Chapter Thirty-Seven

"I Need This All to Go Away"

"Ow, man! Dat hurts."

Henry tilted his head back just slightly, squinting through the lenses of his glasses as he passed a combination of thread and dental floss through the skin of an inmate as he stitched them up. When he was approached with the job, he didn't ask how they got the materials to use. After his stabbing, he quickly resigned to not ask questions and to just do the work.

"Hold on, we're almost done," he replied in a low voice, glancing out of the corner of his eye to make sure no one was heading towards the inmates' cell. It was guarded by two others, but still he had to make sure. Shifting from his hunched position on the backless stool to straighten his spine, he heard a series of pops and felt some small relief as his muscles relaxed and gave him a bit more range of motion for the time being. "You're doing well. Just try not to move."

The wound was almost stitched up, but it would be going faster if the man, who referred to himself as "Major", would stop moving every time he would be stuck with a needle. Not that Henry blamed him. Without any anesthesia, there would at least be some discomfort. He was sure if he asked around Iron Heights, he could find someone with the connections to get him some from the infirmary, but that was too much of a risk.

As he carefully pulled a needle through the open flap of skin on Major's side, he knew he was running the risk of performing the procedure. Not only did he not have the necessary supplies to do the job to his best ability, but the fact that he even had the needle and thread on him to begin with was liable for many different violations of the rules. Luckily, Major had come to him with the items himself, and a couple packets of Ramen for payment, but if they were caught his otherwise good behavior probably wouldn't be able to save him.

"Alright, we're done," Henry said, ripping the excess thread after his last stitch. "Keep that as dry as you can." He sat got to his feet, giving Major enough space to sit up on his bed. "If there's any redness or swelling go to the infirmary. Otherwise, I've done all I can do. Ok?"

"Yeah, man," Major replied, gingerly pressing on his stitched up side with his fingers. Nodding in satisfaction he untied the sleeves of his jumper from around his waist and slid his arms into them before proceeding to button it. "Don' worry 'bout that. I just needed a quick fix. Speaking of." Major reached under his mattress before retrieving two packets of ramen that he threw at Henry before moving to hide the needle and wad of thread sitting on his bed. "You've earned it, Al."

"Thanks." Henry said, tucking the food packets into his jumper. Slowly stepping out of Major's cell, he looked left and right, scouting for a C.O. before making his way, as nonchalantly as he could, back to his own cell.

Standing in the doorway, he did a quick surveillance of his cell. His book still lay face down on his bed; bedding still intact, magazines still stacked on the windowsill, toothbrush and toothpaste in their place on his desk along with his other personal items. Everything looked ok. After hiding his ramen away, he retrieved his book and angled himself towards the window for what light he could use. Adjusted his glasses, he waited for his eye to adjust, for the words to come into focus, before he picked up where he left off.

"Al!"

Closing his eyes, Henry sighed, setting his book down onto his chest. Sooner or later, (in this case, later) he'd get used to the fact that he wouldn't be able to do any kind of activity without some interruption. Iron Heights was barely quiet and while he got used to the noise, at the same time, he hated it when it was absolutely silent. Things were being planned when it was silent. Henry kept his head on a swivel, when it was silent.

"Yes?" he called, setting down his book. The sound of jingling keys and footsteps neared him with each passing second before a C.O. appeared outside of his cell. "Quinn."

"You've got a visitor," Quinn said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. "Let's go."

"I'm not expecting anyone today," Henry replied, eyebrows angling towards each other in confusion. He set his thumb into the bottom of the book crease and closed it, marking his spot. Squinting at the uniformed man, he pushed his glasses further up his nose with his free hand. "Are you sure?"

"You don't ever question why the police want to talk to you, Allen," Quinn said, motioning for him to leave a second time. "I'll have you back in time for work. Come on!"

Why didn't you say so? Of course he'd have time to talk to Joe. "I'm coming." Henry set his book aside and joined Quinn outside of his cell, holding his arms out in front of him. After his handcuffs were secured around his wrists and ankles, his cell was secured and he was guided by the elbow through the halls of Iron Heights until they reached the visitation room. Nodding through the usual spiel about visitation being a "privilege not a right", and how any "funny business results in automatic removal" as they were being "recorded for their own good," Henry held his arms out in front of him, waiting to be uncuffed. "I understand."

"Good," Quinn said as he straightened, looking Henry in the eye. "Go ahead. Station 2."

"Thank you." Henry reached for the door handle and pushed it open, shuffling towards the second pod. His eyebrows lifted in surprise as he lowered himself into the chair. Reaching for the phone, he placed it to his ear, watching as the blonde man in front of him did the same. "They told me the police was here—"

"You were expecting Joe," the man said. "I apologize. My name's Eddie. Eddie Thawne." Henry rested his elbows on the counter, staring at 'Eddie'. His name sounded familiar, but where had he heard it from? And why did he look so familiar on top of that? "I'm his partner."

Henry nodded his head. Feeling his defenses lift, he scrutinized the man in front of him. "So what brings you here? Why'd you want to talk to me?"

It had been so long since he first arrived at Iron Heights, but with his picture being pushed into the news recently, everything could be starting up again. Maybe the news stations were making their rounds, or people were standing outside Iron Heights shouting their belief that he should be put on death row like years before. It was times like these where it really hit him just how cut off from the world he was, and at the same time, with all of the TVs in the main room, he could still see his mugshot plastered on the screen, or hear his name coming out of the news anchor's mouth from time to time.

"I'm the lead on a couple of investigations at the moment," Eddie explained. "One involving what seems to be a copy-cat of James Jesse's old work. I've come to ask him some questions, but I didn't want to leave and somehow you heard that the CCPD were here and you could have missed your chance to see Barry."

Henry slowly nodded. "I see," he replied. "Well, thank you. He was supposed to visit recently but he never came. Is he ok?"

"He is." Eddie shifted in his seat, using a hand to smooth down his tie. "Well, Barry's just been dealing with a lot, lately."

