neighbors | barry allen//the flash

eleven | disappointment

"Has there been anything new that could be related to that one meta? The one that just took all the light?" Barry asked as he came to a stop from speeding into STAR Labs. Cisco tinkered with some technology on a table in the corner, and Caitlin was talking to Luke, who was sitting on the table. Barry froze.

"Caitlyn!" Barry hissed. "Why didn't you tell me he was here?" 

"Oh," Caitlin mouthed as she realized her mistake. Luke stared at Barry. 

"You're the Flash?" Luke asked in wonder, his mouth hanging open.

"Yep," Barry replied tightly, glaring at Caitlyn.

"Luke, honey," she broke away from Barry's gaze. "You can't tell anyone who he is, okay? You can't even tell anyone you know anything about the Flash. If people find out who he is, he won't be able to save people like he does now." 

"But why?" Luke questioned, his lips puckered in confusion. 

"Because there are really bad people out there, and if they find out who the Flash is, they'll start going after him at his own house, at his work, they could hurt his friends like Cisco and I just to get to him."

"But I would never tell anyone bad!" Luke protested.

"That's the thing, sweetie, you can never really be sure who is bad and good." 

"Anyway, news on the meta?" Barry faced Cisco. 

"Uh, no, not really," Cisco replied, not looking up from his table. Barry plopped himself in a chair at the desk. That meta had stayed silent since that night, and it bothered Barry. He left no trail to trace. Cisco tried tracking any sudden, unexplained power outages, none of it led back to the meta. The police were still trying to figure out exactly which files were stolen, if any had been at all. Barry wasn't sure exactly the meta had accomplished before he had showed up, then promptly been knocked out. Two different times Barry had failed, and in such a short time period as well. Barry wasn't used to losing like this, and he didn't enjoy it one bit. 

"I didn't know you were so grumpy," Luke frowned at Barry. 

"Turns out saving the city isn't a walk in the park, kid," Barry snapped.

"Barry!" Caitlin cried. 

"Well, its the truth." Barry shrugged. 

"He's a kid, okay?" She was trying very hard to keep her voice even. "He's been through a lot, alright? Can you even imagine going through what you went through after you woke up from that coma, only ten years old, and with your own family hating you? You had us, he didn't. He adores you, and right now, I'm not sure why, because I think you've been a huge disappointment to him." 

"Okay, wow, thanks for your input, Caitlin," Barry rolled his eyes. 

"Hey, time to stop fighting, guys," Cisco announced. "High speed chase. You're perfect for this. Go." 

Barry didn't need to be told twice. The speeding car was no match. Barry decided to take it easy and stopped the car slowly, instead of going from a hundred to zero in two seconds. The two men in the car left in handcuff and police cars. The relief from Barry's stress lasted a total of about... four minutes. 

"Did they ever find what that meta took from the police station?" Barry walked up to Joe at the police station. 

"They couldn't find anything missing. I guess you got there before he found what he wanted." Joe replied. 

"Finally did something right," Barry muttered under his breath.

"You alright, Barr?" Joe asked.