Paralyzer || Barry Allen (The Flash) Fanfiction

Chapter 35: "Friends"

Well, I guess I should thank my college advisor who suggested I double major in Physics as well as Chemistry, and then double minor in Biology and Computer Science. I may have had to take classes over my summer and winter breaks, but at least it was all paying off. I'd been able to get job after job relatively easily in Central City. I supposed it also helped that I had connections in each organization I applied to.

Of course, it took some persuading on Joe's end to get Captain Singh to be willing to hire another forensic scientist, even if I was just an assistant. I'd been in the position before for only a week or two before I'd kind of died and forgotten who I was, ultimately forcing me to leave the CCPD without reasoning, so I understood why Singh was reluctant to rehire me. Thankfully, Joe had thought of an excuse that made my absence somewhat believable, so, in the end, I'd been given the position.

Unfortunately, working with Barry was a little more complicated than I had been anticipating. Not that he was a bad coworker in any way. I would have figured that out a long time ago when I'd first begun helping him defend Central City. It was just... Well, apparently there were rules against dating in the workplace, and that was especially true here at the Central City Police Department. And the forensic scientists were no more above the rules than anyone else working here. With that in mind, we had to pretend as though we were nothing more than best friends.

Currently, Barry was showing me around the place even though I'd been to the CCPD many times before. Then again, it was almost as if I was seeing the police station in a different light now that I would be spending most of my days here. I wondered if they'd keep me cooped up in the lab or if I'd be allowed to go out to the crime scenes like Barry did...

"Barry?" a voice called from the entrance of the lab, and I turned along with Barry to find a girl in a nice white blouse, black blazer, and dark dress pants standing with two cups of coffee in her hands. Quickly, I performed a brief mental scan of her.

She seemed friendly enough with a pearl white smile that seemed rather inviting, yet I had noted it waiver just the slightest when she'd taken in my presence, the grin no longer reaching her eyes. I would say she was around our age, though she seemed at least a couple years older than us. And then there was the way she looked at Barry. The way someone would look at their crush. The way only I should be looking at my boyfriend...

"Patty, hey!" Barry greeted with a smile. There was a momentary silence before I cleared my throat, as if needing to remind the boy of my presence. "Oh, right. Uh, Patty, this is my friend and assistant, Haven Knight. Haven, this is Patty Spivot, Joe's partner."

I knew we had to refer to each other as 'friends,' but it still made my stomach twist uneasily, though I still managed to offer the other woman a smile. "Nice to meet you, Detective Spivot."

"Oh, please, call me Patty," she stated as she switched both coffees into one hand and extended her hand towards me. I shook it politely, as was customary, before returning my own arm to my side. After another slightly awkward pause, Patty remembered what she was originally here for. "So, um, I brought you some coffee, Barry. I was already at Jitters and thought you might want some... If I had known you had an assistant, I would have bought an extra."

"It's fine. It's my first day here, so you couldn't have known," I stated, though I was slightly irked that she had thought of Barry while ordering coffee this morning.

What was wrong with me? Why was I feeling so jealous and defensive around this girl? She was just being friendly, right? I needed to stop jumping to conclusions so quickly.

Mentally, I slapped myself and cleared my mind of these petty thoughts. I needed to shape up and stop being the overly-clingy and protective girlfriend.