Henry set the phone done for a moment, running his hand over his face sliding his fingers through his hair. For a moment, he gripped a handful of his hair, pulling on it until his scalp resisted. He's working for CCPD so of course he heard about that woman's death. He pressed the phone back to his ear.

"What's wrong?" he asked. Eddie gave him a confused look. "Barry would have had to have heard about it by now. He may show up late from time to time for his visits, but he always visited no matter what. So again I ask, what's wrong?"

Eddie didn't look like he was going to answer for a moment before he let out a sigh. "Barry was suspended from the CCPD," he admitted. "For the time being."

"What?" Henry asked. He leaned forward, closer to the man sitting in front of him. "How—I don't understand."

"He and Joe both have a meeting with Internal Affairs today because, it turns out, they were at Barry's old home—your old home, sorry—hours before Sherry Covington's body was found," Eddie explained. "I know they didn't have anything to do with it, but Captain Singh would have taken them off of the case anyway because it's too close to them."

Henry slowly closed his eyes. Even behind bars he was still making Barry's life harder than it should be. "I'm sure everything will work out," he heard Eddie say. His voice sounded distant, almost like he was talking underwater. "He has Joe with him, and Averey."

Henry snapped to attention when he heard his daughter's name. Eddie's eyes widened slightly in response to Henry's narrowing. "You were at the hospital," he said, tilting his head to the side. "You were arriving when I was leaving. You know Averey." But what else? Why was his name familiar? "What did you say your name was again?"

"Eddie. Thawne."

And he's Joe's partner. "You're the police officer who helped Averey with her legal problems," he said.

"Well," Eddie stumbled over his words, nodding his head. "Yeah, but I mean, it was, kind of, my fault—"

"Thank you." Henry watched as Eddie's mouth snapped shut and confusion graced his features. You could have easily left her to do figure things out on her own, but you didn't."

"It wouldn't have been right," Eddie said, shaking his head back and forth. "I've grown up with my parents helping people as best they could. It wouldn't have been right if I didn't try to correct a mistake I made."

"I'm glad there's people like you and Joe to help Barry and Averey," Henry replied. When you couldn't be there. He cleared his throat, feeling a lump form. And when you didn't want to be there for Averey. He needed to change the subject before he broke down. He hadn't shown any emotion since his first week or so in prison; emotion was a sign of weakness and a sign that anyone could take advantage of you. "You said you were here to talk to James Jesse?"

"You know about him?" Eddie asked.

"Iron Heights feels a lot smaller than it looks," Henry replied before he moved the phone from one ear to the other. "People talk all the time. If you've lived in Central City for a while, you've heard of James Jesse at one point or another. He's the only person I know of who had a personal maximum security wing built for him a few years ago."

"Fancy," Eddie muttered as he reached into the breast pocket of his coat for a notepad and pen. He started to write quickly, holding the phone up to his ear with his shoulder. "So you were around when he had attacked Central City?"

"Yes, I remember that day," Henry replied, nodding his head. "Devastating. Absolutely devastating. It took a while for Central City to bounce back but she always does." He lifted his shoulders in a shrug before leaning forward to rest his elbows on the small, somewhat cramped, table in front of him. "She may seem like a cold city, and may turn its back on you to protect itself, but she always comes around eventually."

"Some other officers were saying that before the particle accelerator, he was considered the most dangerous individual before of his attacks on the city," Eddie explained.

"From what I understand, he treated the whole thing kind of like a joke," Henry replied. "Like, people were just expendable. It was a scary time until he was sentenced with life." He held back a laugh. People probably said the same thing about me. "Does this have to do with the explosions in downtown Central City the news keeps talking about?"

"The City Bomber, yes," Eddie replied with a nod of his head. "Our investigation has lead us to believe that this fits his M.O."

"Then I won't keep you any longer," Henry replied. "But could you tell Barry and Averey something for me?"

"Sure, anything," Eddie replied, flipping the top page of notes over for a clean sheet. "Go ahead."

"Just tell them to be careful," Henry replied. "Thanks."

"No problem. Thank you for speaking with me."

"What else do I have to do today?" he asked. Eddie paused, the tip of his pen poised over the notepad, before looking up at him. Henry chuckled to himself at the frozen look of uncertainty and fear on the man's face. Only when Henry gave a wry smile did Eddie relax.

"Good one," Eddie said, sighing in relief before moving to hang up the phone.

"Oh, one more thing," Henry said loudly, trying to catch the detective's attention. Eddie scrambled to bring the phone back to his ear, juggling it in his hands and even holding it upside down to his ear before he corrected it. "If you have some change on you, and you want James Jesse to talk, go to the vending machine and get some licuorice to sweeten him up."

"Liquorice?"

"Yes. Red, not black."

Eddie nodded as he quickly wrote down the note. "Got it. Thank you."

"Thank you. Take care." Henry hung up the phone before he got to his feet and returned through the door he had come in from. His arms lifted and he displayed his wrists for the corrections officer. "Ready to return to my cell, Quinn."

"Keep having the police around here," Quinn commented, tightening the cuffs around his wrists, "people might start looking at you sideways."

As if they don't already? Henry merely gave a nod of his head before shuffling a leg forward. Once he was contained, Quinn took him by the elbow. With a gentle tug, Henry got the cue to start moving and carefully slid his feet forward as far as the chain between his ankles could take him.

"I'm just saying," he continued in the wake of Henry's silence. "It'll look fishy. You don't want word to get out to anyone. You already had one incident here that put you in the infirmary for a few days." As they came upon his cell, Quinn regarded him with a grave expression. "I'm just looking out for you."

"I appreciate it."

As soon as his wrists and ankles were free, he climbed back onto his bed and tried to start reading again. He found his gaze drifting out the window, taking in what little view of the city he had. One of these days he was sure he'd catch sight of the infamous streak of lightning zipping through town. Until then, he'd watch proudly from afar and dream of the day he'd be able to see it in person outside the walls of Iron Heights.

Fighting the urge to check the time on his phone, Barry sighed heavily, his gaze shifting upwards towards the ceiling. What is taking them so long? He knew when he moved quickly time seemed to slow down but this was ridiculous!

