Caitlin looks at Cisco, her hands in the pockets of her coat as we stood outside on the field behind the Labs, "That was too close."
"He told me to make it hard." Cisco replies, holding the tablet in his hands as he controlled the drone in the air that was shooting missiles at Barry.
I cross my arms, "Pretty sure he didn't tell you to make him dead."
"Remember, this is just supposed to be a training exercise to improve Barry's speed." Dr. Wells points out, pushing his glasses further up his nose.
Then, Barry's voice came in through the comms, making us all look at Dr. Wells in permission, "Cisco, you gonna bring it or what?"
Dr. Wells softly smiled, "Bring it."
When another missile landed and exploded, knocking Barry off his feet, I nudge Cisco, "Stop bringing it-"
Cisco was too busy staring at Barry, who got up and stood tall, staring at the drone that came closer and closer to him.
Caitlin looked between us all, "Why isn't he running away?"
"Barry, run away." I whispered to myself when the missile starts making its way towards Barry, but he only ran to it.
Barry ran, grabbing the missile and tossing it back at the drone, as it destroyed in the air, Barry rubbing his arm as he walked over to us.
"You scared me!" I hit his other arm lightly when he comes over to us, "I thought you were about to get yourself killed!"
"And leave you without friendless? You should know me better-" Barry joked, as I hit his arm again due to his comment, as he ran into the van, changing into sweats, returning back over to us.
We all had our fare share of Big Belly Burger, as Barry sat across from me at the table, tossing what looked like his hundredth empty container to the side.
My eyes shift from the pile of all the paper boxes with the Big Belly Burger logo on them, and to him, holding my burger in my hand, "I haven't even finished mine-"
He was filling up on his 10,000 calories, and I was astonished at how quick he finished all of those burgers.
"You just ate $150 dollars worth of Big Belly Burger in five minutes." I had wide eyes, "I don't think I'm used to that yet-"
Barry winks at me while wiping his mouth, getting up, walking over to look at the screen in front of Dr. Wells.
"Very impressive, Mr. Allen." Dr. Wells said, "Your reaction to stimuli at super-speed continues to improve."
Barry sighs, "It's still not enough."
"It will be." Dr. Wells assured him, "You keep working like you are, you stay focused like you are, and you will be ready the next time your man in the yellow suit comes around."
"I think you mean the Reverse-Flash." Cisco points at them and looks at me.
"I coined that!" I dust my hands off and walked over to them, crossing my arms, standing next to Cisco.
"She did- and I'll allow it because it fits-" Cisco proudly wraps an arm around me, noticing the looks we were getting, "What? He said it, not us."
"And he's right." I point out, "Yellow suit, red lightning, and evil the reverse of Barry. The Reverse-Flash."
Caitlin shrugs, "Meh."
Dr. Wells' lips turn up in a smile, "Actually, I kind of like it."
"I'm so good at naming speedsters-" I slip my hands into my pockets, "I mean- I coined The Flash And now the Reverse-Flash. I'm on a roll."
"All right, I'm still ready for another round." Barry cuts in, "How many more drones do you have left?"
"Two." Cisco walks towards them, "And they've got lasers!"
I looked at him, "No!"
-
Cisco scoffs in surprise when we all walked into the cortex, "Captain Cold is back?"
"So- let me get this straight, Captain Cold is a world class thief that has his hands on a cold gun you created?" I crossed my arms, looking at Cisco, "I've written about him before- but I never knew that was the backstory. That's honestly so cool-"
I clear my throat when I notice the look on Barry's face, "I mean- awful-"
Dr. Wells wheels in further, "For a non-metahuman, Leonard Snart is proving to be quite the Nemesis."
Cisco sighs in guilt, "He still has the cold gun, the one he stole from us, the one I built."
Caitlin speaks up, "Well, what does he want this time?"
"The Flash." Barry rounded the console, "If Snart wants a fight with the Flash, then I'll give him one."
Dr. Wells inhales sharply, "Well,"
Barry notices his pause, "You don't think I should?"
"I didn't say that." Dr. Wells said, "But, Barry, as fast as you are, you cannot be everywhere at once."
"And it becomes then a question of priorities." Dr. Wells continued, "Now, in the last month, you have made a commitment to increasing your speed, enhancing your reflexes, and it's working, you're finally getting faster."
"Okay, but what am I supposed to do, just ignore Snart?" Barry questioned, his eyes glued to him.
"The last time you had a fight with Snart, a train derailed." Dr. Wells mentioned, making me look down at my feet in amusement, "You were lucky to get all those people to safety. And if you don't give him that fight-"
Barry finishes his sentence in realization, "He may just back off, and there'll be no casualties."
