nora had been trapped within the Speed Force Trap: Iris had left the Cortex and the building without saying a word and hadn't returned. So she hadn't been at S.T.A.R. Labs when Barry returned from the docks almost an hour and a half after Nora had been lost and Frost Star had left...she hadn't been at S.T.A.R. Labs when Barry one of the labs in grief and rage...and she hadn't been there when he sealed himself in the Time Vault to grieve the loss of his speedster daughter...she hadn't been there at all when he needed her the most.

It could be argued that Iris was probably grieving in her own way, but considering the relationship between both Nora and Iris wasn't exactly perfect despite the progress they had slowly been trying to make...it was doubtful that she was as broken up over Nora's loss as Barry was. Caitlin understood the feeling of loss all too well: from losing Ronnie years ago when the Particle Accelerator went haywire due to Eobard Thawne, or as they knew him back then as Harrison Wells, to losing Ronnie again about a year after he returned to the singularity when he was saving Barry, to losing her father Thomas Snow as a kid...and to losing Killer Frost when they faced off against DeVoe.

She understood how Barry was feeling probably better than anyone, and it was tearing her up inside to see him suffering as he was and nobody was there to help him through it. They had all made the mistake of not helping Barry grieve and get through things after Zoom had killed Barry's father, Henry Allen, a number of years ago, and it had led to Barry going back in time and creating Flashpoint.

Caitlin understood that Team Flash at the time was as much to blame for Barry creating Flashpoint as Barry was, even though it had taken her some time and help from Killer Frost and, to some degree, even Savitar himself to realize that, and a little long though she hadn't wanted to admit that, and yet she as Killer Frost and the rest of the team had placed all of the blame on their speedster friend and had taken their frustration out on him after Barry had admitted to what he had done, despite the fact the blame was not solely his and Barry had tried to make amends for it...and the fact that Cait and Cisco had done something just as terrible with the Particle Accelerator...

Slowly Caitlin made her way towards where the Time Vault was, knowing where it was like the back of her hands despite only having gone in there a handful of times. She knew she had access to the Time Vault, which was why she was a little surprised when she found that the door was locked, though only a little bit as she could guess that she knew why it was locked in the first place. She knocked on the door as gently as she could, but loud enough so he could here.

"Barry? Are you alright...?" she said slowly, her voice sounding a little hoarse yet worried. Instead of receiving a verbal answer though, she got a response in the form of the Time Vault door beginning to open up less than a minute later. Slowly she entered the Time Vault...and to her surprise she saw Barry leaning against a wall looking at a picture that he and Nora had taken in their Flash and XS suits, masks off. The picture had been taken about a week or two after Nora had started to help out Team Flash.

But the sight of Barry was what made Caitlin's heart break for him: even as he was looking at her, his eyes were red and distant, screaming in hurt almost, suggesting that he had been crying for a long time now. His hair was messy a bit and his face was tear-stained with no smile at all being present. He wasn't in his suit, and instead he is in all dark clothing that, worryingly, made him look like Savitar when he had been around.

But there was something else about Barry that practically screamed to her that something wasn't right, and it wasn't just Nora's, for lack of better things to describe it as, "death"...something else was wrong. And whatever it was was recent. She slowly walked towards him, looking towards the man she cared about with concern and worry, before speaking slowly and cautiously. "Barry...? Are you okay?" Barry slowly shook his head.

"Iris...left me, Caitlin..." he said, his voice sound lost, throaty and hoarse, and although that did shock Caitlin, hearing that Iris had left Barry not too long after Nora had been lost to them. Upon finishing his words, Barry made the picture vanish before he slowly began to slowly lean against the wall next to the computer and slowly slid down until he was sitting on the floor, one of his knees up slightly, and his body slumped against the wall, showing a broken man.

"I couldn't save Nora...and I couldn't stop Frost Star...But it turns out that...Iris had been considering it for a while now...so she left me a note at the apartment and...and her rings..." continued, and each word made Caitlin's heart ache and bleed more and more for Barry. How could a man with such a kind heart and the most genuine soul she had ever known be tortured in such a way, not only by the cruel hands of fate that had been placed before him, but also by two people of his family?

Barry lowered his head and buried his face into his knee as more tears fell down his face once again, and the sight brought tears to Caitlin's eyes as well. She slowly moved over to him and sat down on the ground next to him, before gently wrapping one of her arms around him and slowly pulling her speedster best friend into her, laying his head down into her shoulder as he continued to cry once again.

