Soothsayer ⚡ Barry Allen

Yellow Dragon

The second time I walked into CCPD, I got more stares than the first, if only for the three bags of Big Belly Burger I had secured in my fingers. Call it a romantic guesture if you wanna, I'm calling it an excuse to see Barry during work hours. I met Detective West's gaze through the windows of the bullpen and offered him a simple wave before climbing the stairs to Barry's lab.

I looked through the doorway and saw him staring at a whiteboard, similar enough to the one he had kept on me that I recognized the chaotic format from even a distance. "Peek-a-boo," I gently called when he hadn't noticed me enter. Jumping and rushing to pull a map down over whatever was on the whiteboard, Barry turned around to face me and relaxed a bit. "I brought you lunch."

"You didn't have to do that," he mumbled with a slowly growing smile as I closed the distance between us. I set the food on his desk and kissed him a second, smiling as well when he pulled away.

"I wanted to," I supplied simply. "What were you looking at?"

"Uh, nothing, really, just some, nerd...stuff..." I frowned a bit in confusion but didn't get to question him because he put a hand on either side of my face and kissed me again, apparently hoping to make me forget about the board. "Thank you," he spoke around my lips, making the words nearly incoherant. The next sentence he spoke in the same manner was lost on me and I broke away with a soft giggle.

"What?" I laughed, a smile tugging at my lips again.

"You gunna eat with me?" he chuckled, pushing forward again after he got it out. I nodded and rested my hands on his sides, smoothing my fingers over his defined abdomen hidden in a black t-shirt and flannel.

"Wouldn't have walked myself all this way for no reason," I informed, smiling wide as I pulled back. Barry's hands slid down to my neck, his fingertips tracing the dark bruises he'd left on me the other day as he pulled back his hands. I sat on top of his desk, reaching into a bag and sticking a fry in my mouth as Barry decided what he would inhale first.

"So what's up with you?" he asked around some fries, pulling a burger from the bag.

"How do you mean?" I countered, kicking my feet back and forth.

"Well, the other day you moved like I did," he pointed out, meeting my eye a second. "Didn't have the lightning" -- he waved a hand at me as he pulled back the wrapping -- "but you didn't do that before." I kept a confused guise, my brows drawing together.

"What are you talking about?" I asked in a soft chuckle, reaching into the bag myself.

"I know what the nightmares look like, Andromeda." I paused a moment before retracting, my eyes meeting Barry's as he brought his burger to his lips. "I can almost guarentee Snart didn't tell you about what happened to him and his sister, and I don't even know him that well." I took a deep breath and my feet swung to a slow stop; by the way his dark eyes scanned down my face I could practically see the ruse dropping. "What did they teach you in the League?" his voice was softer now, his eyes intently taking me in.

With a sigh I ran my hands down my thighs, dropping his stare and taking interest in his sneakers. "I'm not like you," I eventually shrugged. "The Speed Force isn't in me, but I know how to access it." I looked up and tried to find the answers in his empathetic eyes, only finding myself as confused as he was. "I can't run from Central City to Gotham, I can hardly run the distance of the room with it, but I can look through it. It's how I used to visit you."

"That time in the desert," he realized, still undiverted from eating despite the serious topic.

I nodded, "And many others." With a soft breath, Barry set down his burger and held my sides, resting his forehead against mine. I could feel tugs on the corners of my lips as I returned his hold, content to have even such simplicity. After so long without him, nearly everything was euphoric. "Mm, I can't word how much I've missed you," I whispered, his chuckle encouraging my eyes to open.

His were closed, but the boyish smile on his lips made up for it, I loved how genuine the simple fact made his smile look, it instantly took it's place as my favorite. "I don't think there's enough time in the day to get mine out," he challenged. Pausing a moment to open his eyes and meet my stare, he added, "You don't have to hide from me, Dromi. If anything, I've wanted to talk to someone about this for a few years now."

"I won't," I softly promised. "But the city's forensic department is no place. Eat, mátia mou." His body stiffened and he gave me a short salute before retrieving his burger, a small chuckle leaving me.

"You can eat in the car, Barry," a voice called, bringing both of our stares to Detective West. "We've got a fresh scene for you to look over." Barry nodded and deflated as he turned back to me.

"Duty calls," I shrugged, a light smile to my lips. "I'll see you when you get home."

Though his voice was garbled between the back of his hand and the bite of burger in his mouth, I was able to decifer an, "I love you."

"I love you, too," I laughed, watching as he picked up two bags, kissed the side of my head, and followed Detective West out of the building. The smile slowly fell from my lips once he'd cleared the doorway, my gaze turning to the map and fighting the urge to peek at what was under. A chill settled over the back of my neck and I blindly reached to my side, taking hold of a silver briefcase.

"I forgot my--" I looked back to Barry with a small grin, quirking a brow as I lifted the case. "Yeah, that." I laughed as he ran over and met my lips, spreading tingles through me that offset the goosebumps I'd previously gotten. "And that," he mumbled.

"Get to work," I laughed, pecking his lips once more before he pulled away. I took a deep breath and leaned back carefully on his cluttered desk, loving the difference between our uses of the Speed Force. And, where it would normally distract me, it only set me further on my original task, unable to contain the urge.

With a soft breath, I stood and studied the map, nothing particularly special about it, just that it was a map of Central City. I held onto the string a moment before lifting the map. I was right thinking it had similar format, but this board had much more information, all lot more confusing, too. I'd seen the pictures people manage to catch of the Flash, and found a similar one, only in contrast to Barry's red suit and blue lightning blur, this one was yellow and red. I stared at it for a long moment, finally putting it into an obscured, subconscious mold.

This apparent Speedster wore a yellow suit, juding by the placement of the blur, and the red lightning could be taken as fire. Barry was going after his yellow dragon, from his nightmare. Giving the board a final once over, I took a deep breath and pulled the map back down over his work. Moving almost on autopilot, I grabbed the bag Barry'd left for me and made my way back home.