"You know, sooner or later, you're going to tire yourself out."

Spinning around to start his next pacing lap, he faced Cisco, Joe, and Averey who were sitting in the cushy chairs outside of the conference room, waiting to be asked in to be questioned. Joe had his hands in his lap, twiddling his thumbs, Averey sat straight in her seat, one leg crossed over the other, staring at her phone, and Cisco was slouched in his seat, spinning his tie in a circle.

"That's funny," Barry mused with a half smile as he started his next lap taking him closer to them. "If you keep doing that, you'll take off and hover above the ground." Barry had never felt tired since he got his abilities. Mentally and emotionally, sure, but physically, it was like every rotation of his legs funneled more energy back into him. After quick repeated surges of speed, he could be out of breath, but was so in shape that he could quickly recover. The specially created energy bars helped, too. "What time is it?"

"Five minutes past the last time you asked me," Joe replied in his smooth voice, never taking his eyes off the spot on the wall where they were transfixed.

"Which is ten ticks past the last time you asked, I reckon," Averey added.

"And you still haven't given me a straight answer," Barry pointed out. He dropped into the empty chair beside Cisco. Cisco stopped spinning his tie to look up at his friend. Barry took on a raspy voice and asked, "What have I ever done to make you treat me so disrespectfully?"

"Good one," Cisco replied, instantly picking up on his Godfather reference. "No, but seriously, Barry, quit asking. It's making time go even slower."

"Time is always slow when work doesn't take up half my day," Barry replied.

"No problems," Averey replied, waving her hand in the air, still staring at her phone. "These things take time. They'll talk to us when they're ready."

"I don't know how you're so calm about this," Barry replied before he ran his hands over his face.

"Because I've spent more time how you thought that tie was a good idea to wear."

"Wait, what?" he dropped his hands into his lap before looking down at his silver paisley tie. He looked over at Cisco for backup and he just shrugged his shoulders. "It's—it's that bad?

"It doesn't go with anything you're wearing!"

"I love this tie."

"I got him that tie," Joe added.

Averey opened and closed her mouth, peering over at the older man over the top of her phone. "Ohhh," He lifted his eyebrows at her. She cringed before seeming to curl in on herself in her chair. "You know, I've gotten really good at reading people's faces over the years and I have the feeling yours is telling me to stop talking." Joe smiled. Lifting her phone back over her face, Averey said in a squeaky voice, "I'll just be quiet. Ignore me."

Glancing at the closed, heavy doors, Barry let out his umpteenth sigh. The only time he had ever been on this particular floor of the precinct was during his initial tour of the building. From what he gathered, unless you were on a big case, you never wanted to be waiting on that floor. Sometimes, people never returned after a visit to the third floor.

Nudging Cisco in the side with his shoulder, he asked, "How did Dante's birthday go?"

"That party was, like, three days ago, dude," Cisco said, lifting an eyebrow. "Get with the times." He added a neck roll for effect. "It was fine." Barry smiled in laughter despite rolling his eyes. "I'm sorry this is happening, Barry. I can't imagine how hard it is for you."

"Yeah." Barry started tapping his fingers faster on his arm rests. "That's ok. Thanks, Cisco. I mean, I don't regret going there because it means I'm getting closer to finding out a way to save my mom. Somehow I get back there that night."

"Yeah, but you never would have joined the police department if it wasn't for what happened," Cisco reminded him. "It must be hard to not be working right now." Barry was silent. "I know how that feels; to have all your hard work just taken from you."

Barry closed his eyes and slowly let out a breath of air, feeling himself relaxing. Of course he'd understand. He nodded his head, sharing a moment of understanding between the two of them. "I know you do. Thanks." He shifted in his seat to face his friend. "And I'm sorry I didn't stop by the party. We haven't hung out in—"

"Try forever," Cisco pointed out to him, "not that I've been keeping track."

Barry cracked a smile. "Of course not," he replied. "We still need to finish our Game of Thrones binge watch before the next season starts."

"You know it." Cisco lifted his fist and Barry bumped it with his own. "Seriously, you didn't miss much with Dante's party. It was the suck up party of the year like I anticipated."

"It couldn't have been that bad," Barry replied.

"Well, not all of it," Cisco admitted. "Mom's food was pretty bomb, as usual." He started to repeatedly clear his throat around his words. "But—cough, cough—there was—achem—something else." Barry pulled a face as Cisco slapped at his sternum with his hand, tilting his head to the side.

"Do you want some water?" Barry asked half sarcastically.

"Yes. Water. Good." Cisco practically leapt to his feet, making his way in the direction of the water cooler. Finding himself amused and curious, Barry pulled himself to his feet and followed Cisco around the corner.

"Gossip around the water cooler," Barry mused resting an arm on top of the water container. Cisco reached for the stack of paper cups attached to the side. "That went out of fashion the second the Keurig was invented." Cisco tilted his head back and quickly swallowed the water he just filled his cup with. "Or maybe it was as social media grew. So, what's up?"

"Averey and I, kind of, went on a date," Cisco replied, crushing the paper cup in his hand. Barry's eyebrows lifted. "After Dante's party." When he got no response, he lifted his free hand and waved it in Barry's face. "Bare? Say something."

He didn't know what to say. Or how to react. Part of him had a feeling that something happened between the two of them with how they acted around STAR Labs. Another side of him felt somewhat protective. Cisco had grown to be one of his best friends but at the same time, he had the urge to pummel him. Either way, he managed an encouraging head nod and a light, "Good! Good for you. I mean, you've wanted to ask her out for a while."

"Yeahhh," Cisco replied, "but she, actually, asked me out."

"Really?"

Cisco made a face of mock annoyance. "Don't sound too surprised," he said. Barry pressed his lips together and Cisco waved his hand in the air. "That's ok, I knew what you meant. I was surprised, too."

"No wonder you two have been acting so strange around STAR Labs," Barry said with a knowing smile. Cisco gave him a confused look and Barry stuck him with a pointed stare. Lowering the pitch of his voice he said, "Hi," and speaking in a falsetto he said, "Hi, back," imitating Cisco and Averey's voices.

