Heeeyy. So this is just a fun, little one-shot that was suggested by WhiteTigerYay because she wanted a fic where Singh finds out Barry's secret. So I hope that this does it justice for you. :) I really hope that you all like it, and remember, I love getting feedback and prompts! So onto the story, now! :D
Disclaimer: I own no part of this...for now...
Joe sighed wearily as he sat down in the chair next to the hospital bed that currently had one occupant, lying unconscious on it.
Joe leaned forward until his elbows rested onto his knees and pressed his knuckles to his forehead in a vain attempt to fight off the oncoming migraine. There was only on person that could put him in this position; and that one person did this too often.
It was almost a habit, or a routine now for Joe to receive a call from Star Labs saying that Barry had gotten into a fight with a meta-human and had not come out completely unscathed.
Even though he was fine after each one, usually just receiving a broken limb or knocked unconscious for a while or sometimes even both, that still didn't stop Joe's heart from beating anxiously inside of his chest each time, because what if he didn't make it out okay?
He rubbed his temples from both exhaustion and worry, before sitting back up as he heard footsteps approaching the room. He looked up and saw Cisco walking into the room, followed by Caitlin. He stood up; the exhaustion evident in his movements and voice.
"What did he get himself into this time?" He asked and Caitlin sighed as she came to a halt beside Barry's unconscious form and crossed her arms; the clipboard in her hand at an awkward angle due to her arm's position.
"He was fighting another meta-human and got himself thrown out of a three-story building onto the cement below in an alleyway." Caitlin explained, and Joe felt his eyes practically bug out of his head as he looked at Caitlin in shock.
His gaze then went from her to Cisco who shrugged, and then to his son, who would almost look peaceful as he lied on the bed; except there were bandages wrapped around his chest, his arm was in a sling, and there were several small butterfly bandages on his head.
Not to mention all of the visible bruises that Joe could see, including one massive one on the side of Barry's face, and all of the other scrapes and scratches that had yet to heal.
"He was very fortunate that his head didn't take much of the damage, otherwise this situation would be a lot worse than it already is. It'll take a good night's rest, but then he should be almost normal in the morning. But I don't think that he'll be waking up anytime soon." Caitlin declared, before walking back over to Cisco by the computers.
"The meta-human got away, but not before Barry was able to put a tracking device on him." Cisco explained. "As soon as he's ready, Barry can get back out there and take him on again; this time with hopefully better results." Cisco said, adding in the last sentence in a much quieter tone.
Joe nearly wanted to protest, say that Barry's never going out there again, and then hide the boy somewhere in the house and never let him back out again, because Joe wasn't sure how much more of this he could handle.
But he knew that the city needed the Flash, and that he could never stop Barry from going out there and being the hero that he was destined to be. Joe sighed again.
"So, he'll be all right?" Joe asked and Caitlin's lips formed a small smile.
"He'll be fine, Joe. He's just a little banged up." She stated.
"Yeah, he's had worse. This is just a small deal compared to normal." Cisco added in, but none of it seemed to cease Joe's worries. He nodded with an inhale of air.
"Okay. Okay, I'll just-" His voice was cut off by the familiar ring tone of Joe's cell phone. He frowned, wondering who would be calling him right now, before reaching into his pocket and glancing at the caller ID.
He frowned, wondering why his boss would be calling him, before putting it on speaker phone and answering it; walking back over to Barry's side as the others continued discussing their next plan of attack. "Hello?"
"Hey, Joe. Have you seen Barry? I keep calling him but he won't pick up." Singh said, and any relief that Joe had previously felt, dissipated as he glanced up at the other, now silent, two people in the room who looked back at him with worry written all over their faces.
"Uh, no, I haven't. Why?" He lied, and then shrugged towards the others who were now watching intently.
"We need him to come in today." Singh declared and that's when Joe felt every bit of calmness fall away.
Singh flipped through some of the case's papers, annoyance filtering his thoughts. It just had to be Barry Allen' day off for this case to happen. He sighed as he closed the folder.
He hated having to do this, especially since he had been the one to personally allow Barry to have the day off, but he really needed the kid to help out with the case.
David was going to have to call him in. He grabbed his cell phone and dialed Barry's number, waiting several rings before he heard an automated voice saying that the call hadn't gone through. He sighed and decided to settle for a voicemail.
"Hey, Allen. I'm sorry to have to do this, but we need you to come in today and help with a case. It's urgent. Please come as soon as you can." He settled for making it short and straight to the point. After all, that's the way it was in the police force.
Another few minutes went by with no sign of Allen, or reply, so he decided to try it again.
And twenty minutes later, and ten missed calls, he ran a hand over his face in frustration, and decided to call Joe West. He dialed his number, and waited anxiously for him to pick up, and nearly sighed in relief when he did end up answering.
"Hello?" Joe answered.
"Hey, Joe. Have you seen Barry? I keep calling him but he won't pick up." Singh explained; straight to the point.
"Uh, no, I haven't. Why?" Joe asked, and Singh noticed the slight hesitation in his voice.
