Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics or the CW TV shows Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl or any other characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises.
"Wait, "Barry" as in Barry Allen?" The man next to Barry's ex-girlfriend inquired, raising his brows. "The CSI?"
"Yeah…" Patty said awkwardly as Barry looked surprised after not seeing Patty for three years and now, her with a child and a husband, from seeing the wedding rings. "Gosh, it's been… three years?"
"Yeah…" Barry trailed off.
"How have you been?" Patty asked.
"Mommy, you know him?" Sophie asked.
"Yeah. Barry is… an old friend." Patty said nervously, turning to the girl before turning her attention to Barry again. "I guess you and I have a lot of catching up to do."
"Guess so…" Barry then looked at his watch. "But look, I have to give a talk to the students here in ten minutes, so… see you in an hour?"
"Sure, we'll be right here." Patty smiled as Barry left the café, quite shocked to see his ex-girlfriend with a husband and a daughter. But… the girl… Sophie must have been… nine, ten years old, so it couldn't have been really…
Barry took a breath, trying to focus on why he came to Keystone as he went into a classroom and cleared his throat, when there were some Keystone CSIs with notepads, readying his lecture. "Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Barry Allen, I work in Central City Police Department as CSI analyst and today…"
"And remember to be prudent, when examining the residues and the other routine in the crime scenes." Barry finished his lecture. "Thank you very much, you may go."
The students were leaving as one of them, a young girl smiled at Barry. "You're a good CSI, Mr. Allen and I'm so sorry you were framed for the murder of Mr. DeVoe."
"Things happen, don't worry about it." Barry assured the girl. "Just remember what I said and try to look at the crime scenes from all angles. Both literally and figuratively."
Barry approached Patty and her husband as she was at the table, drinking coffee as Patty smiled at him. "Hey."
"Hi." Barry smiled as he tried to think of what to say, considering that their farewell wasn't exactly pleasant. "I guess… both of us have some explaining to do."
"Yeah." Patty looked down sadly for a moment before trying to smile. "Ever since I left Central City, I've been keeping tabs on you and kept reading the news from there. The Flash fighting two more evil speedsters, then the invasion of the metas and then you were framed for the murder of that DeVoe guy…"
"I found my way through all of it." Barry assured her as she looked worried.
"Yeah." Patty looked at him in sympathy. "I'm sorry about your father though."
Barry sighed, remembering how Zoom killed his father right in front of him and then the mistake he made after that happened. "Don't worry about it. I'm… I'm fine, really."
"Also, I heard that you were married to Iris for few months before you called it off." Patty said. "What happened, Barry?"
Barry sighed. "Too much. And…" He wiped his face. "I don't even know where to begin."
"It's OK. Take your time. It's not like you need to rush." Patty said before realizing what she said as both of them chuckled.
Barry took a breath. "I guess I had been convincing myself that I loved Iris. But when I look back now… it just wasn't working out the way I had convinced myself it would. I was too much focused on her that I was neglecting pretty much everyone else. Cisco, Caitlin… they were both going through so much and I… I guess me focusing on Iris made me overlook that. And the way she was acting towards everyone else… it made me realize it wasn't what I wanted."
Patty patiently listened, trying to understand. "So… you called the marriage off because you realized you were becoming a lousy friend to everyone else and Iris was wiping the floor with all of you?"
"Pretty much." Barry nodded.
Patty looked at Barry in sympathy. "Barry, I… I'm sorry it didn't work out the way you wanted. I thought that…"
"So did I." Barry nodded. "And I think I owe you an apology too."
"For what?" Patty asked.
"For not being honest with you." Barry admitted. "I… there's a lot of things I regret. And… lying to you about me being the Flash and letting you go… it was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. And I'm sorry for that but… I just couldn't…"
"You don't need to explain yourself to me, Barry." Patty assured him. "I understand it all, I really do. I understand why you denied being the Flash. You thought you were protecting me. I'm not blaming you for anything, I just… I wish things had turned out differently between us. I'm sorry that you felt like you had to lie to me to protect me."
Barry smiled. "You've always had a good heart." Then he noticed the wedding ring on her finger before turning to the man, who was Patty's husband and the girl he was playing with, who seemed to be their daughter. "So… you're married now. I'm happy for you."
"Yeah." Patty smiled. "But Sophie… she's not mine. I mean, I'm not her biological mother. She… she died few years back. I've been helping Charles raise her since she was a toddler."
"Charles?" Barry narrowed his eyes. "Is that his name?" He turned to the man as he was with the girl playing a little away from them. "How did you guys meet?"
Patty took a breath. "It was around a year after… you know." She said as Barry nodded in understanding. "He had been working as a detective in Keystone City for a while and I had just started working as an intern their department. I was still coping from how it went down between us and… he was there for me. Then one day, when I was trying to go through the evidence in an arson case, a suspect named Roscoe Miller attacked me." Barry clenched his fists at hearing that someone had attacked his girlfriend and he had not been there. "He got the drop on me and if Charles hadn't been there…" She swallowed as Barry held her hand.
"Patty…" Barry trailed off.