"Ok, ok." Cisco rolled his eyes, despite the half smile on his face, shifting his weight from foot to foot.

"So, what happened?" Barry pressed. "I want to know; you've been working up the nerve to ask her out for a while."

"Ha!" Cisco clapped his hands together. "After suffering through Dante's 'appreciation party' Caitlin had said that she was tired and was going to head home."

"You sure that wasn't just an excuse so you two could be alone?" Barry asked, a thoughtful look on his face.

"I considered that, too," Cisco admitted, "but she had made a comment about Ronnie then didn't really look like she was in the mood to hang out so…" He shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows with girls? I'm just glad she took the time to hang out and try to forget things for a while."

Barry slowly nodded his head. Caitlin and Ronnie, or rather Professor Stein in Ronnie's body, seemed to get along fine while they were both in STAR Labs. He could see that his general presence bothered Caitlin at times. He couldn't imagine what it was like for her to see her ex-fiancé walking around, hearing his voice, and on occasion having the old Ronnie back.

"Anyway, I didn't realize she was asking me out at first," Cisco explained, regaining Barry's attention, "or the fact that she had been flirting with me the whole time." He put his hands up defensively. "Don't ask, I don't even really know how I managed that." Barry shrugged; he had missed a fair few signals over the years. "So we went to the promenade and just walked around for a while, just talking—which is funny, because I used to find that pretty hard to do."

"Yeah, I get it." Barry couldn't help but have his thoughts drift back to Iris. She knew him better than anybody else, he was most comfortable around her, and at the same time he was the most on edge around her.

At times, he found himself working hard to come up with a topic to talk about even though he was comfortable hanging out with her in silence. In his attempt to not let his feelings be obvious to her, he tried hard to feel casual and laid back around her. That led into feeling stupid for some of the topics he chose, or he was embarrassed for getting excited over something she didn't understand.

He spent too much time after a simple conversation replaying it in his mind, thinking about how lame he sounded, or thinking of how their banter could've gone a different way. Or maybe, how he could have finally let her know how he felt way earlier than he did. Then maybe she wouldn't be with Eddie…

Barry hid the face he pulled by lifting his hand over his face to run his fingers through his hair. Just deal with it, Barry. She and Eddie are together now. And you're still good friends, you still have that.

"So then we realized it was getting late and was calling it a night, and talking about a second date. Annnnd." Cisco held out the word as he scrutinized Barry. A second later he plastered a bright smile on his face. "That's it! I took her home."

"Uh huh." Crossing his arms over his chest, he twisted his mouth to the side. Cisco started to rock back and forth on his heels as the silence stretched between them. "That's it?"

"Mmhmm."

"Ok," Barry said, unconvincingly, "let me just speed things up a little, no pun intended." He clapped his hands together before pointing his index fingers at Cisco. "Did you two, well, didyoukiss?" Once the words were out of his mouth and he realized what it was he had asked, he slapped his hands over his ears. "Actually, no, I don't want to know."

"Ok," Cisco replied with a shrug.

Barry didn't know if that answer was better or worse than knowing what might have happened between him and Averey. He removed his hands from over his ears before slowly lowering them before he crossed his arms over his chest. Leaning against the wall, silence passed between the two of them only Cisco seemed comfortable with it, while Barry was growing more anxious by the second.

"Ok, tell me!" he announced. "I have to know." Cisco's lips curled upwards into a smirk, almost as if he knew that Barry would crack.

"Well—"

"No, don't!" Barry interrupted him again. "Nononono, no, no."

"Are you sure?" Cisco asked, peering curiously at his friend.

Oh, definitely. Barry nodded repeatedly.

"I mean, you're not going to give me the 'big brother' speech or anything?"

"No," Barry replied. "Because you and I both know Averey can take care of herself and, if she wanted, she could beat the stuffing out of you." Cisco gulped. "We have a pipeline of metahumans that can back up that statement." He gently punched Cisco's shoulder. "Besides, I know you're a great guy and so does Ave."

"The thing is, is that she had said that the only reason she hadn't ever really shown any interest in me—not that I would even notice, apparently—is because she was worried about if other people knew," Cisco explained. "Other metas, I mean. I mean, they haven't exactly been the nicest people we've met."

"Ohhh." Barry nodded his head. Scratching the back of his neck, he shifted his weight from foot to foot and sighed. "Look, Cisco, when I first told Oliver about everything, and about Iris, he pretty much told me to give up on her. Because it's so hard to do what we do and have a relationship."

"I know," Cisco replied. His lips lowered into a frown. "You think it's for Caitlin, Dr. Wells, and I to watch you guys go off to fight a metahuman while we're back at STAR Labs watching, waiting, and hoping you'll come back relatively unscathed?" Barry shrugged. "We all worry about you guys and we know what we're risking every time you go out there."

"Speaking of which. Dr. Wells," Barry said, speaking slowly. He knew now was a really bad time to bring it up, but being away from STAR Labs, it was probably the only time he could bring it up. Cisco lifted his eyebrows in a silent prompt to speak his mind. "What are his thoughts on this? I mean, people already talk badly about STAR Labs, if they were to find out an employee was at Mrs. Covington's home before she was found…"

"He's not very forthcoming with his feelings," Cisco replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "I think he's more worried about you to be honest. Dr. Wells loves his work, but, he's always done his best to make sure his employees were ok." He scratched the side of his jaw. "I'm sure he'd be here for support, but I think he said he went to visit Dr. McGee today."

"Dr. McGee? Why?"

"He mentioned that with the symposium coming up, he wanted to make sure things ran smoothly for her." Barry lifted his eyebrows in surprise. "Mercury Labs may be the Facebook to our Myspace nowadays, but even I can admit they're working on some pretty cool things. If rumors are to believed."

"He knows Dr. McGee pretty well, right? I think I remember reading about her in Wells's book.

"They went to school together," Cisco replied with a nod. "What's up?"

"Just wondering." Barry swallowed thickly. He held his hand over his mouth, pads of his fingers stroking his cheeks before he blurted out, "Sherry Covington's body was left for me. Like a warning."

