Author's Note: Officially the longest whump story I'm ever written! I'm glad I can say that it was Snowbert themed :)

Julian's fever spiked badly that evening.

Caitlin was sound asleep in the spare bedroom, finally giving into exhaustion after the trying day they had just had. She was asleep as soon as she shut her eyes and curled up into ball. Her dreams were haunted with electric shocks and tiny little robots attacking giant white blood cells, but she supposed it could have been worse.

She was jarred awake by Cisco's hand, shaking her shoulder back and forth. "Caitlin- Caitlin, come quick!"

She let out a groan, sore all over and still tired. "What is it, Cisco?"

"It's Julian."

That got her out of bed pretty quickly, slipping on her flats and stumbling down the corridor after Cisco.

They slid around the corner and found Julian thrashing, locked in a nightmare despite the medicine they developed. His fever was slowly nearing 110.3, and his face was back to it's flushed, sweaty sheen.

"What happened?" Caitlin asked, concerned, as she leaned over his bed. "Julian? Julian, wake up. You're just dreaming."

He didn't wake, so Caitlin grabbed his shoulders and held him, to stop him from hurting himself by spinning off the bed. Cisco stood at her shoulder, looking worried and haggard.

"Shh..." Caitlin soothed, rocking him like he was a little kid who had woken up crying. "You're ok."

She kissed the top of his head, even though he probably wasn't registering any of it, and locked eyes with Cisco. "We need to do something." She said quietly.

Cisco took a seat on the bed, hunching so he could rest his forehead on the heel of his hand. "I know." He muttered, watching Julian's back as it shuddered and slowly stilled in Caitlin's gentle grasp. "But we tried tech. What else can we do?"

Caitlin rubbed Julian's back, feeling him go limp against her shoulder, his heat seeping through both of their shirts and to her skin. She was quiet for a moment, considering Cisco's question- and the situation they were in.

"Do you remember when Barry first got his speed?" Caitlin asked, pressing her lips to Julian's forehead to check his fever level as Cisco nodded. "At first, he thought about his speed as a power, not as part of him."

"Then after he lost his speed, when we fought Blackout, he accepted his powers and ended up saving us all." Cisco finished, remembering. "His powers got stronger because they weren't just his powers; they were apart of him."

Caitlin nodded. "What if the trick isn't to fool Julian's body into accepting his powers? What if it's just for him to really, truly accept them?"

She leaned back in the pillows and Julian sighed in his sleep, turning to lean into her and accommodate her new position. Cisco watched them with a small half smile on his face. "You love him, don't you?"

Caitlin froze, her eyes shooting up to meet his. "I- I-" Her body went lax, and she hugged Julian a little tighter, fighting exhausted, stressed, tears. "Yeah. I love him, Cisco. I can't- I can't lose him. Not Julian."

"We're going to figure this out, Caitlin." Cisco rested his hand on her knee and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Ok? We're going to help him."

"I know." Caitlin wiped her eyes, cradling Julian's head against her shoulder. "So, Cisco. What are we going to do?"

Once Julian's fever leveled back out, Caitlin and Cisco laid out their plan with him. He was slightly more on board with their new approach, finding it better then putting tiny robots in his body to mess with his cells.

Caitlin helped him out of bed and they walked toward the test room as Cisco set up her censors and vital regulators.

"All we need you to do is try to use your powers." Caitlin instructed, steadying Julian before leaving the room and gently closing the door. "Now, you've never done this before, so just... start slowly, ok?"

Julian nodded, straightening up and holding out his hands. He dug into the heat in his body, concentrating. He had had this fever for so long that it had almost become natural to him, easy to ignore. Now he focused on it, pulling it away from his head to his hands. He pictured a fireball, glowing and hot, and concentrated so hard his ears rang. He jabbed out his hands...

Nothing happened.

Disappointed, Julian slouched to the ground, He watched Cisco and Caitlin through the glass, slumping dejectedly. They walked through the door to join him on the floor, the three of them forming a sort of lumpy triangle.

"Maybe I don't have powers after all." Julian sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Maybe I'm just... really, really, sick."

"Man, I don't think so." Cisco shook his head. "You're either a metahuman or a walking miracle, and I'm putting my money more on science and particle accelerator explosions."

Seeing that Cisco's words made Julian look even more disappointed, Caitlin tried a different angle. "Maybe you're just looking at this the wrong way. When I use my powers, I don't think about it. I just... use my powers, you know? As a scientist, I don't usually say this- and I know it can be hard to hear- but using your powers isn't about thinking. It's about reacting."

Julian nodded slowly, stumbling to his feet. "Ok. Ok, I'll try it again."

"You've got this." Caitlin smiled, following Cisco out of the room once again and sitting down at her monitor display.

Julian shut his eyes for a moment, feeling all of the heat in his body. He raised his arm and swung it back, fingers tingling with heat and power. Then he shot both of his hands foreword.