"We need him to come in today." He stated, and when he didn't receive an answer for a few seconds, he elaborated.
"We've got a very important case that needs to be gone through A.S.A.P., and Allen's the only one that would know exactly how to go through it. I know that he's supposed to have the day off, but we have to have him." He declared, and several seconds went by before Joe spoke up; quietly.
"Uh, I'm afraid that's not possible..." Joe said, voice trailing off. Singh sighed and closed his eyes, kneading his forehead with his right hand.
"It has to be possible. We really need him to come in, Joe." Singh said, already not in the mood for an argument.
"I'm sorry, David, but it can't be done." Joe said, voice firm.
"What? Why not? This is serious, Joe." Singh stated, and heard Joe sigh from the other side. After about ten seconds, enough to make David curious as to what was going on the other side of the phone call, he heard a quiet sigh before Joe spoke up.
"David...he can't come in right now, because he's, uh...he's unconscious." Joe said quietly, and Singh frowned, glancing at the cell phone in his hand.
"Are you telling me that, Barry Allen, a CSI, is unconscious? What? Joe, you need to work harder on your lies. Why on earth is he unconscious?" He asked and heard the other man sigh again.
"It's not a lie, Singh. And that's not something that I can explain over the phone. Look, he can't come in today, and if you come over to Star Labs after work, I'll explain further. I'm sorry, Captain, but it's just not doable." Joe said, and David found his mind caught up on the words Star Labs.
"Star Labs...does this have something to do with the lightning?" He questioned and heard the hesitation through the phone. It might have something to do with when Barry was in the coma.
Singh hoped not, because even though, Barry was constantly late and was a pain in the neck sometimes, he had kind of grown fond of the kid. Not to mention the fact that he was the best CSI the CCPD had.
"Uh, yeah. It does. Sort of. Look, I'll explain later. I've got to go now. Sorry, again, Captain." Joe rambled, his sentences short, and plenty of them. A common trait for the man when he was nervous.
Singh heard the 'click' come from the cell phone in his hand, signaling that Joe had hung up on him. He sighed and glanced at all of the files for the case. How the heck were they supposed to do this?
And why the heck was Barry unconscious?
He sighed again. This was going to be a long day.
And he figured that with his visit to Star Labs later...it had only just begun.
Joe paced the room nervously, his mind concentrating on one thought; what the heck were they supposed to tell Singh when he arrived?
He would stop every once in a while, and take a deep breath, and try to think about it reasonably. But he always came up with nothing. He sighed as he stopped again, running a hand over his face.
He glanced at Barry, noticing that some of the bruises were already gone; along with the cuts, but he was still unconscious with a broken arm. He looked over at Caitlin and Cisco; the latter looking like he was in deep thought over something.
"What the heck am I supposed to do?" Joe questioned, and Caitlin shrugged lightly.
"I think that you should tell him the truth." She stated and Cisco huffed.
"No, no, no, that would be an amateur move." He declared with crossed arms, one hand up towards his chin, and Joe raised his eyebrows at the man. "We've got to come up with some crazy excuse." He sighed and waved his finger a couple of times as he thought.
"It's got to be crazy enough to explain, but reasonable enough to make sense. Ah-ha! How about for your day off, you went rock climbing!" Cisco suggested, face lighting up at the idea.
"Singh would never believe that. He knows that we don't do that type of stuff." Joe said and Cisco sighed.
"Fine. But you got any better ideas?" He asked, only slight annoyance lacing his words, that Joe found amusement in. In certain ways, Cisco reminded Joe a lot of Barry.
"I still think that you should just tell him," Caitlin said and Joe nodded.
"I agree with Caitlin. It's just that, it's not our secret to tell." He explained and Caitlin nodded.
"I know, but otherwise Barry would be fired. And maybe telling him would be for the best, because if there's any distress calls from the CCPD, Barry could get there quicker, because he'd be alerted quicker." Caitlin said hopefully and Joe nodded slowly.
"Yeah, true. I still don't like-" His statement was interrupted by somebody entering the room. Everybody's attention turned towards Singh walking into the room.
"I hope I'm not interrupting something," He stated and Joe shook his head.
"No, uh...no." Joe said, failing at coming up with something else to say. Singh sighed.
"Okay, there better be one hell of a reason for Barry being unconscious, Joe. Because we still weren't able to get this case done, and it's already past the deadline." Singh declared and Joe sighed.
He moved over a couple of steps so Singh could actually see Barry's still form on the hospital bed; arm still in a sling, bandages still on him, and only slight traces of bruises. Singh's eyes widened, which Joe would have almost have found amusing, in any other circumstance.
He moved past Joe and to Barry's side, realizing that this was indeed real; which Joe had found himself doing over and over. Even though this happened all too frequent. "What the heck does he do on his day off?" David questioned, suddenly feeling sick at the broken sight of the young man.
"Well, I suggested rock-climbing, but..." Cisco trailed off, mumbling his words, and Caitlin 'gently' elbowed him in the ribs. Thankfully, Joe and David seemed to ignore him. Singh finally looked back up at him.
