Glad You Came ↠ Barry Allen

Chapter 37

*One week later* EMMA'S POV

I woke up to Mikey bouncing on my bed like he was a toddler. "Quit it, you're 17 not 3," I mumbled, swiping at him with a pillow. Mikey caught the pillow and grabbed my arms to pull me into a sitting position.

"Wake uppppp. Dick and I have been here for a week and we haven't seen or met anybody yet, not even Barry. As much as we love movie nights with you, we're bored," Mikey pouted.

"Yeah, we came to Central City to have some fun. It's the sunshine city. If we wanted to be bored, I would've stayed in Blüdhaven and he would've stayed in Gotham," Dick spoke up. Mikey and I turned and saw him leaning against the door frame.

"Okay fine. Get dressed guys, we're going to Jitters," I said. Mikey jumped off my bed and ran into his room while Dick came in and sat on my bed. "Goo, I want to introduce you to everyone before they get busy," I pushed Dick's shoulder with both my hands trying to make him get up but he wouldn't budge.

"Yeah but first, we need to talk," Dick began. I immediately sat up straight, my eyebrows furrowing in confusion. Dick was hardly ever serious so this had to be important.

"What's up?" Dick looked at his hands before he looked at me.

"I was just researching a little about the Particle Accelerator explosion's effects on Central City and I stumbled on something. It was a blog about something called the Streak. And I remember you telling me, when we were in Gotham for Damian, that the accelerator explosion created metahumans. So I did some digging on this 'Streak' character. Turns out he didn't pop up until a month ago, around the time Barry woke up from his coma. There was no sighting of him before then. Now I'm asking you, is Barry the Streak? And don't try to lie to me, you know I can find out my own way if I want to," Dick explained to me. I looked at him and sighed which somehow gave him the confirmation he needed. "I knew it. The disappearing, I knew it couldn't just be for CCPD work. Even CSIs in Gotham don't work that much. You need to be careful Em. These people, they have powers. I know that they're no Joker or Two-Face but they're still dangerous."

"We know what we're doing Dick. Besides, I'm constantly surrounded by cops anyway, there isn't that big of a chance I'm going to get hurt," I defended.

"Doesn't matter. Can I meet them? Your team? I want to see your operation, and see if I can help any," Dick appealed.  I nodded before responding.

"You realize you're going to have to reveal your identity to them if you want them to trust you," I informed. Dick nodded, he was a lot more lenient with who gets to know his secret identity than Bruce is. "Go get ready, we're going to drop Mikey off with Iris and Eddie so they can pick each other's brains. You and I are going to STAR Labs." Dick nodded and walked to his room. I got out of bed and hopped in the shower before I got dressed. I told Mikey the change in plans and after 15 minutes of Mikey and I waiting on the couch, Dick finally walked out of his room and we were off.

~~

*At Jitters*

Dick, Mikey, and I walked into Jitters only to be met with a long line. "This place sure is busy," Mikey observed. Dick nodded in agreement.

"Yeah there's always people in here, regardless of the time of day. They have the best coffee in all of the Midwest," I smiled. We walked around the line and took a seat at one of the empty tables. I knew Iris wasn't working the register today so we waited for her to make one of her rounds.

"Emma, hey!" Iris exclaimed. I stood up and hugged Iris before stepping back.

"Hey! Perfect timing Iris. You remember Mikey don't you?" I stated as I gestured to him.

"Of course I remember Mikey, he's only the best little brother in the existence of the world," Iris gushed. Mikey grinned and hugged her tightly. They had always had that bond before we moved to Gotham for my college. After Iris and Mikey pulled away from their hug, she noticed Dick and her eyes widened slightly. Dick held out his hand to introduce himself.

"Hi! I'm--"

"Dick Grayson, I know. You're Bruce Wayne's adoptive son. I'm Iris West," Iris breathed as she took his hand to shake it.

"I know that too. Emma talked about you and Barry nonstop when we were in Gotham," Dick flashed one of his signature playboy smiles. I rolled my eyes and looked at Mikey who shared the same expression as me. Iris's grinned widened more before she pulled me to the side, out of sight of Dick and Mikey. She then proceeded to smack me multiple times in the arm.

"Ow! What was that for?" I exclaimed, grabbing her hand to stop her from hitting me.

"Why didn't you tell me you know Dick Grayson?" Iris looked between me and Dick who was engrossed in a conversation with Mikey.

"I know Dick Grayson," I stated blandly. Iris gave me an annoyed looked before turning me around so I couldn't see our table anymore. "Please don't tell me you're one of those girls who's obsessed with him. We could hardly go outside in Gotham without being bombarded with either paparazzi or crazy girls who are obsessed with him. You have no idea how many times I got stuck trying to explain to everybody how we're just friends."

"He's on my three list," Iris explained. My mouth formed an 'oh' shape as I nodded my head understandingly. Every girl had a three list and Iris and I were certainly no exceptions. "How did you meet him anyway?" Iris queried, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"It's a long story and one that is definitely for another time. Anyway I was wondering if I could leave Mikey with you. Dick and I need to take care of something, we'll probably be back with Barry later," I entreated.

"Of course I will," Iris nodded. "Now goo, the sooner you two leave, the sooner he'll come back," Iris smiled dreamily as she looked back at Dick. I stood there shaking my head at her before she pushed me back towards the table.

"Okay. Mikey stay here with Iris. Dick and I will be back in a bit," I reminded. Mikey nodded and gave me two thumbs up as Dick stood up out of his chair. As we walked out of Jitters, I texted Caitlin, giving her a heads up that we were coming.

~~

*At STAR Labs*

Dick and I walked into the cortex and we were greeted by Caitlin and Cisco collecting papers and Barry sitting in one of the chairs. When we walked in, they turned to us and their eyes widened. "Hey guys, meet Dick Grayson," I introduced. Dick gave them a small wave and we both smiled nervously. We were met with silence as Barry, Caitlin, Cisco stayed still. I didn't understand why Barry was so shocked but then I realized that I had never told him I stayed with Dick Grayson in Gotham. I only told him I stayed with somebody named 'Dick' which confused him on several occasions. And the night Dick and Mikey came to Central City, Barry was probably too embarrassed by our 'almost-kiss' to actually register the faces of the people who interrupted us. "Well, someone say something guys," I pleaded, my eyebrows furrowed and a small nervous smile still plastered on my face.

"YOU KNOW DICK GRAYSON!?!"