^take it off and keep it off Barry dammit
surprise, im not dead just still tryna recuperate from finals (a month ago), working, and taking a summer course so yeah not dead yet but pretty close
^two shirtless Barry Allen gifs are ALWAYS better than one
sooooooo we got 170,000 reads guyssss thank you thank you thank you so very much, I love all of you, and I just want to express my deep gratitude for everyone's support
this started out as me wanting to share my love for Barry Allen with you guys I never dreamed it would get this far and I have all of you to thank for that❤️
there will be maybe one or two more chapters coming up as this story draws to a close
Again I just want to thank all of you for being so supportive, I couldn't ask for a better community to share my book-thoughts with than with you Wattpadawans (see what I did there)
P.S. This is an extremely long author's note so sorry for that
P.P.S I love you
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"No, he can't. He can't do this."
Felicity kept changing the same words over and over again, but the reality hit now harder than ever. Oliver dragged his hand over his face, then up through his hair. "Felicity, is there anything we can do?"
The blonde swiveled in her chair, the metal squeaking as she did. "I-I'm trying to trace him, but it may take some time. I guess as the city's advisor, he had to have been given computer coding for that sort of thing." She turned back to the screen, her fingers clicking. "This degree of damage wasn't done in a day though. He must have been planning this for months."
Months. He was here for months. That sent a shudder down Pippin's spine. He must have been watching, waiting, guessing she would come. After all, Chekov always won in the end. No matter how hard anyone fought.
"I'm going for a walk." Barry stood up from her side, causing her to shoot him a questioning glance. He didn't meet her eyes, only made his way into the other room. She sat back for a second, confused, tired, and everything in between.
"Go." Cisco hissed, motioning to where Barry had disappeared. "He needs you more than ever, Pippin. Especially right now. You need him to you know, you need those broad shoulders."
"You should write a dating advice column." Pippin replied, drily, although Cisco smiled in response. Her joints cracked as she stood up, moving stiffly across the floor. She found him leaning over an old desk in the back, his body rising and falling heavily.
"Bar?" He snapped his head towards her, in surprise.
"I'm sorry, do you want me to go?" The words rushed out of her mouth as soon as she saw his clenched fists against his eyes. He instantly shook his head, straightening.
"No. I don't want you to go."
She took a step hesitantly in his direction.
"Are you okay? What's wrong?" He chuckled, a wet laugh that made Pippin's worry deepen.
"You're too pure, you know? You've been through so much and, that, that doesn't seem to matter. You're always putting someone's needs before your own." She took another step closer, the gap between them shrinking.
"With the whole train thing, it was all those people that you made sure were safe. When Felicity was kidnapped, you had to make sure she was okay and that Oliver and I got out of there safely. Then in the grocery store, it was Reese and he got out of there because you told him to." His hands clutched hers tightly as he stared at their fingers tangled together.
"I don't want you to think of others right now, Pippa. I want you to think of you and how you need to stay alive." His voice fell as he inhaled shakily before continuing. "I can handle a lot of things falling apart in my life, Pippa, but I can't handle losing another person that I care
about."
She bit her lip, wrapping her arms around him. He planted a kiss on her forehead, holding her to himself as tightly as he could. She didn't move, soaking in what he'd just said.
"I'm not all you think I am, Barry." His grip on her didn't loosen, but he stiffened. "He's a part of me. A rotten part. I-I have to fight thoughts every day because of him. Wherever I go, he follows me. Like a shadow." She shuddered against Barry's warm frame. "I can't shake him off." Barry pulled away for a brief moment, holding her face in his hands.
"You're not him, Pippin. Nothing like him. I promise." His thumb grazed along her cheekbone as he stressed out the words. She nodded slowly and he pulled her back into his arms again, her head tucked neatly under his chin.
"We should probably go on a proper date once this is over, huh?" Her eyes widened and she pulled away enough so she could scan his face.
"Central City is bankrupt and you're worrying about the logistics of our relationship?" She questioned, rolling her eyes when he only nodded, smiling a weak, sheepish smile. His whole body tensed underneath her as she reached up, planting a quick kiss against his chapped, tired lips. A thrill ran through her at his hand that quickly secured itself on the small of her back.
