The sound of coughing ripped Sif out of her dreamless sleep "Are you okay?" she asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes as she looked at Barry "You look like hell."

"Thanks," he croaked, trying to level Sif with a disgruntled glare.

"Sorry," she grinned and reached out to touch his forehead "Well, you seem to have caught a cold with the stupid stunt you pulled yesterday."

Barry coughed and closed his eyes "Not in the mood for your 'I told you so', Sif."

"I wasn't going to say it," she pointed out "Not until you're better in any case."

She got up, making to go to the kitchen when Barry sat up in alarm. His face changed colours immediately and the little colour he had from his fever left his cheeks "Where are you going?"

"Lay back down before you vomit," Sif grumbled, pushing him back down "I was just going to get you something for the fever. I think I still have some Tylenol lying around somewhere from when you hit your head while trying to play Baseball."

"Please don't remind me," he mumbled, burrowing back into his blanket.

Sif rolled her eyes and ran to grab the medication with a glass of water. She also looked around the kitchen to see whether she had the right ingredients for some soup for later. Well, at least it wasn't like she didn't have any experience with taking care of sick people. It had been a long time but she had worked as a nurse after all.


"How are you so good at this?" Barry asked, sipping at his soup. He flinched and almost dropped the mug when his tongue burnt painfully.

Sif leaned back and looked over at him "Good at what?"

"At taking care of me," Barry explained "I know that you care for me but… I didn't think that you would stay around after noticing that I'm a useless Human or whatever."

"You're not useless," Sif chided, reaching out to run her hand through his hair "And you might be Human but you're my Human."

Barry struggled with the blankets, almost spilling the soup over himself "Am I really?"

"You aren't normally this insecure," Sif murmured, taking the mug while Barry draped himself over her "And to answer your previous question… I was a nurse once. A long time ago."

"Will you tell me about it?" Barry asked, his eyes wide and curious.

Sif smiled at the image he presented and let out a sigh "It's not a very happy story."

"Please?" he pleaded.

"Fine," she mumbled and closed her eyes for a moment.

Flashback

Sif looked over her shoulder when she heard Rebekah's voice somewhere behind her "There, there… unidentified sick man." Really, Sif had no idea what her sister was even doing here because it was obvious that Rebekah hated every moment of this.

She turned back to the boy she was tending to, a frown of worry crossing her face at his pallor "Hey, kid," she whispered, making the boy open his eyes. She had seen him the day before and had started talking to him. It broke her heart to see a child as young as him here without hope of surviving the next week "See? I told you that I'd be back."

"Sif," he coughed, spitting up the blood that had pooled in his mouth "It hurts."

Sif ran her hand through his sweaty hair "I know. I'll get you something for the pain, alright? Just give me a second."

The boy reached out and grasped at her sleeve weakly "Please don't leave me."

"I'm not. I'm staying right here," she smiled sadly and looked up when another nurse walked past "Hey, Claudia? Can you send Genevieve over for a moment?"

Claudia looked up, her eyes going from Sif to the sick boy before softening "Of course." Claudia was a witch as well but she wasn't as good with herbal medicines as Genevieve. Their Coven had taken it upon themselves to help the sick and they were more than surprised when Sif had shown up out of nowhere, her sister following behind. Compared to Rebekah, the other Original was an actual help though, so none of them ever opposed to her presence. They heard what she had been doing for the orphans and children around the city and seeing her with the sick ones made them respect her at least a little bit "Gen? You're needed."

"You," Rebekah gestured to Claudia when she stepped up to the group "You should come too. After playing angels of mercy all day, I'd say we all deserve some fun."

Genevieve raised her eyebrow at Claudia "What do you need?"

"Over there." Claudia directed her over to where Sif was still talking to the young child.

"Thank you," Sif smiled when Genevieve fed her charge a couple of sips of her remedy.

Genevieve nodded "I know that it won't help in the end, but at least it eases his suffering for a little."

"I'm sure the hospital is grateful for your help," Sif said "Yours and that of your Coven."

"Genevieve," Rebekah called out, narrowing her eyes on her sister. She was only doing this because she wanted to show that she could do what Sif is doing. That, and she wanted to get close to the Coven but the longer she stayed here, the more she started hating it. All the sick people… "Are you coming?"

"One moment," Genevieve gave back and turned to Sif "Do you want to come?"