Dr. Wells rounds the console and wheels over to Barry, "Look, Barry, Cisco and I will work with Joe and the police and devise a way to catch Cold."
"Yes, I said it, Cisco." Dr. Wells calls out when he notices the look on Cisco's face for using the nickname, "As soon as it came out of my mouth, I heard it."
Cisco was smiling, "Yeah, we can definitely come up with ways to neutralize Snart."
"Listen, Barry." Dr. Wells stopped next to him, "Whether or not you go after Snart, that's your choice."
"We here, we will do whatever we can to support you." He continued, "But after this past Christmas, after the events with the Reverse-Flash I just think he poses a greater threat to all of us."
Barry softly nods, "Okay."
-
"Aw." Joe walked down the steps holding a turtle stuffed animal, "McSnurtle the turtle. How you been? When did you stop sleeping with this? It was your favorite."
"He was." Iris got up from next to me as we were looking through a box, "But if I remember correctly, you took him away from me after I broke your Duke Ellington: Live at the Blue Note vinyl."
"Oh, yeah." Joe recalls, then hands it back to her, "You can have him back now."
"Oh, gee, thanks." Iris laughed, putting in the box I was packing, then noticed the look on his face, hugging him, "Oh, dad."
Joe held her, "I'm going to miss you, baby."
"You guys are literally going to make me start crying." I throw McSnurtle at their heads from the ground.
"Guys, I'm only ten minutes away!" Iris pulled away, "Don't worry about me- I'll be fine, just like always."
Barry walks into the West Household, "Hey."
"Hey." Joe greeted, "You came to help her pack?"
"Oh, no." Barry shook his head, "Iris said that she had something for me."
Iris grabs the small red backpack from the ground, holding it up, "Oh, um- I found this in my closet."
"I haven't seen this in years." Barry smiles at the memories of the backpack as we all shared a laugh, him sitting on the step a foot away from me.
"Well, the nerd survival kit is still intact." Iris mentions as Barry pulled out the comics that we in the bag, "I thought those might be worth something."
Barry doesn't reply, as she clears her throat, "I am so late for work. I promise I will clean this up when I get back, okay?"
She grabs her coat and waves us goodbye, leaving us all alone.
The minute the door shut, I spoke up, "I've been meaning to ask- Barr, what's going on with you and Iris?"
Barry looks between Joe and I, dismissively speaking, looking back at his backpack, "Nothing."
Joe leaned against the railing, "That's funny, because we have these two things called eyes, and it doesn't look like you two are fine."
Barry sighs and looks at us, "I told Iris."
I slowly got up to my feet as Joe spoke, shocked, "You told Iris you're the Flash?"
"No, no- sorry- no-" Barry got up and stood in front of us, "I told her how I felt about her."
My eyes went wider than ever, as I choked out the words in shock, "Wait- you told her?"
Barry's hands slipped into his pockets, slowly nodding, "Yeah, yeah I did."
"Oh, God." The amount of shock crosses Joe's face as I felt it, "What did she say?"
"Well, I mean, still moving in with Eddie, isn't she?" Barry points out, "I just want to pretend like it never even happened. I mean, that's what we're both doing, so-"
"Well, not saying how you feel is what got you in this mess in the first place." Joe shrugs lightly, "Speaking of which, we both know she's not gonna clean this mess up anytime soon."
Barry exhales deeply and shook his head, "Nope."
Joe kept staring at him, and then I realize what his expression was implying.
"Sure." Barry said when he realized, Joe leaving the room as Barry whooshes around me, packing everything up.
I lose balance at the amount of wind I felt next to me, Barry catching me right before I could fall further, my eyes landing on the neatly towered boxes.
I made an oof sound, grabbing his arms, as he pulled me up, "Thanks-"
Barry shot me a soft smile as we followed Joe into the kitchen.
-
Barry decided to push Captain Cold to the side and focus on his training so he could beat the Reverse Flash.
Cisco and Dr. Wells had invented a shield for Central City cops to use when they were in battle with Captain Cold.
They worked fine for him with their encounter with him, but unexpectedly, Captain Cold's new partner showed up, his gun complete heat.
We had been working on figuring out how to defeat him as well.
I walked into the room Dr. Wells and Barry were in, "Guys, you have to come look at this."
Barry and Dr. Wells follow me into the cortex where Cisco stood behind the console.
"When the heat gun was fired, it increased the surrounding temperature of the air dramatically, sort of like an extreme heat wave." Cisco began explaining then paused, "Heat Wave."
Dr. Wells speaks, "Stop doing that."