"I—what?" Cisco asked. He blinked repeatedly and shook his head. "What?"

"Mmhmm." Barry nodded solemnly.

"I mean, I know life has been like the movies lately," Cisco said with a scoff, "but that's a bit too on the nose don't you think?"

Barry laughed quietly before moving closer to Cisco, lowering his voice. "When her body was found, there was a note found on her," he explained. "The note said, 'Are you sure your city is safe?' She was murdered while we were in Starling." He bowed his head, shaking it from side to side before he looked up at his friend. "Cisco, the only other person who knew the Flash wasn't in town at the time was Dr. Wells."

"So, what, you think Dr. Wells is the Reverse Flash?" Cisco asked.

"I don't know, I mean, yeah. I just—"

"Barry, Cisco." Joe's voice drifted over to them and Barry moved away from the water cooler to find him. Rounding the corner, he nearly ran into his foster father. "Sorry, Bare, I didn't see you." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "They're ready to speak to us, now. Let's go."

"Yeah, ok," Barry nodded, suddenly feeling nervous. He motioned behind him. "I'll just get Cisco."

"Everything will be ok, Bare," Joe said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I know it will."

"Yeah," Barry agreed with a nod. He attempted a smile. "I know. It's good that you're here. I know you didn't really have a choice, but, I appreciate it. I know you'd be here either way."

"Of course." Joe matched Barry's smile with one of his own. "Just don't take long."

Barry nodded and gave him a thumbs up before turning on his heels to get his friend. "Come on, Cisco we have to go." Cisco didn't reply, but continued to stare off into space, his jaw hanging open just slightly. "Cisco?" When he didn't get an answer, Barry started waving his hand in front of his face. "Cisco!"

"Yeah?" Cisco blinked repeatedly before pushing Barry's hand away. "Sorry, I just zoned out there for a second. What were you saying?"

"They're ready to see us," Barry replied, looking at Cisco with concern.

"Oh, ok." Cisco puffed out his chest and used his hands to smooth down his tie. "Let's go."

Barry led the way to the CCPD conference room. As soon as he opened the door, everybody turned to face him. Men and women he recognized in passing (as he entered or left the precinct each day), stared at him, stone faced as he made his way to one of the last couple empty chairs across from them.

"Well, I guess we'll just get started," the graying man sitting straight across from Barry said after clearing his throat. "Speaking for the record, we are gathered to find a conclusion in the investigation against Detective Joseph West, assistant forensic scientist Bartholomew Allen, STAR Labs employee, Francisco Ramon, and CC Jitters employee, Averett Allen."

"Moore," Averey quickly corrected the man.

Barry felt his eyes widen before glancing at Joe out of the corner of his eye (who didn't give any sort of response) before he looked past Cisco to Averey who looked just as surprised and confused as he did. "How did you know about that?"

"Mr. Allen, it's our job to know and understand the background of those we have opened an investigation with. However, I apologize for the confusion, and will refer to you appropriately from now on."

"Cheers," Averey said as more a question. "I think."

"Thank you all for taking your time to come in this morning. This investigation is headed by myself, Lieutenant Donovan, and my colleagues Lieutenant Chapman, Lieutenant Flynn, Sargeant Blake, Sargeant Hicks, Sargeant Cobb, and Sargeant McBride." The men and women sitting across from Barry nodded as their names were announced. Lieutenant Donovan cleared his throat as he gathered the stack of papers in front of him and tapped it against the table to straighten them.

"Now, we have it on record that you, Mr. West, were seen entering the home with Mr. Ramon earlier in the day. Then later in the evening you returned with Mr. Allen, and were joined by Mr. Ramon, and Ms. Moore. Is that correct?"

"What are we being investigated for, exactly?" Joe asked. "Excessive force, abuse of power, criminal violations? What?"

"We'd just like to get all the facts for this case, Mr. West," Lieutenant Donovan said. His small smile somewhat took the edge off of his pressing tone. "If you'd like to answer the question."

Barry looked over at Joe and found him blinking at Lieutenant Donovan's response before he shifted to sit straighter in his seat. "I had previously been given special permission to gain entry to the Covington home," Joe explained after clearing his throat, "by Mrs. Covington herself. Off duty, I might add."

"As Captain Singh has notified us," Lieutenant Donovan said, "when he explained to us why you were removed from the case to begin with. That you were too close to the case."

Obviously. Barry bit back the snarky comment. Pressing his lips together, he slowly breathed in through his nose, and out of his mouth. Seriously; why was it that time chose this moment to go extremely slow? Why wasn't there a way for them to speed through all of this? He had seen how long other police officers weren't working for other, minor infractions.

How long would they be out now? Every day he didn't have access to his lab was another day that people could find all the info and evidence he had gathered surrounding his mom's case all these years. On the other hand, it gave him more time in STAR Labs to keep an eye on Dr. Wells.

"I wasn't arresting anyone," Joe replied, "nothing that needed me to step in with what little power I could have over a situation. Nothing that involves paperwork."

"Detective, we're just trying to understand what happened to Mrs. Covington."

"She's dead," Averey replied. "Reckon that's not hard to figure out." All eyes shifted towards her. Barry bit back the laughter that suddenly wanted to burst out of his mouth. "Sir."

"For the record, Mr. Allen," Sargeant Cobb said, finally removing her gaze from Averey after an extended stare, "we are truly sorry about what happened with your family." She blinked, shifting in her chair and added, "You as well, Ms. Moore."

"Thanks," Barry mumbled in reply. He started tapping his thumbs on the wooden table top before lifting his eyes to the clock hanging on the wall. Maybe the batteries were dying. There was no way the second hand was really moving that slowly. How long was this going to take? What kinds of questions did they have planned?

"What was the reason behind wanting access to the Covington home?" Sargeant Cobb asked.

Barry fought the urge to correct the head investigator by reminding him that the house was his home and no one else's. "I was feeling down lately about my parents' situation and Joe thought it would be a good idea to go back to my house," he explained.

