Flashback (A Road to Redemption follow up story)

Coffee and Catch Up!

CHAPTER 6: Coffee and catch-up!

NOW:

"Hey Chas!" Barry greets me with a bright smile as soon as I walk in the coffee shop.

"Hey Barry." I slide into the seat next to him. He's wearing a three-quarter length shirt and some jeans.

"So," I say after the server takes our orders. "You're the Flash?"

His grin turns wide. "Yeah, I am."

I shake my head. "What the hell happened? You didn't have superpowers back in High School. Unless you hid them from me."

"No, no, it happened when we tested that S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator. It blew up, supercharging the atmosphere and creating this thundercloud. I was just in my office when it started raining and then suddenly..." He makes a motion with his hands of an explosion. "This bolt of lightning hit me; I flew back, and was knocked unconscious and put into a coma for nine months."

"Whoa." I stare at him in awe. "Felicity told me about this Barry guy that got hit by lighting. I had no idea it was you, otherwise I would have come and visited you, even though you were in a coma."

"That's okay. All it would have been was me laying there like a cold fish." Barry pokes out his tongue and rolls his eyes back into his head to show me what it would have looked like.

I snort in laughter. "That's insane. So it gave you some sort of...super speed?"

He nods, his lips pressed together. "Mhhmm! It's really amazing!"

"Wow, Barry, that's so awesome, I mean, super powers?" I say, excited. "How fast can you go? Can I see?"

"Really fast." He points out the window to a skyscraper in the distance. "Wanna see me go to that building and back?"

I nod excitedly.

He smiles. "Wanna see me do it again?"

I blink at him. He didn't even move. "What?" I lower my brow. "You didn't even move, you ass! You're just messing with me!"

He laughs. "Haha! Okay, you got me. I'll have to show you later, if I run in these clothes they'll just burst into flames from the friction."

"Oh...okay." I say, sad that I can't see it now.

He's silent for a moment and our coffees are brought over.

"Well, that's enough about me." He says, smiling. "What about you? How's your family? How's Randall? Your Mom and Dad still living in Central City?"

"They are, they're doing well, thanks to you."

"Aww, don't give me all the credit. I just do the footwork, there are some really great people that help me do what I do. You'll have to meet them sometime." He takes a sip of his coffee. "So, you decided to get all bad-ass and join A.R.G.U.S?"

"I did. Uh..." I purse my lips. How do I say this? "There's something I have to tell you."

Barry's face turns serious.

"Randall, he uh. He was diagnosed with cancer two months after we broke up and...well," I try to steady my voice. Why is this so hard to say to him? "He passed away six months after that."

"Oh, gosh." Barry's face turns white and I can see the news settle on him. Settle on him like a lead weight, and drag him down. He swallows and meets my eyes. "Gosh, Chas, I'm so sorry."

I swallow hard and try to keep it together. I never talk about Randall to anyone except my parents. But Barry, Barry knew him, and for some reason at this very moment, I feel all the pain like it was yesterday.

"Oh, Chas." Barry gets up and slides in next to me, wrapping me in a hug. I stuff my face against his shoulder, so the people in the coffee shop won't see my tears. I suck in a breath, my chest shuddering, and try to pull myself together. Barry smells like he always did, like laundry detergent and wind, and it reminds me even more of when I was younger. Pull yourself together, woman! You are stronger now.

I pull away, Barry's arms, like a comforting cage surrounding me in safety, relinquish their hold on me slowly.

I give a painful smile and wipe my face with my palm. "I'm okay, it's been quite a while since it all happened. I felt you deserved to know." I give a shaky attempt at laughter. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be so emotional."

"You don't have to apologize." He says, shaking his head.

I clear my throat. "So uh, after that, I felt like..." I gaze out the window. "I felt like I needed to do something different. And I felt that in Randall's memory, I'd go into the service."

Barry nods, listening intently. I knew he would understand, all his life he's been guided by what happened to his parents.

I take a deep breath. "So, eventually, I got into A.R.G.U.S. and they put me on the Lian Yu, I met Slade and...the rest is history."

"Right. I heard. Pretty crazy love story. It seems like he makes you happy." Barry gazes at me intently, carefully watching my expression.

I forgot how present he could be. I think that is what I liked the most about him. That in a world of high school age goofballs, he was the one person who really listened to me. I needed someone like that. But our relationship wasn't equal. I was just as young and silly as everyone else and I didn't listen to him. Maybe that's why things didn't work out between us. Maybe as they say, we were too young. Our lives split and took different paths, and that is okay.

"Yes, he does." I smile softly.

I love you Barry. I always will.