"Okay." Cisco nods, "I measured the temperature output of both the cold and heat guns, right?"
Cisco continued, "And while the cold gun achieves absolute zero, the heat gun successfully reaches absolute hot, or the hottest temperature an object can reach."
Barry crosses his arms, "Planck temperature."
Dr. Wells looks between us all, "So potentially, these two guns could cancel each other out."
I nod, "Yeah, but to do that, you'd have to make them cross streams."
Barry looks at me, "You mean like Ghostbusters?"
Realization crosses Cisco's features, "That film is surprisingly scientifically accurate."
"And really quite funny." Dr. Wells adds as Barry's phone buzzes.
"Hey, Joe- what's up?" Barry answers, and he didn't even reply to Joe's words before rushing out of the Labs.
Cisco and I exchanged looks of confusion, until my phone buzzes in my pocket, pulling it out, noticing the text Barry sent me, my eyes widening.
Dr. Wells eyebrows furrow, "What is it, Ms. Young?"
"Cold and Heatwave took Cait-" I locked my phone, leaning over and typing on the keyboard, pulling up the news, "It's on every station-"
"Greetings, citizens of Central City." Captain Cold greeted, Heatwave holding Caitlin in the background, "I am Leonard Snart. But- you can call me Cold."
"I'm gonna make this very simple for everyone." Leonard shoves his face into the camera, "That red streak you've been hearing whispers about, the one mysteriously saving people these past few months."
"Well, surprise, he's real." Leonard said, "He calls himself the Flash."
"Porter and Main, tonight, sundown- come out, come out, wherever you are, Flash." Leonard taunted, "Show the whole world you're real, or this woman dies."
"No, don't come for me." Caitlin shrieked, "Stay away!"
Then the video cut out.
-
"Did- did you see that?" An officer stammered as Barry ran through the caution tape and stood in front of Captain Cold and Heatwave tall, "That was him- that was the Flash."
Captain Singh watched in shock, "I don't believe it."
"Believe it." I came between him and Eddie, my eyes glued to Barry as I held my camera in my hand.
Eddie spoke up for Captain Singh, who seemed to interested in The Flash to tell me to leave, "Zee, you know you shouldn't be here-"
"Eddie, you should know by now that I don't listen to you." I simply said, my eyes glued to the scene.
"The Scarlet speedster." Captain Cold called out, "Any preference on how you'd like to die? The flame or the frost?"
"Not in the mood for chitchat, gotcha." Captain Cold spoke when Barry doesn't reply, "Ready when you are."
Then, it started.
The fight that Barry hoped to avoid.
Barry ran through them and around the street, as Heatwave and Captain Cold shot their guns at him.
"Cover me!" Captain Cold shouted at Heatwave, as he began keeping Barry distracted, Captain Cold icing up the sidewalk and freezing up the water that came out of the destroyed fire hydrant, "Run on this."
Barry let out a small scream as he ran into the ice, hitting a car, a gasp leaving my lips.
I was too invested in the fight to take pictures right away.
Captain Cold looked at Heatwave, "Mick!"
Heatwave blasted his gun towards the car as it erupted in flames, "Gotcha!"
Barry ran out from behind it, as I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.
"Eddie," Iris' calls suddenly filled my ears as she pushed through the officers and to her boyfriend who stood next to me, "Eddie!"
Eddie's eyes went wide, "Iris, what are you doing here?"
"They evacuated Jitters." Iris held his hand as he pulled her back a few steps, "I saw your car."
"No, you can't be here." Eddie instantly said, "It's not safe."
Iris' eyes went defensively wide, "Zee's here!"
I looked back at her, "I'm an independent woman that doesn't need to be told what to do."
I pulled my camera up, taking a few pictures of Captain Cold and Heatwave shooting towards Barry as he ran up a building.
"The fight is spreading beyond the evac area." Captain Singh turns and calls out, "We need to expand the perimeter!"
"We can't." Eddie stopped him, "We can't let this spread."
My hands held my camera tight as I pulled it down, my eyes growing wider when Heatwave and Captain Cold got the upper hand on Barry.
When Barry is thrown back onto the ground due to the cold gun, Eddie grabs the shield Star Labs made for them, "Oh, my God!"
"Thawne, where are you going?" Captain Singh asked as Eddie rushed away from us.
I stepped after him, stopping myself, "Eddie!"
"Eddie, Eddie-" Iris calls out in a gasp, her hand going to her mouth.
Barry looked up from the ground, Captain Cold and Heatwave stepping closer of him.
When they shot their guns at him at the same time, Eddie unexpectedly comes between them, protecting Barry with the shield, "Hold on!"
