'you don't mess with love you mess with the truth'

It really was a curious situation when Leonard sat and thought about it, which he had done… more than he'd care to admit. It really was quite something… it was… Leonard couldn't even describe it. Barry Allen simply couldn't remember being The Flash.

His mind kept wandering back to the coffee shop, Barry hadn't done a double take when Leonard had ordered them both an 'adult hot chocolate' (secretly this amused Leonard to no end), Barry had even looked somewhat pleasantly surprised to see him which had been a big give away that something definitely wasn't right.

Leonard hadn't actually realised how much that meeting with Barry had affected him, it wasn't until the next time he'd ordered a mocha latte that he couldn't help but to stifle an amused smirk as the words 'adult hot chocolate' ran through his mind.

"You have it bad," is all Lisa had said in passing once and Leonard just knew that he'd had it bad for a long time.

The lengths to which he'd gone had surprised even him; he'd started following Barry Allen to case him as Barry Allen and not as The Flash which had been the original plan. The first plan had gone too easy all he had to do was say the right things and do the right things and Barry had trusted too easily, it was a flaw that didn't sit right with Leonard.

One night Barry had agreed to meet Cisco Ramon, Iris West and Caitlin Snow for drinks in a bar which had been overly crowded, the night progressed with Barry looking more confused than ever, Leonard supposed having amnesia would do that to people; the kid had far too many drinks. It was when some guy had ordered for a drink to be sent over to Barry that Leonard had found himself moving near the guy.

"I wouldn't try that," Leonard had said as he kept his gaze on the bottles of alcohol lined along the shelves "I heard his boyfriend is a cop."

The baby-faced guy who looked barely legal to drink looked at him with a deer-in-headlights look "Are you-" he started to pose his question when Leonard smirked at him.

"Wouldn't you like to know," he said.

He left leaving both drinks behind on the bar. It had been too easy.


After the whole 'Barry you were struck by lightning and can run super-fast' thing had almost fully sunk in, he'd felt obliged to undertake some of Caitlin's and Cisco's tests just to appease them. And hey, if he could run as fast as they said he could then wouldn't that be cool?

There had been endless blood tests, brain scans and a tonne of running on the treadmill. Barry had the odd feeling that Cisco and Caitlin had hoped to cajole his 'super-fast' speed by slowly upping the speed on the treadmill. Barry held his hand up as he panted and was currently soaked in his own sweat; he clutched his side and tried to breathe in as much oxygen as possible "Oh, water. I need water." He gasped as he sat down with his legs feeling a lot like jelly.

As he tried to get his heart down to a normal beating rhythm because Cisco had really pushed him he could just about see Cisco and Caitlin standing closely together murmuring and casting worried glances his way. Barry assumed this meant that whatever they had set out to accomplish hadn't happened.

Barry laid flat on his back as he looked up at the ceiling of the converted STAR labs room and just allowed himself to slow his breathing. His mind was still whirling with everything that he'd been told and even read. There was something nagging at his mind though, something that kept taking him back to the coffee shop where he met the strange and attractive man with the super attractive voice who bought him an adult hot chocolate. Barry couldn't be certain what it was, the feeling had intensified over the course of the past week after he'd read Iris's blog about 'The Flash'.

"Hey man, I'm so sorry about that…" Cisco said cutting through Barry's thoughts "I tried to push you and you could've really hurt yourself."

Barry waved his hand as if to dismiss it "I know you were only trying to help," he breathed "I'm the one who's sorry… if I could just… remember what-"

"No Barry," Caitlin said cutting him off "you're not to blame for this. We'll catch this meta-human with or without The Flash. That's how good a team we are."

Barry sat up and looked at the two of them "You said that it was this meta-human that did this to me," he said "can you tell me what happened again that night?" he asked.

"We were here ready to pull an all-nighter and someone tripped a silent alarm at Natalia's jewellery store," Cisco recalled "you went as The Flash and before we know it there are some weird readings on our screens and Joe finds you unconscious at the scene."

Caitlin stepped forward with her arms crossed over her chest "We ran some tests to determine the damage caused," she said "then you woke up and the damage become abundantly clear what the damage caused was."


Barry bunched his hands up in his coat pockets as he prepared himself to move and cross the street so he could revisit Natalia's jewellery store. Maybe if he was there he could jog his memory a bit, get a clearer insight into what really happened that night. He'd read on some sites that it was possible.

Upon walking across the street and entering the warm jewellery store, he moved to the counter where Joe had said he'd found Barry lying unconscious. He turned to look back at the entrance to picture it. He tried picturing himself in that red suit standing near the entrance and looking over at the counter to see… to see- nothing. He couldn't picture anything.