She pulled away, hovering above him. Her favorite part was always the darkening of the eyes. The color's would morph from his regular fresh grass to a thick emerald. Then it was just her swimming in the green depths. Only her.
"I don't care about dates. Going to dinner, watching a movie, all that," She whispered, biting her lip as his body shuddered underneath her. "All I care about, Barry Allen," His fingertips gently dug into her waist and her eyes fell again to his lips. "Is that I'm with you."
This time she could feel every emotion when their lips met. All the frustration poured out until it was sloppy, messy. His hands roamed up and down her sides, sometimes up her back, but his lips were everywhere at once.
Reminding her with every single touch of what they were. What this meant. And she loved every second of it. At some point, where she had hastily ripped at Barry's shirt and where he had mussed up her sweater, somewhere around there, Cisco managed to barge in.
"My eyes!" Barry's lips stilled against her as he groaned. Her grip on his shirt tightened at the sound.
"Cisco," She chewed at her lip at his voice. The huskiness always made her heart flutter, his voice always sounded raw after kissing her. "We're kinda busy."
She couldn't help but laugh, letting her head fall on Barry's chest. He glanced at her when her fingers slipped underneath his shirt. Cisco couldn't see in this light. She could feel though, every single crevice of his muscles. She bet that he was turning red in the dark.
"I know, I know, but Oliver and Felicity wanted to talk to everyone again. They think they may have a way to shut Chekov's bank account down." At that, Barry sat up from the desk. Pippin sighed, her hands leaving his chest to simply rest in her lap. His hand never left her back.
"We'll be there in a sec." She could hear the slightly annoyed edge to Barry's tone.
Cisco nodded, a motion they barely saw before he spoke again.
"Oh yeah and Oliver says that he's too young to have grandkids."
"Well, you can tell Oliver that he can shove his head as far up his a-" Barry cut her off with a peck. He was probably smiling.
"You can tell him that we'll be there in a few."
Cisco grumbled underneath his breath, but still retreated to the front of the warehouse.
"Can I beat Oliver up?" Pippin introduced the idea, her eyes still glaring in Oliver's general direction.
"That's not nice, he's the reason we're not out in the street." His lips brushed against her ear as he started fixing her shirt. She felt his hand leave her back and run through his hair. His other hand fell carefully on her knee.
"And?" She stilled as his lips gently grazed her neck.
"Fine, but only if we can both beat him up." Barry accented his words with another soft kiss against her jaw, slowly starting to stand up.
"No promises." Pippin retorted, earning a kiss on the cheek. His hand carefully clasped hers as he chuckled, pulling her to where the rest of the group was.
The ring of his phone made them both jump in surprise.
"It's Joe." Barry said blankly. Her eyebrows shot up.
"Are you going to answer?" He glanced up at her, away from the phone screen. His eyes had lightened to their regular color. He answered her question by stuffing his phone into his pocket.
Oliver looked up as they walked in, his eyes narrowing at Barry. Pippin rolled her eyes as she plopped down on the couch. Barry sat on the armchair next to her.
"Cisco said you guys had a plan." Pippin started, glaring holes into Oliver's face.
"Felicity thinks she can access the offshore account so Chekov won't be able to use it." He explained.
Pippin played with the edge of her sweater. "Did you find where the money went?"
Oliver glanced at her then at Felicity who slowly shook her head.
"I know that the offshore account may seem like nothing, but covering all our bases with this bastard will help us out in the end." Oliver added, in a gentler tone. Barry's hand fell over Pippin's, yanking her fidgeting fingers away from the sweater and into his hand.
"It'll take me a while to even begin trying to find the money. Like a really, long time. Like maybe a few days, maybe months, possibly-" Oliver cut Felicity's rambling off with a squeeze to her shoulder.
"That's not exactly helping, babe."
She blushed before swiveling to face Pippin. "But I'll find it, Pip. And we'll take the bastard down."
"Language." Oliver murmured, Felicity narrowing her eyes.
"You just said it five seconds ago!" She protested.
