~Author's Note~
Yes, this is what you think it is. I had another idea for my little West-Allen Flash Family and I decided to write another one-shot about it. So you don't necessarily need to read my other story 'Hourglass' to understand this, but it is recommended because I explain in that story how Austin looks. Anyway, please let me know what you guys thought and I hope you enjoy! :)
Rated Teen for minor suggestive themes, slight violence/blood and mild language.
Notes: Follow-up/companion piece to 'Hourglass', this takes place a few weeks after the ending of that story.
Clockwork
"I'll always find my way back home to you."
"Hey baby?" Barry calls carefully from the living room, eyes glued to the television screen as Austin snuggled close to his chest, one of his arms slung protectively over his shoulders.
"You only call me 'baby' if you want something." Iris responds slowly, rolling her eyes as she grabs a can of soda from the fridge. Out of the corner of her eye, she can see the forgotten large bowl of popcorn sitting on the counter by the sink.
Barry rubs at the back of his neck sheepishly, Austin clutching at his father's forearm as a loud roar of fire erupts on screen in the movie they're watching.
"Um, no," he pauses, chewing at the bottom of his lip, before deciding to just spit it out, "but I uh . . . forgot the popcorn bowl on the counter and—"
"Daddy's asking if you could pretty please bring in the bowl of popcorn, Mommy!" Austin cuts off Barry with a simple shout, Iris chuckling from the kitchen as she closes the fridge and grabs the bowl off the counter, entering the living room just as the movie fades out and enters into the next scene.
"Of course I can sweetheart, but only because you asked so nicely."
Barry grumbles something under his breath as Iris hands the bowl over to her son, sitting back down on the other side of her husband. It was a Saturday night, only around seven in the evening and Austin had wanted a movie night with his parents so a movie night he had gotten. Which is how Big Hero 6 ended up playing on screen with Iris secretly pinching Barry every time he was about to state something 'inaccurate' about the movie.
Barry glanced down at his son munching away on popcorn next to him and then looking over to Iris, who was resting her head on her hand because Austin had snagged Barry's warm chest before she could. With a soft smile Barry reached over and ran his fingers through some stray strains of hair curling over her shoulder, Iris turning her head to look at him.
"You only call me 'the fastest man alive' in bed," he murmurs quietly, her cheeks turning a dark shade of crimson as she hits him hard in the bicep.
"Barry," she warns, "stop being a smartass."
Austin overhears his mother curse through the sharp sound of the television, shaking his head disapprovingly. "Momma, no cursing in the house, remember?" And the mortified expression on Iris' face is too much for Barry as he bursts out laughing, Iris crossing her arms as she watches her husband with eyes that are trying to burn through his very soul.
Barry notices the glare and turns his laughter into stifled coughs, clearing his throat and clamming up just as Austin shushed his parents.
Another thirty minutes of peace passed with only minor interruptions (Barry leaning over and leaving an apologetic kiss on his wife's cheek, Austin groaning in disgust at the show of affection which had turned into a war of tickles and kisses between adults and son).
So when Iris' ringtone suddenly blares from the kitchen table, all three jump at the sudden noise.
She stands up and walks into the kitchen, Barry watching her with observant eyes as she answers it by the third ring. "Hey Dad." He's too far away to hear what Joe must be saying on the other line but within seconds her carefree face turns from calm to panicked.
Barry turns to his son, gently pulling his arm out from around Austin. "Hey slugger, I'll be right back, okay?"
Austin nods leisurely, too invested in the movie to really listen to his father as Barry stands up and walks over to where Iris is standing.
"Stay on the couch Dad and I'll be there in two minutes." She paused and Barry heard soft mutters from the other end of the line (which he could only assume was Joe probably telling his daughter that he was fine and that she didn't need to freak out) but Iris shook her head, Barry reaching forward and resting a reassuring hand on her shoulder; rubbing soothing circles with his thumb in the junction in-between her shoulder and shoulder blade.