She didn't mind that the tears were making her shirt wet. She didn't mind that he was a mess emotionally and mentally right now, and she meant that in the nicest way possible. She didn't mind at all that the man before her was broken and in pain. She didn't mind at all. Because he was her best friend, a friend in desperate need of someone to be there for him right now. He was the man that she loved with all her heart and soul. He was the man who had gone through hell every single day for the sake of others, who had saved her life numerous times without hesitation even when she told him not to. He was the one who helped to fix her when she was broken and keep her in check at times when she needed it. He was her rock. He was Barry Allen.

They sat their not moving from the spot for god knows how long, neither wanting to move or leave each others company for both different yet also similar reasons as well: Barry because of the obvious need for company right now, and Caitlin because she wanted to help him, and both because they had feelings for the other that neither would admit right now, not that Barry was in the right frame of mind to think so. Eventually the duo were joined by the presence of a regretful Cisco who slowly entered the room.

Cisco looked towards them both apologetically, made only worse by what he saw when he looked at Barry. Barry wasn't even looking at Cisco, and Cisco guessed that the speedster hadn't even heard him come in either. Caitlin was looking at him, but there wasn't a smile to be seen on her face. Cisco stopped a good distance away and kept his distance from the two of them.

"Guys...I'm sorry. I should have told you as soon as I found out but..." he began, only to stop himself when he sees Barry sitting up and looking towards him, seeing how broken and distant he was, and he could see the look of pain and betrayal in his eyes. It was a look that Cisco had seen in Savitar when they were fighting him. Barry though never spoke a word, he just looked towards Cisco waiting for him to speak, but Caitlin did speak.

"Why didn't you tell us Cisco? I can understand you not telling Iris, but why did you not tell me or Barry? We had a right to know about who Frost Star's mum is..." she said, trying to not shout due to Barry being in the room, but her question and tone was voiced with both hurt and anger at their best friends decision. Cisco looked on the brinks of tears himself now as he began to respond.

"I was afraid...I was afraid on how you would react...I was afraid that it would destroy the friendship between you two that you had...and I was afraid on what would happen if the others found out..." He slowly moved closer to them before continuing. "I wanted to tell you, to tell both of you, since I found out...but I was too scared with how you'd react...I'm sorry..."

Caitlin got up after Cisco finished speaking, Cisco drying his eyes to prevent himself from crying more, but to Cisco's surprise: instead of hitting Cisco or shouting at him, she hugged her friend instead. "Please...don't keep something like this a secret again..." she said slowly, not exactly forgiving Cisco, but not holding it against him now, almost like a mother telling their child off...which was ironic consider the whole issue regarding Cisco had plenty to do with Frost Star, who was more or less hers and Barry's kid.

They broke apart from the hug when they heard Barry beginning to stand up, both of his friends looked towards him, and Cisco was worried about what Barry's reaction would be...but to Cisco's surprise, Barry just silently pulled Cisco into a brotherly hug, one which Cisco returned. Caitlin smiled a little at that, before Caitlin joined in on the hug after a bit, hugging her two best friends. Cisco would need to earn back some trust, but even despite that and despite hiding this secret from them, they were still friends and they would be willing to forgive. Caitlin and Cisco were just glad that Barry, in his state, was still willing to forgive Cisco despite all the speedster had gone through this day.

It was another half an hour before Barry or Caitlin left the Time Vault, mainly because Caitlin didn't want to leave Barry alone right now. Cisco had left the Time Vault 10 minutes prior, but he felt terrible for having lied to his friends, a feeling that no doubt he would be feeling for some time. When Barry and Caitlin entered the Cortex, Joe and Ralph were both there as well, and they could both see how bad Barry seemed.

Joe walked over to Barry slowly and pulled him into a hug, no words said between them as they hugged. Ralph placed a hand on Barry's shoulder gently for comfort as well. Eventually the hug was broken up and Caitlin looked to Barry, speaking to him concerned. "We should probably check on those injuries you got earlier. They might have healed, but...better to be safe than sorry." Barry nodded slowly, his eyes never leaving her as she spoke, before saying throatily "Thank you Cait..."

Caitlin smiled a bit at his use of the 'Cait' name, and she lead him to the stretcher bed to check on his injuries. When she began her check, she was surprised and shocked by some of the injuries that hadn't quite healed up yet. She knew the one that had caused his face to be covered in a crimson mask had long healed up, if the strands of dried blood on his face that hadn't been washed up by washing his face or from his tears weren't obvious enough.

However, he seemed to have numerous bruises that hadn't healed properly and hadn't been treated to, multiple cuts with dried blood, and the wound inflicted to his leg by Frost Star's icicle after Barry's rage and grief based attack was more serious then it appeared, and by all accounts Barry shouldn't have been able to move without being in constant pain. She slowly and gently touched near the wound on his leg to make sure it didn't hurt him...but besides from a brief but noticeable flinch from Barry, there was no reaction from the speedster.

