Barry Allen Whumptober 2020

Insomnia

WARNING! Season 2 spoilers

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Barry couldn't sleep. 

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find it in him to sleep.

Every time he closed his eyes, his dad's death replayed in front of him. Every time he fell asleep, he was plauged with nightmares about Zoom. Sometimes the Reverse Flash would make an appearance. 

So, Barry started sleeping less and less.

And people noticed.

At the precinct, the Captain noticed that the young csi wasn't as chipper as usual. He had permanent bags under his eyes and his handwriting was not as neat as it used to be. His work came in slower and sloppier.

Everyone at STAR labs noticed. Caitlin had tried to get Barry to sleep. She tried sleeping meds, but he just burned through them. Cisco couldn't figure out how to comfort his friend, no matter how much he wanted to. Iris was worried about her brother. He was the oe that always lit up the room with his precence. But that wasn't happening anymore.

Joe was going crazy with worry. He was a detective and he was Barry's dad. He knew that Barry blamed himself for his father's death, and that he wasn't eating as much as he was supposed to. And Joe knew that Barry wasn't sleeping. It was written plainly in his features, and several people had confronted him, asking if Barry was alright.

Barry was sitting on the couch, staring blankly at the wall. His plate of food had barely been touched. 

Joe sat down next to him, "Bar," he said softly.

Barry didn't look at him.

"Son," Joe said, "I'm here."

And that was all it took for Barry to start sobbing. He clutched Joe's shirt and leaned into him. Joe stroked Barry's hair soothingly. 

"I'm here," Joe whispered again. "Whatever you've been holding in, you can let it out."

Joe quietly turned on "Singing in the Rain", Barry's favorite. After Barry had cried all the tears he had, he snuggled into Joe and watched the musical with sleepy eyes.

Joe continued to whisper soothing words and stroke Barry's hair. 

"Sleep Barry," Joe said, "I'm not going anywhere. Promise."

Barry closed his eyes and drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep.

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A/N- There's that chapter. Joe is such a good dad. Better than Henry in my opinion. Granted, there's lots of factors that play into it, but I love Joe.