The Final Stretch

"This is weird."

Iris smacked Eddie on the arm.

"It's not weird," she insisted as they walked through the stands, "We're supporting Barry."

"Yeah, except Barry's not really in high school," Eddie whispered with a small laugh.

Iris laughed as they walked. It didn't take them long to find her dad in the stands. She waved cheerfully at him, but he didn't seem to see her. He was gazing out at the track field, a nervous expression on his face.

"Dad," Iris laughed as they approached him, "You look way too gloomy for a track meet."

Her dad's head snapped to look at her in surprise, and a small smile forced its way onto his face.

"Sorry," he chuckled, "Was just thinking about work."

His face still had a hint of worry occupying its features, though, as he looked back out at the track field. The team had just left the locker rooms and were now making their way onto the field.

"There's Barry!" Iris shouted excitedly, pointing out at the track field.

"Iris!" Joe hissed, giving her an urgent look.

Iris clasped a hand over her mouth.

"Whoops," she whispered, "Sorry. I meant Grant."

She couldn't help but laugh then.

"Oh, my God," she giggled, pulling out her phone to take pictures, "I haven't seen Barry in shorts since high school!"

Barry was currently standing with the rest of his team, all of them stretching and warming up for their events. He seemed to noticeably tower over the rest of his teammates, and the short running shorts he was wearing made his legs look even longer. It was similar yet so different to how he looked back in high school. Barry wasn't anywhere near the same scrawny high school kid he used to be. Iris couldn't wrap her mind around it.

When did Barry's legs get so toned?

"What is Barry running today?" Eddie asked Joe curiously, breaking Iris away from her train of thought.

Joe glanced briefly at him, peeling his eyes away from the field for only a moment. He was watching Barry like a hawk, a serious expression on his face.

"Sixteen-hundred meter," he grunted.

Eddie raised his eyebrows.

"Barry's running the sixteen-hundred?" he asked, unable to hide the surprise in his voice.

"Mm-hm," Joe replied, frowning out at the field.

Eddie nodded slowly as he watched Barry run a warm-up lap around the field.

"Impressive," he whispered.

Track wasn't really the most exciting sport, as far as spectating went. The sheer energy and school pride exhibited by East Central helped make up for that, though. There was a surprising number of people in the stands, thanks to the clement spring weather. Iris spotted Barry's friends down in the lower portion of the stands, laughing and joking around with each other as they waited for the event to start.

She couldn't help but stare curiously at them. They actually weren't so different from the guys Barry used to hang out with in high school. Granted, Barry's old friends never did drugs, but they had gone to parties every now and then, and they had certainly joked around with each other the same way Barry's friends now were in the stands. Iris wondered sadly what had ever happened to Matt and Cam. They had been Barry's closest friends in high school, but Barry hadn't talked to them in years. She supposed they hadn't been able to handle everything Barry had been dealing with in his adolescence. They were great friends, but when it came to the stuff with Barry's dad, they hadn't always been the greatest with supporting him.

How much could you really expect from a couple of high school kids, though?

And then of course there was all that stuff with Barry's girlfriend, Vanessa, senior year. Like with Becky, Barry had been so lonely and isolated at the time, he had gotten way too invested in his relationship. He just didn't want to be alone, and having a girl show interest in him had always caused him to care too much. He would put everything else on hold. School. Sports. His friends. Maybe that was why he didn't maintain his friendship with Matt and Cam. He had been too focused on other things.

After high school, it was CSI school. All Barry cared about at the time was his dad. His dad trumped everything else, even his relationships. That was why his college relationships never really worked out. It was why he had so few friends, even today. No one ever fully understood him and his aspirations. At least he had Cisco and Caitlin at STAR Labs now, and he would always have her. Barry could only maintain relationships with people who understood.

The track events passed by quickly, despite the sheer number of kids competing. It took a while before Barry's event came up, but they didn't mind waiting. It had been a while since any of them had been to any kind of sporting event, and they were just enjoying themselves. To Iris's surprise, Eddie got really into it. She knew he was a sports fan, but she hadn't expected him to get so enthused over a high school track meet. Eddie was cheering along with the rest of the crowd, though, his competitive side showing when he bounced up and down in his seat when an East Central student finished first.

