This is it, Y'all! As the year begins and I start out on my move back to Idaho, this story draws to a close—fear not, this is not the end of metakitties. but it is the end for a while, as I need to see how season two shakes out before I start screwing with Canon. But I'm always up to chat about this on tumblr—user name hedgiwithapen. and of course, I'll be posting other stories in the meantime.

Chapter 13

There should have been a silence, Barry thought, to mimic the shock, the way his hummingbird-heart seemed to stop in those seconds. But there was no stillness, no quiet. Eobard Thawne dropped him and he crumpled for the handful of seconds it took to realize he was not dead. When he opened his eyes, the lightning that had been rippling over Eobard was gone, but the man was still blurring, as if being torn apart.

Too much else competed for attention, though, for Barry to stare and try to understand. He saw Cisco, free of the hold his fear had kept on his legs, running towards a small greyish lump at the base of one wall, but his eyes slid past at hyperspeed to find the source of the gunshot that had stopped Eobard. When he spotted it, he thought he might throw up.

Iris and Joe were crouched by Eddie, a gun under his hand, bleeding out. Goldie and Bear pressed in, mewling and nudging at him, and if Barry's legs hadn't already given out on him, they would have now. Eddie was dying. His mother was dead. Fuzzwhump had only been a kitten. How had everything gone so wrong?

Cisco called it knowing that there was nothing he could do for Eddie, called it letting Iris be with him instead, but honestly those facts hardly registered, as much as he cared. All he could see was Fuzz, her body limp and crooked. She was still warm when he scooped her into his arms, cradeling her delicately, and for one moment he thought he'd been wrong, that she was breathing after all. It was only his hands, trembling.

"Cisco, help me," Cisco didn't recognize the voice, didn't look up, didn't need to. Eobard Thawne had killed his cat. He wasn't about to lift a finger to help him with anything. He did notice, though, then the Time-Portal opened up in all its blazing blue glory, the color of his worst dreams. He clutched Fuzzwhump closer, heart hammering, as he heard Barry shout for everyone to Run.

"NO," Iris screamed, Eddie half pulled into her lap, Goldie and Bear still mewing frantically, Goldie licking at Eddie's hair even as the pull of the vortex ruffled it. "I'm not leaving him, Eddie, no, come back!"
Eddie's eyes were as sightless as Fuzzwhump's as Joe pulled his daughter up, and Barry lifted his friend's body.

Cisco was on their heels, still numb, as they tore past Caitlin and Ronnie in the antechamber, sweeping them and the Steins up in a wave of panic. The cats streamed around them, racing for an exit. The world seem to shake, Cisco could see the Singularity in the sky above them, getting larger, getting stronger. The wind tugged at his hair, and Clarissa's dress, at the trees nearby, and all any of them could do was stop and stare in abject horror at one more thing going wrong. Cisco could have laughed at that thoughts, if he wasn't already crying. This was so much more than wrong.

"How do I stop it?" Barry ask, frantic, Nyoom a silvery streak as she wove around his ankles in a frenzy to do something.
"We don't," Martin Stein said flatly. "It cannot be—" he cut off, frowning, and glanced around him until he spotted Bear. Barry had laid Eddie's still form down in a sheltered spot a few feet away, Iris close by. Bear had wormed his way under Eddie's hand, but was glaring with all the intensity of Cat disapproval at the professor. "It can be stopped, but it would take…I'm not even certain."

"It'll kill everyone if we don't, there has to be something," Barry said hotly. The swirling vortex caught his eye as it pulled in glimmers of light—the sun reflecting on broken glass and bits of metal. He swallowed, he could hear screaming, panic, terror. "What if I unravel it? Like the tornado, only upside down?"

"Possibly," Stein said after another glare from Bear. "But—"

"Then I have to try. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." His eyes swept the group, a family born of so much grief. In a flash of pent up lightning, Barry ran, a golden streak up the side of a building, and Nyoom after him, overtaking him. She sprang with the grace of a dancer, all the power of any cat that ever leaped or pounced evident in her as she pushed off from building to rubble in a blurr, and it was only the practice of running together for weeks that kept Barry from colliding with her, or she with him.