"You aren't okay, Dad. Stay there, I'm going to come over and drive you to the hospital." She waited a second more before letting out a shaky exhale after his response. "Alright. I'll be there soon."
Joe hung up the call with a deafening beep, Iris letting the phone fall from her fingers and back onto the wooden table. Barry grabbed her other shoulder, turning the distressed woman towards him with tender hands. "Hey, hey, what's wrong? Is Joe okay?"
Joe's health hadn't been too good as of late and everyone was on edge about it. Iris and Barry lived right down the street from him, sure, but sometimes it didn't seem like that was enough. Wally and Linda checked in on Joe at least once a week, whenever Iris or Barry couldn't stop by, because Joe was having trouble walking. His heart wasn't working too well either but they still held onto hope that he would be okay.
The current look on Iris' face on the other hand, was telling Barry otherwise.
Iris moved close to Barry, her head coming to rest on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "He said he's having troubles breathing and that there's a pain in his chest. Bear, he's not realizing how serious this is." Barry shushed her, rocking her slowly back and forth in his arms.
"It's okay, everything's going to be alright Iris—okay?" He pulled back and held her by the shoulders, Iris wiping at the tears threating to break out. "You stay here with Austin and I'll speed—"
"Barry," she whispered, stopping him from heading upstairs to grab his suit with a hand on his elbow, "You can't speed him there, Barry. His heart can't take it." Iris gathered her purse and cellphone, heading towards the front door with her husband in tow as he helped her tug on her jacket. "Will you be okay with Austin for a little while?"
Barry nodded, "Of course, you go and help Joe and call me if you need something okay?"
Iris sent him a smile. "I will."
She leaned forward for a quick kiss, because she needed something to just ground her for a minute, and Barry obliged happily. When they both pulled away Barry was sending her a smile, hand reaching out and grabbing onto hers so he could give it an encouraging squeeze. "I love you."
Iris opened up the door, a gust of wind pushing through her hair. "I love you too, Bear. Tell Austin I love him and that'll be back soon."
"Yeah I will. Be careful, Iris."
She sent him a smirk, pinching his shoulder friskily. "Aren't I always? I did marry the Flash after all. You're all mine." Her hand trailed down his chest, and as her fingers trailed lower and lower, Barry's skin tingled more and more. Iris paused at the hem of his shirt, tugging at the coarse material before flicking at his arm and trotting out the door, being sure to move her hips irresistibly on her way out.
He watched her all the way to the car and waited until he couldn't see her anymore before closing the door and locking it—heading back into the living room (and snuffing the prickling feeling of his skin as quickly as he could).
He could do this. He had watched Austin on his own plenty of times before.
Besides, it was just for a few hours.
What could go wrong?
After getting through Big Hero 6, the next movie Austin had wanted to watch was Hercules.
Halfway through the movie; Barry's phone had started ringing, Cisco's name popping up onscreen. "Let me know what happens slugger, I'll be right back."
"Yeah Daddy, this movie is awesome!" Barry ruffled his son's hair before heading out into the hallway, leaning against the wall as he hit the accept button and brought the phone up to his ear.
"Hey Cisco, what's up?"
"Barry, we need you. Or," he backtracked, chuckling wearily, "really, Central City needs the Flash, actually." The speedster's heart constricted as he processed Cisco's words, looking up and glancing tiredly at his son (very) happily watching his movie in the other room.
"Cisco, I'm busy right now. Can't you get Wally on it?"
"Dude, did you forget? They just got married a few weeks ago. They're finally off work and on their honeymoon in Coast City. Probably screwing right now too, if you think about it—"
"Alright, I get it." Barry interrupted, exhaling and dragging a hand down his face. "Can the police just handle this one?"
Cisco clicked his tongue on the other end of the line, "Ah, no. There's a meta-human going on a rampage in the middle of the city and from what I can see from security cameras laying around; it isn't pretty. The dude is shooting snow and ice from his fingertips, like a rip-off of Weather Wizard or Killer Frost. Damn, now I'm going to have to think of a new name for him too, aren't I?"
