It's surprisingly hard for the kid to be normal.
Len didn't realize how often the kid used his speed until now. He doesn't think Barry realized it either, and he looks awkward standing in the kitchen with a few empty plates, chewing on his bottom lip, obviously trying not to speed to the sink. After a moment he walks toward the sink and deposits the dishes into it, moving slowly even by normal standards.
Cisco sent Caitlin the results of Barry's tests, but so far she hasn't come back with anything; she hasn't even left Mercury Labs, as far as Len knows. He's angry with her, but he's more angry with himself.
They've been home for roughly four hours; since then, they've sat on the couch staring blankly at the TV and the talk shows found there, and they've eaten. Again. Len's not especially hungry so he didn't have much, but he did force the kid to eat; just because he's not using his super speed doesn't mean he doesn't have a super-charged metabolism, and they don't need whatever this is getting any worse.
"What now?" Barry asks somewhat helplessly, snapping Len from his thoughts.
The kid looks so small, standing there in the middle of the kitchen. Len pushes to his feet from where he'd been sitting at the table.
"Let's take a shower, Scarlet."
His fingers curl around Barry's wrist and lightly guide him out of the kitchen. Barry doesn't resist, though he's moving a bit slower than usual, even without his speed. Len wonders if he's just worried about what counts as 'using his speed'. If he was Barry, he might have trouble discerning that, too, after a while.
After all, the kid's never had to worry about it before.
They don't quite make it to the shower, though. They're just exiting the kitchen when there's a series of knocks at the door, and they both look at each other briefly. Len releases the kid's wrist and veers off to answer, narrowing his eyes at Barry to let him know to stay put. This won't take long; he'll tell whoever it is to leave them be.
Neither of them are up for company right now.
He's definitely not expecting to open the door and find Felicity standing there, looking terribly out of place with her awkward stance and big blue eyes.
"Hi," she says with a smile. "I – uh, I don't usually just show up like this but I wanted to talk to you and I didn't know your number and Barry's not answering his phone and so it just seemed easier to come here, and-"
"Felicity?" Barry asks, coming up behind Len. Len shoots him a quick scowl; following Len to the door is definitely not staying put. The kid ignores him, smiling for the first time in hours, and Len can't begrudge him that.
"Oh, hi, Barry," Felicity says with a wide smile. "I should have known you'd be here, too. Did you get my papers?"
"Yeah, we got everything," Barry says, smile evident in his voice as Len eyes Felicity for a moment. She seems to be alone, but she's only carrying her purse so looks can be deceiving. She's obviously staying at a hotel, and she probably didn't come alone.
"Ollie's not here, is he?" Len asks.
"Len," Barry hisses. "Rude."
"Answer the question," Len tells the blonde woman.
Felicity blinks at him. "Um, well, you see, he kind of..."
"Yes...?"
"He might be in town," Felicity finally sighs, shaking her head. "You weren't kidding about that tone of his, Barry."
Barry smirks faintly. "Yeah, I know – it's like truth serum."
Len smirks despite himself; it's good to have that tone, he supposes. Then he scowls because he doesn't particularly want Ollie here.
Felicity sighs. "He's very sorry about, erm... kidnapping you..."
"That's what I said," Barry says with a nod.
Len rolls his eyes; now there are two of them, great. "Well, you tell Ollie to stay away from us and we'll be fine."
Felicity scowls; it's not very effective, as she just looks like she's pouting. Barry's scowl generally has the same effect. They're like irritated puppies. "Oliver is Barry's friend; not to mention a fellow vigilante."
Len's nose wrinkles. There's quite a big difference between Barry and Oliver, and he doesn't appreciate the comparison. Barry would never shoot his friends in the back with arrows, no matter how quickly they heal.
"And he would like to speak to you." This she directs at Barry.
Barry shifts uneasily. "Uh – well, you see, right now is kind of a bad time..."
Felicity frowns, blue eyes darkening a bit. Worry – an emotion Len is rather familiar with at the moment. "Is something wrong? Anything we can help with?"
"Uh... well... not really," Barry says. "Just Barry stuff, not Flash stuff."
"We're still your friends, Barry."
"Everything's fine," Barry tells her.
Len sighs heavily; he can understand that the kid doesn't want her to worry about him, but she might be able to help, loathe he is to admit it. "Do you know anything about Barry's medical history?"