Sif shook her head "I want to stay until he goes back to sleep. Plus, I have something else to do today."

"The children?" Genevieve questioned.

"The children," Sif agreed "There are more and more every day." She glanced to her sister "But you should be going. Rebekah isn't known for being patient."

End Flashback

"You have a sister? Oh, right," Barry nodded to himself "You have lots of siblings."

Sif cracked a small smile "I do."

"But you don't get along," he added, burying his nose in Sif's neck.

"No. Most of us don't," she agreed "Rebekah and I have had our… differences for quite a while. But what happened after that day in the hospital was what really changed our relationship."

Barry hummed tiredly "What happened?"

Flashback

"Sif," Genevieve panted, hurrying up to the Original "We have to talk."

Sif looked up from the man she was feeding with a frown "What's wrong, Gen?"

"Rebekah," she sniffed, sinking down by Sif's side "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have done…"

"Genevieve," Sif cut her off, turning to face her completely.

Genevieve looked at her shaking hands "I sent a message to Mikael."

Sif stiffened "What?"

"I'm sorry," Genevieve apologised "I'm so, so sorry. Rebekah…"

"Listen to me, Gen," Sif spoke up, reaching out to place her hand on the witch's shoulders "This isn't your fault. This is on Rebekah. She knows exactly what Mikael did to Nik, to all of us." She squeezed gently "Can you take care of my patients? I think there's someone I have to speak to." Genevieve shot her a frightened look "No, not Nik. I'm going to talk to Rebekah."

Scene Change

"What the hell did you do, Rebekah?" Sif demanded.

"Sif, you have to understand..."

Sif held up her hand, cutting her sister off "You brought Mikael here, Rebekah. There's nothing that can make this better."

"Just don't tell Nik," Rebekah pleaded.

Sif snorted "You're joking, right? Just because you want to be with your boy toy, you want me to leave Nik to fend for himself?" She sneered "There's no way I'm going to go along with you on that."

"Then I'm sorry about this," Rebekah murmured.

Sif narrowed her eyes "What are you going to do, huh? I'm not going to let you get away with this and I'm sure that neither will Genevieve. You manipulated her into this."

"Maybe," Marcel's voice sounded from behind Sif as he lunged forward to restrain her "But we can do this."

Sif was about to fight against his grip when her eyes fell on Rebekah. She stared at her younger twin's hands before pressing out through clenched teeth "I'm not going to forgive this, Rebekah."

"I'm sorry, Sif," the younger of the twins whispered before burying the dagger she had stolen in Sif's chest "I'm sorry."

End Flashback

"Despite everything," Sif murmured, hiding her face in a sleeping Barry's hair "I trusted her. She is my sister and she let me rot. Her and Marcel both."


Barry set the tablet on the bedside table next to a sleeping Sif and sat down on the edge "Morning," he whispered, bending forward to press a sweet kiss to her lips.

Sif blinked open her eyes before her gaze was drawn to where the tablet was resting "Barry? What's going on?"

He smiled and nodded to the present that was lying next to the glass of blood innocently.

"I told you I didn't want to do anything for my birthday," Sif sighed, sitting up "I don't want to celebrate."

Barry shrugged "I don't have anything planned other than a date with the couch and maybe a few movies?"

Sif grumbled under her breath, sounding fond rather than annoyed "You're not going to let this go, are you?"

"Not at all," Barry grinned and reached over to hand her the present "Here."

"What is it?"

Barry rolled his eyes "You'll see once you opened it, won't you?"

"Damn, I missed the times you would blush and stutter," Sif huffed with laughter shining in her eyes.

"No," Barry contradicted her before leaning forward to place another kiss to her lips "You really don't. Now, open it."

Sif carefully worked on the wrapping paper, peeling it away to reveal a picture frame. A small smile crossed her face at the motive. It had been before they had been together but Barry and she had gone to the dance that one of the college's clubs had thrown. It had been adorable to see Barry in a tux. He looked like an overgrown kid trying to seem like an adult. Not that he necessarily acted like it but still. It was a night she held in fond memory "Thank you," she whispered "I love it."

"You're welcome," he nodded "Jason came to me and asked me whether I wanted to picture. You remember him? He took the photos."

"Jason was the… blond, right?" Sif tilted her head "He is with you in that one club that I can never remember the name of."

Barry snorted "Yes. That's Jason."