"Why not go to the cemetery?"

"With the 15th anniversary coming up quickly…" His knuckles popped as he tightly took a hold of the arm rests of his chair, "cemeteries don't have memories." It had already taken him years to visit his mom's grave the first time, he wasn't in a hurry to go back. Cemeteries were so lonely, so quiet, so final. "I'd avoided it for so long, but with what people are calling the Reverse-Flash around, I started thinking about it again."

"And this Reverse-Flash you believe is the one who killed your mother?"

"I don't believe he did it, I know he did."

"Mr. Allen, the night of your mother's murder, everything pointed towards your father—"

"My dad did not kill my mom," Barry insisted, his voice growing louder with each word. "He never would have done that." Leaning forward in his feet, he jammed the tip of his index finger onto the table. "I'm telling you that this guy in the lightning, the Reverse-Flash, was the one who did it." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cisco bow his head, shifting in his seat.

"Sir, I've worked countless of cases," Joe spoke up, placing a hand on Barry's shoulder. "I will admit that what occurred was one of the strangest crime scenes I have witnessed."

"Weren't you the responding officer to the scene, Detective?" Lieutenant Flynn asked. His voice sounded gravelly and almost like he had something caught in his throat. "Even you believed that Henry Allen, one of your oldest friends I might add, was responsible for Nora Allen's murder."

"I did believe that for a long time," Joe admitted. "But new developments have been brought to my attention. Developments that have made me believe Barry and what he knows happened that night."

"And those developments would be?" Lieutenant Flynn started writing on the legal pad by his hand.

"Metahumans," Joe, Barry, Cisco, and Averey replied in unison.

The members of Internal Affairs stared at the four of them, blinking repeatedly. Lieutenant Donovan was the first to talk after pointedly clearing his throat. "I see," he replied, folding his hands in his lap. He bobbed his head back and forth. "Central City has seen some strange occurrences since the particle accelerator went online."

"Sooo why is it you can understand that, but you won't believe Barry?" Cisco asked, shaking his head back and forth. "I know the city has changed since that day. My colleagues and I are studying as much as we can about what occurred, but it's like you all want to push it under the rug when it conveniences you."

"Or when you can't explain it yourselves, yeah?" Averey added. She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment before saying quietly, "It's hard to protect people from things you don't fully understand."

"We are trying to keep everyone in this Central City safe to the best of our abilities," Lieutenant Chapman said in a tight voice, adjusting his tie. "And part of that is to understand the circumstances around those who last saw Mrs. Covington. Now, to get back to the case…"

The questions kept coming one right after another, each Lieutenant and Sargeant speaking when it was their turn, starting from one end and reaching the other before starting the cycle over. Why was Cisco at the house with them that night ("I helped Barry when he was in his coma at STAR Labs. We've become good friends, so I thought it'd be good if I went."), why was Averey there ("Hadn't been to the house in years, if it helped Barry, I said I'd go."), at exactly what time did they arrive at the house, why did they stay so long, what were they doing inside that whole time, had they heard from Mrs. Covington that night, what was the cause of the shouts and crashes heard from the neighbors, and on, and on, and on. The tone of the questions started out light, curious even, growing to become more imperative and short the longer they were in the room.

Barry recognized the tactic. Questions would be asked in different ways at different times to try and throw them off, or goad them into a false answer. Assumptions would be made to try and bring an emotionally charged answer, and if the light red tinge that covered his visual plane had anything to say about it, it was starting to work on his last nerve.

He looked around the room, grateful to know he still had a way out unlike the interrogation room he was trapped in years ago. All the hours he spent being interrogated at the age of 11 by police officers being asked the same questions over and over again, he could never get back and it was happening all over again.

"Barry was just looking around the house," Cisco explained, sounding tired. As the time passed he had slumped lower and lower in his seat. "He hadn't been in there since, you know. He wanted to get closure, that's all." He tucked his hair behind his ears before dropping his hands into his lap. "We went into the house, waited for him to look around, made sure he was ok."

"But why go that night?"

For real? "Oh, I'm sorry I didn't plan it better," Barry said sarcastically before Cisco could answer. He chuckled before lifting a finger into the air. "In fact, did you know, I travelled through time to the future and knew that it was the perfect time to revisit my childhood memories?"

"Barry," Joe said in his low, warning tone.

The red color was slowly turning more and more vibrant. Clearing his throat and swallowing thickly, Barry tried to relax his muscles, relax his body, but he couldn't. He couldn't stop his frustration, anger, and rapid fire thoughts he buried deep down for years from bursting out in a rush.

"I'm sorry I didn't schedule when I finally decided to go and face my past and run it by you," he said through clenched teeth, "I'll be sure to let you know ahead of time the next time I decide to take a trip down memory lane."

"Hey," Cisco said, placing a hand on Barry's shoulder. "Calm down, Bare, it's ok."

"No, it's not."

"Mr. Allen, it's customary that we ask these questions to get all the answers we need," Sargeant Blake insisted. The ends of his bushy mustache fluttered with each breath he took.

"Yeah, ok." Barry snorted. "What does this have to do with our current situation?"

"Witnessing a devastating trauma the likes of this at such a young age can result in many behavioral changes," the Sargeant replied. "We have noticed a startling pattern of lateness and aggression with you as of late, Mr. Allen. Patterns that have come to our attention from Captain Singh, I might add."

"Gee, I wonder why?" Barry said with an odd smile. "Maybe because a lot of you people never want to believe anything until it's sitting right in front of your face."

"Barry!" Now Barry ignored Averey. It was like Cisco said, they could believe that metahumans were causing strange occurrences around town, but even if they have a semi-copy-cat kill on their hands, they don't want to believe that someone like the Reverse-Flash wasn't involved?

"Look, you weren't there that night, ok?" he asked, eyes narrowing. "You didn't see how terrified my mom was, or how helpless me and my dad were. I don't know how I got out of that house that night. I don't know how I turned up miles away, but it all happened!" He swallowed thickly. "And it's happening again. Sherry Covington died the exact same way in the same place my mom did. This was a warning."