Barry's thoughts instantly moved over to Iris, blood hammering through his veins—was she in danger? "The meta isn't anywhere near Central City Hospital, right?" He heard typing on the other end of the line and then Cisco replying, albeit a little confused.
"No, at least ten blocks away from there." His mind cleared as soon as he heard that Iris wasn't in danger, thoughts tunneling back to the issue at hand.
After a few tense seconds; Barry groaned, closing his eyes and rubbing at his temple.
The CCPD was well-equipped to handle a meta if the time ever came where the Flash wasn't there to save the day (one of those times being Iris and his wedding and then another day being the birth of Austin) but from what Cisco was telling him, this meta could give frostbite to any normal person in a millisecond. Though it was probably just as dangerous for him to face-off against the man too, because any type of cold severely slowed down his healing and speed, but Barry wouldn't allow anyone to get hurt because he wasn't there.
He had to be there to save the day. He had to. He was the Flash.
"I'll suit up. Send Caitlin over to watch Austin because Iris had to take Joe to the hospital—"
"No can do, buddy," Cisco interjected, leaning back in his chair.
"What? Why not?"
"Caitlin just had Abby two weeks ago, remember? Geez Barry, what's up with you?" Barry muttered a quiet curse under his breath at the reminder of Caitlin's recently born daughter, Abby May, and at the fact that she was taking a few months off from being a part of the Flash Team.
"I'm sorry, I'm just," he paused, weighing his options, "what about—"
Cisco sensed what his friend was saying, shaking his head and then remembering that Barry couldn't see him and speaking. "She's got Ajax back at home. I'm sorry dude, but I'm sure Austin will be fine for a few minutes by himself. You'll only be away for five minutes, at max—you are the Flash. Fastest man alive and all."
Barry knew he had no other choice as all of the candidates to watch Austin were otherwise unavailable. With a stressful exhale he went upstairs and threw his suit in a spare black duffel bag at the bottom of his closet, throwing the bag over his shoulder. "I'll be there in a minute, where's the meta at again?"
"The intersection at fifth and main, near the corner where Central Park is."
"Thanks."
Barry cut off the call with a harsh click at the red button, shoving his phone into his pants pocket just as he made it to the bottom of the stairs. With a baited inhale he walked over and placed his bag with a soft thump on the wooden floor next to the front door, entering the living room and pausing the movie.
Austin looked up at his father, a childish pout overlapping his features. "Why'd you pause the movie, Daddy? It was just getting to the good part." The older man sighed, crouching down in front of the couch and placing a comforting hand on his son's knee.
"Listen buddy, I gotta go and run a really fast errand for your mom."
A muddled look crossed Austin's face, "But Momma's not here."
Barry knew his excuse was flimsy but he didn't have another explanation for Austin, and he couldn't just go out and say—"Hey son, by the way, I'm the superhero you idolize. Sorry if I wasn't the big, tough guy you thought the Flash was."—no, he couldn't do that to his son. Austin loved the Flash and what he stood for, Barry didn't want to mar the great version of the Flash that his son had created.
He reached his hands up to gently grab his son's shoulders, looking him in the eye and secretly pleading with him to understand. "It's a really important errand that she forgot about because she had to run Grandpa to the hospital, like I told you. But the bad part is that there's no one to watch you."
Austin's eyebrows scrunched up (in the same way as Barry's did when he was deep in thought) before he put the pieces together. "You're leaving me home alone? Like the movie?" Barry wanted to laugh at his son's behavior, he really did. But this was a serious matter and he was still on the fence about leaving his son there alone; he was backed into a corner he couldn't get out of.
People's lives were at stake, he couldn't just let them die.