It was so frustrating being unable to help Cisco and Caitlin, he could see the underlying worry in their eyes every time they looked at him.

"Hi," a woman said smiling softly at him from the other side of the counter "are you looking for anything in particular?" she asked.

Barry smiled at her politely "Sorry," he apologised "just browsing." And then he turned to leave the nice warm store and head back out onto the cold streets of Central City.

If Barry remembered correctly then that coffee shop he visited the other day was just around the corner from here, at least he knew one thing on the menu that he genuinely liked to drink.

Living a life where a big chunk of memory is missing is a bit surreal, the stories he has heard about himself as The Flash genuinely stop Barry in his tracks sometimes as he thinks 'surely not me' almost as if this was some elaborate prank being pulled on him. He definitely does feel sorry for Cisco and Caitlin being stuck back at the lab working non-stop to determine how to reverse what has happened to him. Barry's trying to not hold too much hope; he can't be disappointed if the desired outcome isn't achieved then.

He's pushed the door open to the coffee shop and is immediately met with warmth which washes over him. It reminds him of the feeling when you're cold and slip into a nice hot bath; the warmth that washes over you is just too good. He joined the line and stood patiently in the somewhat little queue.

"Well…" a familiar voice said from behind him "we meet again, Barry Allen."

Barry turned to look at the slightly older man that had been playing on his mind for the past week, he was about to say something when the barista interrupted his train of thought momentarily "I remember you two, two adult hot chocolates?" she asked with a hint of amusement in her eyes.

"You want one?" Barry asked the man, eyes scanning over his face.

He inclined his head forward "Why not," he simply answered turning his lips upwards.

"Two adult hot chocolates then," Barry ordered with a smile "I'm guessing this means I'm not living this down." He added towards the man without a name.

"I'm curious though," the man said "how does one tell the difference between an ordinary hot chocolate and an adult one?" he asked his tone light and teasing.

Barry grinned at the man "Well calling it a mocha latte is just dressing it up as an adult hot chocolate, don't you think?" he said.

The man looked like he was trying to suppress a smile "Interesting way to look at it," he said.

"Do you mind if we sit and talk for a moment?" Barry asked, the question tumbling past his lips without a second thought "that is if you're not in a hurry…" he added "I just have a couple questions."

The man shrugged his shoulders lightly "I'm in no hurry, Barry." He said and Barry did his best to suppress a shiver because he loved the way he said 'Barry'.

"Two mocha lattes," the barista said placing their cups in front of them before she returned to serve another customer.

"Lead the way," The man said.

Barry nodded his head before he decided on the table in the middle of the coffee shop, he placed his cup on the table and pulled his chair back to sit opposite the man that he had a tonne of questions for.

"I don't even know your name…" Barry said "did I know your name?" he asked genuinely curious about this man's name.

The man nodded his head "You did," he answered "It's Leonard."

"Leonard," Barry said, finally a name to the face.

Leonard leaned forward in his seat slightly as he rested his forearms on the table they shared "I'll answer any questions you have," he said seriously "if you answer just one for me."

Barry nodded his head "Okay," he said.

"What happened?" Leonard asked immediately.

"I'm still trying to work that one out for myself," Barry admitted through a sigh "I guess the short version is something to do with… meta-humans," he said slowly as he watched Leonard closely for any reaction to suggest he either knew or didn't know about them "a meta-human did something and now the past year is just gone I guess."

Leonard nodded his head "Well…" he said slowly "I'm sorry to hear about that." He added and Barry briefly wondered just how sincere he was being.

"It's… it's insane," Barry said shrugging lightly "I hardly believe it myself. How do I know you?" he asked the question that had been pressing him the most.

"I'm not going to lie to you," Leonard said slowly causing Barry's stomach to sort of drop suddenly dreading the answer "You're all about saving people, a weakness I figured out upon first setting my eyes on you. I on the other hand… I plan, I wait, and I steal. I'm good at it. You forced me to up my game, forced me to become better. You'll know me better by my alias Captain Cold."

"Captain Cold," Barry said as recognition niggled at his brain "I think I read about you on a blog. I don't get it…" he murmured the last part as he moved his gaze away from Leonard… Cold… whoever he was "why are you… you bought me a drink… I should probably…" so Barry's brain probably just broke. Why was one of his rivals being somewhat nice to him?

"Oh, there's more Barry." Cold or Leonard said stopping Barry from standing up and leaving the coffee shop.

"More?" Barry asked feeling apprehensive.

Leonard nodded his head slowly (Leonard sounded better than Cold anyway). "We worked together on a job," he said "before the job we were together for a while." He added with an expression that suggested he was being completely serious.

