NOTE: There are a few original characters that may return, but mostly I'll stick to the show's. This statement obviously excludes my villains and victims. This will be a file folder kind of story so yeah...

Also: probably no romance in this. Sorry but it's more of a chronicles friendship story. I may have a date or two but no ongoing romance.

Enjoy!

FILE 1: The Vanishing Man

Barry walked into his lab and shoved his bag into his locker.

He sighed and looked around, at least it was before Singh was in. He took a deep breath, kneading his fingers into his eyes to erase the exhaustion there.

It didn't work.

He took a deep breath and started cleaning his lab, lapsing into superspeed without realizing.

He finished and checked his watch, only seven hours and twenty four minutes left in his shift. he was spending too much time around Snart.

A knock sounded at his door, and Barry looked up.

Detective O'Connor was there, he shrugged apologetically.

"Do I at least have time for coffee?" Barry asked hopefully.

"Only if you want Singh to glare at you again." Well, at least he got to work a crime scene instead of being stuck inside his lab all day.

Barry was starting to feel like his brain wasn't as used as it used to be, maybe he was spending too much time running and not enough time solving.

"Tell him I'll be over in ten minutes." Barry said, pulling his case from the closet.

"I'll build in five minutes." O'Connor muttered, just loud enough for Barry to hear. He grinned at O'Connor and swept out the soor, case in hand.

...

The scene was buzzing with police when Barry arrived well within his fifteen minute time limit, coffee in hand. He chugged the last of it before Singh could see and tossed it into the nearest trash can.

"Allen!" His captain's voice boomed out. Barry rushed over,

"I'm here captain." Singh gave him the look.

"I can see that Mr. Allen, get to work." He shot, walking over to one Det. Bersk. Det. Gellert, Bersk's partner, was standing right near Barry.

"Prepare yourself Labrat," He said, " It's a messy one." Barry nodded and stepped under the yellow tape.

"What do you know already?"

"The vic's name is Mira Kenny, she lives with her sister, who's in CC Gen for shock. She's 24, ID and Wallet still there." Barry nodded, kneeling down by the body. He pulled out a pad and started noting down everything he could see with the naked eye; the blood splatters, position of the body, murder weapon, presence of the wallet and ID... everything.

Then he took pictures from every angle, trying to ignore the crime scene tape and the obvious disturbances from the ambulance.

Then, Barry got to work.

He took samples from every blood spatter, to make sure they all belonged to the vic. Barry took her fingerprints, to verify her ID, he shined a light in her eyes, bagged evidence and determined the likely cause of death.

Just as Barry was standing up, he noticed the pattern of a specific trail of blood. It lead further into the alley where Mara lay,

"I'm gonna go check something out, I'll be right back." He called to the detectives.

"Be careful Allen." Bersk called. Barry hummed in response and moved slowly into the alley. He pulled out his phone and shined the flashlight around the end of the alley, but didn't notice anything except the end of the blood trail. Frowning, he moved closer to the wall.

"everything alright back there Allen?" Gellert called back. Barry turned to answer, but before he could make a sound, his vision went dark.

...

Broken shards of light broke through Barry's vision and he groaned.

"He's coming around!" Gellert's voice sounded. Barry blinked his eyes open to see Gellert and Bersk's faces above his. They barely ad time to move out of the way as he sat bolt upright. Pain lanced through his head and he pressed his palms to it.

"What happened?" He asked, his voice coming out as a croak. Gellert and Bersk shared a look, "How long was I out?" He asked again, it couldn't have been long. The ambulance took at least five minutes to get close to this part of central, so less than that. He was also still at the crime scene, though he noticed that his head was pillowed on someone's jacket and he had been moved out of the alley.

"We're not sure. But you haven't been out more than two minutes." Bersk said, once again avoiding Barry's gaze.

"Jill." He said seriously, "What aren't you telling me?" She sighed,

"There was nobody back there Barry." He blinked,

"I know." Bersk looked at him in surprise, but he cut her off before she could ask any questions, "I checked the whole alley." Barry's head reminded him that he had been knocked out for, he did a quick calculation, what should have been at least a half hour. Gellert sighed,

"I'll let Singh know you're up." Barry nodded at Gellert, then started to struggle to his feet.

"Woah Barry what do you think you're doing?" Bersk asked.

"Doing my job." Barry said, finally standing upright. "I need to get back to the station." He said, looking around for his case and the evidence already bagged.

"It's right here." Bersk sighed, "But damn it Allen you are not going to be alone for the rest of the day." Barry shrugged and stepped forward to grab his case. "No let me." Bersk said, "I'll give you a ride."

...

True to her word, Bersk stayed with Barry for the rest of her shift.

"I'm just glad my shift coincided with yours today." She said as she drove him to her apartment. Barry hummed, thinking on his findings and the day in general.

"I can't believe Singh didn't believe me when I said I was fine." Barry said. Bersk laughed,

"Of course he didn't believe you." She said, "He was the one who found you unconscious and bleeding in your lab."

Barry looked at her sharply.

"Granted, most of us saw the state that stupid bolt of lighting left you in when they brought you down." Bersk amended.

"I never knew that." Barry said softly, "But it does explain a lot." Bersk smiled at him before pulling up in front of his building.

"Well, my duty is done for now." She said brightly, "You sure you don't want me to call someone for you? I know Joe would want-"

"No!" Barry interrupted, "Sorry, it's just Joe worries a lot. I have someone coming over in a bit anyway." Bersk studied him for a moment,

"If you're sure then be my guest." She waved, "See you tomorrow Barry."

"Bye Jill." Barry smiled and turned to go into his building.

...

Barry noted the unlocked door and made a mental note to talk to Cisco about security and locks before stepping into his home.

"So who was that?" Cisco asked, sucking on a lolly pop.

"Where do all of those- oh nevermind." Barry started. He toed his shoes off and collapsed onto the couch. "She's a friend from work, Jill Bersk." Cisco nodded,

"Oh by the way man," He paused, "Cait's gonna be pissed you didn't call her when you had a concussion and then went back to work."

"True, but that's tomorrow." He forced himself off of his comfy couch and noticed Cisco's bag, "Were you staying over?" He asked.

"Yeah man," He said, "I figured we'd get like four pizza's and do some intense nerding out." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"You're on," Barry laughed, "Quote off?"