"Yeah, but it sounds cooler when I say it." He shrugged, complaining when Felicity smacked his shoulder with her fist.
"Shut up, Oliver."
Pippin pretended to gag when Oliver wrapped his arms around Felicity's shoulders and kissed the top of her head.
"Get a room." She mumbled, Barry squeezing her hand.
"You and Barry already claimed it." Oliver replied, smirking as Pippin glared at him.
"Is there only one private room in this entire warehouse?" Caitlyn asked, slowly, her eyebrows arching. Ronnie looped his arm around her waist, steadily holding eye contact with Oliver.
"Wait." Cisco murmured, popping up next to Pippin's side. "There are three couples."
"Thank you for that enlightening bit of information, Cisco. How long did it take you to piece together?" Pippin drawled out, earning a mock glare from the brunette man.
"You guys are gonna have to fight it out." He added, grinning to himself. "I'll go get the popcorn."
"Good luck beating Ollie." Felicity chortled from her spot on the desk where her fingers were clicking away.
"My husband can burn you." Caitlyn smirked, Felicity paled (which Pippin didn't think was possible), and Pippin rolled her eyes.
"I think you're forgetting that Bar is quite literally a speedster. In all fights, we win." She grinned, looking down at her hand to see it empty.
"If he decides to wake up anytime soon." Caitlyn piped up as all three women turned to the scarlet speedster who was currently passed out on the couch, snoring.
"How did he fall asleep that fast? He was holding my hand five seconds ago." Pippin hissed, freezing as Barry stirred in his sleep.
"Super speedy sleep." Cisco mumbles, his voice muffled from the large handful of popcorn he had just stuffed inside his cheeks.
"Is that the scientific term?" She quipped, stealing some of his food. He grunted at her, glaring as he shoved in another handful.
"Thief."
"Chipmunk."
"Weak puncher."
"Non-fighter."
"Blondie."
"Big nose-y."
He furrowed his eyebrows, tapping his nose.
"You really think it's big? People have been talk-" He trailed off when she grabbed another popcorn handful then narrowed his eyes at her.
"You scare me sometimes."
She grinned, throwing a popcorn kernel into the air then catching it in her mouth.
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"So, do we get the room?" Caitlyn's voice attracted all eyes.
"Sure, go crazy, Raymond's." Pippin replied, sighing at Barry's sleeping figure.
"Not too crazy though." Cisco added. Pippin spit out her popcorn and Caitlyn looked like she was gonna burn him.
"Good night." Was all she said, again glaring at Cisco who was now giggling in between popcorn handfuls.
"Nice." Pippin high-fived him, grabbing more popcorn after she did.
"I should probably turn in too." She had an inkling Cisco was only saying that so she wouldn't steal anymore of his popcorn.
"G'night, Fish Lips." He rolled his eyes, picking himself up off the floor.
"See you tomorrow, Only One Who's Not A Scientist."
"Clever." She yelled back, Cisco flipping her the bird before disappearing into the back.
"Do you ever sleep?" She questioned Oliver who had been watching this whole interaction with an amused face.
"No, I'm actually a cyborg." He responded, pushing himself up off the old desk he had been leaning against and padding over to where she was.
"Are you holding up okay?" He murmured, gently enough that only she could hear. She tried out a smile, rubbing a hand through her hair. "You worry too much, you're gonna go gray."
He chuckled, but it was more of a sigh.
"I think I already am, Pip." She but at her lip, staring down at her hands.
"Oliver, you know that I appreciate all this. Not just making sure that Fel is okay, but also me. You didn't have to do that." Her cloudy eyes met his emerald.
"Pip, you've given me something priceless. Understanding." He cracked his knuckles and her eyes darted to the sound. They both admired the scars etched across his skin. "You and I, we've lived through things that no one else can even begin to comprehend. We've both been broken far too many times to count." At this, she tensed, holding his gaze as he pat her shoulder. "The thought that you get how hard it is to live 'normally', how hard it is to trust, how hard it is to sleep at night, just knowing helps me more than anything else could." His voice tightened and she swore she saw his eyes glisten for a second before his blank mask slipped back on.
"So really, I should be thanking you."
