Tiger Stripes and Lightening Strikes

9: Ohio

When Barry embarked on a car journey with Joe to Ohio, he had not expected them to be sitting in silence the entire time. All that could be heard was the hum of the engine and rush of the tyres on the road. Of course, the speed was nothing to Barry. They were moving at a snail's pace through lush forestry and blooming countryside. As the trees became streaky whooshes flying by the windows, Barry found himself impatiently tapping his foot.

"I don't know why you didn't just speed to Ohio and meet me there," Joe remarked, keeping his eyes on the road and smoothly shifting the grip of his steering.

"I wanted to talk to you," Barry murmured, shifting himself around to face Joe.

"Now is as good a time as any," the cop remarked, turning the wheel to smoothly.

"What happened between you and Sebastian?" Barry asked, watching his adoptive father closely. Joe's knuckles went white around the steering wheel. The muscles in his jaw ticked. Barry's eyes narrowed a fraction. "You knew his father was in jail. You even knew his sentence."

"Barry," Joe sighed, adopting a defensive tone.

"Don't try and deny it," Barry huffed. "Sebastian nearly jumped over the counter and throttled you when you entered Jitterz. Something happened and you haven't told me about it."

"You're right," Joe blew out a long breath through his nose. "Something did happen." His eyes glazed for a moment, leaving Barry alone with the noise of tyres on tarmac. "When his father was arrested, I was called," Joe began explaining slowly, as though he were reading his story for the first time.

"Why were you called?" Barry's brows scrunched.

"When he was adopted, I was listed as his former foster father," Joe explained loosely. Barry nodded slowly. Joe had held onto Sebastian for a number of months, but caring for a baby had proven to be far too much work. Then came Smythe. "So, I took a trip down here to see what was happening."

"And didn't tell me?" Barry arched a brow.

"It was a confidential case," Joe informed him. Barry's brows pinched.

"Since when has that ever stopped you?" he protested.

"I didn't want to upset you or Sebastian any more than necessary, given your history," Joe reasoned. Begrudgingly, Barry nodded and sat back in his seat. "It turns out that Smythe had done some foul things and Sebastian had tried to cover it up for him."

Barry's brows tugged in. "Then why isn't he in jail too?"

"Smythe was to blame," Joe answered simply. Barry opened his mouth to protest, but Joe kept talking. "I was sent to convince Sebastian to testify," the cop continued. "He never did."

"I find it hardly surprising that Sebastian has a criminal streak," Barry snorted, and Joe didn't respond.

*

Although the concept of working was rather new to Sebastian, he liked to think he was beginning to understand it. You bend over backwards for every one of the customer's whims. You greet everyone with a smile. You keep your personal life personal. These habits were becoming routine from him, and he found himself somewhat enjoying the ebb and flow of working in a cafe. He enjoyed it, aside from when the last of his little rules became impossible. When his personal life came to visit him at work.

At first, it was Barry and Iris and seemingly all of their friends. He wondered if the writhing ball of fury in his chest caused by the constant pestering was what Kurt had felt in Lima. A knot of guilt would form in his throat at the very memory of that period in his life. All he could do to ease the sickening feeling was suck in a deep breath and remind himself everyone involved was fine now. Nobody had been hurt that badly.

Had the hiccups of the past remained only his blood relative and his army, Sebastian could have coped. Unluckily for him, other parts of his past had resurfaced to bite him in the back.

When Sebastian stared into the dark and hard eyes of a painfully familiar Latina over the Jitterz till, he found himself cursing the day he'd been born. "I never thought I'd see the day a rat like you decided to try honest work," Santana remarked, her eyes narrowing to venomous slits. "What happened? Daddy cut you off?"

Sebastian let out a light chuckle, rubbing the back of his head. "You could say that." He rolled his shoulders and stood to his full height.

In the early-morning light, there were scarce few customers around. There was no excuse that would let him slither away from the tills and escape her. "Why are you in Central City?" he cocked a brow. "Your little slum finally burn down?"

"Lima heights is as lively as ever," Santana narrowed her eyes, leaning in towards him. "Now Daddy isn't in the picture, I can show you some of our hospitality." Sebastian rolled his eyes. "I'm here about a death in the family, and by the way, I like your brother. What the heck happened to you?"

"I have a pair of balls," Sebastian snorted. "Maybe you like my brother because he doesn't."

"You can tell a lot about a guy by the way he talks about his family," Santana drawled, eyeing him up and down.

"Not family," Sebastian corrected her. "He's more like an annoying tag stuck on new clothing that you can't quite remove." Her face scrunched, deep wrinkles appearing on the bridge of her nose. "What do you want?" he sighed, his eyes flicking to the till.

"A flash," she responded.

"Huh, I never took you as someone so basic," he hummed.

"Should you be talking to customers like that, server boy?" she tutted. He smiled, backing away from the till to face the bulky coffee machines. He automatically began making her drink. "Oh, and Sebastian," she called. He peered back over his shoulders. "No rock salt in this one please." The coffee machine whirred and whined as it spewed dark liquid into the awaiting cup.

"No promises," he sang. After it spluttered to a halt, he secured the top and passed it over the counter towards her. "Let's hope we never meet face to face again."

"No way," she chuckled and shook her head. "I'm in central for a few weeks, and you best believe I'm going to visit you every day." The smirk on his lips grew wider. "Call me Auntie Karen Snix, because I'm going to make your life a living hell." Turning with a swish of hair, she strode away. Her heels clacked with every step.

Reaching up and pinching the bridge of his nose, Sebastian blew out a long and heavy breath.