"Yeah, like the movie slugger. I need you to promise me that you are going to stay right here on the couch until I get back. I promise I'll only be five minutes, no I swear." Austin nodded hastily, smiling when his father grinned and patted his shoulder. "Okay slugger. Five minutes. Stay right here."
He picked up the remote and hit the play button, placing it back on the table and sending a final look Austin's way, the eight year old giving his father a peachy grin. "I'll be fine Daddy, I promise. Go and get Momma's errands done." Barry smiled at his son, shaking his head as he picked up the duffel back from the floor and opening up the front door.
"I don't know what I did to deserve you, slugger." He whispered, leaving the house and tugging the door shut behind him. Barry locked it carefully, shaking the knob a few times to make sure it was shut before looking around (checking and making sure there were no people around) before changing into his suit outside and throwing the now empty bag into the bush underneath the window.
He looked through the window one last time, seeing already Austin cozied up against the arm rest of the couch with the 'special superhero' blanket he had gotten when he was two from his first Flash Appreciation Day event wrapped snug around his lean form (he had basically had that blanket his entire life and hadn't slept without it once).
"He's okay," he muttered to himself, "he's good. You'll be five minutes Barry. Five minutes. Austin will be fine." With those final words, Barry sped away.
Five minutes.
He would only be five minutes.
"Bar—can you—hear—Barry—you there? Barry!"
He groaned when the loud ringing of static sliced through his eardrums, Cisco's voice drowned out by the never-ending screeching of crackling. There was a stabbing pain emitting from his right side, along with a deep ache in his lower back—which was probably from his spinal injury from Zoom all those years ago acting up again, as it always did whenever Barry had a partially cruel fight—and a pounding in his head. It hurt to breathe, as Barry struggled with slow and steady breaths; mere soft wheezes escaping from his chapped lips every couple of seconds in replacement of actual inhales and exhales.
It felt like his chest was on fire, and his suit transmitter was probably messed up from something or other which was why Cisco's voice kept cutting in and out like a damn banshee screaming into the night.
"Oh thank God Barry, you're alive," Cisco's garbled voice cut in, the connection clearing up somehow, "are you okay?"
Barry let out a heavy grunt in response, slowly opening his eyes to see dazzling, bright stars looking down at him from the nighttime sky. He sat up with a wince of pain, crying out when something excruciating hit him full force from his left arm; rocking it close to his extremely bloody (when did that even happen and was it even his blood on the damn thing?) Flash suit.
"You don't sound alright, dude."
Barry shook his head, wincing as he pulled back his cowl and rubbed at his head delicately. "W-What happened, C-Cisco?" He heard Cisco suck in a breath and then exhale and Barry could only imagine what his expression possibly was.
"You went up against the meta, who I'm naming Popsicle as of right now because I can't think of any other ones besides asshole—"
"Get to the p-point, Cisco."
"—right, sorry. So you went up against him and it was a nasty fight. He nailed you a few times and we figured out he could create ice faster than you could run . . . some of the pain you're feeling is most likely from frostbite . . . and you were able to defeat him by getting in a lucky shot with lightning. Then you ran away and passed out someplace far away from the cops. I called Oliver, because he and Felicity were here for a business meeting, and he bright Popsicle back so I could lock him up."
The words moved slowly through Barry's mind and he thrashed to stand up and fiercely ignore the pain once the words 'passed out' sorted out. "Oh God," he hissed as another wave of pain slammed into him, "how long was I out for?"
"An hour."
"No," Barry murmured, limping his way down the alleyway.
Cisco sounded worried on the other end the next time he talked as he monitored Barry's suit vitals, "Man you should run back here. I'll call Caitlin and see if she can patch you up, your vitals are seriously—"
"I'm fine." Barry grit out, "I-I'm fine. Iris can—Iris can patch me up. I need to get h-home. Austin." He voice shook with every breath and a coughing fit overtook him as he made it to the end of the alleyway, looking around and hearing nothing but a stray dog barking from far away.
