Barry couldn't believe he was late. He had gotten on the train the moment the call went over the radio, grabbing his metal briefcase with all the forensic supplies he owned and texting Joe to cover for him at the precinct. Barry had been in such a rush to leave that he had almost forgotten to put his hearing aid back in his left ear and to turn back on the cochlear in his right. Normally when he would be working to crack a rather difficult case he liked to work in complete silence and comfort which meant for Barry, no noise.
Barry had been born completely deaf to hearing parents, Nora and Henry Allen and learned ASL from the very beginning. When he was three and a half years old he had gotten a cochlear implanted in his right ear, and because they were very expensive his parents decided he'd wear only a hearing aid in his left. From then on he'd go to speech therapy where he'd learn to talk with his mouth while continuing to sign with his hands. His parents would eventually send Barry to a school for hearing kids as they wanted him to have a normal life, but as Barry would find out at a young age, kids could be cruel.
"Hey Allen! What are you a robot?" Some of the meaner kids would say.
"Sorry! Can't understand you!" Others would make fun of him for his voice, which wasn't perfect. But that's when he met the girl who would be his best friend. Iris West.
Her dad knew Barry's parents and at seven years old Iris was already helping him stand up to the bullies while Barry would teach her to sign. Within a few months
they were able to have conversations together without even opening their mouths. Barry also got extremely good at reading people's lips so even at home when he chose to go completely silent, he could still understand if his parents spoke to him with no sign.
Barry continued speech therapy over the next few years, trying to be able to sound his best so more people could understand him. At eleven years old things started finally looking up for Barry, until one night something happened that would change his life forever.
He had been asleep when he felt it, the vibrations. They felt more powerful than the ones he felt when he put his hands on the boom box in his room turned up to full volume. Barry's eyes snapped open to see the water from his fish tank rising up and wind blowing everything around the room. And it wasn't until he had turned on his hearing aid did he hear something loud coming from below.
"Mom!" He shouted, running down the stairs to see what looked like a red and yellow tornado of sorts, his mom stranded in the middle.
"Barry stay back!" She yelled, her hands moving on sync with her words.
"Mom!" He repeated, using the sign the familiar sign. Then his dad ran up next to him trying to hold him back. But before he could even look up at his father he felt a gust of wind push him back and then suddenly he found himself outside, alone.
"Mom! Dad!" He yelled, feeling the vibrations in his throat, but he couldn't hear them. Barry put a hand up to his left ear to find his hearing aid missing. Whatever had brought him out here must've knocked it out and he didn't sleep with his implant on. Instantly Barry's fear doubled and he began to run. Even though he didn't know how he gotten out of us his house he did recognize where he was. Within a few minutes he was in front of his house, the bottom of his pajama pants covered in dirt. Big it appeared he wasn't the first one to arrive. Police tape circled his house and a few cars with flashing lights blocked up the area. Barry ran up the front lawn as he saw the front door wide open and his father being dragged out by three cops. Barry ran up to his father signing so rapidly and screaming how loud he did not know, until he too was pulled away by someone. He turned around to see Iris's father staring back at him, holding up the thing Barry had lost and carefully placing it in Barry's ear. Everything then got extremely loud once again for him, and once it did he pushed past Joe and ran up the front stairs to his house to see a horrible scene. His mother's dead body lay bloody on the carpet of his living room, a knife next to her. It was something he'd never forget.
After the incident he was taken to live with Joe and Iris while his dad was arrested for his mom's murder. No one would believe him about the yellowish blur he had seen that night, but it didn't matter. Barry knew that something impossible had killed his mother, and he wouldn't stop looking until he found it.
The train pulled into the station four minutes late, which meant Barry had to call another cab because his other one had left, then of course to his luck there was traffic and his driver was a jerk. To make matters even worse in Starling City, it was pouring rain. And then finally as his cab drove away he realized he had left his umbrella in the back. But at least he made it.
Walking into the warehouse he heard voices, knowing that the SCPD had already gotten there. Great, Barry thought as he came forward knowing he had to play this cool.
"Well, we're probably looking for a whole team here" a man with a deep scruffy voice said.
"Actually it was only one guy" Barry said making his entrance. He had looked at the security footage of the break in on the train several times over, and he was pretty sure this would be easy to solve.
"And who the hell are you?" the same man asked, and Barry figured he was the main police Captain from SCPD on this case.
"I'm Barry Allen" he said trying to stay calm, his right hand signing lightly as he spoke. He did it out of habit, because at home he signed all the time but when he was at work he would use words. Barry looked around nervously, hoping his voice was clear enough.
"Are you deaf or somethin'?" The Captain asked, noticing the slight hand movements and way the kid spoke.
Barry nodded, knowing that this question always came up whenever he spoke to new people. "Yeah, I am. But don't worry I can understand you" Barry said tapping his cochlear.
"Great, and do your parents know that you're here?" This time it was a different person who spoke, but Barry knew who it was. Oliver Queen, famous billionaire.
"Actually I'm with CCPD" Barry explained, holding up his badge and telling over the same fake story he told at every unexplainable crime scene he went to.
But as he spoke someone caught his eye, it was a girl...well, woman. She looked about Barry's age with blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail and glasses. And apparently she seemed interested in him too, her gaze followed his. She smiled at him, he smiled back.
