skinny love | barry allen

44

My arm slid over the paper of my journal as I jotted down some notes for my article, my laptop opened up to a blank page in front of me, as I was seated at Cisco's desk in the cortex, Barry seated next to me, messing with a strand of my hair.

I looked up for a split moment, my eyes darting to the glass window separating us from the Med Lab, a gasp leaving my lips when I saw Jay, dressed as Zoom.

I jumped in my seat lightly, immediately dropping my pen and grasping the arms of the chair, turning my head back to look behind me, to see no one there.

Barry was now seated up, reaching to touch my arm to comfort me, making me jump away from his touch, breathing slightly heavy, "Wow, wow- hey, it's just me-"

"Young." Harry noticed, reminding me what he said when I first showed up, "Jay's not here- you're safe."

"Right-" I cleared my throat, swallowing hard, then slowly grabbing my pen again, "Yeah."

"Hey-" Barry put a hand on my back and rubbed to comfort me, "Come on, talk to me."

"Barry, he's gonna overrun the city-" My voice was quiet, looking at him, "You can't stop him-"

"Hey, don't think like that- yes, we can." Barry grabs my hand, "Listen to me, he's not going to succeed- we've got this, this is our Earth-"

"You don't know what he is capable of-" I stared at him, feeling my eyes water slightly, "You don't know what I saw-"

"Don't worry-" Barry grabbed my face with his free hand, "I know from being in the Speed Force that the universe is with us, not Zoom- and if the universe is with us, how could we possibly lose?"

I stayed silent, staring at him, before I just simply nodded lightly, looking down at our hands.

"Why don't I go get you something to eat?" asked Barry, putting a strand of my hair behind my ear, "I can stop by the sandwich shop near your apartment and get your favorite?"

"Okay-" My voice was quiet, giving him a small, reassuring smile, as he pressed a kiss to my lips, then runs out of the cortex, making me sigh and cover my face.

"Okay, I'm gonna say it." Cisco steps up after Barry left the cortex, "Um, we don't think he's being just a little too-"

"Overconfident?" Iris finished his sentence, "Yeah, maybe it was his time in the Speed Force- I mean, he's acting like he's invincible now or something."

Henry agreed, as we all came around the console, "Yeah, like nothing fazes him anymore, which isn't-"

"Realistic, no." Harry shook his head, "Somebody needs to talk to him before letting his guard down gets him hurt or worse."

"He did bring me out of my coma." Jesse reminds us, "That's bound to make someone a little overly chipper."

"Well, like I said," Harry trails off, his eyes falling onto me, along with everyone else's, "Somebody needs to talk to him."

I stare, "Why is everyone looking at me?"

-

"So- how did you know?" Barry asked Dr. McGee after he had saved her from the Mercury Labs destruction.

"Your real identity?" She looked at him, "Come on, Barry, I'm a scientist- we're paid to be perceptive, and you're always a little too well informed when things go pear-shaped in this city."

"But- I don't believe we've ever met before." She turned toward Henry, "Dr. Christina McGee."

"Doctor Henry Allen." Henry shook her hand when she held it out, "I'm Barry's father."