Secrets and Errors

Barry POV:
It has been a week since I woke up, and trying to run around the city saving people is a lot harder than I thought, and I haven't even started work yet. How does Kara do it? How does she work a full-time job, have a good social life and still fly around saving people as Supergirl? Kara says that it is all about good time management skills, something that I don't have, and an insane ability to multi-task.

I mean just yesterday alone she helped saved a worker that fell off scaffolding, took a man to the hospital who was having a heart attack, and then helped out a tug boat captain. And this was all before breakfast. Then she worked a full day, completed a first prototype of the new ballistic weave vests, attended two meetings, and secured more funding for the lab. Then she saved a family from a burning building and stopped a carjacking, and still found time to watch a movie with me before bed.

I have been struggling to get a single rescue done properly, and fast. I either rush in and then make mistakes, or I take too long and Kara has to take over. To make matters worse Joe is totally against me helping out, for some reason he is fine with Kara going out as Supergirl but not with me going out as the Flash. I don't know whether or not it is because it is harder to hurt Kara, or just because she has been doing this for a while, I don't know.

STAR labs also believe that I should only be focusing on the metahumans that they created. I don't get it, they were all up for it when I was fighting Mardon, now they are all 'you need to protect yourself Barry.' I am, and Kara won't let me go out alone until she is satisfied that I won't screw up and kill someone, or hurt myself. She says that she wants to take me to the fortress of solitude and run through some training simulators with me.

Joe is adamant that Kara and I are not to tell Iris anything, and Kara agrees, but I don't. Iris has been my best friend since forever and she will be angry if she ever finds out that I have been keeping a secret this massive from her. It is so hard to keep this from her I have practically moved into Kara's house. Every time Iris sees me I have the overwhelming urge to shout 'I can run faster than the speed of sound.' But that will make me seem weird.

I have discovered one thing about Iris though, she is dating Joe's partner Eddie. She thinks that Joe doesn't know, but he does. I can tell that he does, but he is just waiting for Iris to tell him. I discovered that they were dating by shear accident, even Kara had no clue that they were going out. Although that is not a surprise because for some reason Iris dislikes Kara again.

But I cannot be worrying about that right now, as I am going to be starting work again today. Captain Singh said that my temporary replacement was rubbish, so apparently there is a bit of a backlog with the cases and paperwork. Which basically means that I am going to be stuck doing grunt work. I hate paperwork, and the worst thing is that I can't use my superspeed to get through it, as it would look suspicious if I finished it in a day.

Kara POV:
I am worried about Barry, he is pushing himself too hard to be an amazing hero right from the get-go, I keep trying to tell him that even Clark and I still make mistakes occasionally. I know that I make everything look easy, but I swear that I am going to get fired soon. I mean I am never at work whenever my boss appears, if it wasn't for the fact that I just secured a new multi-million dollar grant from the military, to help fund the ballistic weave then I probably would be out on my ass.

I know that this is funny, considering that Barry and I both have super speed, but he needs to slow down, he needs to observe what is happening around him more, then he will be a great hero. I am actually thinking that I might put him through a simulator at the fortress of solitude, or I might speak to Oliver and see if the Green Arrow can help. But that might be a little harsh.

I am also worried about Iris, she is starting to really dig into me in her reports, and when I say me I mean my alter ego. I have told Barry that when he goes out, as The Flash, he needs to be sure that no one can recognise him. I am worried, Iris knows Barry, and knows him well. If she ever heard The Flash speak then she would know instantly who he is.

I am also worried about the new photographer that is working for CCPN, James 'Jimmy' Olson. He used to work at the Daily Planet with Clark and Lois, I think that my dear cousin forgot to tell me that he was coming. I am worried that he might know who I am, and if he does he may accidentally reveal who I am. I am going to have to speak to him, but not right now. Now I am off to work.

* * *
I have just had a lovely visit at work, Alex popped in to see how things are going with Barry. She obviously knows who Barry is, I mean, after all, she is a vigilante herself. Barry was really surprised when he found out about Aethyr, I don't think that he expected Alex to become a vigilante, not the least with a bucket full of alien tech.

Alex said that the internet was full of stories of a red streak that was helping supergirl save people and that it was moving to fast to identify who, or what it was. But it won't be long until people realise that, that red streak is a man and one that can run super fast. Apparently Iris is the creator of a blog that documents any and all supernatural sightings, including and not limited to 'the streak'.

I am going to have to speak to Barry about all of this, I don't want Iris to get to close to what we are doing. Something could happen to her, and she could dig too hard into who Supergirl and The Flash are, and discover out secret identities. I will also speak to Joe, and see if he can scare her off. And...

Winn has just come running in, apparently, there is a hostage situation at the bank. It is time for Barry to show what he can do.