Below, the city watched the lightning show, holding their breath and clinging to anything they could, be it railings, posts, doorframes, or each other. Scrap trembled in Caitlin's pocket, but when the woman, on instinct, stepped forward as if to help and felt gravity going a little wonky, the kitten clawed her way out and enlarged. If anyone noticed the grizzly bear sized cat, no one cared enough to draw their eyes away from the hole in the sky. Even Iris, eyes swollen with teats and clutching at Eddie's hand, even Clarissa, who had ticked herself into Martin's hold, even the cats, who stared as one being, blinking together, their heads tilting in sync as only cats do, watching their littermate run.

"It's stabilizing," Ronnie shouted, the roar of the wind too loud to allow for anything more reverent.

"It's not enough," Clarissa frowned. "I listened to your lessons, Martin, read your paper. That won't close it, will it?"

"No. But, if Ronald—"

"Ronnie," Ronnie corrected, one hand locked around Caitlin's, his other a loose fist.

"And I were to separate in the eye of it…" Martin finished, his face ashen. "It might be our best hope."

"You can't," Caitlin whispered. "You could die, it's too dangerous!"
"We have to try," Ronnie gave her a sad smile, and released her hand.

It was at that moment that Cisco was finally able to look away at the sparking light that was his best friend trying to save the world. For a moment he thought it had been a tremor, a vibration from the earth signaling more danger, more death, but the movement was only in his arms. It was only protective instinct that kept him from dropping Fuzzwhump when she licked his hand again, her entire body rumbling with a purr. He made a squeak of surprise, his jaw hanging open, disbelief pulsing through him. She blinked at him, twisting to butt her head at his chest, gently, then wriggled free.

His strangled cry drew the other's gazes, even Barry over the comms demanded, out of breath, "What's—happening—are-ok?" Caitlin turned as white as her wedding dress had been, Clarissa let out a gasp, and the rest of the kitties converged, their mews carrying to fill the entire courtyard. Fuzzwhump ignored all of it, even Cisco's tear-choked "Fuzz? How?" and pushed through the others until she reached Iris.

The silver tabby clambered up to Eddie's unmoving chest, circled the spot over his heart, slick with blood that had stopped pumping, and settled, closing her eyes. Iris gave a little cry, looking to Cisco, free again from the paralysis that seemed to grip them al. He knelt beside the grieving woman, the dead man, and the cats, confusion warring with awe on his face.

"She was dead," he whispered. "Her neck was broken, she was—"

"Cisco, what's her Power? Her meta-ability?" Iris demanded, her beautiful face so much older and sadder than hours before, lined with concentration.
"I thought it was memory! Or sensing intentions, or something, but-she—" Cisco cut himself off, watching his kitten breath, peaceful, whole, alive.
The impossible really was just another Tuesday.
A ripple when through the kitten's body, and Caitlin felt a memory sliding into place—Cisco had been dead under her hands, the bee's sting had stopped his heart, Barry had leaned in with hands full of lightning, but Fuzzwhump had still been laid across Cisco's heart. She understood a fraction of a heartbeat before Eddie's eyes, clear and blue as an October sky, closed and opened again, a breath shuddering through him.

"Oh my God," Iris clasped a hand to her mouth, then threw herself into an embrace, only just missing Fuzzwhump as the kitten hopped neatly back into the cradle of Cisco's arms.

"Iris?" Eddie asked, a look of horror on his face. "Are you—did he kill you, I thought—I thought it'd worked, oh, God—"

"YOU IDIOT," Iris cried, still hugging him. "I'm not dead, you're not dead, don't you ever do that again, so help me, I will-." With Bear there, she could not finish the empty threat. A laugh bubbled from his chest, and from hers, and rippled through the rest of the tiny covy.

"Barry, you need to get yourself and Nyoom down, now." Martin suddenly barked, looking at Ronnie. "We have to merge, be ready to catch him."

"What?" Ronnie asked, preoccupied by death itself working backwards to understand. Cisco did.
"The Singularity, it's because of a paradox. When Eddie killed himself, it erased Eobard McMuderface, but that meant no Star Labs in this time, to Flash, a million other things. So the universe decided to eat itself to fix the issue, or the timeline did, but now that Eddie's not dead, Eobard will be born and the timeline doesn't need to eat itself which means that black hole is about to—"

The Singularity winked out, and Barry's "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO," echoed in the coms as Firestorm flew up to catch him. The cats, with a few exceptions, scattered.

