Short on Time

Chapter 78

"I don't know, Barry. This shy college professor who likes mac 'n' cheese doesn't exactly seem like a criminal mastermind to me," Joe said hesitantly as we gathered around the Cortex after Joe and Barry met Clifford Devoe.

"I mean, come on," Barry said.

"It wouldn't be the first time somebody played nice and then turned out to be our bad guy," I translated.

"The Council of Wells gave us his name for a reason," Barry added.

"He gave us one name out of 1,100," Caitlin said.

"1,122 to be precise," Harry said.

"He was off by twenty-two," I said.

"I mean, isn't that a little suspicious?" Barry asked.

"Not if he Googled himself," Cisco said.

"I'm just saying there's something weird about this guy. He likes samurai!" Barry said.

"Who doesn't?" Caitlin asked.

"Have you seen-"

"Zatoichi"

"The Blind Swordsman?"

"Best Criterion Collection-"

"Great box set," Cisco finished from alternating with Harry.

"You're like an old married couple," I told them jokingly.

"Okay, guys. Think about this: If the Council's right, that means DeVoe arranged for me to come out of the Speed Force exactly where he wanted. Even you couldn't do that," Barry said.

"You have a point," Cisco admitted.

"Okay, let's cover all our bases," Iris said.

"Agreed," I nodded.

"Okay, Cisco, Harry, you guys want to see what kind of digital footprint you can get on this guy? Caitlin, you've got friends at CCU. Let's see what kind of person we're dealing with," Iris said.

"Contact the president and look at previous students. You should be able to get the names just by mentioning me," I told her as everyone ran off.

"Dad, CCPD background check?" Iris asked.

"On it, sweet one," Joe said.

"I'm going to go and look into any old articles and news, see if I find anything," Iris said.

I turned to Barry smiling, "and you. You all right?"

"Yeah, but thank you for asking," Barry said as he rested his hand on my waist.

"Ooh, you know, I think Human Resources might not be okay with this, us being coworkers and all," I said kissing Barry.

"Yeah, I think they'll let it slide, considering I'm married to the coworker of my dreams, and actually celebrating that a week from now," Barry said.

I smiled at him, "and my family is coming in, in a few days.:

"And they will love to take care of the twins, which means I can spend more time with you," Barry said.

"I like the sound of that," I said to Barry.

"You know sometimes I feel like-"

"Like what?"

"Like I'm the luckiest man alive."

~*~

"Ginger!" The twins said happily as they ran towards me from their car. Instead of me picking them up, my parents insisted that they drive a rental.