"Oh my god-" I pulled my camera up and snapped more pictures of what was going on.
Barry grabs him and runs him to the side, now standing on his own.
"Thanks for playing, kid." Captain Cold calls out, as Barry runs towards them, Heatwave and Captain Cold shooting their guns at him at the same time.
Barry slowed down and took the power, grunting in pain, slowly walking closer, my eyes wide with fear for him.
I took a few pictures, then slowly brought the camera down to my chest, watching closely, whispering under my breath, "Hang on- please."
Then, when he was in the center, he ran from the blasts, as the two blasts combined.
I pulled my camera back up and snapped a photo, as they both flew back, their guns cancelling out.
Captain Cold reaches for his gun, but Barry stepped his foot on it before he could, standing over her, something else I took a photo of.
"I didn't see that coming." Captain Cold chokes out, "I guess you win this time."
"There won't be a next time." Barry said with his vibrated voice, Eddie walking behind him, holding his gun to Captain Cold, "Thank you, Detective."
Then, Barry ran off, leaving us all astonished.
-
Mick shouts and fights in the officers grip as he was brought into the precinct, everyone applauding at their captors, "I'm gonna burn every last one of you pigs!"
"Get your hands off me!" Mick shouts again, pushing an officer away, beginning to get the upper hand.
"Hey!" Cops surrounded him and Joe held a gun to his face, "Hey, hey, hey, hey!"
Mick screamed, as they pulled him away.
Leonard was calm, brought over to Joe.
Joe spoke, "Partner's a real hothead."
Leonard doesn't laugh, "That's funny."
"You know what's hilarious, Snart?" Joe asked, "We got you."
Leonard's words were in monotone, "Congratulations."
Joe jerks his head to the side, "Get him out of here."
I walked over to Barry, throwing my arms around him, hugging him, my voice quiet so only he could hear, "You're okay right? Your suit was damaged- and you-"
Barry hugged me back, pulling away, holding my forearms, a small smile on his lips, "I'm okay."
Barry notices Eddie walk by us, "Nice work, Eddie."
"It wasn't me." Eddie gave us a genuine smile, "It was the Flash."
"Would you look at that-" I nudged Barry's side when Eddie walks away, looking at him, "You've got him believing in The Flash too."
Barry's smile widened, as Eddie handed Cisco the two guns, "We're not gonna be needing these for the trial, you'll make sure-"
"They'll never hurt anyone ever again." Cisco finished his sentence, placing the guns in a case.
"Mr. Ramon." Captain Singh came behind him when Eddie walked away, "Thank you."
"He was like a lightning bolt, zipping through the streets." Officer Vukuvich gossiped and boasted, walking past Barry and I as we made our way to the elevator, speaking to another two officers, "Took them both out singlehandedly."
"That's amazing." The female officer replied, "I wonder who he is."
Officer Vukuvich speaks, "If you ask me, he's a hero."
Barry was smiling ear to ear as I nudged him, sharing the same smile, "How does pizza sound?"
Barry pulls a hand out of his pocket and wraps an arm around me, "Who can say no to pizza?"
"My treat." I walked into the elevator with him, pressing the button to the bottom floor, "Just because you kicked ass and I got really cool shots of it."
"Well, did you know that I can see into the future?" Barry looked at me, keeping his arm around me.
I looked at him, my eyebrows furrowing, playing along, "Really?"
"Oh, yeah, totally-" Barry nods, "Did I forget to tell you that?"
"You did not mention it, no-" I shook my head, crossing my arms, "I'm pretty sure you left that out."
"Wow." Barry blinks in fake surprise, walking out of the elevator with me and through the doors, "I can't believe I actually didn't tell you-"
I looked up at him, "So- what do you see?"
"I see us going to our favorite pizza place and me paying because I'm not letting you pay." Barry shrugs, as I shoved him back playfully.
"No way!" I walked with him, pushing him away, his arm falling to his side, "I guess you really can't see into the future."
Barry softly laughs, "Oh yeah?"
"Yeah!" I ran a hand through my hair, "It's just pizza- I can pay-"
Barry playfully rolls his eyes, "We'll see about that."
-
"I think that's it." Iris calls out, as Barry and Eddie carried a huge box of Iris' things down the steps.
"This better be it." Eddie strained our, as they set the box down when they reach the bottom of the steps.
"Come here-" I held my arms out, Iris wrapping her arms around me tightly, "You're all grown up now- it makes me sad."
"You sound like a mom." Iris laughed in my ear as I held my friend tighter, pulling away.
"I don't even live here and I'm sad that you're leaving." I crossed my arms, leaning against the couch, earning a laugh from her.