"Sorry." Caitlin apologized, but Barry simply replied throatily "It's not your fault...I learnt to block it out..." Caitlin looked up to Barry concerned at that, and slowly attempt to lay him down on the bed to help out with the injury...only to notice him try and hide a number of flinches and the change in his breathing, albeit brief changes. "I'm going to do an X-Ray on you, and then run some tests." she said, placing a hand on Barry's softly as she asked worriedly yet gently "Please, Barry, don't move..."

Barry looked into Caitlin's eyes and saw that she was pleading with him not to move...but he thought he noticed something else in her eyes that he'd seen a number of times before...something familiar yet rather foreign to him at the same time...Barry eventually nodded to that and said softly "Okay." His voice this time was just soft, no pain of being broken or sadness, just...softness and care. Something that only Caitlin seemed to get the fullest of. Caitlin smiled a little bit before letting her crush go and ran off to get an X-Ray machine, since she didn't want to move Barry into the medical wing just yet until she knew what they had to deal with.

When she returned with the X-Ray machine, which Cisco, Joe and Ralph all noticed, she used it on Barry...but when she got the results, she was shocked to see that his spinal column was damaged considerably alongside his back, which explained some of the more larger and more severe bruises to his back, he had a concussion that hadn't fully healed though it looked like he had once had numerous before now, he had fractures on some of his bones in his leg and internal swelling near his ribs, though fortunately the latter was slowly easing down.

Considering all the damage done to Barry and how much pain he had to be in just from the results shown to her alone: it was quite frankly miraculous that Barry was walking at all or conscious from all the pain he had to be in...and what made this worse for her heart to bare was that she had a feeling that the only reason he hadn't gotten them sorted out beforehand was because of his mental and emotional state right now, and/or the fact that choose to ignore them. Seeing this made her heart break, and her anger swell up to familiar levels...Killer Frost levels to be more precise!

"Oh Barry..." she said, though it was barely audible. She placed her hand on his gently, to which Barry turned his hand around and, to Cait's surprise, intertwined his fingers with hers and held onto her hand. "I'll heal..." was all Barry said, but he managed a small smile briefly. It didn't reach his lips, but it was a genuine smile and Caitlin appreciated that. Even as he was, Barry Allen still tried to put a smile on her face.

"I'll...need to put a leg brace on your injured leg until you fully heal. And we'll need to put you in a back brace to help your back and spine heal properly. But we'll try to make it as comfortable for you as possible. You'll also need some rest, if you're up to it that is." Caitlin explained as she went full doctor on him, though she was slightly flustered for a brief moment at the beginning from their hands being intertwined and from the brief smile he flashed at her.

Barry nodded slowly before briefly looking away, as memories threatened to overwhelm his thoughts from within his subconscious mind. Caitlin soon turned to leave, seeing Cisco looking on with a mix of guilt and concern on his face, and the former Killer Frost walked over to Cisco and spoke to him so only he could here, not wanting Barry or the others to hear, "He's going to need a back and leg brace for now...and a lot more healing."

Cisco nodded his head in understanding, knowing full well that Caitlin always spoke the truth in regards to Barry's injuries and what was needed to help with them, before he and Caitlin went to get the necessary equipment...though what none of the others realized, except for Barry that is, was that for a brief moment or two when she had been helping Barry...the temperature in the room had felt a little colder...and Caitlin's eyes had briefly glowed an icy colour...

It took some time to find the braces, because somebody had managed to lose them without knowing it, which should be impossible in a building full of geniuses, but when they had found them Caitlin managed to attach them to Barry carefully: tight enough so they could help mend any damage and help heal him, but not too tight that it will cause him any unnecessary discomfort.

Caitlin tried to help make Barry as comfortable as possible, which wasn't as easy as it seemed with Barry's bodies condition. When he was comfortable she informed Joe and Ralph on Barry's condition and told them that he'd have to remain at S.T.A.R. Labs under surveillance until he was fully healed. Joe and Ralph began to leave after a while, leaving just Cisco and Caitlin with Barry.

"Do you think...do you think he'll ever recover fully?" Cisco asked quietly so that only Caitlin could heard. Caitlin understood the question, or more specifically what he meant by the question, and she knew why he had asked her out of anyone: because she had gone through the same thing as Barry.

"Honestly? I...I don't know. Physically he should be fine, given time...but emotionally and mentally? I don't know. He's been through far more trauma, pain and loss in his life then any person should, and he's lost two people in his life who meant the world to him in one day...Most people never recover from the things that Barry has gone through..." she explained sadly. She hoped that Barry would recover from what he was going through, she believed that he would and would keep believing, because he never did stop believing in her.