Barry shoots him a quick glare while Felicity blinks at him in surprise.
"I've hacked into the files," she admits, "but I can't say I'm an expert. That's what Caitlin's for, right? Wait – am I missing something? Is everything okay? Are you okay?" This she, again, directs at Barry.
"I'm fine," Barry says.
Len sighs again. "Can you help with medical issues or not?"
Felicity stares at him for a moment. "It's not my forte," she says hesitantly, "but tell me what's wrong, and I'll see what I can do."
It's better than nothing, Len decides.
"We'll think about it," Barry says. "You don't really need to get involved; everything's fine."
Len wants to smack him. Instead he settles for flicking the kid's ear. Barry hisses and shoots him another glare as he holds his ear. Len stares him down until Barry sighs and looks back at Felicity.
"Everything's mostly fine," he amends as Felicity watches them with bemusement. "We'll think about it. If Caitlin is unavailable then we'll definitely bring you in."
Felicity frowns. "Are you sure I can't help now?"
"Yes," Barry tells her firmly. "Thanks for stopping by, though, Felicity. Tell Oliver I said hi."
"You could tell him yourself, you know. He's just a phone call away."
Len scowls and Barry laughs quietly.
"Yeah," Barry says, "sure, I'll do that."
xXx
"Barry," Len says, gently shaking the kid. "You're going to be late for work if you don't get up now."
Barry mumbles something and snuggles more into his pillow.
"Louder, kid."
"Can get ready in less than a minute," Barry mumbles tiredly.
Len takes in a breath. "No super speed, Scarlet. Remember?"
Barry's eyes snap open. "Oh. Right. Uh, yeah... I'll just... get up, then."
"You could always call off," Len suggests. He'd rather if the kid didn't go to work today; didn't go to work until they knew what was wrong, but sadly Barry's kind of a stickler for going to work. Mick calls him boring that way.
Barry scowls and sits up. "If I do that, Joe will be here to ask me what's wrong."
Len winces; right, he forgot about the protective detective. "We're going to have to tell him eventually," he settles on.
The look the kid throws him is exasperated. "We're not telling anyone until we know what's going on," Barry says. "I'm not worrying them for nothing."
"They could help."
"How?" Barry demands. "They aren't doctors. They'll just worry. No. We're not telling them."
Len shrugs. "Then get in the shower, kid. I'll make breakfast."
Barry stares at him for a moment. "Pancakes?" he asks hopefully.
"Sure, kid."
"Ohhh, you're the best," Barry sighs happily. "Have I told you lately I love you? Because I do. Love you, that is. Immensely."
"You're just with me for the pancakes."
"The way to my heart is through my stomach; I thought you knew this," Barry says as they climb out of bed finally. Then, a little more seriously: "I do love you, Len."
Len stops and looks back at the kid, frowning somewhat. "I know, Scarlet. Love you, too."
Barry chews on his bottom lip for a moment, before he nods slowly. "I'll just – shower."
He moves as though to dash from the room, but at the last second seems to catch himself. He walks out of the room at a normal pace. A moment later the bathroom door closes and the shower kicks on.
Len sighs and exits the bedroom, heading toward the kitchen.
He's not the best at pancakes, but he figures it has be pretty hard to completely ruin pancakes.
xXx
After dropping Barry off at work, Len hovers around in the parking lot with this helmet. He's torn between staying here – since Barry's still technically grounded – and going to STAR Labs to see if Cisco has made any progress. A part of him also wants to head to Mercury Labs and see what's taking Caitlin so long. Barry is her friend; shouldn't he be a priority?
His phone vibrates.
From Barry: you know, hanging around outside like that is kinda creepy
From Barry: are you my friendly neighborhood stalker
Len snorts.
To Barry: you're grounded, Scarlet
From Barry: you realize the police are gonna get suspicious of you lingering around
From Barry: go home, Len
To Barry: you're grounded so you don't get a say
From Barry: I'm at work, I'm pretty safe so you don't have to stay you know
Len frowns.
To Barry: still grounded
From Barry: fine but if you get arrested for loitering I'm not bailing you out of jail
To Barry: Rude, kid. You should always bail your fiancé out of jail
From Barry: I don't know about it
Len shakes his head.
