Running Back To You » Barry Allen

4.

Barry and my Dad leave the room, taking a tour of the remains of S.T.A.R Labs whilst they chat. I turn to face Cisco and Caitlin. "What was that?" I ask them and they look at me in confusion.

"What was what?" Cisco asks, sitting down on one of the chairs by the computer desks.

"That!" I say, gesturing towards where Barry and my Father previously stood.

Caitlin frowns. "That was your Dad taking Barry for a tour of the Lab? What else would it be?" I shake my head, sitting on Barry's bed. "Lina? What's wrong?" Caitlin asks, sitting down next to me.

"Nothing," I shake my head in an attempt to clear my thoughts. "I just... You know what, never mind. It's stupid." Caitlin stands up and starts making coffee, obviously for my Dad. I'm about to say something when the lift opens and Barry walks out accompanied by my Father.

"Now, I'm not the most... Popular person in town these days but Detective West and his daughter gave me permission to bring you here where we were able to stabilize you," Dr. Wells says, gesturing to the room around them.

Barry stops walking and turns to look at my Dad. "Iris?" I roll my eyes at his reaction.

"Iris, yes. She was here quite often," my Dad says, smirking.

Caitlin walks up behind Barry, handing my Dad his coffee in a flask. "She talks a lot."

"Also... She's hot," Cisco adds, making me smile at his teenage boy charm coming through. Barry takes a deep breath when he hears this and looks at the door.

"I need to go," he mutters, running towards the exit.

"No, you can't!" Caitlin says. My Dad agrees and spins around to face him.

"No, no. Caitlin's right. Now that you're awake we need to do more tests." Barry stops and looks at the four of us. "You're still going through changes, there's so much that we don't know," my Dad finishes, holding up his flask of coffee as he talks.

Barry shrugs his shoulders and starts to back away. "I'm fine, really, I feel normal. Thank you for saving my life!" He runs out of the room, leaving us standing in silence.

"Really?" Caitlin and I ask at the same time. My Dad sighs.

Barry's head pops around the door frame, holding onto his top. "Can I keep the sweatshirt?"

"Yeah keep the sweatshirt."

"Okay," and then he was gone.

I look at my Dad. "He's like a lovesick puppy... It's disgusting." He laughs and holds my hand tenderly.

"One day you'll understand, Evie." I sigh and pull my hand away.

"I'm going to Jitters," I announce, grabbing my coat and saying goodbye to the three geniuses.

***

I take a seat by the window and get out my book, beginning to read. I like to come to Jitters now and again, it allows me to be alone and just chill out... And drink coffee. Iris always comes over and asks if everything's okay which it usually is.

I hear the door open and I glance up from my worn copy of 'The Beach' and see none other than Barry Allen walk through the door. I mentally make a note to tell my Dad where he was so urgent to rush off to. I glance over at Iris who has stopped pouring coffee and is looking straight at Barry, her features going soft and a smile spreading across her face. "Gosh," I mutter, taking a sip of my coffee and watching the scene unfold in front of me.

Iris runs over and Barry embraces her in a huge hug. My heart lurches at the adorable scene but I tell myself that it is anything but. Iris steps back and looks Barry up and down. "You're awake! Why didn't S.T.A.R Labs call us?"

Barry shakes his head, smiling widely. "I just woke up!"

"Should you even be on your feet?"

"Nope," I whisper.

"Iris," Barry attempts to calm her down. "I'm... I'm okay." There's a moment of silence between them.

"I watched you die, Barry. You kept dying, your heart kept stopping." He takes her hand and places it on his chest, where his heart should be.

"Still beating."

Iris laughs, "It's really fast."

Just as Iris is saying that, Tracey, another waitress at Jitters, drops her tray of coffee. I look around to see other people's reactions and if anyone's going to help her when my eyes lock on Barry. He looks confused.

"Are you okay, Tracey?" Iris asks, her hand still on Barry's chest. She says she's got it and Iris turns back to Barry. "My Dad is gonna be so happy to see you! Let me get my stuff, okay? I'll be right back." She runs off leaving Barry standing alone in the middle of the coffee shop.

Barry's smile drops and I grab my book and stand up, walking over to him. "Everything okay?" I ask and he jumps, turning around to face me.

"Oh... It's... You..." He says, clearly not remembering my name. I clench my jaw in agitation. We only met 10 minutes ago. "Look, I know Dr. Wells wants to do tests but really, I'm fi-" I cut him off by holding my hand up.

"I'm not here for Dr. Wells. Believe it or not, I do have a life outside of that lab," I say and he looks around awkwardly. "Is this where you were so urgent to get to? You couldn't have waited a few more minutes so we could make sure you were actually okay?" I ask and he shrugs his shoulders.

Iris comes back and I turn to Barry before I leave. "Well, if you think anything weird is happening," I say, narrowing my eyes at him to let him know I saw the way he reacted when Tracey dropped that tray, "give us a call and we'll help you out." I bid goodbye to Iris and head back to S.T.A.R Labs to let my Dad know what I just witnessed.

***

"Look, he just freaked out. I dunno," I tried to explain to my Dad as I sat down beside him. "The coffee dropped and I've never seen someone look so confused."

"He's been in a coma for nine months, he probably forgot what coffee was," Cisco butts in and I glare at him.

"Not helping."

"Evie, Cisco's probably right... Well not right but along the right lines. Barry's been in a coma for nine months, he's probably just getting used to things," he says, wheeling over to Caitlin.

"Maybe something is wrong with him," she says, taking my side as usual. "I mean, we don't know. We didn't get to test him," she pouts and my Dad smiles.

The phone suddenly rings. "I'll get it," I call, answering it. "Hello?"

"It's Barry."

"Oh, Barry!" I say loudly to get everyone's attention. "So you decided to call? Wassup?"

He hesitates. "So, I can like... Run really fast..." I frown.

"Okay, good for you?"

"No, like from the police station to here in under a minute," he says, walking through the doors with the phone still to his ear.

"What?"

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