Joe was the first to hug his foster son when they'd safely landed, and Barry glanced over his shoulder at the others. When he saw Eddie, shirt still covered in blood and cat hair but standing, and Fuzzwhump in Cisco's arms, he blinked.
"I fell through that thing into another demesion, didn't I? How—what happened?"
"The cat." Eddie said as if that explained everything, which it kind of did.
"See, aren't you glad I said we should keep them?" Cisco asked, stroking Fuzzwhump's ears.
No one answered verbally, just nodded and sighed in collective agreement.
"Uhhh, so if Eddie's not dead anymore, what does that mean about Eobard?" Barry asked, still not sure his eyes were to be trusted.
"I'm gonna shoot him if he showed up again," Joe said, unclipping his gun.
"Something tells me that may not be needful," Clarissa murmured, pointing. Lucy appeared in the doorway with most of the other cats, her tufted tail a banner.

(Took Care of Nasty Wheelman) Freida chirped, touching her nose to Joe's shoe. (Maybe, is dead.)
(Yes is dead) Schrodinger added, rubbing his head against Clarissa's leg.
(Absolute tragic) Lucy mewed (No breath.) She gave a kitten laugh.
(Anymore) Felix put in. (was for small time.)
(Very small) Georgia blinked.
(I pushed rock on him!) Moose offered proudly.
"Ok, I don't know what they're saying, but I do understand that." Joe pointed. Schmendrick was dragging the remains of a very torn up yellow suit—the color not terribly apparent by the amount of blood and rock dust that stained it.
Barry vanished and returned. "The Accelerator's all caved in, some gaps but hardly more than cat sized. There's no way to be certain but…"
"Saves me a bullet," Joe sighed, rubbed his eyes, and laughed. It was an infectious sound, more from relief and exhaustion and reckless joy than anything. They all joined in, the cats adding their voices with purrs. No one wanted to move, but after a moment they did retreat to the still standing sections of STAR, as people started to realize the disaster was over.

"Well, I think this calls for a celebration," Martin said, at long last. Everyone had more or less flopped on the floor of one of the rooms, using the cleanest of the cat beds for cushioning. The cats themselves lounged everywhere, everyone exhausted, content simply to be able to look over at each other and grin. Scrap let Caitlin and Ronnie lean against her, a solid weight of comfort, and her purr was as good as a massage chair. Nyoom, for once, had used up her spare energy, and she lay across Barry's lap, snoring. Iris refused to let go of Eddie's hand, not that he would have let go of hers. For once, the monitors and alerts were off—the city needed the Flash, yes, but there were police out in force, nearly all but Joe and Eddie, and his feet ached.
"There's still wedding cake in the fridge," Iris supplied. "We never got to eat it."
"When I last second plan a wedding, I plan well," Clarissa said, standing and shrugging Moose off her lap. "I'll get it. And I suppose these little monsters have kitty treats somewhere?"
At the word 'treats' not even Nyoom stayed stationary. Chaos reigned supreme for a few minutes, but then they settled again, eating the cake and tossing kitty treats and toy mice for their clowder. No one truly wanted to be alone, nor did anyone want to leave, so they stayed, leaning against each other, using extra sweatshirts for padding and pillows.
Cisco moved to bury his face in Fuzzwhump's belly fur, but stopped short when he realized she was still mostly soaked in Eddie's blood. "You need a bath, Fuzz."
She growled a tiny, playful growl, (Not only one, Sco! Dust dust dust all over!) then rasped her tongue over his hand, purring loudly. He laughed and took one of the proffered napkins, cleaning her up as she continued to clean him, working her way from his hand to the place where tears had dried. When she'd finished, he cupped her close.
"I love you, kitty," he whispered. "You scared me."
(Even now, scares both) she mewed sleepily, tucking her paws under her. (Love you, Sco)
They all fell asleep to the sound of purring.

Seee, it all worked out. :D I'm sure some of you saw through my clever trick. Anyway. I hope you've liked this! Please do leave a comment, let me know what you think-there are an awful lot of you, and I hope you've enjoyed this journey as much as I have! my deepest thanks to all, but particularly Linders, Mad, Sava, and Kenna who instigated the demand for kittens and wouldn't let me stop, and to Cr1m and Mikkal, who let me plot at them and encouraged my plot twists.