Sargeant Blake slowly nodded his head before he started writing quickly on his own legal pad. "There were no problems with your parents? With their marriage?" he asked.

Barry stared at the Sargeant until he lifted his head to look him in the eye. "My parents loved each other," he replied.

"Good." Sargeant Blake's eyes shifted over towards Barry and he stiffened. He and Averey were close in age, only born months apart. Of course another child from another mother would indicate something wrong with a marriage. But, he wasn't lying. Anyone that would see his parents knew that they truly were meant to be together. Barry's eyes narrowed. What was his plan?

"While you were at the Covington home, Ms. Moore, did you take anything from the house?" Lieutenant Donovan asked, suddenly switching topics.

Averey was thrown off guard as she sat silently staring at the man before finally asking, "Sorry?" Barry turned his head to watch one of Averey's eyebrow lift, the other lower in a gaze that was half confusion and half taken aback.

"When you were at the Covington home, did you take anything on your way out?" Lieutenant Donovan repeated.

Averey opened and closed her mouth before placing a smile on her face, folding her hands on the table. "With all due respect, sir," she said through her smile, "I understood your abrupt question. I just wanted you to clarify why you were asking in the first place."

"Please correct me if I'm wrong." Lieutenant Donovan started shifting through the stack of papers in front of him before coming upon papers stapled together, removing it from the pile. "You spent three months in jail while awaiting trial for a shoplifting charge before being given a year of probation." He set the stapled paper down onto the table before sliding it towards her. "Yes?"

Barry watched as Averey's face went stony when her mug shot stopped in front of her. She didn't move to take it, instead pulled her hands back from the paper as if worried it would bite her. The Averey in the picture was different then who was sitting in the room. In the picture, her hair was shorter and messier with light brown streaks; she looked tired with her makeup smudged around eyes gazing straight ahead filled with worry, fear, and what looked like the start of tears. If he hadn't witnesses the fear and worry or seen it in her eyes in person, he would've thought he was looking at an entirely different person.

From where he was sitting, Barry could make out bits and pieces of the criminal record. There was one entry under total arrests, and breaking that down even further, zeroes and ones sat beside some of the abbreviated categories; one misdemeanor conviction, nothing under the juvenile category, no warrants, no open probations, and one expired probation followed by information he couldn't read from his angle.

"Ms. Moore?"

A muscle in Averey's jaw twitched as she pressed her lips together, staring down at her own picture. Cisco slapped is hand down on top of the paper (Barry jumped at the sudden sound interrupting the silence), covering the pictured Averey's face. Sliding the printed criminal record towards him, he flipped it over to the back and pushed it back towards the Lieutenant. Barry smiled.

"I didn't take anything from the house," Averey said quietly, talking more to the table then the people sitting in front of her.

"But you, in fact, were arrested for alleged gang activity—"

"Those charges were dropped."

"-and shoplifting before being held in Keystone City Jail for three months for the latter charge?"

"Yes."

"Ok. Now—"

"But," Averey stressed, lifting her head to look the officer in the eye, "I wouldn't be stupid enough to pinch something from a house with a bloody police officer present." Cisco placed his hand on top of Averey's, stroking her skin with his thumb.

"Sir," Joe spoke up, trying to break into the back and forth between the officer and young woman, "While I understand your need for these questions, I'm sure anything missing would have appeared in a crime scene report."

"Look, yes, we were at the Allen house before Sherry Covington was found murdered, but we had left way before she had turned up stabbed through the heart," Cisco said. "But, we didn't have anything to do with that like we've explained."

"Over and over and over," Averey added.

"It's important that we have our facts straight—"

Blah, blah, blah! Barry let out a sigh of annoyance and slapped his hands on the table, standing up so fast that the force of the backs of his knees hitting his chair nearly made it fall over.

"Maybe if this god damn police department actually did their jobs, and didn't rely on the rest of us who go out day after day to face these things, you wouldn't have had two women," he jabbed himself in the chest with his thumb, "one of them being my mother—facing the same fate and you would have your god damn facts straight!" Barry snarled.

Trying to get to the bottom of a crime, he could understand, but bringing up inner office worries, implying that his parents were having problems with their marriage, Averey's prior arrest, and masquerading a railroad interrogation as a commonplace question and answer session made him lose it—as professionally as he could. Pressing his weight onto his hands stopped himself from leaping across the table and doing whatever thought would stick in his mind for even a second.

The silence was unnerving as he sat back down. It was even more noticeable then it had been before. Joe let out a sigh through his nose, running a hand over his face. Barry mumbled an apology to Joe, as he dropped back down into his seat, quickly realizing he had insulted him. Seeing how hard Joe worked day in and day out, he didn't deserve to be added into Barry's outburst. At the same time, it took Joe a long time to admit that he could have been wrong in blaming Barry's dad for his mom's death. Barry thought he got over that a long time ago.

"Are we done?" he asked in a tight voice.

"Yes, well," Lieutenant Donovan shuffled and reshuffled the papers in front of him. He looked at the men and women to his left and right who gave slight nods of their heads. "That will be all. We've had all of our questions answered. We'll discuss this further with all of the information we have and let you know of our final decision. Once again, thank you for coming in, today."

Barry was instantly on his feet and out the door before anyone could offer so much as a handshake towards him. Trying to use his breathing to calm himself down, he paced back and forth in the hallway, hands clasped tightly in front of his mouth. After a long breath of air outwards, his pacing slowed, legs barely moving until he collapsed against a wall, tears filling his eyes. His lips quivered as he dabbed at his eyes with the cloth that covered his wrist before he curled his fingers into a fist, slamming the bottom of his fist into the wall.

Feeling a hand on the small of his back, Barry cracked open his eyes and came face to face with a shimmering Iris. Blinking rapidly, he cleared his eyes of the tears that were waiting to fall and took in the look of concern on her face.

"Iris."