Barry stared at Leonard, hearing his words but also not hearing him at all. If Barry's brain hadn't been broken before then it certainly was now. "Together," Barry simply said "you and me, together. Me, supposedly a city vigilante of some sorts and you, a criminal. Woah, what a crap vigilante I must have been to sleep with someone I should've been putting away."

Leonard laughed for a moment "Well when you put it like that," he said.

Barry eyed him for the moment "Why are you being honest with me?" he asked.

"No point in lying," Leonard answered simply.

"An honest criminal," Barry said trying his best to not be charmed by that voice or those eyes. That was probably his weakness before. "I hear those are hard to come by." He added.

Leonard took a sip from his drink "Apparently so," he said.

Barry remembered then that he probably shouldn't be sat sharing a drink with Leonard and enjoying the man's company. He sighed as he placed both hands round his cup "Well uh, thanks for answering my questions." He said as he stood up to leave.

"See you around Barry," Leonard said.

Barry stilled his moments for a second unsure of how to respond. "Maybe," he decided to say because even though it's a big city, it's still a pretty small world.


So his talk with Leonard earlier was still present in Barry's mind and he was pretty curious about the man. While Joe was out grabbing take-out for dinner and bringing back Cisco and Caitlin, Barry took the time to use his laptop to google 'Captain Cold'. Most of what popped up was headlines of robberies he was suspected of being involved in when one headline caught his attention: Cold aids in releasing meta-humans into Central City once more.

He clicked on it and read it twice and then a third time. This must've been the job Leonard said he worked with Barry on but Joe had told him that 'Cold' had betrayed his trust.

All Barry knew about 'Captain Cold' was that his name is Leonard; he clearly has a thing for blue parkas if these pictures are anything to go by, he's an incredibly honest criminal and he too enjoys a good mocha latte (aka an adult hot chocolate).

The front door shut and Barry had seconds to close down the laptop and greet Cisco and Caitlin.

"Hey guys," Barry said "I'm glad you could make it for dinner, I appreciate everything you've been trying to do to help me and an evening off is exactly what you two need."

Cisco grinned at him "Thanks man but you needn't thank us," he said "you're like my best friend; I'd do anything for you."

Barry enveloped Cisco into a hug before releasing him and gesturing to Caitlin if she'd want one, she stepped forward and slung her arms around his neck "Oh just hug me already," she murmured into his jumper "you really scared us when you woke up and looked freaked out to see us." She added sounding particularly emotional.

"Dinner is served!" Joe announced from the dining room.

"I was starving!" Cisco said as he patted Barry on the back before heading to meet Joe for some dinner. Barry released Caitlin from the hug.

"C'mon let's grab some dinner," he said.

Barry's sat opposite Cisco and listening intently to one of Caitlin's stories about the antics they'd get up to in STAR labs and the memories she speaks of so fondly really genuinely make Barry ache to remember them. "And Cisco's just like that's my bad, that's on me." She said before laughing once more. Barry chuckled as he watched Joe and Cisco laughing heartily over the story.

"I think I owe you two more than just dinner," Barry said "it sounds like you've saved my life on numerous occasions from what Joe has told me."

Cisco smiled at him "We're just glad to be a part of the team," he said.


Leonard paced his living room as the fact that a meta-human caused Barry's amnesia sank in. The Flash has amnesia; it was too good to be true. What he would have done for that to of happened months ago when Barry kept interfering in his jobs yet he had come to enjoy the thrill of the game they had going on.

"You should just leave this alone Len," Lisa said from the doorway, her arms crossed tightly over her chest "let Barry be happy." She added softly.

Leonard raised his eyebrows at her "I was simply curious," he said "now I know what I wanted to know, I'll get back to planning for the next job."

That definitely caught her interest as she stood a little straighter at the mention of a new job "Another one?" she asked "so soon?"

"Another one," Leonard confirmed "The Flash isn't equipped to stop us and the police stand no chance against us."

Lisa shifted her weight from one foot to the other and tilted her head sideways slightly "So…" she said.

"No Cisco Ramon," Leonard said immediately causing Lisa to sigh and hold her hands up in surrender before heading down the hallway and to the kitchen. He didn't understand what it was that his sister saw in Cisco other than his ability to create weapons similar to his gun but Leonard very much doubted that was what Lisa was interested in.

But what did Lisa know about this thing between him and Barry? She knew nothing. He still had some questions he wanted answering about the extent of this meta-human induced amnesia, was it temporary? Permanent? Perhaps it was time to pay Cisco Ramon a visit himself.


A/N: Hey guys, i'm sorry for any spelling mistakes or anything i literally whipped this up in the space of an hour and a half during my 4 hour break between uni and work! thank you all for your kind reviews, it means a lot you guys are enjoying their journey.