"Well, like you said, you're ten minutes away, so if you forget something-" Joe began, then the look in his eyes makes Iris throw her arms around him as well.
Iris held him, "Dad."
"I can't say it enough." Joe held his daughter right, "I'll miss you."
"You know you can come around anytime, Joe." Eddie places his hand on Iris' back when they pulled away, "Just give us a heads-up."
"Or not." Eddie blurts out when he notices the look on Joe's face, "Come around whenever- you want a key?"
I cover my mouth to hold back laughter at the second hand embarrassment I felt.
"I'm gonna go." Eddie stammers and picks up the box, "I'll wait in the truck."
"Zee- let's discuss what we want for dinner tonight-" Joe wraps an arm around my shoulders, pulling me into the kitchen so we can give Barry and Iris a chance to talk.
"Am I staying for dinner?" I looked at Joe, "I could stay over if you miss Iris this much already."
"That would be great-" Joe kisses my head, a small smile creeping onto the lips.
When Barry and Iris' voices fade, we walked back over to them, Iris slowly grabbing the framed picture of her, Barry and I, "Dad, is it okay if I-"
"Yeah." Joe sat on the couch and turned on the tv, Iris and Joe sharing another hug, "My baby girl."
Iris walked over to Barry, giving him a fist bump goodbye as I waved, her walking out and closing the door behind her.
I sit on the single couch seat, slouching, "Barry- you think if I gave you my key you've pack a bag for me to stay the night?"
Before I could even say anything else, Barry ran out and back in, setting my backpack down next to me, plopping onto the couch a seat empty between him and Joe.
I looked through the bag, that had a change of clothes for me to sleep in, and a pair for tomorrow, along with my laptop, my chargers, and everything else I needed to spend the night, "How did you get into my apartment?"
"Phasing." Barry pops his lips, "Another perk of being The Flash."
"Noice-" I placed my bag down, moving to the edge of the seat I sat in.
Joe looks at Barry, "You okay?"
Barry hums in response, "How about you?"
"It was bound to happen sometime, right?" Joe inhales sharply, "You guys want to order some pizza and watch the ball game?"
Barry looks between us, "Make it pizzas and you're on."
"Yes, more pizza!" I threw my arms up in fists and threw myself back onto the seat I sat on, slouching completely, letting out a deep breath, "Although- I'm going to be more occupied doing other things than watching the ball game. I'm here for the pizza."
"You know, if you ever need somebody to come and eat your food, I'm there." Barry mentions, "Besides, the laundry machines in my building have been broken for, like, a month, so-"
Joe scoffs, "I don't know why you moved into that deathtrap in the first place, since you still got a perfectly good room here."
I looked at Joe, "You said you were turning it into a gym."
"We all know I'm not turning it into a gym." Joe remarks, "Besides, you got me running around enough as it is."
"You know, it is getting hard to hide the blasting in and out of my apartment at all hours of the night from my neighbors." Barry began to trial off in thought, "I suppose it would make sense for me to move back in."
"I mean, I am a millennial." Barry sat up, "That is what we do."
"Well, don't do it on my account." Joe laughed, "I'll be fine on my own."
"Oh, yeah, me too." Barry nodded, playing along, "Sure."
Then, Barry runs out and back in with his bags, "All right, roomie."
"You order the pizzas, I'll unpack." Barry drops his bags, as both Joe and I laugh.
"No way." Joe got up, grabbing three beers off the table, "I want to help you."
"Come on, little one." Joe gestures toward me, as I jumped up and followed him up the two steps and to where Barry stood, as he handed both Barry and I freshly opened beers, "I want to enjoy this."
I groan, "I hate beer-"
Barry holds his up, "You know this does nothing to me."
Joe was already taking a sip of his, "Just drink it."
Barry and I both him in response, taking sips of ours.
I cringe at the taste, screwing my eyes shut, pulling the bottom away from my lips as it slightly burned my throat, "God-"
Barry had snapped a picture, showing Joe as they both laughed, "That was priceless-"
"Okay, now that we're done toasting to Barry moving back in, can I show you guys the photos I took?" I set my beer down and ran over to my camera, as they followed me, smiles wide on their lips.
authors note:
hehehe ah they're so cute-
i have a new jace herondale book up , with the first two chapters published ! if you want to go read it , you can find it on my profile !
i also published another alec lightwood book , so if you're interested in that rather than the jace herondale one , you can find it on my profile as well with the first two chapters published !
this chapters dedicated to Mrsbarryallen6 cause she's so sweet and always supports me-
I've been pushing this update for so long and I feel so bad omfg, but her birthday was like week !!!!
vote and comment loooads !