To Barry: Get back to work
From Barry: Is that an order, Captain?
xXx
Caitlin finally gets back with Cisco later that day; she says they're going to need an MRI but the one at STAR Labs was damaged in the Singularity. Taking Barry for a normal MRI won't fix anything; they won't exactly know what they're looking for. So Caitlin is attempting to pull a few strings at her new job so she can have access to the MRI for herself, and check Barry out then. The earliest that could happen is Friday – three days away.
Three days.
Three days of not using super speed.
Len never would have guessed how often Barry actually used his speed in his day-to-day life until now. Now that he can't use his speed and has to be normal for a little while, until Caitlin can check him out.
It's going to be a long three days.
xXx
At first, Len humored Barry.
The kid walked slow.
That was fine, as long as he wasn't using super speed.
But after nearly losing him twice at the grocery store of all places, Len's more than a little annoyed with the slow pace. After the second time of turning around to find that the kid hasn't turned the corner yet and that quick, momentary burst of panic before he sees him, he's had enough. He grabs Barry's wrist, slips his hand down to entwine their fingers, and hurries him along at a normal pace.
"What's up with you, kid?" he asks as they walk. "You're never this slow."
"Sorry," Barry mumbles. "I just – I don't know what counts as 'using my speed' anymore."
And Len can understand that – maybe not a personal level, but he can understand how that might be an issue for Barry. Still, though...
"Just walk normally," Len says. "You do it all the time, why stop now?"
Barry bites his lower lip and nods. "Yeah – okay."
And then he does a speed walk. He's not using his speed, exactly, but the pace is a bit fast. Len sighs and quickens his own pace so they're walking next to each other.
It's still not quite a 'normal' walk, but it's better than the slow walk of before.
xXx
"I need to run."
The words are mumbled from the heap next to him in bed at two in the morning.
Len looks over from the book he's reading – Locks of the Twenty-first Century.
"It's two in the morning," he replies.
Barry rolls over so he's on his back, one arm folded across his chest. "Yeah, well – I can't sleep because I need to run."
"No super speed," Len says simply, looking back at the book.
"I haven't really gotten to run in weeks," Barry complains. "If I don't run I'm gonna start vibrating."
That leaves Len frowning. Not because he dislikes the vibrating – because he loves the vibrating – but because a part of him didn't realize that counted as super speed until now. No sex, then. Right. He can do this. He can do this. He can-
Barry starts vibrating.
"We can go for a normal jog," he offers with a suddenly reluctant tongue.
Barry stops and looks at him. "That won't exactly work."
"Okay – we'll go for a really long jog."
Barry smiles. "You know you won't be able to run as long as me."
"You sayin' I can't keep up with you, Scarlet?" Len asks, quirking a brow.
Barry shoots him a toothy grin, the first one in days. "Is that a challenge, Cold?"
Len's eyes narrow. "Let's go, Scarlet."
xXx
Len loses that challenge, but then he knew he would.
After an hour of jogging he's hunched over, hands on his knees as he pants, out of breath. Barry is currently bouncing on the balls of his feet, nearly jogging in place around him.
"Can't keep up with me," Barry laughs.
"Yeah, yeah, shut it, kid."
"What do I win?"
"What do you want?"
Barry smiles easily, standing still right in front of Len. "You," he says quietly, and their lips brush together. Len reaches out, fingers curling in the thin fabric of the kid's shirt as the kiss deepens.
Then he pulls back. He can do this. No vibrating. No vibrating. No vibrating.
"You already have me," he says.
Barry chuckles. "Alright, then – how about some steak?" And he's bouncing on his feet again.
"Maybe for dinner tomorrow," Len tells him, because he loves the kid but he's not grilling at three in the morning.
Barry sticks his bottom lip out in a pout, but nods nevertheless, still bouncing.
"Alright – what's wrong with you?" Len can't help but ask.
Barry looks away. "I'm still full of energy. I liked our jog, Len, but I don't think it worked."
Len scowls. "No super speed."
"This is gonna suck, Len."
xXx
By the middle of day three, Barry's jittery like he's had too much coffee. Len can sympathize with that feeling, at least. He's pacing nonstop, and it's driving Len crazy. And Lisa, too.
"Just go run," Lisa says, shooting him a glare as he passes in front of the TV yet again. "God, you're a speedster, go speed!"
Barry shoots her a helpless glance and continues pacing.
"Alright – what's going on with you two?" Lisa asks, looking at Len.