Barry POV:
I am racing to Goldsmith Bank, Kara tells me that there is a hostage situation there, she is going to be there but she is just going to provide backup. I am going to be going into this alone, after all, it is time for me to prove to everyone that The Flash is not just a gimmick. Okay, the press is here as is the police, Joe is going to kill me.

"Supergirl, come in. Do you read me Supergirl?"

"Loud and Clear Flash, is there something wrong?"

"No I just want to make sure that you are here to see this, I am going to do you proud."

"That's great babe, but Telle wanted you to know..."

"I got this SG don't worry."

"Yes but Barr..."

I raced into the building before she could finish that sentence. I mean whatever she was going to tell me could wait right? When I ran in I could see three hostage-takers and five hostages. Snorting I ran up to the hostages and knocked them out when suddenly a loud noise made me stop.

It was like my whole body was being shaken apart from a loud high pitched sound, while I was trying to see where the noise was coming from I could see the hostages collapsing to the ground. I fell to my knees, unable to get up, clutching my head trying to get over the sound. All of the glass in the building had shattered, and I knew that I should have stayed and listened to Kara, and not just run into the building.

I saw one of the hostage-takers approach me, he lifted his gun and readied himself to shoot me when he suddenly got thrown back. I collapsed onto the ground and rolled onto my back, looking up I could see a figure of red, blue, and blonde standing over me, and I passed out.

Kara POV:
Barry really is an idiot. He stops one bad guy and suddenly he is superman. Well, he is not. I tried to warn Barry that Winn had discovered that the bad guys had a sonic device on them and that I had a set of sonic dampeners for him but he just ran off.

This is his problem he just runs into the place, without casing the area out, and without waiting for further instructions from the eyes and ears. If I hadn't have been close, and if Winn hadn't have had a set of sonic dampeners waiting for me in the office, well got knows what would have happened.

When I had managed to get into the buildings, the hostages were almost dead, and Barry was in almost as bad a shape. I flew straight onto the hostage-takers and knocked him out cold, smashing the sonic device in the process. I then grabbed Barry and flew him out of there, and came back and flew all of the hostages to hospital. When I had finished doing that CCPD were already arresting the bad guys, and were shipping then off to iron heights.

Joe came up to me after I had finished giving my statement, and finished talking to the press, and he looked angry with me.

"What the hell Supergirl, I thought that; you know," he looked around to make sure that we wouldn't be overheard. "Barry, wouldn't be getting involved in rescues."

"Look, Joe, Flash wants to fight crime, and I cannot stop him. The only thing that I can do is help him out to the best of my abilities."

"Then what happened in there?"

"He ran in before he listened to me, don't worry I will be having words. It will never happen again, I will make sure of that."

Joe just sighed, exasperated at what happened. "He is not going to stop helping people is he?"

"I think you already know the answer to that Joe. Look the two of us will see you later, I promise he will be fine."

"Yeah. See you later supergirl."

I took off and flew back to STAR Labs. When I arrived Barry was awake and talking, and Caitlin was standing next to him scolding him. She was really angry and was properly laying into him, and Wells and Cisco were just staring at the two of them.

"... I mean seriously Barry, we heard everything, Kara was trying to warn you about the danger but you didn't listen. You just think that because you are so fast you can just speed in and speed back out again, but you can't."

I started to feel sorry for Barry, but Caitlin was right, and he needed to understand that. "Hey Caitlin, I have got this. Don't worry I will make sure that he understands. When can he go home?"

"In an hour or two, his hearing needs to recover."

Barry POV:
I was stuck in STAR labs for a little over an hour before Caitlin deemed me well enough to go home. Kara flew me back to hers and we got changed into our normal clothes, the entire time she was looking at me funny. I know that she was disappointed with me over what happened in the bank, as was Joe. I knew that I would have to face the music soon enough, so I decided to get it over and done with.

"I am sorry Kara, I really am."

"It is not me that you should be apologising to, it is the people who were nearly killed by your arrogance."

"Kara... I..."

"Look I am not angry with you, but I am disappointed. I have done nothing but support you, and in the end, you just ignore vital instructions by my team. Winn doesn't just tell us these things for fun, he tells us so that we have all of the information to keep ourselves, and everyone around us safe."

"Kara, I really am sorry. What can I do to make it right?"

"You will not go out as the Flash until you have completed training in the fortress of solitude. You need to learn to observe your surroundings and to read the situation. Most importantly you need to learn to listen."

"Okay. When do you want to start?"

"On the weekend, when you are next off work."

I nodded and hugged her. I felt so guilty, Kara had been nothing but supportive over my desire to fight crime, and I threw it in her face. I am an awful person, all she wants is the best for me, and to help and I nearly killed five people and myself today. For now on, I will listen to everything my team tells me, no one can do this alone. Not even Supergirl.