Surrender: The Flash (2)

22.1

"I'll help," Caitlin says.

"Okay. I'll let you know if I hear anything from CCPN," Iris says as we start to head out.

"You guys..." Barry says, stopping us. "We got this."

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"Hey," I hear a voice say. The voice sounded as if it was being manipulated, the way a speedster would. Startled, I immediately throw a throwing star at the voice.

"Oww!" I hear a familiar voice exclaim. I turn around and gasp when I see Barry, clutching his shoulder in pain.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" I say, moving over to him. I lead him to the med bay, taking out a first aid kit. He sits down on the medical bed and I walk over, slowly, pulling at the throwing star lodged in his shoulder and he hisses. "Ok, this is gonna hurt."

My hands wrap around his as he squeezes them. I move closer, sitting down on his lap. My free hand pulls out the throwing star. As I do, my eyes squeeze shut, as I squeeze Barry's hand back. I set it down to the side, helping him pull of his sweater and shirt. Biting my lip, I grab supplies to start cleaning his wound up. My hands leave Barry's as I move to get a better view of the wound. My hands go around his body as I clean the wound, my head pressed against his cheek. His hands hold my waist, gripping hard. As I clean the wound, I mutter, "You're such an idiot."

"Me? You're the one who threw that at me!" He argues, his eyes snapping open, the grip on my hips loosening. Once I finish wrapping his wound, I pull away from him, meeting his eyes.

"You couldn't of said "Hey" in your regular voice?" I ask him, slapping his chest. "I thought you were Zoom or something!"

"If Zoom was here I would have been by your side in a minute, no matter where I was or what I was doing," Barry says. I search his eyes, knowing what he's saying is true, but I know that I can't expect that of him.

"Thank you, but you know I can protect myself," I tell him, my eyes lowering to his lips so I don't have to look at him.

"Yeah, but, you can trust me to always be there," Barry says.

"I- Look, can we just- Your wound will heal soon with your super-healing," I say, pulling myself off of him.

"Liv?" He asks, his hand on mine, pulling me back over to him. "Hey, what's up?"

"Nothing," I say and he gives me a look. "You won't always be there Barry. I know you'll try your best, but you can't always be there." I rest my free hand on our intertwined ones. "I can't depend on you for this... I can't be your top priority."

"But you're the love of my life. Of course you're my top priority," He says.

"Barry," I say sternly. My eyes narrow as I stare at him. "You are Central City's hero. I can't be your top priority. The city has to be your top priority. You have to protect the city. And I'll be here to protect you... and myself."

"I love you," He argues. "I understand what you're saying... but you can't stop me from trying to protect you."

"But you promise to make this city the top priority?" I ask.

"I- fine. I- I promise," He says hesitantly, as I smile at him.

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"Barry, we got a major meta-human alert at 5th and Main... get there," Cisco says into the comms as I head to the location.

Me and Barry both reach the place at the same time, facing each other. I start to turn to face the meta but Barry's hands are on me, stopping me from turning around. "Barry, What are you doing?"

"You know, I can take this one by myself," He says quickly, his voice seeming nervous.

"Well, too late, I'm already here....
Why won't you let me-" The words die down from my mouth as I see the meta.

"Why is it always so difficult to choose?" She says as I stand there, wide eyed.

"Guys, what it is?" Cisco asks.

"It's... Laurel Lance."