Characters: David Singh, Barry Allen

Pairings: None

Genres: General

Notes: Can take place any time after the confrontation in the coffee shop with Zoom.

I don't own the Flash or any affiliated Arrowverse characters.


It was obvious, really. How could people not figure it out? How were people so dense, so stupid, so blind?

More importantly, when the hell had Allen become such a good liar?

David wasn't really sure when he had figured it out; maybe it was all the hurried excuses, the bizarre "in" with STAR Labs, the constant feeling of wind around him.

Maybe it was simpler than that.

Maybe it was because he held himself higher than before, because he seemed to smile more warmly, because he had started to stand up for himself more.

Or maybe the moment that Captain Singh realized Barry Allen was the Flash was the moment Barry stood between him and Zoom and spoke with the same tone the Flash did, with a familiarity that suggested he knew the villain.

He tried to rationalize it: Barry was scared for Joe, he would do anything to protect him, he was just a kid.

But so was the Flash.

And it had been apparent even in that moment that Zoom wasn't going to touch Joe. He had wanted the rest of the force, had wanted to break the Flash, break Barry.

And Joe hadn't been a part of that initial equation.

David had.

He knew in his gut that if Barry hadn't stepped in, he'd be dead right now. He knew his husband would be dead. He knew that the city would be in ruins from the meta-humans that had been rampaging everywhere.

Captain Singh sat back in his chair and tracked Barry and Joe across the precinct with his eyes, gnawing on the end of a pen thoughtfully.

He hadn't said anything to anyone, not even Rob, and he didn't know that he was going to. Somehow, David was certain that telling Barry he knew would freak the kid out more than him just being a little nicer to him.

David jolted out of his thoughts as a knock came from his partially opened door, and he looked up to find Barry standing there, a file clutched in his hands and a mildly concerned look on his face. "Captain?"

Singh sat straight up and tossed the pen onto the desktop, gesturing Barry in. "Come in, Allen. What do you have?"

Barry hesitated for just a second, gaze flickering over David so quickly the man could have sworn he saw lightning in his eyes. "I have the evidence from the Burrows case. According to what you found at the crime scene, it looks like he's probably innocent."

He handed over the folder and stepped back a little, tucking his hands behind his back and waiting to be dismissed.

David flicked through the reports absentmindedly, skimming Barry's work and running through the hundreds of thoughts in his head screaming at him to tell Barry that he knew. Ignoring every single one of them, Singh set the folder aside and looked up at Barry, giving him a thin smile.

"Nice work, Allen. Get started on the next one, and return that evidence to its locker."

Barry nodded and turned on his heel to leave, getting all the way to the door before Captain Singh spoke again.

"And Barry?"

He turned back, a hand on the doorjamb and an eyebrow cocked. "Yes sir?"

David swallowed and clasped his hands in front of him, looking Barry in the eye and pouring as much emphasis into his words as he possibly could. "Thank you."

Barry, though he was clearly confused, nodded politely to David and left the office, leaving the man to sink back in his chair and stare up at the ceiling.

He'd never admit it to anyone, but that kid was his hero.