"I tried to get here earlier," Iris explained, using her hand to wipe at his cheeks. Barry sniffed, trying to stop himself. "Mr. Larkin wanted me to stick around CCPN just in case anything with the Flash came up. He had me fact checking for Mason Bridge. Plus my advisor has been hounding me for the edits on my thesis and I needed to send it in." All Barry could do was nod his head, the lump in his throat still making it hard to speak. "But, I'm here now. What do you need?"

Barry sighed, feeling himself relax for the first time since he set foot in the building that morning. Leave it to Iris to always say the right thing. Even when he was talking back to Joe, taking his anger out on Iris, or making her take the brunt of Joe's anger and worry when he tried multiple times to run away, she was always there whenever he calmed down to make sure he got whatever it was that he needed. Whether it was an ear to listen, someone to sit in silence with, someone to take a walk around the city with, or someone to call him out for being a jerk, Iris would play the role for him.

"I need this all to just go away," Barry replied, his voice dry and cracking. He crossed his arms over his chest. "I swear, if it's not one thing it's something else."

"It's over now," Iris said, grasping what part of his hand she could. "Now we just have to wait for you and dad to be cleared, and we both know you will be. You're a hard worker, you see things other people don't, and dad has years of the CCPD under his belt. People will vouch for you and this will all be cleared up soon. It'll all be ok." She cupped his cheek with her hand. "I promise."

Barry nodded, placing his hand on top of hers. Attempting to swallow the lump in his throat, he nodded his head. "I know," he said quietly. "God, Iris, I really needed to hear that. Thank you for coming."

"Of course, Barry," Iris said, moving to give him a hug. "You and did will be cleared." Barry wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her tightly. It was always comforting to know how calming, secure, and supportive a simple touch from her could feel. She gave him a smile as she stepped back from him, tucking her hair behind her ears. "Eddie's put in a good word for you, too."

Barry pressed his lips together before taking the hand Eddie held out towards him, shaking it. "I've had a few run-ins with Internal Affairs myself," Eddie explained. "It helps to have someone in your corner."

"Really?" Barry asked, lifting his eyebrows. The thought of someone like Eddie showing some sign of not being as perfect as he gave off, made him want to smile in satisfaction. At the same time, he didn't want anyone to have to go through what he just did.

"It's part of the reason why I was transferred to Central City, actually," Eddie replied with a solemn nod. Iris looped an arm around Eddie's waist, her other hand, caressing his arm. She gave him a reassuring smile, and he kissed her on the side of her head. "But those guys," he nodded his head towards the room Barry just vacated, "they don't want good people like you to lose their jobs. They want to know everything that happened so they can figure out a way to help if you need it. Just like I did."

"Yeah, they were certainly trying to be helpful when they kept insinuating that my parents' failing marriage fueled the rage in my dad for him to stab a knife through my mom's heart," Barry said, deadpan. "It was also cause to grill Averey about her prior arrest."

Eddie stared at him for a moment, blinking before his gaze darkened. "What?" he asked, sharply. Barry nodded and Eddie sighed, his expression cleared. "Thanks. Iris, do you mind if I talk to Averey for a minute?"

"Go ahead," Iris replied, patting his arm.

Eddie took a step before turning back towards Barry. "I saw your dad today," he said and Barry's eyebrows lifted in surprise, "I was at Iron Heights to speak with James Jesse about the City Bomber; seems whoever is pulling a copy-cat stunt is following his M.O. I talked to your dad so he wouldn't feel like he missed the chance to see you."

"Did he say anything?" Barry asked.

"To be careful," Eddie replied, stepping past him. "The both of you; you and Averey. Excuse me."

Iris watched him go before turning back to Barry. "So you went to your old home." Tilting her head to the side, she gave him a curious look, a hint of a smile on her face. "Why didn't you tell me you wanted to go visit? You know I would have gone with you."

"I know you would have," Barry replied, "it was just kind of a spur of the moment thing." He scratched at the back of his head. He attempted a smile. "Besides, you've been moving on to great things with your life, I didn't want to hold you back."

"You could never do that and you know it," Iris insisted, shaking her head. "You know I'm here for you. Always. That's what best friends are for." She sighed, adjusting her purse on her shoulder. "And as your friend, I wanted to apologize for how things were when we went bowling."

"Bowling?" Barry repeated. "That was—it was fun. I didn't notice anything wrong. What do you mean?"

"I mean, you and I kind of monopolized the conversation when you should have taken the time to get to know Linda better," she replied with a shrug. "I had a hand in that. So, sorry." Barry gave her a curious look and Iris laughed quietly. "Linda just had this idea that I could have feelings for you but I told her that we're just friends and that kind of stuff happens when we're hanging out together." She gave Barry a sly smile. "She really seems to like you."

"That's great," Barry replied.

"Yeah." Iris nodded her head before stepping closer to Barry, lowering her voice. "And, I also wanted to let you know that Mason Bridge has a growing fascination with STAR Labs and Harrison Wells. He knows, through me, that you hang out over there a lot and he's trying to find a story to write about."

"At this point, who isn't?" Barry asked, suddenly feeling tired. "If it's not about my family it's about STAR Labs." When will it end? He already knew the answer to that; he just needed the Reverse-Flash to make an appearance again or figure out how to go back to the night his mom was murdered. Whichever came first. "Thanks for letting me know."

"Of course."

A/N: I had more with this chapter, but the scene with Internal Affairs went on longer than I had originally planned so I moved it around. That being said, I liked how everything with Internal Affairs turned out.

Ethan: Thanks for reading. Caitlin was half doing it to get them together and half because she was feeling upset so I'm glad you saw that.

Kellie: It was Cisco vibing. Although, I do like that you can see it as them seeing (or in this case feeling) fireworks/that spark

Babyj: Averye's plot with the RFG was originally the main focus when I first started the story, but then I moved it to mainly be Eddie's storyline which is why it hasn't been shown much. As the story continues to the end and you see more from Eddie's point of view, it'll be more prevalent. I do agree though, that I put a lot onto Averey's character in terms of plot from where the story started to where it is now. Your mention of Eddie and Averey having more chemistry together has pushed me to write an Averey/Eddie story, but I do have more with Cisco and Averey coming. Thanks, as always, for sharing your thoughts.