Sorry it's been a while, I had some trouble with this chapter. I hope you enjoy it anyway.

Green Hal37: Martian Manhunter is the most wasted character in the Arrowverse ever, except maybe Superman. Yep, it's not gonna be pretty.

Guest: It was supposed to be easy, Devoe was testing Barry.

Star Labs

Morning

The next morning, Cisco was in the cortex, going over traffic cam footage for anything related to Devoe. That was how Wally found him as he walked in.

"Anything on Devoe?" Wally asked and Cisco sighed.

"Nope. I've been going over all the traffic cam footage from last night and nothing. After I got Barry out, he just seems to vanish. And we know he's not dead," Cisco grumbled and it was silent for a moment. "We'll find him Wally."

"How do you know?" Wally asked after a moment.

"Because Barry's back, the real Barry," Cisco said and Wally was confused. "You weren't on the team with him, but when he's there, everything has a way of working out, even if it's not how we expect it to go."

"Speaking of, where is Barry?" Wally asked and Cisco grimaced.

"Right, we haven't told you," Cisco said and Wally looked confused. "Devoe knows that Caitlin's pregnant, he even made a taunt about it by giving Barry a rattle when he showed up looking for you. It was decided that Barry would stay over at Caitlin's until further notice."

Unseen to the two, Iris, having followed her brother into Star Labs, was around the corner, listening. She frowned, displeased by this information. Technically, she knew that she had no claim on Barry and that he was just trying to make sure Caitlin was safe. But she had thought they were going to get married and she wasn't quite ready to let that go yet.

Caitlin's apartment

Same time

Caitlin walked out of her room with a yawn, wondering why Barry had let her sleep so late when she was assaulted with an intoxicating aroma. She followed it into the kitchen and was surprised to see Barry had prepared a buffet of pancakes, waffles, egg and sausage.

"Too much?" Barry asked as he saw her staring.

"A bit," Caitlin said, laughing at the embarrassed look on Barry's face. "Its fine Barry, it's sweet that you did all this. My appetite is huge lately, even by normal pregnancy standards, so we'll probably be able to eat all this between us."

"Probably has something to do with carrying a speedster baby," Barry mused and Caitlin laughed.

"Probably," Caitlin acknowledged, smiling softly at him. "Thank you doing this."

"I told you, I'm here for you, both of you," Barry told her and a warm feeling spreads through Caitlin's chest before she suddenly places her hands on her stomach.

"What is it? Is something wrong?" Barry asked frantically as he was suddenly by her side in the blink of an eye.

"No, nothing's wrong. She's just kicking," Caitlin said softly, the sensation indescribable. "Do you want…"

"I don't wanna push you," Barry said immediately.

Caitlin's heart fluttered at how sweet he was being at trying to be respectful of her. It was just so…Barry. One of the things she had missed most about him, even not knowing what was wrong when he had been replaced, was how the goodness in him seemed to just be replaced by an obsessive need to be with and protect Iris at all costs. Looking back, that goodness was what made her fall for him in the first place. It was…good to see it back. To have him back.

Gently reaching out, she grabbed one of his hands and placed it on her stomach. The baby kicked again and she saw a look of wonder cross Barry's face.

"She knows her daddy's here," Caitlin said softly with a smile.

Barry looked at her with an unreadable look on his face. Caitlin felt a sudden urge to kiss him and, for a moment, she felt like Barry had the same urge. However, the moment was broken by Barry's cell phone, placed on the kitchen counter, ringing.

"I should take that," Barry said, although he seemed like he was as annoyed by the interruption as Caitlin was, although she told herself that was wishful thinking

"Yeah," Caitlin said, trying to keep the irritation out of her voice.

Judging by the amused smile he gave her, she didn't quite succeed. Barry lowered his hand to his side before walking over and grabbing his phone off the counter. He walked out of the kitchen and sat down, beginning to assemble a plate.

"Welcome back," was the greeting Barry got as he answered the call.

"Hey Ollie," Barry said warmly. "I hear you had some unfortunate dealings with my doppelganger."

"He wasn't that bad, although I felt like there something off. I'm sorry I didn't pick up on it," Oliver apologized.

"Not your fault. So I hear things aren't going well for you," Barry said and Oliver sighed.

"No," Oliver admitted. "Someone doctored photo of me in the Green Arrow suit. Felicity proved it was fake, but the investigator isn't backing down. I don't know what to do Barry, I really don't."

"You'll figure something out, you always do," Barry said confidently. "If you ever need anything, just say the word and I got your back."

"Thanks. And that goes both ways Barry," Oliver told him.

