The Scarlet Speedster's New Daughter

Chapter 3

It was pretty early when Barry arrived at S.T.A.R. Labs but he needed some alone time. He sat around the cortex and just looked around for a while. He was startled when he heard noises coming from the hallway. He silently walked to the direction the noise was coming from and saw a brown haired girl picking something up from the floor.

"Hey. Who are you?"
"Shit." She sighed. "Why can't I do anything right?Ever!"

He stood in the middle of the hallway waiting for her to answer. She turned around and smiled softly.

"Hi." She said sheepishly.
"Hi." He said raising an eyebrow.
"How are you?"
"Good. You?"
"First, I'm sorry for the mess, I'll clean it up, second, I could be better, third I-."
"Stop."

She kept talking and after a while of trying to get her to stop talking and not being successful, he raised his voice.

"Stop talking."

She flinched and backed away. She took off running and Barry ran behind her. He caught up with the much faster speedster and grabbed her arm.

"Look, I don't want to hurt anyone or do anything, I promise." She said looking at him.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Birdie."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "Why are you here?"
"Nora."
"Did she bring you here?"
"No. I came to look for her. She needs to come back home."
"Why?"
"Things are getting worse and if she doesn't come back soon..." She answered.
"Why don't we go back to the cortex? Talk about it when we're more calm."
"Yeah okay."

They walked back and Caitlin was in the cortex sitting at her desk. Barry put his finger on his mouth and winked at Birdie who was smiling. He snuck up on her and put his head on her shoulder causing her to hit him in the face, in self defense.

"Oh my goodness Barry. I'm so sorry." She said standing up.

He was laughing and didn't seem to mind. "It's okay Cait. I deserved it."

She smiled and looked at the girl standing in the doorway. "Hi." She smiled.

"Hi." Birdie smiled.
"Come for a lollipop?" Caitlin asked smiling.
"No." She shook her head and giggled.
"What's your name?"
"Birdie."
"Well Birdie, I'm Caitlin."
"Yeah I know." Birdie nodded.
"She's from the future." Barry said looking at Birdie.
"Yeah..." She sighed.
"What brings you here then?"
"Nora." Birdie answered.
"We have a lot to talk about." Barry said pursing his lips.
"So it seems." Caitlin nodded. "Well it's pretty early still. Did you have breakfast?" She asked Birdie.
"Um, I'm fine."
"You can't eat candy every time you get hungry."

Birdie looked at Barry for reassurance and he nodded. "You can go with her. We can talk later." He smiled.

Birdie nodded and left with Caitlin to get some breakfast.

-•-
Birdie and Caitlin reached Jitter's to have some breakfast and sat down on a table after ordering their food.

"So Birdie. Anything you'd like to tell me? Other than you like candy?"
"I'm sorry Cait. I can't tell you anything."

Usually, she wouldn't let anyone call her that, besides Barry but she let it pass.

"Sorry. I know you don't like people calling you Cait." Birdie said sipping a bit of coffee.
"It's okay." Caitlin smiled.

Birdie nodded and smiled. "Why don't you tell me about yourself?"
"Me?" Caitlin asked.
"Yeah."
"What do you want to know?"
"Anything."
"Well, I have two doctorates and a PhD. I love to read, cook, work and sleep. My life is not that interesting."
"More interesting than mine. Trust me."

Caitlin chuckled and nodded.

"What about you and Barry? Are you good friends?"
"Yeah. He's my best friend. Why?"
"Just asking." She shrugged. "Cisco?"
"He's more like my brother."
"He's such a dork." Birdie smiled.
"He is." Caitlin chuckled. "But he's so lovable."
"He is, yes." Birdie nodded. "You know, I thought you'd be different. I mean, you're so smart but not stuck up. You are so humble and kind."
"Well, I've been through a lot of things that have shown me how to be a little bit more respectful of everyone and everything in life."
"Yeah. Tell me about it. Everything can be a pain in the ass sometimes." Birdie said rolling her eyes.

Caitlin was about to ask her something when her phone vibrated.

"It's Barry. He wants us back at S.T.A.R. Labs."
"Let's go." Birdie said standing up.

They headed back and when they arrived Nora was there, along with Iris. Nora looked furious and was about to speak when Barry spoke first.

"I called you because I wanted Birdie to explain why she's here."

Birdie looked scared and opened her mouth when Nora blew.

"Why are you here? Did you come to ruin everything here too?"
"You need to come back home. You are the only one who can stop what's happening. Haven't I asked you enough times to help?" Birdie answered.
"And I have told you I'm not going to. You already ruined enough for me. It's only fair you have a taste of your own medicine."
"Nora." Iris said.
"I'm sorry but no. I came here to spend time with dad. I'm not helping you, so you can go back home."

Birdie nodded and sped off. Everyone was confused so they kept quiet and went their separate ways. Caitlin was worried about Birdie but didn't pay much attention to it and kept working.

Nora went to train with Barry and Iris, Ralph was at CCPD with Joe and Caitlin was with Cisco in the cortex.

"Um, I just came to say good bye." Birdie said.
"Where are you going?" Cisco asked.
"Just somewhere I can run fast enough to go back home."
"I think you should stay a while. Maybe we can help you." Cisco smiled.
"It's fine Cisco. I think I should go home. Whatever's left of it anyways." She smiled sadly. "It was nice meeting you. Thanks for the breakfast Caitlin."
"You're welcome."

She was walking out when Barry was walking into the cortex.

"Where's she going?"
"Home." Cisco said looking at his computer.
"Home?"
"To the future."
"What? Why?"

They both shrugged and kept looking at their computers. Barry went after Birdie and stopped her.

"Hey. We still need to talk." Barry said walking behind her.
"There's nothing to talk about. Just ask Nora." She said walking faster.
"I want to hear it from you."
"It doesn't matter." She said still walking.
"Let's go talk. Please." He said stopping.
"Fine." She sighed and stopped.

She turned around and looked at her father. They made their way to the speed lab and sat on one of the steps.