"Felicity Smoak" she said reaching out her hand. Barry reached out his. "Barry Allen. But you just heard me say that that so..." he said awkwardly shaking her hand, trying not to notice as her eyes flicked up for a millisecond staring at the small wire behind Barry's ear, which he pushed quickly out of the way.
"When you two are done flirting" Oliver cut it. "How about we get back to the case at hand".
"Great idea Mr. Queen" the Captain spoke before looking at Barry once more. "Now you think one guy ripped through these doors like tissue paper?" He asked skeptically.
"you saw the security footage right?" Barry asked.
"Yeah and it looks fake" The detective replied. Barry had been about to reply when something else, other than Felicity had caught his eye.
"Foot prints " Barry said walking over to the black markings on the floor. "Leading out that way. One guy" he pointed, though the Captain didn't look convinced. Barry watched as he whispered something to Felicity and then began walking away, followed by the other officers he had next to him and Oliver Queen as well.
"I guess I'll get to work" Barry said, opening his metal case and putting on his gloves. He then felt a small tap on his shoulder, it was Felicity. Barry smiled and she smiled back.
"I can stay" she said. "I mean...if that's ok with you" she stuttered, Barry's eyes following her moving lips. But then she did something surprising, she signed. "I'm pretty good at analyzing this type of stuff" her hands said.
Barry's smile grew wide. "You know ASL?" He signed.
"Four years of high school sign language classes" she said proudly. "It was either that or Spanish. But I have to warn you I may be a bit rusty" she told him, fingerspelling the words she didn't know.
"So you work for Oliver Queen?" Barry asked, changing the topic and raising his eyebrows.
"Yeah...I help him with stuff" she said.
"That's so cool" Barry told her. "And you've seen the vigilante right?" Barry asked as he bent down, tweezers in hand he looking at the footprints trying to find something he could use.
"Is that dirt?" Felicity asked pointing to something in the footprint. Barry looked and picked a piece up.
"I don't know" he responded "But this could help" Barry took out a small plastic bag and put some of it in. Felicity then led him over to a small machine.
"Here" she said placing the same in. "It should only take a few minutes".
"Great" Barry replied standing next to Felicity and taking off his gloves. It was a few seconds of silence between the two of them when Barry realized she was staring at him. He looked to her smiling and she instantly turned away. "What?" He asked jokingly.
"Nothing" Felicity replied.
"So what about the vigilante?" Barry asked.
"Are you a fan?" Felicity laughed.
"You could say that. So I read he saved you, what was he like?" He asked.
"Green" she replied simply. "So what about you? Have you always been-?"
"Deaf?" Barry asked. "Straight to the point, alright" he smiled,
"Sorry. That was rude, like really rude, I should stop talking" Felicity rambled.
"No it's fine" Barry said. "I was born deaf".
"And do your hearing aids, help you hear normally?" Felicity asked curiously.
"I mean, I don't really know what normal sounds like. But I can hear different things" Barry tried explaining.
"But...um...ok not to sound weird or anything but your speech is amazing" Felicity said.
"Thanks" Barry replied. "Took a lot of therapy, you know speech and stuff".
"And is your family all deaf too?" She asked.
"Nope, both my parents were hearing" he replied.
"Were?"
"Well, my mom died when I was eleven" Barry told her. "My dad..." he stopped. For a few seconds there was silence. Then Barry spoke up again.
"Hey I forgot to ask" Barry said. suddenly trying to draw the conversation away from his parents. "What's your sign name?" He asked
"You mean fingerspelling?' She asked beginning to spell out her name with ASL letters.
"No it's a special sign name given to you by a deaf person, something that has to do with who you are" Barry said. "For instance mine is like this-" he signed, showing the sign for run and then adding the letter B after.
"I like it" Felicity said.
"can give you one?" Barry offered, staring her up and down. She nodded, waiting. "Ok. Got it" Barry smiled, doing the sign for glasses. Just then something pinged behind them.
"Your sample is ready" Felicity said, and the two walked over together.
"Great" Barry said, taking it out of the machine, and began examining it.
"Barry" Felicity tapped his shoulder, getting his attention. He looked up. "I got invited to this party, well, it's really just a work thing...but it's a party. And I get to invite a plus one" she told him.
"That's cool" Barry replied.
"No, I mean...would you maybe like to be my plus one?" She asked.
"Like a date?" He asked.
"Maybe..." Felicity dragged out. "Hopefully with you there it won't be as boring. Plus there'll be dancing and music...wait can you hear music...do you like music?" She asked awkwardly.
"You've really never met a deaf person before" he joked. "But yes, I love music" Barry said.
"What kind?" Felicity asked.
"Right now I'm kinda into Panic! At the Disco and Imagine Dragons, but I'm obsessed with Broadway" Barry said.
"Barry Allen, don't tell me you're a theater nerd?" Felicity's eyes widened.
"Why, are you repulsed?" Barry laughed.
"Are you kidding?" Felicity asked. "Wicked and Newsies are my life" she said.
"Ok, I accept. I'm officially your plus one" Barry told her. "I just need to warn you, I'm not that good on my feet".
"I'm sure you'll be fine" Felicity assured. "Now let's catch our bad guy".