An explosion of light and heat shot from his fingertips and left a black scorch mark on the wall. Julian's eyes shot open and he let out a whoop of excitement. Caitlin and Cisco jumped up and down outside, cheering and giving each other hugs in jubilant triumph.

Julian held out his arms to either side, watching as flame crept up from his hands to cover his arms and spurt up the top of his head. It didn't hurt, and the flame didn't even burn his clothes or hair. He was completely protected it a bubble of metahuman power, flame creating a warm, tingly sensation all over his body.

He burned bright and hotter, and outside, Caitlin stilled from her celebration, eyes on her vitals. "He's nearing 120."

"But he's fine." Cisco cried, pointing through the window. "Just look at him!"

Julian whooped again, excitement and adrenaline flooding his veins. He felt more alive then he had in weeks. He had powers.

He was a superhero.

Slowly, the adrenaline faded, and Julian's flames began to dim. Exhaustion crept into his bones, and with one puff of black smoke, his went out like a wet candle.

Caitlin and Cisco raced into the testing room, waving smoke away from their faces and attacking Julian with hugs. All three of them were crying, so happy to have finally found a way to save Julian's life. A way to fix their problem.

Julian's knees felt weak and soft, and he grasped onto Caitlin's shoulders for support as everything began to blink in and out of his view.

"You did it." Caitlin whispered, stroking his cheek with the back of her hand. "You did it."

"Of course I did." Julian grinned.

Then he passed out in her arms.

After that, everything filed back to normal. Julian began to become less and less sick, able to stand and walk on his own, and eating more then just soup and jello- something that he was very happy about.

By Monday, Caitlin went home for some much needed rest. She slept for 16 hours, and probably would have kept sleeping if her phone hadn't rung.

Smothering a yawn behind her hand, Caitlin picked her phone off her bedside table and answered it. "Hello?"

"Caitlin, hi." Julian's voice said in her ear.

She was immediately on edge. "Are you ok? Did something happen?"

"No- no, I'm fine. Cisco is, too." Julian said hurriedly. "I was just calling because, well, you know..." He trailed off for a moment, but when she made it obvious that she didn't actually know, he picked back up. "Before- Before I had this whole... thing, you were on your quest, you know? Your whole 'finding yourself' adventure. Which- which is fine, I get it, I was just wondering if- if I would be able to... to say goodbye to you. Properly. Before you leave again."

Caitlin's heart melted into a small pile of goo inside her chest. "Julian... I'm not leaving again. I know who I am, at least-" She took a breath. "I do when I'm with you, anyway."

There was a long silence, the Julian released his breath. "Good, good, that- that's good. That's really, really, good." He laughed a little. "Alright, uh, thanks mate."

"Goodbye, Julian." Caitlin murmured, smiling softly. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, yeah." Julian agreed. "Bye."

Caitlin ended the call and laid back on her covers, suddenly sure that staying was exactly what she needed to do.

On Tuesday, Caitlin found herself back at STAR Labs. She found only Julian there, researching the newest meta-foe and playing with a flame of fire around his fingers. He looked up when she came in, a soft, happy expression settling over his face.

"Hi." He whispered, standing up.

"Hi." Caitlin responded, watching his face with bright brown eyes. "It's good to see you up."

"Yeah." Julian nodded, walking towards her. "I wouldn't be, if it wasn't for you."

Red skittered across Caitlin's cheeks, and she broke eye contact. "I'm your doctor. That's my job."

"Still." Julian reached up and hesitated, before gently laying his hand across her hip. He pulled her a little bit closer, fingers warm on her skin. Caitlin's eyes slipped shut for a moment. "You saved my life. I'm not taking that lightly."

Unable to take the closeness any longer, Caitlin wrapped her hands around Julian's neck and kissed him.

Julian exploded across her senses. His skin tingled, electric and buzzing underneath her fingertips. His scent washed over and made her feel lightheaded, ears flooded with blood pounding so loud it was all she could hear. His lips moved across hers in a symphony of touch and taste, tongue tangling with her own and making her melt inside. She weaved her fingers in through his hair, bunching her fingers in his shirt with the other hand. Julian griped her waist, mouth never resting.

Caitlin finally pulled away, unable to breath. She panted for a moment in his arms, face flushed and lips swollen from his. Julian pressed his forehead against her own, not wanting to waste a moment of contact.

"I love you." He whispered, breath hot on her ear.

Caitlin's breath caught. "I love you, too. And I'm not leaving, ever again."

That was all he needed to hear.

Author's Note: Ugh, that's all I need to hear, too! C'mon, Caitlin, pull yourself together! Canonically, this time.

Thank you for all your love and reviews! I couldn't have done this without you guys :) (LOL, I actually did, because I pre-wrote this XD)