The clamorous sound of an alarm stirs the scarlet speedster from his peaceful sleep. He groggily opens his eyes, blinking away the blurriness before he smiles as he sees the sleeping figure next him, bundled up in the blankets. Shes so beautiful, so peaceful, so... Perfect.

He reaches over and turns off the alarm before it can begin ringing again. He carefully removes the covers and gets out of the bed, a smile plastered across his face as last night vividly replays inside of his head. He speeds around the room, getting dressed in a second. As he finishes slipping on his shoes he leans over the bed, placing a kiss on Caitlin's forehead. "You're in love with her aren't you?" He hears 'H.R Wells' say behind him.

He turned, silently walking past him until another figure appeared in front of the door, this time in the form of Eddie Thawne. Barry clenches his fists as the ghost of his past makes a clicking sound with his tongue. "I wouldn't get too attached, you never know what can happen to the loved ones of a hero." The ghost pointed to the bullet wound in his chest. "Like this. This was all for nothing, I just trying to be the hero like you but it doesn't work out for anybody else." Barry simply reaches through the phantom and opens the door, leaving Caitlin's apartment and heading to the police station.

Over an hour later Caitlin awakens, stretching with a yawn before a huge smile stretches across her features. She turns to snuggle with the man she thought was there but is disappointed when she finds an empty bed. She opened her eyes, gazing around the room for Barry before she realized he was gone.

She sat up, taming her hair with a brush from her nightstand before she noticed her phone light was blinking, signaling she had a notification. Caittlin tapped her finger on the notification, opening Barry's message.

Barry: Can I come over tonight? I need to tell you something important.

Caitlin: Of course!

Barry: See you soon. <3

Those three little words sent a line of excitement through Caitlin Snow as she sat in the silence of her bathroom. Caitlin's thoughts ran wild as she bit her lip nervously. What did he want to talk about? Her heart flutters as the memories of last night sweep through her mind like a powerful gust of wind. Her head jerks up at the sound of the door being pounded on, and she stopped chewing on her nail and set her phone down on the nightstand, moving to get dressed.

She smiles as she realizes Barry left button up shirt here, most likely on accident. She loves this shirt because it holds a great memory for her: Barry had rescued her from her darkness while wearing this shirt, and that is just another moment in a long list of why when she fel in love with Barry Allen.

She puts it on, buttoning it up and slipping on a pair of pants before she heads into the living room to answer the door. The thunderous sound of knocking filled the quiet air as clutched the handle, pulling it open to reveal an unsteady man. Her eyes widened as she sees that he has a bomb strapped to his chest. "Mr. Sionis sends his regards."

She moves quickly, bolting into the kitchen of her apartment and throwing her hands up, allowing Frost to create a thick wall of ice so they can be protected. She hears the explosion seconds before it hits her and then it's all black as her apartment begins to crumble around her.

...

"CAITLIN! FROST!" Barry continued to scream. He couldn't find her. The explosion at her apartment building was horrible and part of building had crumbled while the other half was still standing. There had been multiple other bombs that had gone off simultaneously, and he tried to push the thoughts away that she wasn't okay, that she might be gone.  "CAIT!" Barry frantically turned when he heard a strange noise but he saw the girl the steel land behind him and begin helping him search through the rubble.

Barry was everywhere at once, using his powers to his advantage as he searched for her. He dropped to his knees as he saw
a trail of blood leading through a passageway of large concrete structures obscuring his body from entering.

Kara was quick to rectify that though, using her krytonian strength to slide the concrete out of the way. Barry's Jean's were soaked in blood, and a crowd had started to form and they had probably seen him use his powers but Barry didn't care, he would get J'onn to erase their memory later, he just needed to find her.

He wasn't prepared for the sight that met him, Caitlin curled up on the floor, clutching her stomach, silent tears rolling down her face. Her heartbeat was dangerously slow. "Cait." He gasped as he bent down to scoop her up in his arms. He kissed her forehead and started to walk her out of the debris ridden landscape. "You're gonna be okay."

"Bar... Barry... If this is it... I love you. Always. You're the best thing that ever happened to me." Barry is speechless for a moment, but he simply doesn't allow her to think that way.

"Cait, this is not it. It's not. I can't lose you. Hold on." Barry lies her on the ground and applies compression to her abdomen wound.

The paramedics finally see Barry and Caitlin and they quickly rushed over. When the paramedics got there and started to attend to Caitlin's wounds Barry moved to sit at the top of her body, stabilising her neck with his knees, leaning his face over hers, whispering comforting words.

Cautlin reached her hand up and held on to him, tighter than he knew she was capable of. "Sionis." She whispered and he shut his eyes, letting the rage wash over him as he thought about that monster. He pushed it away though, he needed to be here for Cait and Frost. They stayed like that for awhile, Barry quietly singing to her, only interrupted when the medics announced that they were sedating her for the journey to the Hospital. As they put her in the ambulance, Barry refused to let her hand go unless he absolutely needed to. He didn't want her to feel alone. Maybe he was scared that if he left her alone ever again, he might not ever get to see her smile or hear her laugh. Losing her, well, was unimaginable. He couldn't live without her.

The doctors eventually forced him away and he immediately went for a run around the city, but it only made him more anxious. He flashes through the city, stopping inside the cell of Roman Sionis. "I see you got my present." The man cackled as he stared at the ceiling of his prison cell. Barry phased through the bars, grabbing him by his orange jumpsuit and slamming him into the wall. "What are you gonna do, kill me?"

Barry released his grip on the man, stepping a few feet back. "You're going to rot in here." He told the criminal before speeding away.

ONE WEEK LATER...

He ran his hand over his face and through his beard, taking a few deep breathes as he entered Star Labs.

He stood silently in front of the mannequin that held his old costume, collecting his thoughts and his sanity before he disconnects the embelm from the suit and moves it around in his hand like a stress reliever. Of course it doesn't help, but he continues to do it as he slides slides down the hallway wall.

Barry flipped the flash emblem over in his hand for what felt like the hundredth time. He had no idea how long he had been sitting silently in the cortex for. It could have been days, months, year, or even just a few hours. His sense of time felt disorganized, like it was non-existent.

The only thing he was focused on was the fact that Frost and Caitlin were currently in the hospital because of him. Their wounds were healing quickly due to their powers but they still hadn't woken up. What if they never woke up?

No. He couldn't even bring himself to think of that. Instead he continued to flip the emblem over in his hands. "Barry... Are you here?" Cisco called out into Star Labs, walking into the hallway to see Barry sitting against the wall with his head against the wall. "Barry, it was not your fault."

"Dont even try to say it was not my fault, Cisco. I'm supposed to be the hero! I'm supposed to save people! I was supposed to protect her!" Barry exclaimed standing and throwing his hands over his face. "Instead..."

"How were supposed to protect her when you didnt even know it was going to happen?" The engineer inquired.

"It should've been me, not her. It's my fault, nobody else. I'm the hero, and because of that the people I love get hurt. It's my Responsibility to protect the ones I love... and I cant even do that! Now she probably won't ever wake up again because I should've.... I should've...."

"Okay Barry, listen to me. The last thing she needs right now is you to blame yourself. Do you want to help her? Go to her and remind her she still has something to live for on this world. Let her know there are people that still love and need her." Barry raises his head, letting the lightning fill his eyes before hes gone in an instant, a crackle of lightning is all that signals his departure.