"Barry—"
"I'm fine, Cisco. The meta-human is gone and the city is safe again. I'll talk to you later, alright?" Before Cisco could respond, Barry was running home—and it was one of the most painful things he ever had to do.
Barry's too hurt to register that he's still in his Flash suit and that Austin is sitting right on the couch as he makes it home and zooms through the door, putting all of his weight on the wall next to him once he makes it inside. He doesn't even notice Austin's presentence until the young boy is standing over him, Flash blanket clutched tight to his chest like a makeshift cape.
"Daddy, is that you?" But it's not Barry standing there, it's the Flash. Covered in blood.
Barry knows his cowl is down, knows his son can see his distinct features past all the blood covering him. Barry knows he's caught. "H-Hey . . . hey slugger," he whispers, exhaling shakily as Austin cautiously looks him up and down, "hey bud. Yeah, it's me. I'm sorry I was late, I just—"
He's cut off before he can finish. Because Austin takes all of five seconds to gather the information that his daddy is the Flash before he darts forward and crushes Barry into a bone-breaking hug. His body twinges at the weight but he swallows the yell threatening to tear from his throat and instead laughs, running a hand through his son's messy hair. Barry wraps his arms carefully around Austin, pulling him closer.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, slugger. It was to keep you safe. Sometimes . . . bad people come after me and your mom. I didn't want you to be a target too. I hope you aren't mad."
Austin snuggles closer to his father, lifting his head up and staring at the lightning bolt insignia (that's terribly scratched up and murky and Barry knows Cisco is going to give him hell for it later) before locking eyes with his father. "Why would I be mad, Daddy?"
Barry sighs, fingers playing with a loose curl near the back of his son's ear, "You've always thought that the Flash was amazing—a true hero. I didn't want to ruin that, slugger." Austin giggles quietly at that, Barry's brows knitting in misunderstanding as he waits for a retort.
"Daddy, I could never be mad at you. I'm happy. I've always thought of you as my hero and the Flash too. But you're the same person, which is awesome."
Barry chuckled at his son's response, ignoring the pain in his body.
His son was happy. He was happy. He wasn't disappointed.
"I love you, slugger."
"I love you too, Flash. Hey, can you speed me to school in front of the other kids so I can be a cool kid?"
When Iris gets home later that night, she's meant by the sight of Barry and Austin snuggled in each other's arms on the couch, the credits for 101 Dalmatians rolling on screen. She walks over and fixes the blanket that's hanging off their lower halves, making sure they are both covered by it before noticing Barry's attire.
His Flash suit is crumped on the arm of the couch and there are poorly wrapped bandages over his bare torso, with his black sweats hanging low over his toned stomach. Iris' breath catches in her throat when she sees the array of black and blue bruises blossoming over his skin, swirling around his pale skin like cream in coffee. There's already half-healed cuts on his forehead and arms, a long covered gash covered by a piece of gauze with dried blood seemingly glued to it.
His hair is tangled and smudges of blue are at the corner of his lips, which obviously meant he had gone up against some type of criminal with something cold, and her stomach churned at the pain he must've had to ensue.
One of his arms is curled protectively around Austin, while her son's head rests half on his arm and half on his chest. His other hand is also clutching onto his Flash action figure, a smile over his lips as he slept. Iris didn't want to disrupt them, but she wanted to make sure Barry was okay so she gently shook his shoulder, shushing him when he awoke with a jolt and clutching Austin tighter to his side.
Once he saw Iris, he calmed instantly as she leaned forward and gave him a comfortable kiss on the lips. When she pulled away she nodded to his chest. "Are you okay?" She whispered, Barry shrugging.
"I'll be fine. Austin helped patch me up."
"He knows you're the Flash now?"
Barry stayed quiet for a minute and looked over at Austin when he decided to reply. "Yeah. He does. But, it's okay. I'm his superhero."
He didn't need the rest of the world to believe in him all the time.
He had Austin and Iris to always come home to, and both believed in him every single second.
That's what would keep him going.