The Flash: Lost...

Chapter IV

After Wenn made a fresh pot of coffee they sit down on the couch.
While sipping at their mugs in silence, she looks at Barry. He looks relaxed.
Such a contrast from the tense, frustrated guy she met this morning.
She also notes that he's actually quite handsome. She usually likes 'em with some more meat on them bones, but this one is a nice kind of lean. Some nice features and damn, that smile!

Barry catches her staring.
"What? Do I have something on my face?!" He starts to wipe his mouth.
"No, no!" Wenn smiles, damn, he really is observant! "No, I was just wondering why you really were so upset this morning when we met. It just doesn't fit with what I was told about you and how you are now. You really are a nice guy. So... wanna tell me what's up with that?"
Barry sighs and rubs the back of his neck. What can he tell her. He can't go too far off the truth 'cause for some reason he thinks she will poke a hole through his story if he did.
So he just leaves out a few details.

"Like I said, the past two years have been a challenge. And...lately I don't feel like I am... good enough, like I failed on both a personal as well as a professional level."
Wenn cringes, "Oh god and then the Captain hires another Forensic scientist, that... yeah I guess that made you feel..."
"Inadequate." Barry finishes "Cap and I, well he doesn't really like me and with hiring you behind my back, it felt like he was trying to tell me I wasn't doing a good job..."
"It's not that you know." She tells him.
He looks up at her.
"The Captain was actually very positive about you and your work during my interview."
"He was?" Even though he knows Captain Singh is more bark than bite, he was still surprised.
"Yes, but with all the recent events and strange new, what was it he called them? Metamen?"
"Metahumans" Barry corrects.
"Metahumans... With all these Metahumans running amok around the city, he felt like you were overrun with tasks, as is everyone else in the precinct. He hired a bunch of new officers to deal with the new threats, so he figured he'd get you some help as well."
"Oh..." Barry feels really stupid now.
"But it would have been nice if he had run it by you at first, you could have had a say in who got hired. Now you're stuck with me." Wenn says with wry smile.
Barry's head shoots up, "No!"
Wenn raises an eyebrow and gives him a pointed look.
"Yeah... I would like to have had a say in it. But after checking your credentials and reading the report you left me, I don't think I mind being 'stuck' with you." Barry smiles.
Wenn blushes slightly, damn that smile is going to get her in trouble.

"Speaking of credentials, how does a girl go from an internship at Cern followed by a high end job at Mercury labs to 'just' a forensic scientist?" Barry asks her.
"Let's just say I've had my own demons to battle and couldn't handle the stress that came with the insane deadlines anymore." Which was only partly true, but like Barry, she wasn't ready to divulge the whole truth just yet...

"But that is a story for another time. If I don't want to get fired on my second day of the job, I really need to get some sleep!"
Barry chuckles "Me too, I already have a bad reputation when it comes to being on time"
Wenn walks Barry to the door. "Thank you for apologizing."
"Thank you for accepting"
They look at each other for a moment.
"Uh, alright, yeah, uhm, I'll see you tomorrow then" Barry breaks the silence.
"See you tomorrow!"

Wenn closes the door and leans against it. "Damned Wenn, stop it. It's a physical attraction, pure physics! You can't let happen. It's too dangerous!"
On the other side of the door Barry rubs his forehead. "She is really nice... Damned, no Barry, you can't let anyone in anymore. They only get hurt. She's just a colleague, nothing more. She can't become anything more, it's too dangerous!"

But the truth is, being there, talking to her, being close to her made him feel... relaxed, peaceful even. Something he hadn't felt in months.

Maybe, just maybe tonight he would be able to sleep.