Her father, however, was a different story. He was still just sitting there, a dull and somewhat worried expression on his face. When Barry walked out on the track to line up with the other runners, her dad sat up straighter in his seat, his eyes trained on Barry. Iris looked out at the field too, just as Barry looked up at them. A huge grin spread across his face when he spotted them and waved happily. When his eyes landed on Joe, though, the smile slid from his face and was replaced with a serious expression.

Barry held up two fingers then, a questioning look on his face. Iris looked over to see her dad frown and shake his head, holding up three fingers. Barry nodded and gave him a thumbs up before stooping down into his starting position.

Iris was completely baffled.

"Runners, on your marks! Get set…"

A boom of a gun, and they were off, taking off down the field at a fast but steady pace. They were running the longest event, so none of them were fully sprinting. They all paced themselves, conserving their energy as they made their first lap.

"Wow, Barry's in second," Eddie said as they completed the first loop around the field.

Iris laughed.

"What? Did you think he'd be lagging behind the group?" she joked.

"No," Eddie chuckled, "He is twenty-five, though. Most guys don't really keep in shape after college, and I've never seen Barry in the CCPD gym."

"He goes for runs in the mornings," Joe muttered absently, not taking his eyes off the field, "It's why he's always late."

"Oh," Eddie said with a shrug, "I guess that explains it. You should have seen him when we were chasing down that lead on Tony Woodward last month. The guy we were questioning took off on us, and I thought Barry had fallen behind, but then he was suddenly in front of us. He didn't even seem to break a sweat."

"Hm," Joe hummed absently, not looking Eddie in the eye.

"He's in first now!" Eddie said in shock as Barry completed the second lap.

Joe mumbled something incoherently under his breath at these words, frowning as he looked out at the field.

"What's wrong, dad?" Iris asked again, unable to ignore it anymore, "You look like you're ready to hit someone."

"Nothing," he shrugged, "I'm glad Barry's doing good. I just…hope he's pacing himself. He has two more laps to go yet."

Iris frowned as she looked back out at the field. Her dad was acting really strange. In the past, he would have been bouncing up and down in his seat at one of Barry's track events. He would have been shouting and cheering like a madman to see Barry in first. Now, all he was doing was sitting there with an intense look on his face, his hands clenched into fists. The only time she had ever seen him like this while watching a sport was during the 2007 Packer game against the Giants. She had never seen her dad look so pissed off while watching sports.

"Look at the lead Barry has!" Eddie gasped, "He's almost half a lap ahead of them!"

Iris blinked and focused on the field in front of her, just realizing now she hadn't been paying any attention. Looking now, she saw that Eddie was right. Barry was way ahead of the other boys on the track, and he didn't even seem like he was breaking a sweat! The other guys all had exhausted looks on their faces as they ran, but Barry didn't even seem winded. Iris couldn't help but cheer with the rest of the crowd.

"Go Grant!"

Something suddenly then shifted in Barry, though. He looked behind him as he ran, something Iris had never seen him do before. Really, no runner ever looked behind them while running an event. They always just focused on their goal—on reaching the finish line. When Barry turned his head back around, he had a troubled look on his face. He looked…nervous.

And then he stumbled. Out of nowhere, Barry suddenly lost his footing and stumbled slightly. It wasn't a big trip, but it was enough. He lost his momentum then. As he tried to regain his footing, Barry's pace slowed significantly. He was in the final stretch now, nearing the finish line, and Iris couldn't help but bite her fist as the other runners started to close the distance between them and Barry.

Her heart sank when one of them passed him, and then another, just before the finish line.

He finished third.

"Ah, he was so close!" Eddie shouted in frustration, punching the air.

Iris gave him a small smile.

"I think Barry will survive," she sighed, feeling just a bit disappointed herself.

Barry wasn't that invested in this anyways, though. He had told her just this morning that he wouldn't even care if he finished last. Still, though, it would have been cool to see him finish first, just to prove he was still the same track star he was back in high school.

"Barry has enough trophies," her father said, a small smile appearing on his face.

It was the first smile she had seen on his face all day.

"If only he hadn't stumbled though," Eddie groaned, still not over his disappointment, "What even happened? It was like he lost focus."

"Guess we'll have to ask Barry," Iris said quietly, turning her head to look thoughtfully out at the field.

Barry was standing with all the other runners, who were all hunched over, trying to catch their breath after the long run.

Barry wasn't even sweating.

