Soothsayer ⚡ Barry Allen

On the Road Again

Joe West

The CCPD was lively, not as much as the GCPD, but busy enough to remind me how often bad things happen. I felt a little nostalgic, sad that I wasn't causing them, but I was doing something better now. I hope.

I must've looked lost because a man in a suit with a detective's badge on his hip approached me a little suspiciously. "Detecitve Joe West," he introduced himself as he stepped forward. "How can I help you, miss?" So, Iris' dad is a cop...

"Hi, I'm looking for Barry Allen," I politely answered, a small smile gracing my face. His eyebrows raised further and his lips curled a bit before he nodded.

"Barry should be up in his lab," he informed, pointing to a set of stairs away from the bullpen. The less cops that saw me, the better.

"Awesome, thank you," I chuckled. Joe nodded and went on his own path, leaving me to take the stairs alone. Plenty of cops walked right past me without a second glance, guess the warden stuck to his normal routine. I found Barry sat at his desk, attentively pouring over what I guessed to be evidence. "When you said you devoted your life to forensics, I thought you were at least a little joking," I prompted, smiling when he happily brought his eyes to me.

"Andy, what're you doing here?" he chuckled, standing when I reached his desk to pull me into a hug. With a soft sigh, I wrapped my arms around his neck and enjoyed the feeling.

"I'm going on a roadtrip for a couple days, I wanted to see you before heading out," I supplied.

"Where are you going?" he asked as he pulled away. I thought it over for a second before answering, keeping my hands clasped behind his neck.

"Selina's going back to Gotham. Thought I'd give her some company for the road." Concern instantly spread across his face, and I was quick to ease it. "I'm only going to see her off, as soon as I'm done I'm getting the hell out of Dodge."

"Are you going to be okay out there?" he asked softly, his worry clear in his dark eyes.

"I should be," I nodded. "As long as no one recognizes me, I'm in the clear."

"Do you want me to come with you?" I smiled and closed my eyes when he brushed his thumb over my cheek, shaking my head after a moment.

"No, but I'll call if I need anything," I assured, opening my eyes again. "Promise." Barry's lips pulled into a lopsided curl and I could only fight it for a half second before I pushed up to my toes and kissed him, locking my fingers against his neck to keep him in place. His hands had already been around my waist, but he now held a firm grip on my sides, simply holding me still.

"Allen." Barry quickly broke away with pink cheeks, I took the queue to let him go when he dropped his hands from my torso. I leaned against his desk and looked over my shoulder to find Detective West standing in the doorway. "I got something you should look at." Failing to restrain a smile, I put a hand on his chest and smoothed my thumb across it.

"I'll see you later." Barry nodded and watched me go, everyone silent until I reached the door. "By the way, Detective," I prompted, still smiling, "you have a beautiful daughter." His face instantly twisted with confusion and questions, but I simply walked past him and down the stairs, quickly leaving the CCPD.

⚡

I pulled up outside Cat's apartment, honking the horn an annoying amount of times to bring her to the window. When She noticed it was me, she opened it and stuck her head out. "What the hell are you doing?" she asked in a scolding tone.

"Well, you have to leave for Gotham sometime this morning, don't you?" I called. "Get down here and let's go!" I barely caught her rolling her eyes before she retreated back to the apartment. She had just started packing when I left, she only took essentials with her, so it wouldn't have taken her long. I put the car in park and got comfortable for a minute, feeling the vibrations of the car and wishing they came from a different source. I dragged my thumb over my lip and looked up, Selina exiting the building a short moment later.

I got out and opened the back door -- I was parking in the wrong direction -- grinning when I saw Joshua unhappily in a cat carrier. It had been a little over a week and I had some time to accept her leaving. I knew I couldn't change her mind, and I very well couldn't interfere with B-man's plans, but I could at least support her so she felt better about leaving me. "My flight doesn't leave for three hours," she sighed after shoving all her crap into the back seat.

"Cancel it," I shrugged. "I'm taking you."

"Um, I don't get a refund if I do?" Selina pointed out, as if that would change my mind.

"Wouldn't be the first time you've wasted money," I chuckled, sitting behind the wheel again. I could feel her incredilous stare on the side of my head, her arms folded across her chest as she walked around the hood and sat in the passenger.

"You're okay with taking me?" she asked cautiously. Sometimes I didn't give Cat enough credit, like when she had first said she wasn't leaving. She was so much on my page that she could even see a couple pages ahead. She knew the inner turmoil all this was causing me, she knew the thought of going there made me sick to my stomach, and I knew that she didn't want to be an indirect cause of whatever could happen while I'm there. It was a nine hour drive to Gotham, I wouldn't be making both lengths of my trip in one day. Anything could happen in the time between my arrival and my departure.

It was her knowledge of this simple fact that brought forth her motherly instinct around me, especially now. "Of course," I shrugged. "I was wanting to do some traveling anyway." I turned and gave her a reassuring smile, nothing but calm on my face, able to pull an appreciative one from her before I started driving. "Where do you wanna go for a snack run?"