"No. It's… it's OK." Patty assured him. "He got me into a hospital, then we went out for a coffee once or twice and then I helped him pick his daughter up in a school and… then it just happened." She said, showing Barry her wedding ring before turning to Charles and Sophie again as Barry noticed the look in her eyes.
"You really care about them, do you?" Barry asked.
Patty nodded. "The years after what happened between us weren't as bad as I had feared they would be."
"I'm happy for you. Really." Barry assured her.
"And what about you? Have you met anyone else? After Iris?" Patty asked as Barry took a breath.
"Well, Patty… what I'm about to tell you, is going to blow your mind." Barry said.
"Wait, you were seriously running from explosive toy cars?" Patty laughed, having a hard time believing what was Barry saying as she remembered a particular dangerous situation they were both in a few years back with explosive toys on Christmas.
"Well, I wasn't running from them as much as destroying them to help my friends." Barry said with a laugh.
"And then you knocked out that woman that kidnapped this Winn's mother." Patty finished. "And here I thought that I was the only girlfriend, with whom you'd run into explosives."
"Yeah…" Barry smiled.
"Multiple Earths… wow." Patty said, surprised at Barry's news. "Guess that explains the invasion of metahumans three years ago." Barry nodded. "And they were working for that black speedster that almost killed you, right?" Barry nodded again. "What happened with him?" She asked, knowing that Zoom killed Barry's father as she looked at him in sympathy, the memory from Barry talking her out from killing her father's killer resurfacing. "Did you…"
"I didn't kill him." Barry explained.
"Then what happened to him?" Patty asked as Barry took a breath.
"Let's just say he won't be hurting anyone else ever again." Barry said as Patty decided not to inquire more before changing the subject.
"And this Kara… Supergirl… that's when you…" Barry nodded as Patty considered. "It's just… I can't even imagine how hard it must be. You two living in different universes… and the burdens you both have to carry…."
"It isn't easy but… we're trying." Barry admitted.
Patty looked at him in sympathy. "Barry, all I ever wanted was for you to be happy. And I tried to be the one that could give it to you. I'm sorry that you felt like that you had to push me away to protect me… and I wish that I had done more to make you let me in."
"It's not your fault." Barry assured her.
"Barry, tell me something. And please, I want an honest answer." Patty said as she had his full attention. "If… there was no Zoom, no Reverse-Flash, no Turtle or any of those metas that threatened us… would you ever have told me? About being the Flash?"
Barry deeply considered what Patty was asking him. It was a good question. And as he looked at her husband and stepdaughter… "After all the things I've been through… I don't know anymore. What I know for sure is that I… I wouldn't have wanted to drag you into this life and put you in danger."
"But three years ago?" Patty asked and Barry gave it bigger thought.
But before he could find his answer to it, they heard 'crash' as outside was a few blocks away a crane collapsing down. "Oh, my God…" Patty whispered before turning to Barry. "Get out of here, go, go!"
Barry rushed out from the university before he started to run in superspeed and pulled out his ring, from which went out his suit as he quickly put it on.
The Flash rushed to the construction site, evacuating the area and helping the workers and civilians to get to a safe distance before the crane crashed.
Later
"Is everyone OK?" Barry asked as Charles and Keystone police officers and the paramedics were working on helping the injured and securing the area.
"Most of them got to safety, thanks to the Flash." Charles said. "Not that I don't appreciate his help but isn't he a little far away from home? What the hell is he doing here?"
Patty and Barry looked at each other awkwardly. "Maybe… he's chasing a bad guy from Central City to here." Patty tried.
"Yeah…" Barry said. "I remember that the Arrow went to Central City to chase a criminal too once."
"Hmmm…" Charles trailed off. "Still… that crane collapsing doesn't make sense. It was all up to regulation. I think we're looking at sabotage."
"Sabotage?" Barry repeated. "Why?"
"Good question." Patty said.
"We'll get to the bottom of this." Charles promised. "Look, can you get Sophie to my brother's? I think we'll be working late today."
"Sure." Patty nodded as Charles went to the CSIs as she felt a gust of wind pass by her hair as she turned to Barry. "Did you just…"
"It was a sabotage." Barry said. "And they weren't exactly subtle, the crane's support was melted."
"What? How? And why?" Patty demanded.
"I don't know. I'd need to ask your captain for warrant to help you investigate." Barry said.
"Sure, I'll let him know." Patty promised before they both realized something. "Just like old times?"
"Just like old times." Barry chuckled as Patty laughed.
"He was fast." The man in the shadows said.
"But not too fast. In order for our plan to work, he needs to emit enough Speed Force." The mysterious voice in the man's earpiece said.
"Patience. The day is still young… and I have nothing but time."
"Make sure we can harness enough energy from him. His idea of using that device to send the other speedster into the Speed Force was interesting." The voice said.
"Why need him? Can't you just find a more powerful battery source?" The man asked.
"Breaking into A.R.G.U.S. is too bold move. To unlock the Speed Force, we need to make sure Allen exerts enough energy to harness it to free… an old friend."
"I'll see what I can do to make him fast." The man smirked, observing Barry and the blonde woman beside him.
Author's Note:
So, what do you guys think?
Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this and want for me to continue.