"Barry, are you paying attention?"

"Huh?" Barry said, looking up from his phone.

Cisco rolled his eyes and pointed at Barry's textbook.

"Subjunctive verbs," he sighed.

"Right," Barry said, pocketing his phone and sitting up straighter in his seat, "Sorry, what were you saying?"

Cisco sighed and continued where he left off.

"In Spanish, you use the subjunctive form of the verb whenever there's uncertainty."

"Right," Barry said, rubbing his temples with his fingers, "And you just switch the conjugations around, right?"

"That's right," Cisco nodded, giving him an encouraging smile.

"Which would be really easy," Barry sighed, "If I knew how to conjugate them the normal way…which I don't."

Cisco sighed and dropped his head down on the cortex desk.

"Why?" he groaned, "Why the hell did Joe put you in this class? You don't even have the basics down, so how are you supposed to learn the advanced conjugations?!"

"That's what I said," Barry agreed, equally frustrated, "I don't even know how to count past ten in Spanish."

Cisco blinked at him.

"You don't even know your numbers?!"

"How would I?" Barry retorted, crossing his arms, "I've never taken Spanish, Cisco."

"Your high school didn't have it?" Cisco asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course it did," Barry shrugged, "It just wasn't mandatory, and I was more interested in science. And I never took it in college because I was going for a B.S. degree, not a B.A. I never had any reason to take it."

Cisco sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. When he looked up again, he let out a loud groan.

"Well, you're never going to learn it if you can't get off your damn phone for two seconds."

Barry didn't answer him, though. He continued to look at his phone, a small frown on his face.

"What is it?" Cisco asked, irritation forgotten when he saw the look on Barry's face.

"It's…it's a text from Singh," he answered quietly.

Without elaborating, Barry suddenly stood up from his seat.

"I'm sorry, Cisco," he said in a rush, a distressed look on his face, "I have to go. Something's happened."

Without another word, Barry flashed out of the cortex, scattering all the papers that had been on the desk in front of him. Cisco let out a heavy sigh as the papers fell around him.

"Es imposible."

Barry's stomach was in knots as he rushed into the CCPD, wasting no time in getting to the captain's office.

"Come in," Singh replied tiredly when Barry knocked.

Barry wrenched the door open immediately.

"Barry," Singh said in surprise, straightening up in his seat when Barry entered, "You got here fast."

"I was already in the area," Barry dismissed quickly, "Who was it?!"

Singh let out a heavy sigh and ran a hand over his face.

"Noah Piers," he replied, "He's a senior at East Central."

Barry's stomach twisted.

"I know him," he said quietly, "He's in my glee club."

Singh nodded solemnly.

"The M.E. is examining him now," he said, "We're almost certain it was an overdose; Dr. Griffin just has to confirm it."

Barry let out a heavy sigh and sank down in the chair across from Singh's desk. He hadn't particularly liked Noah, considering the kid had been salty towards him ever since Barry "stole" his solo, but he had never harbored any ill will towards him. The kid was harmless.

And now he was dead.

"I'm so sorry," Barry breathed, dropping his head in his hands.

"This isn't your fault, Barry," Singh assured him sadly, "It was out of your hands."

"I could have prevented it," Barry insisted, a look of anguish on his face, "If I had just found the dealer, Noah would still be alive."

"No," Singh said firmly, "This isn't on you. You've been working the case, making tremendous progress. You're doing everything you can. The only person responsible for this is the supplier."

"I haven't made that much progress," Barry disagreed, "I'm not anywhere near finding the supplier. I have no clue who it could be."

"But you've managed to infiltrate the users," Singh pointed out, "You've gained their trust. That in itself is a huge accomplishment, Barry."

"But it's not getting me anywhere," Barry gritted, clenching his fists in frustration, "I feel like I'm just chasing tails here! I know who's using the stuff, but I don't know where they're getting…"

The words died in Barry's throat, his mouth hanging open as he was struck by a sudden thought like a bolt of lightning.

"Oh my God," he whispered.

"What?"

"I have to go!" Barry blurted, abruptly standing up from his seat, "I'll touch base with you later!"

With that, Barry rushed out of the office, hurrying through the CCPD as fast as he could without running. As soon as he made it out of the building, Barry took off, moving as fast as he legs could carry him, with one destination in mind.

East Central City High School.