Sif raised an eyebrow at the look he was sending her "What? You do too much stuff. I can never remember all of it. Even if I try."

"Well…"

"Didn't you say something about movies?" Sif cut him off before he could get into another rant about what he was doing at college and how he was going to work for the CCPD after he graduated. She didn't have a doubt that he would indeed get a job there but the first million times hearing it had been enough. She loved hearing Barry talk about what he enjoyed and mostly just sat back and nodded while he was explaining science to her. Sif knew more about science than Barry most likely but she never told him about it. While he knew that she was interested, he didn't know just how interested she had been over the years.

"Oh, right." He held out his hand for Sif to take "Milady."


"So," Iris started, looking at Barry closely.

Barry glanced from her to the coffee she was holding and he was craving desperately before going back to look at Iris. He reached out to grab the cup when she pulled it away "What is it?" he sighed.

"When did you plan to tell Dad and me about your girlfriend?" she demanded.

"W – What?" Barry stuttered, gazing at his coffee sadly. He only came here because Sif had confiscated his supply of coffee. It wasn't like he drank too much. Not at all. Okay, he might have gone a little overboard but in his defence, he was trying to finish a dissertation and was preparing for a job interview the next week. It would be his first and he couldn't deny that he was getting more nervous the closer the date of the interview got.

"I saw you with her. Who is she?" Iris asked.

Barry sighed and ran his hand through his hair "Sif. She's Sif."

"The girl you moved in with?" Iris blinked "How – How long have you been keeping this to yourself?"

"Iris…"

"How long, Barry?"

Barry flinched at the sharpness of her tone "A couple of months. We were friends when I moved in with her but… I didn't want to tell you yet because Sif isn't good with family."

"She's the reason you changed that much, isn't she?" Iris noted "We used to tell each other everything, Barry and now I feel like I don't even know you anymore."

"What are you…" Barry trailed off and shook his head "You know what? I don't care. I didn't spend any less time with you, Iris. Sure, I have a girlfriend now but I love her."

Iris sent him a careful look "Are you sure that she isn't just playing you?" she asked "I mean… She seems like the type to play and…"

"And what, Iris?" Barry narrowed his eyes "I couldn't possibly find someone who loves me because I'm the nerd no one would ever want?"

"What? That's not what I said," Iris argued.

Barry scoffed "Forget it." Before he stormed out of the door, he turned back to Iris "I was going to tell you and Joe this weekend. Bye, Iris."

"Barry…"


"Are you going to stay out there all night?" a man's voice called out from the direction of the door.

"Joe," Barry smiled, pulling Sif closer to the man who seemed to be close to glaring at the girl "I want you to meet Sif."

Sif nodded and reached out with her free hand "Nice to meet you, Sir. Barry talks about you a lot."

Joe grunted and stepped to the side, ignoring the outstretched hand "Funny. He never mentioned you."

Barry winced and went to defend his actions but before he could, Sif cut him off "That would be my fault, I'm afraid. I asked Barry not to say anything before. This whole thing was new to both of us."

"You trying to tell me that you never had a boyfriend before?" Joe raised a disbelieving eyebrow.

Sif clenched her hands into fists, slowly getting annoyed at Barry's pseudo father. She bit back the snappy comments but she was no doormat. Even if she let it go now, she wouldn't do so forever "Nothing like this, no," she replied easily "With four older brothers it's a bit hard to hold a relationship."

"Then what makes this so different?" Joe asked, gesturing between her and Barry.

"I don't think that it's your business, is it?" she asked.

Barry placed a gentle hand on Sif's shoulder "Sif, please."

Sif looked up at him and sighed "Alright, alright. My siblings and I had a… break, I guess you could say. I haven't seen them in a couple of years."

"So, you decide this is the best thing to do? Get a boyfriend?"

"I don't know what you think but I didn't actually plan on running into Barry," Sif pointed out "I was going to go back to France to stay out of my brothers' way but… I don't think I want to anymore."

Joe harrumphed and crossed his arms when Iris came into the living room, looking from her father to Barry and Sif "So that's her, is it?"

"Oh God," Barry mumbled "Not her as well."

Sif ran a hand through her hair "Nice to meet you."

"I wish I could say the same," Iris told her "I don't like what you did."

"Pardon?" Sif blinked.

Iris huffed "I don't like how Barry changed after meeting you."

"Are you saying it's a bad thing that he's more confident now?" Sif questioned in confusion "Because I don't think that it is."