"Seriously, Joe, what happened?" Joe sighed and ran a hand through his hair before gesturing towards a chair beside Singh.
"You may want to sit down..."
"Are you telling me, that Barry Allen, your son, a CSI who works in my department, who has been through hell and back, is the Flash?" Singh asked incredulously. Joe nodded.
"Yeah, yeah, he is." He said but Singh still looked at him in disbelief.
"You aren't just pulling my leg with this, are you?" Singh questioned and Joe chuckled.
"No, he really is the Flash. I couldn't believe it at first, either." Joe said and Singh just slowly shook his head in shock and disbelief.
"I just can't believe it. I just...can't believe it. Everything about him just made so much more sense." He stated and Joe chuckled quietly.
"Yeah, there is a reason for him being late all the time. Well, most of the time there's a good reason for it." Joe said and Singh chuckled and ran a hand over his face.
"I can't believe that I had no idea. I mean, it's all so clear to me now. I-" David started saying, but stopped when the young man lying unconscious beside them began to stir. Caitlin and Cisco immediately both walked over to him, and Barry blinked sluggishly; bringing his one good hand to his head and wincing.
"Ow," He murmured, opening his eyes and blinking a couple of times as he tried to sit up.
"No, you don't. You crushed just about every rib in your body, young man." Caitlin scolded gently as both she and Cisco softly pushed hum back onto the gurney.
Joe realized that Barry's vision was apparently not completely back yet, and his thoughts weren't coherent enough yet, also, because he hadn't seemed to notice either Joe's or Singh's presence.
Barry lightly shook his head as he tried to clear his vision and understand everything Caitlin was saying to him.
"What'd I miss?" He asked, taking on the nonchalance he usually did once he was actually awake enough to understand what had gotten him into that position. He glanced over to the side and suddenly noticed both of their presence, and Joe almost found humor on the stunned look on Barry's face when he saw Captain Singh. Especially because he still sported a black eye.
"Hey...Captain." He said unsurely, before looking up at Joe, ignoring Caitlin and Cisco who were both trying to get his attention back so they could make sure that he was actually all right. Just because he was being nonchalant about the whole thing, didn't mean that he was actually okay. They'd learned that the hard way. "Joe..?" Barry asked.
"He knows, Barry." Joe stated and Barry nodded slowly with a swallow.
"Oh," Barry said simply, before turning his attention back to Joe; his thoughts still barely coherent, but becoming much more clear as he woke up more. "Why, exactly, does he know..?" Barry questioned, and this time Singh spoke up to answer the question.
"I needed you to come in for a case, and they told me why you weren't able to, basically." Singh stated, keeping it short for Barry to understand. Barry's eyes widened, but not because they told him, but for the former part of the sentence.
"You needed me for a case? Oh, man, I'm sorry. I can come in now-" He said as he started to sit up to get up, but Caitlin and Cisco both shoved him back down; gently, but firmly.
"No, no! Barry, do you not understand what 'about crushed every rib in your body' means? Not to mention every other injury you sustained. Do I have to elaborate my point?" She questioned in aggravation; obviously used to having to do this.
"Yeah, but the case. I need to-"
"No, you do not. You are going to lie here and rest until you are fully healed. Don't you remember what happened?" Caitlin asked.
"Yeah, but I mean, I've had worse. This is important." Caitlin sighed and shook her head. Singh just watched on in amazement at everything. He still just couldn't believe it...but he knew that he needed to intervene to stop Barry.
"Barry, you really don't need to come in until you're healed. It can wait." He stated and Barry sighed, but then screwed his eyes shut and gingerly placed a hand on his head.
"Yeah, that might be...best." He said with a wince. Singh turned his attention towards Caitlin as she started walking away, but his voice stopped her.
"Isn't there anything you can give him? Some sort of anesthetics?" He asked an Caitlin gave a pitying glance towards Barry who slowly shook his head.
"Doesn't work. My metabolism is too fast." Barry said and Singh frowned with a slight grimace. That sucked.
"Okay, man, but you can sleep. SO why don't you do that and we'll let you be?" Cisco questioned, putting a hand gently on his friend's good shoulder. Barry nodded slowly with a wince and sunk back down into the bed, closing his eyes.
Joe lead Singh out, while Cisco and Caitlin both went into a separate room so that they could keep an eye on Barry and figure out how to capture the meta-human. Singh shook his head in disbelief as he walked out of the building along with Joe.
He had been right.
This day had gotten a lot longer than before. Barry Allen...the Flash.
As crazy as it was, it almost seemed right. Barry just had the sort of 'hero' feel about him. Even though Singh had believed that the young man had never even been in combat. He had been sorely wrong.
He'd seen more things than even Singh had. And that was just unfathomable. Barry had saved so many lives...yet no one had even known. Yet they really should have. Himself, included.
Because no matter what happened to the kid...
He was destined to be a hero.
*Sing songy voice* Ta-da! What'd ya' think? Let me know please, and we'll meet again soon! *salutes*