Cisco looked over to Caitlin and noticed that she was still looking at Barry, and the young engineer smiled a bit at that. He chuckled softly with only the tiniest bit of humour laced into it, which made Caitlin look over to him confused. "What?" was all she asked, before Cisco looked to her with a knowing yet serious grin before giving his response. "He's lucky to have you, Caitlin. And I mean in general, not just in any touchy-feeling or romantic way."

Caitlin smiled a little bit as she looked back to Barry. She didn't even try to argue with Cisco this time on the "romantic" part of his observation, because she knew he was just making an observation...a very valid one at that, even if she didn't fully understand it. Cisco soon breaks her concentration as he begins to head out to the room whilst speaking. "I'm going to try to locate Frost Star or any other meta-humans." Now Caitlin was the only one in the room, watching over Barry.

She smiled a little bit before walking over to check on him, to make sure nothing serious was going on and to make sure everything was okay still, which thankfully everything was fine equipment and medically wise, however upon seeing Barry trying his hardest not to sleep despite the obvious fatigue in his facial features concerned the good doctor.

"Can't sleep?" she asked innocently, to which Barry shock his head slowly before responding softly yet hoarsely as well "No, I'm...I've been too afraid to go to sleep..." Caitlin was surprised by that, but she also felt a sense of familiarity with that feeling. There had been many a night after Ronnie had disappeared after the Particle Accelerator had gone off and after he had died to the Singularity that she had been afraid of going to sleep, in fear of remembering everything about their time together in case it opened up old wounds.

That was why she knew that Barry must have been feeling the exact same way, both about Nora and about Iris. She gently placed her hand on his and asked slowly "What if I stayed here with you tonight? I promise I will wake you up if something doesn't seem right." Barry nodded slowly after a minute, before slowly laying his head on a pillow as he began to slowly close his eyes. Caitlin pulled up a chair and sat down next to his bed, gently taking his hand in hers as she watched over him. What neither would know that day was that, from Caitlin's simple actions this day, the lives of Barry and Caitlin were about to change...and it was a change for the better....

Frost Star's personal observation:

Everything was falling to place perfectly right now! Flash's spirit and emotions was crushed and downtrodden on: Team Flash was damaged from the loss of XS and the damage dealt to Flash, and from what I had just recently found out: Iris West had just left dad, for whatever reasons, and destroyed him emotionally! And it's not even my birthday! Now, if it had been when she died, I would have been worried that he would unintentionally create Savitar if I wasn't careful, but I knew better.

But that wasn't the only reason I was feeling smug and maliciously cheerful: I now had a new weapon to use against dad, one provided to me by a certain speedster, or at least the idea at least...because I've never actually met Eobard Thawne in person.

"You're sure this weapon will work?" my most trusted alley began to ask as we went into the a weapons lab that one of my weapons tech guys worked in. "Of course it will work. True, there's a risk it will kill him...but should this work: then Flash will become his own worst nightmare!" We soon entered the main lab and watched as I began to open up a weapons cylinder.

"So, what is this weapon then?" my ally asked, and I smirked darkly as I pulled out a small bomb from within the cylinder and looked at it: dark purple and black energy coursing within the bomb. It was unstable, and it even made my connection to the Speed Force shudder in fear, if that was even possible. "It's quite simple really. I call it a "Negative Bomb". Something I came up with, even though the stuff inside it is more Reverse Flash's doing."

"And this will turn The Flash into a danger to himself?" she asked me, and I nodded to that as I smirked darkly. "I can guarantee it. After all...even The Flash won't be able to fight of Negative Speed Force Energy!"

Author's Side-Note: With Barry at one his lowest point, and Frost Star now armed with the "Negative Bomb" filled with Negative Speed Force energy: Frost Star makes a bold move by sending one of his followers to kidnap a member of Barry's team to draw him out...and the results when Barry comes to save his team mate will have dire consequences to Barry!

I hope you enjoyed the story, I'm sorry there wasn't any action in it, but I wanted to show Barry in a really vulnerable state that only Caitlin can ever hope to get him out of. Admittedly I got some inspiration for how Barry is from 2024's Barry Allen from Season 3 episode 19, though with my own touch to it. Plus it will also help with the progression of Barry's friendship with Caitlin eventually transforming to a relationship.

Barry will be more like 2024's Barry Allen for a while I'm afraid, if only for story purposes, but he will return to being the Barry that everyone knows and loves...with a little help of course. Also those who gathered what will happen to Barry from the ending of the story should be in for a treat.