Joe nodded "I actually think that you changed him for the better."

"Huh," Sif gave back softly "I didn't expect that."

"That doesn't mean that I like you," Joe said immediately "There's something off about you and I don't want you hurting Barry. If I find out that you do anything to him, you're done."

Sif's eyes narrowed "Are you threatening me?"

"Sif…" Barry tried, reaching out to grab her arm. He knew that she wouldn't let this go easily. She just wasn't the type to let others threaten her whether they had good intentions or not "Please, don't."

"I'm not going to let this go," she shook her head before turning to look at Joe "I get that you want to protect Barry but you do not threaten me, do you understand?"

Joe raised his eyebrow "It wasn't a threat. If you hurt him, I will find a way to make you pay. That, I promise you."

"Promise all you want," Sif told him "You know what? I'm done with taking things laying down. You want to make your little promise? I'll make you one in return. If you ever – ever threaten me again, I won't be so lenient. You're Barry's family and you're important to him and I respect that. I really do. Family is everything. But I won't stop seeing Barry because you don't like me. I can deal with you being in his life because you make him happy. Be the bigger man and do the same thing in return." She turned to smile at Barry, squeezing his hand "I'll go home. I think the three of you need to talk about this. Try not to crash my car, will you?"

Barry raised his hand to his chest "How dare you even imply…" He tightened his grip on her for a moment "You don't have to leave, you know?"

"I think I do," she said, letting her eyes trail over Joe and Iris who were watching her with something akin to distrust "I don't mind. It's not the first-time people disapprove of me."

Barry's shoulders slumped as he watched her walk out of the house "Why?" he asked.

"We're just looking out for you, Barry," Iris pointed out "What do you even know about her?"

He whirled around "A lot more than you do. I assume you checked her out?" he asked Joe.

"I did," he nodded "And I'm not sure I like what I found. There are so many blanks in her life. What makes you so sure that she is who she says she is, Barry?"

"I've known Sif for a year now and she actually saved me before she knew who I was," he told them "Remember the murders going on about a year ago? Yeah, they caught me and were about to kill me when Sif came in."

Joe tilted his head "You mean the murders who were never solved?"

"Ah…" he winced "Maybe?"

"Barry," Joe growled "You're not really helping your point here."

Barry let out a shaky sigh, running his hand through his hair "Can't you just accept her for who she is and let me be happy? I'm finally feeling like I could…" He breaks off, shaking his head "You know what? Forget it. If you don't want to see it, you won't. But please understand that I won't just stop seeing her because you disapprove. I really love her and if I have to give you up for us to be able to be happy… I will. No matter how much I don't want this."

"You can't be serious," Iris breathed, her eyes wide "You would throw away our family for someone you met a year ago? Someone who could drop you in a heartbeat?"

Barry sent her a small smile "See? That's what you don't understand. I would give all of this up… But Sif would probably kill me if I did. Family is really important to her and she would rather step back a little before I give you up. I don't want to have to decide. You are my family but she is starting to become mine too."

Joe watched his almost son for a moment before sending him a small smile "You really have changed, haven't you? I won't say that I'm too happy with her but… I will give her a chance."

"Thank you," Barry whispered, reaching out to pull Joe into a quick hug "Really. Thank you, Joe."

"That just means that you're going to have to introduce her to your father someday," Joe pointed out.

Barry nodded "I know. I haven't talked to her about it yet but she knows that he is in prison and she doesn't mind. She says that she would love to meet him."

"Go," Joe gestured to the door "Make sure your girl is alright. She seemed a bit upset… And for good reasons."

"She's going to be fine," Barry shrugged "Might hold a grudge for a while though. She isn't the most forgiving person if you don't deserve it."


"Woah," Barry breathed, milling over what just happened "Like… Wow!"

Sif laughed breathily and rested her head on his chest "Are you alright, there?" she questioned in amusement.

"Wow," Barry replied. He heard others talking about it but the real thing was so much better. Especially with Sif. Despite the fact that he had been a virgin and had essentially no clue what he had been doing, she had guided him without being too obvious about it. And hadn't it been a ride?

"Is that your Review to my skills?" Sif asked "Or did that literally just blow your mind?"

Barry reached down and pulled her into a long kiss "I love you, Sif."

"I… I love you too," Sif smiled, snuggling deeper into his chest.