Title: Endless Possibilities
Author: an-alternate-world
Rating: T
Characters/Pairing: Barry Allen, Eddie Thawne
Word Count: 554
Summary: A collection of Beddie/Thallen drabbles prompted via Tumblr.
Warnings/Spoilers: None for this drabble.
Disclaimer: I am in no way associated with The Flash, The CW, DC Comics or anything else related to the universe.
Anonymous on Tumblr prompted a fic with the first sentence of: "Oh god, I'm so sorry! Are you alright?"
Barry's eyes followed the stranger's, down his coffee-stained shirt that might possibly have been ruined forever. Guilt bubbled in his stomach as he glanced around frantically, as if towels or napkins could possibly appear from thin air. It was all his fault. He'd been late and running to the crime scene and not watching where he was going or accounting for someone adjusting their own course of action and-
"Well, I don't think it's going to make a good impression with my new boss, but it's not like I can rewind time and stay out of your way," the stranger said with a faint smile, his blue eyes twinkling, and Barry wondered if the temperature had increased a few degrees or if he'd just worn a sweater that was thicker than he needed. It had definitely gotten hotter though, right?
"I- Well, um… I'm really… I'm really sorry, you know?" he said, chancing a look at his watch and grimacing when he noticed the time. He was going to be in really, really deep trouble.
"It's fine." The stranger gave him a little shooing wave. "Go. You're clearly late. And I need to purchase another coffee before I start my day."
Seized by the idea, Barry rifled through his pockets to find a crumpled five dollar bill that he thrust into the stranger's hand. "It's the least I can do," he explained before he took off, continuing at a slightly slower pace to avoid colliding with anyone else but also desperately needing to get to the crime scenenow. Why hadn't someone invented teleportation yet?
Of course Captain Singh was impatiently tapping his shoe against the pavement, and of course Joe shot him a reprimanding look that only caused shame to thread around his guilt and begin creating a tapestry of emotions that spelled out 'failure' in the middle. One day he'd be on time. Maybe. Hopefully.
After he'd collected all the evidence for processing and declared the crime scene void of anything useful, he returned to his lab to start putting soil samples through the machine on one side of his lab and tracing footprints and fingerprints with the computer and testing liquids. He darted back and forth whenever something went 'Ping!', adding the data to his file.
"Barry!" Joe's voice boomed through the space and he jumped and knocked his head against the bench he'd been rooting around in for a chemical that might isolate particles from a crime scene. "I'd like you to meet my new partner."
"Joe, can you-"
"This is Detective Eddie Thawne," Joe announced and Barry sighed, peering out from the cupboard so he didn't appear rude. He was halfway to giving a half-hearted wave when his eyes caught the blue-eyed stranger from this morning, who looked ridiculously pleased with this development.
"H-Hi," Barry managed, crawling out from beneath the bench to shake - what was his name again? - the hand of the new detective. "I'm Barry. Barry Allen."
"Eddie," the detective repeated, the grip of his fingers firm around Barry's hand as his smile widened. "It's nice to finally meet you, Barry."
Barry smiled weakly, his cheeks warming under the piercing stare of the blue eyes in front of him. Surely the temperature in his lab wasn't broken too?
~FIN~