[Pairings: GEN Barry Allen Nora West-Allen
Warnings: none
AN: I was listening to the Tarzan soundtrack again and this happened. I'm not sorry. Also I still have elseworlds on the brain *shrugs*. Wrote this in an hour or two to distract from the cold Chicagoland weather]
Barry had been wanting to press about how much Nora truly knew about him, but the hadn't had the guts yet. Finally, on a quiet evening, he managed to get her alone. Iris was at the Lab with Caitlin, working on some side project. He had remembered them talking about it, but the situation withJoslyn Jackamhad drowned it out.
"Hey, Nora--" he started before biting his lip. "I want to ask you something. Do you have anything from me at all?"
"I have one thing," Nora spoke carefully.
He watched Nora's expression as he spoke. He wasn't even sure if he was ready to hear what she had to say. Something flashed in her eyes before she composed herself. She had a poker face as bad as Barry's. She was a little better than him though, probably because of Iris. "What is it?"
The question hung in the air for too long, so Barry opened his mouth to speak again. To tell her it was okay if she wasn't ready to talk about it, but before he could get the words out she vanished.
He sighed, thinking he had pushed her too hard. He was corrected in his thinking when she appeared again. Her lower lip worried between her teeth as she offered him a thin silver panel.
He reached out and took it from her. He inspected it in his hands. "What is it?" he questioned, running his thumbs over the device.
Nora reached out and pressed on his thumb, causing him to press a button on the side. A screen cover retracted into the device. It lit up and Barry watched as a dimly lit video started. Words splayed across the screen.
On May 3rd, 2020, Nora West-Allen was born. She was 199 inches long and weighed eight pounds and eleven ounces. Welcome to this crazy family, kid. Good luck. - Uncle Cisco.
Barry smiled as a video started, someone heading through a doorway to what appeared to be a nursery. The camera focused on a chair where Barry sat, holding baby Nora wrapped up in ablanket.
"Hey everyone," Iris's voice whispered. "Because Team Arrow is demanding an update, Nora is doing just fine. Barry's with her now."
A slightly older Barry on the recording was singing softly, it became louder and more clear as Iris got closer. "... Just take my hand, hold it tight."
Barry watched himself slowly rock Nora in his arm. She held tightly to one of his fingers. He kissed her tiny hand. "I will protect you from, all around you. I will be here, don't you cry -- are you recording me?" Barry stopped mid-verse.
"Team Arrow wanted an update, they were very demanding," Iris informed him in a 'matter of fact tone'.
"Oliver doesn't want to see this."
"Oliver texted me just now and asked how you and the baby were," she argued, easily.
"That's not begging for an update," Barry rose from his seat and carefully moved across the room. He kissed Iris but some of the movement was off camera. "Nora is finally asleep." They moved to set her in the crib and the video cut out.
Barry swallowed hard, wiping his eyes. He was looking forward to that. Part of him had worried about the kind of father he was. How much he had messed up her life. It gave him a small sense of peace to know he was there as much as he could be.
"Mom said that when you put me in the crib, you said 'Nora West-Allen, you are the light of my life'. I watch this video all the time." Nora was getting choked up.
Barry in the present was silent. A few pictures of the West-Allen and extended family played across the screen but he didn't pay as close attention to them. He was meditating on the video.
"I'm sorry, should I have shown this to you?" Nora frowned slightly.
Barry took a deep breath and tried to force more tears back. "No," he shook his head. "No, I'm glad you showed me this," he set the device down on the table and pulled her into a tight hug. His lips pressing to her forehead in a soft kiss. "You said you're a CSI like me, do you sing too?"
"No," he shook his head. "I got mom's voice. I don't remember yours either, aside from that recording."
He still hadn't let go of her. He held her tucked against his chest. Almost as if he believed if he held her tight enough he could take away whatever he had left her with. After a few seconds he began to hum softly, the song he sang in the video. "Nora West-Allen, you are the light of my life." They were both crying until Barry laughed softly. "You know, that message said you were one almost two hundred inches long."
Nora felt a safety in the embrace that she hadn't felt since she was a child. With her mother.
Nora laughed as well. "Yep, that would be correct. She pulled away from the hug. "Apparently, that was on purpose? Supposedly Caitlin accidently typed one hundred ninety-nine instead of nineteen when I was born, and Cisco kind of ran with it? Didn't let it go for years."
"That sounds like Cisco," Barry laughed and wiped his eyes. "I'm glad we talked about this, but I'm hungry and I'm sure you're hungry after that sprint so let's raid the fridge."
Nora was eager to follow him as they dug through the fridge to locate something to appease their Speedster stomachs.
"Any rumours floating around about me in the future?" Barry asked suddenly.
"They say you made uncle Ollie a hugger, however. I'm not convinced," Nora shrugged her shoulders.
"Whoah, rewind," Barry grabbed up sandwich ingredients and shut the refrigerator. "You're telling me Oliver Queen is a hugger? I don't buy it. Not openly,."
"Is he not currently? Every time he saw me he would hug me if I asked, and I was a demanding child." She chuckled softly. "Mom always said it must have been your influence."
"Huh," he huffed and threw an arm around her shoulders. "I am big hugger."
They decided to end the night with their sandwiches and Singin' in the Rain. Nora ranted about a 'terrible' remake that apparently came out in 2030, but she was glad they had a chance to talk.