Safety
By: AndiKaneUnderwood
So... I found the show and I've been trying to find something to write for months but nothing just seemed right. Then, I saw Season 1 Episode 18, "All Star Team Up" and everything just kind of fell into place and oh my gosh, I nearly died.
Things I will go to the grave with AUs for, Mrs. Allen dying when Barry is five, not eleven, and the multiple ways I ship Barry Allen with different people.
This is not an AU, I wanted to start off my introduction into writing for this fandom small.
On that note, please feel free to check out my other stories, I have multiple for you to choose from if you'd like.
Without further ado, here is "Safety".
Hope you like it!
Joe had always known that his kids would grow up to be something special.
Iris, he'd always figured would be something in journalism, maybe in business, but there had never been any question about where Barry was going.
Joe had always known that Barry would end up in law enforcement somewhere. It had only ever been a matter of time.
That didn't mean it didn't scare him like Hell when the Captain called him to the office one day to introduce him to the CSI assistant that would be working on the case with him and his partner, Chyre.
("Barry?" Joe asked as the forensic scientist turned around and smiled, surprised.
"Joe! Hi!" Barry bounded forward, all excited bouncing on the balls of his feet. He tackled Joe in a hug, then flushed red and stepped back. "Sorry," he breathed.
"What are you doing here?" Joe gasped, gripping Barry's arm suddenly.
"He works here now, Joe. I'm sorry, did you know him?" the Captain asked, pointing back and forth between the pair.
"Yeah, this is my foster dad, Captain," Barry replied.)
Joe had always felt that Barry was meant for big things.
He'd always known, but that didn't mean he liked it when the big things Barry was meant for were also quite dangerous and could quite possibly kill him.
Which is why he'd fought so hard for Barry not to be put in the position of "superhero", because he was worried for Barry's safety. Because all he ever wanted was for Barry to be kept safe.
Joe couldn't be around all the time, and if Barry got hurt of his watch, it would just kill him.
Flash~Arrowverse~Flash
It had finally happened.
Barry had gotten hurt on the job, on Joe's watch, while Joe could only stand there and watch helplessly.
The speedster collapsed, practically dead on the ground and Joe rushed over.
No, no, no, no, no! Not Barry! he pleaded with the universe, with the God he didn't believe in, please, not my little boy!
Joe doesn't register much else above the fact that his little boy is dying and his own voice pleading for Barry to stay with him.
He vaguely recalls calling Cisco, he just barely remembers telling Cisco that Barry didn't have a pulse, he remembers with clear horror when Cisco told him to back up.
"What do you mean, 'back up'!" he'd all but screamed.
"We need to jump start his heart," Cisco had replied, "There's a defibrillator in the suit."
Joe doesn't know whether to laugh because those science nerds thought of basically everything or cry because holy shit, they thought this might happen.
He does as he's told after a moment's hesitation and Cisco's soft plea of, "Joe, trust me," and he can't help but be horrified at what happens as the sound of electric charge fills the air.
It sparks, sending tails of lighting over Barry's body ad Joe is sick watching Barry's body rise, then fall to the floor with a horrifying thunk.
Joe wait with baited breath as Caitlin calls for a second charge and Dr. Wells's calls, "three, two, one".
The electricity sparks again and Barry gasps as he comes back to consciousness, emerald eyes flying open as panic spread across his face and Joe came rushing forward.
Barry coughs; gasping, hacking, struggling for breath, and Joe hits his knees right there next to him, putting a hand in Barry's, because physical touch had always been the best way to connect with the kid, and ripping off that damned cowl like it'll make it easier for Barry to breathe.
"Barry," Joe murmured as Barry grasped at Joe's one hand with both of his and lay there gasping.
Joe's other hand came back to support his kid as Barry struggled to sit up.
"He's alright!" he cried into the phone. "You're alright." he said, softer, for Barry only to hear.
"Joe," Barry breathed, looking up at Joe with relief on his features and overwhelming his wide, green eyes. Then he sighed, his head falling forwards to rest on Joe's fingers as Joe sighs and closes his eyes and soaks up the fact that Barry's still alive.
Barry mumbles something that sounds like, "You're here," and Joe puts his other arm around Barry.
"I'm here," Joe reassures his boy, "I'm here, Barry."
Eddie hasn't come over, but one glance up and Joe sees that Eddie's gone inside and Joe silently thanks him for doing the job Joe can't.
Barry stays there on the ground, wrapped up in Joe's arms, gasping and panting and Joe has never wanted more to kill someone.
Barry could've died today and Joe could've done nothing to stop it. The tears Joe had been keeping at bay roll down his cheeks, only two and Joe is surprised, and land in Barry's hair.
"Joe." Barry murmured his name like a prayer, never once breaking the chant because just like Joe, Barry's still processing the fact that he's alive, that he could've died and that's a scary thought if Barry had ever had one.
Joe pressed a kiss to Barry's temple, then his hair, and Barry may have grown out of that at age thirteen, but he's not complaining now and Joe simply can't help himself.
"I'm okay," Barry said a while later, when his breathing finally drifted into a normal rhythm, but Joe still doesn't let go of him and Barry doesn't ask him to, nor did he seem anything other than comfortable in Joe's arms.
Flash~Arrowverse~Flash
When they finally do let go, it's only for long enough that Barry gets checked out by Caitlin and catches Brie Larvan.
When Barry and Joe get home that night, Barry still seemed unsettled and scared and Joe catches himself offering to let Barry sleep in his room that night.
Barry hasn't done that since he was eleven years old and still had awful, awful nightmares about that night when his mother died and his father went to prison.
Barry surprises him even more when the exhausted speedster hesitates, then nods, slumping over in something like defeat.
Joe goes on and gets ready for bed, letting Barry take his time getting ready because he knows it might be difficult for a twenty-five year old to admit to needing their father to stay with them for the night.
Joe was already in bed by the time Barry came shuffling in.
Joe silently turned over and met Barry's eyes, he gave the poor kid a smile. "Just between me and you, this never leaves my room." he reassures his kid.
Barry smiles weakly and hesitates only a second longer before slipping into bed with the only other man he'd consider "father" or anything like.
Barry curls up on his side and sniffles. "I was scared," he admits, and Joe puts an arm around him, pulling him closer, letting Barry lay his head on Joe's chest.
"I was too, Barr." Joe replies, because how can he not let Barry know that he understands something akin to what Barry just been through.
"I thought I was really going to die."
"It's alright now, Barry. I'm here, I've got you." Joe gently rubs Barry's back as tears start sliding down the young man's cheeks.
Barry ends up crying himself to sleep, curled up on his side with his head on Joe's chest and Joe can't complain because oh, God he almost lost his little boy today and that alone was terrifying.
He wraps his arms tighter around Barry and silently dares something to happen now.
Joe may not always be able to keep Barry from harm when his little boy was zipping around town in his Flash suit and happily fighting crime, but he'd always be there for the fall out.
To keep Barry safely in his arms until he was ready to go out and face the world again.
Because even when the whole world was out to get Barry, not a single one of them would pierce the safety of Joe's arms.