Star Labs

Afternoon

"Well look who decided to come into work today," Cisco said in a mock scolding voice as Barry and Caitlin walk into the cortex.

"You try making the commute," Caitlin snapped without heat.

"So move back," Cisco said.

"It's not simple," Caitlin muttered and Cisco felt guilty, especially at the annoyed look Barry shot him.

"I'm sorry. I just…I miss you," Cisco admitted.

"I miss you to," Caitlin said softly as she walked over, taking his hand. "But I'm not ready, not yet. I hope that, by the time the baby comes, I will be. Just…be patient with me."

"Of course," Cisco said, flashing her a smile which she returned.

"So where are we on Devoe?" Barry asked once he was sure that they would be okay.

"About where we were when you took Caitlin home last night," Cisco said with a sigh as he released Caitlin's hand. "I've been going over the traffic cams from here to Star City, nothing. Wally's out looking at the house and the area where you two fought, he hasn't gotten back to me yet."

"He's not gonna find anything, Devoe's too smart for that," Barry noted.

"Great, so what we do, just wait for Devoe to make his next move?" Cisco asked irritably.

"Unfortunately, that's all we can do buddy," Barry said with a sigh and it was silent for a moment.

"I'm gonna go look at Wally's bloodwork again, make sure nothing's wrong," Caitlin said.

Cisco nodded as Caitlin walked out. Cisco noticed Barry watched her as she went. Cisco waited until he was sure Caitlin was out of ear shot until he said something.

"So, how long?" Cisco asked casually and Barry looked at him confused.

"How long what?" Barry asked.

"How long have you had a thing for Caitlin?" Cisco asked, smiling at the dumbfounded look on Barry's face. "The benefit of being best friends with you both is that I know you two better than anyone else. So how long? Or is this just because she's pregnant with your kid?"

"When I as in the Speed Force, I had a lot of time to think," Barry started after several moments of silence. "And when the Time Remnant-"

"Barty," Cisco corrected and Barry's lips twitched amused.

"When Barty was absorbed and I got his memories, the Speed Force put me through a bunch of different scenarios, sort of like a simulation, so I could learn from his mistakes. After a bit…I realized something, one thing the all had in common," Barry said softly.

"What?" Cisco asked when it was obvious that Barry was lost in thought.

"That Cait was always there for me. Even at my most selfish, awful self, she never turned her back on me. Even when I gave her a million reasons to want nothing to do with me. She never lost faith in me, she always had my back. Maybe it was because of that, or maybe it was always there and it took being away from everyone for me to see it…ever since I woke up from my coma, she's always been there when I needed her. Even when I ruined her life, she never blamed me. She always saw the best in me and it inspired me to always be the best version of myself. So how could I not fall for her?"

It was silent between them for a moment as Cisco stared at Barry.

"So why haven't you told her?" Cisco asked and Barry sighed.

"After all she's been through, she doesn't need me loading my feeling on her on top of it," Barry said.

"You really have no idea, do you?" Cisco said and Barry looked at him confused. "She's into you to. Has been for a while."

"What?" Barry asked dumbly.

"Come on bro, why do you think she went with Savitar? You think she would've gone with him if he had my face? She's had feeling for you for a long time, I didn't need a Vibe to tell me that," Cisco said as Barry looked to have trouble processing this. "You should tell her. Like you said, she's been through a lot. She could use some good in her life."

Caitlin walked into the med bay but stopped, surprised to see someone already there, waiting for her.

"Joe?" Caitlin said surprised.

"Hey," Joe said as he saw her.

"What are you doing here?" Caitlin asked wearily.

"I wanted to see how you were doing," Joe said.

Seeing the almost pitying look on his face, Caitlin's blood ran cold as the realization washed over her.

"You know," Caitlin said lowly and he didn't deny it. "You were there when Devoe gave the rattle to Barry."

"Barry didn't tell you?" Joe asked and she shook her head. "I'm sure he just didn't wanna worry you anymore than you already were. Stress isn't good for the baby."

"Joe…I'm so sorry," Caitlin said, looking away as tears welled in her eyes.

Joe walked over and Caitlin closed her eyes, preparing for the onslaught. She was surprised when Joe placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You have nothing to be sorry for. You are the biggest victim in all this," Joe said gently as she looked up at him. "You had no choice in the matter. If I could go back, I'd kill Savitar for what he did to you. You are the victim in this situation; don't let anyone tell you any differently."

In a moment that Caitlin will later blame completely on hormones, Caitlin collapses into Joe's arms, sobbing as he strokes her hair, doing his best to comfort her.