100 Ways

88. I'll see you later.

"Hey, uh, do you have any plans after work?" Barry asked as they got ready to head to the precinct.

"No," Eddie replied, "what's up?"

"I just so happen to have reservations for us at Café Mundo tonight," Barry said with a smile.

"Aw, how sweet." Eddie smiled over at him. "Any special occasion I'm forgetting about?"

Barry shook his head. "No, just cause I, uh, you know, care about you and stuff."

Eddie laughed. "I care about you and stuff too."

Barry grinned and leaned across the corner of the bed, and Eddie leaned over too. Their lips met in a slow kiss, then Eddie pulled back and finished tying his tie.

100WAYS

The work day passed surprisingly slowly. Tuesdays weren't big for murder and crime, so Eddie spent most of it catching up on reports and paperwork, and Barry spent his time studying up on the latest CSI developments and discoveries.

At the end of the day, Eddie stopped by upstairs. "Coming home with me?" Eddie asked, leaning his hip against the lab table Barry was working at.

"Oh, I actually have to stop by S.T.A.R. Labs tonight," Barry said. "I was going to go straight there."

"Want a ride?"

"No, I like the walk," Barry replied. The route was very scenic, so that wasn't a lie, but he'd actually be running, and it would actually take approximately three seconds. "Thanks, though."

Eddie nodded. "Alright. Will I see you before, or are we meeting at the restaurant?"

"Ah, probably meeting there. The clothes I want to wear are at Joe's," Barry replied. "The reservation's at seven."

"So does that mean 7:05? 7:10?"

"Ha, ha," Barry said dryly. "I'm going to be on time tonight, I promise. In fact, I might even be a little early."

"If that happens, I might have to eat my shoe."

"If that happens, I think we'll get kicked out of the restaurant."

They cracked up into laughter, and Barry relished in the easy feeling between them. It hadn't been like this between them since their fight last week. Barry was constantly walking on eggshells due to the guilt and anxiety that were writhing inside him. Eddie had been nothing short of nice and joking with him, but Barry felt he was just masking his continued disappointment that Barry was hiding something.

"So I'll see you later?" Eddie asked.

He nodded, and Eddie leaned in for a quick kiss before departing the lab. Barry began packing away his lab equipment when his phone buzzed with an alert from Caitlin: SECOND SPEEDSTER DOWNTOWN NOW.

That single text eclipsed everything else from his mind. There had been rumors of a second speedster in town, one with red lightning instead of Barry's yellow. It was just word of mouth though. The speedster had been careful to avoid cameras, and they'd only caught traces of the speed trail on footage. Barry had been too scared to hope that it could be the speedster that killed his mother, but now he had one chance to find out.

In a second flat, he put away his equipment, changed, and was out the window of his lab.