Len wants to tell her, but Barry said they aren't telling anyone until they know for sure, and Lisa has a bit of a big mouth. She'll tell Iris, and Iris will tell Joe, and Joe will come here looking for answers and no. That's not happening tonight.
"The kid and I have a bet about how long he can go without using his speed," Len says. He doesn't like lying, but he's sure at some point they would have had this bet if things went differently.
Lisa stares at him for a long moment. "So you're saying he can't even vibrate? Why do you torture yourself, Len?"
Len stares at her.
Barry chokes out a sound. "W-What?"
"It's not always about vibrations," Len says. "Get your head out of the gutter, sister."
She snorts. "I live in the gutter, dear brother. With you."
He rolls his eyes, focusing back on Barry, who is still pacing. "Want another jog, kid?"
"You've been jogging with the Flash?" Lisa asks, amused. "Isn't that like racing, on foot, with a car?"
"Cars are slow," Barry mutters.
"My motorcycle is not slow," Len says.
"Your motorcycle is a snail," Barry declares, shooting him a quick glance as he continues pacing.
"Alright, enough," Lisa says with a laugh as she gets to her feet. "We're going jogging!"
Barry stops long enough to give her an exasperated look. "That didn't work last time."
"This is a thing now?" Lisa asks. "Jogging with the Flash is a thing. Yes, let's do this!"
She grabs both of their wrists and drags them out of the house.
xXx
Hours later they return to the safe house exhausted, except for Barry who is practically bouncing around them. Len's not sure if the jogging helps, is just amusing for the kid, or if it actually makes things worse because he's always full of energy afterward. At least he's not pacing, Len supposes.
He checks his messages when he gets home, but there's no new ones from Cisco.
Friday is almost over and there's no word, and he's irritated.
Maybe he needs to pay Mercury Labs a visit. He's sure Captain Cold could speed things along.
"That was fun," Lisa breathes as she sinks down onto the couch. "We need to do this again sometime. Like, a weekly thing. Twice weekly thing. Yes! Jogging with the Flash is now a thing, Lenny. Are you listening?"
He grunts something in response, pocketing his phone. "Yeah, sure."
She pouts at him. "You're not fun when you're all gloomy. Be happy. We ran with the Flash."
Barry snorts from where he stands next to the couch. His gaze catches Len's and he nods in the direction of the bedroom. Len blinks at him for a moment, before he leads the way there.
After the bedroom door closes behind them, Len's not sure what to expect.
Barry looks at him. "I need to run. Actually run."
He releases a breath. "Yeah, well, no speed, kid."
"I can meet Cisco at the Lab and he can watch me run on the treadmill," Barry tells him seriously.
Len scowls. "Not happening."
"Len, this is driving me crazy," Barry says, glaring at him. "I need to run. It's been weeks since I actually ran, and then when I did run it wasn't for very long."
And maybe that's why he seemed fine for that time. Maybe running is his enemy here, and Len's not going to let it get worse. He shakes his head.
"Look," Barry snaps, "I don't exactly need your permission."
"You're not running," Len says simply.
"I am," Barry declares.
"You're not. You're going to sit down in the kitchen and we're going to eat, because I know you're hungry after jogging. And then we're going to take a shower and go to bed."
"I can't sleep."
"Then we'll stay up watching those stupid zombie movies you like," Len says, rolling his eyes.
Irritation flickers across Barry's face. "I'm running."
He steps away.
Len's hand ensnares the kid's wrist, yanking him back. "You're not."
The two stare each other down for a moment.
Barry starts vibrating with pent-up energy. It travels through his wrist into Len's hand and up his arm.
He tightens his grip and closes his eyes. "Stop that, Scarlet."
The vibrating stops slowly. "I need to do something, Len. It's either run or vibrate at this point, and vibrating is only a temporary solution."
"No super speed."
"I never got breathless and dizzy when I was vibrating with you," Barry points out, and Len opens his eyes, blinking at him.
He thinks back to when they had sex and everything.
Nope, definitely not dizzy and out of it then, except for his need for food when they woke up, but that's about it. The kid was fine; happy, smiling, and warm, not pale and dizzy and leaning against a mailbox like he can't stand on his own legs.
Maybe vibrating is okay.
Barry's fingers curl into the fabric of Len's shirt, pulling him closer.
"Wear me out, Len," the kid says breathily, lips ghosting across Len's.
And then he vibrates.
Len's self-control snaps.