"Ditto." She breathed, trying to swallow a lump in her throat. He stiffened when she lunged forward, wrapping her arms around his neck. 'Ollie' hugs were rare, but there was something magical about them.
"You have a way with words, Hart." She choked out a laugh, pulling away.
"Thank you, Ollie." He smiled, another rare 'Ollie' action before ruffling her hair and joining Felicity at the computer.
She watched his hands fall gently on her shoulders, his figure slowly bending to kiss her temple. Felicity looked up, smiling, and grabbing his hand. She jumped a little when a hand fell on her shoulder, gently squeezing.
"That's incredibly creepy, Allen." His low laugh made her stomach do cartwheels. She turned from her sitting down position with her back resting against the couch to face him.
"How much of that did you hear?" It seemed like every single time she held Barry's eyes, she fell deep into them.
"Something about you being great with words." He sat up from the couch, stretching. His shirt rode up and she caught a glimpse of his muscled torso. She let her eyes dance back up to his, only to see him grinning.
"Tease." She huffed, turning away from him again.
"It's cute." His arms wrapped around her frame from behind as he chuckled, his lips brushing against your ear.
"Your eyes darken." Her eyes snapped shut as his warm breath fell on that delicate spot that he liked to touch his lips to.
"It makes me," He slowly kissed the spot, a gentle sigh leaving her throat. His arms tightened around her at the action.
"Crazy."
His teeth nipped at her skin and a gentle squeak suddenly erupted from her lips.
"Barry Allen." She started to protest before he gently kissed the spot again, starting to place sloppy kisses in a line down her neck. The letters melted into each other as her mind did, her neck involuntarily exposing itself so his gentle touch. At some point, they migrated to the couch, his lean frame hovering over her slender one. Legs tangled together.
This one had a different rhythm, sporadic. At times, his lips would slowly move against hers, taste her, drink in every drop. Then sometimes, he would tense and his hands would run everywhere, and all of a sudden it was fiery.
It made her dizzy.
Eventually, the moment had to stop. Barry had to break it off, twisting so he could slip in between her and the couch. He slowly pulled her on top of him so she was half pressed against his body while the other half of her was touching the couch fabric.
"If I had known you were this good, I should have kissed you sooner." Pippin mumbled after her heart had calmed its racing. Barry laughed his raw laugh, quietly, his fingers running up her side and back down again.
She responded by slipping her hand underneath his shirt to feel the bare, warm skin underneath.
"You seem to like doing that, don't you?" His lips brushed against her ear again and she felt her face grow warm.
"My hands are cold." She mumbled, running her finger down the middle of his stomach. In reality, it seemed to ground her in this fantasy. Barry's abs had to be real and if she could touch them, feel every firm muscle in his torso, then this had to be real too.
"I think you just like my abs, Pippin." He concluded, his legs tangling with hers. His whole body tensed as her hand grazed the skin of his lower stomach.
"Is that your theory?" Her hand hovered there, his breaths rushing in and out.
"That's my hypothesis." He managed to choke out, his voice down an octave. She opened her mouth to retort but Oliver beat her to it.
"No babies!" Her hand withdrew as she rolled her eyes, Barry relaxing next to her.
"Go away, gremlin." She shouted back, Felicity's laughter the only sound coming back.
"What a grandpa." Pippin grumbled, Barry only pulled her closer with a chuckle.
"Pip-" The ringing of a phone made them both pause, her eyebrows furrowing. He dug it out of his pocket, eyes narrowing at the contact icon.
"It's Joe." He murmured, looking past the screen to her. He made to put it back in his pocket, but she caught his wrist gently in her fingers.
"Just get it over with, Bar. No point in delaying the inevitable." He froze for a few seconds before slowly nodding and answering.
"Hello." He sat up, disentangling himself from the blanket before walking off to another room. She watched him, pulling the covers up to her chin. His spot was still warm so she wiggled in that direction, her exhaustion finally hitting.
She was drifting off to sleep when Barry shook her. Her eyes darted open, fear gripping her heart at the anguish in his eyes.
"Barr-"
"My dad." He choked out.
"Chekov has my dad."