Chapter 78: Calm Before the Storm

The light hurt.

What hit me? Barry thought groggily as he slowly began to awaken, trying to blink the pain away. The last thing I remember is—

hartleyciscogalakararonnieZOOM

His eyes immediately widened and he moved to sit up, only to be stopped by the pain in his sides and a weight on his chest. Grasping at his chest, he looked down to see an unexpected sight; a sleeping Iris.

As if sensing his awakening, Iris herself began to arouse from her own slumber, rubbing her eyes with one hand. When she finally saw Barry awake, a look of pure joy crossed her face.

"Barry! Thank God!" She said elatedly. "Caitlin! Come in here! Barry's awake!"

Oddly reminded of the first time he awoke from his coma when he first received his powers two years ago, Barry was beset immediately by a frantic Caitlin, with a reluctant Iris moving away to allow the good doctor to do her work. As Caitlin looked him over, asking him prompt, terse questions during her checkup, Barry saw other people joining Iris as she watched the show. Oliver, Kara, Laurel… and if his hearing was accurate, several others had come to visit him as well. The human part of Barry was warmed to know so many people cared about him, that they were willing to leave the cities they protected to be assured of his well-being.

The rest of him wondered if they could afford to.

After Caitlin deemed him well enough for visitors, Barry saw himself barraged immediately. Iris was first, of course, and she refused to leave his side for the most part. First after her was Oliver and Kara, who smothered him with light hugs and well-wishes from Kal, Mari, and Jefferson; all of whom, reluctantly, could not come to visit on such short notice. Laurel lingered behind them after giving him a hug of her own, but her own soft smile assured him of her genuine gratitude for his health.

After repeated assurances of his person, Oliver apologized and told him that he (and Laurel) could not stay for long. Kara would be staying to ward off metahuman threats in Barry's place while he healed, but with her extended stay, they would have to return to Starling for the sake of the city's protection. Neither of them were under any delusions that their combined might could ever compare to a Kryptonian, but some protection was better than none.

After them came others, after Oliver and Laurel departed. Cisco, Ronnie, Professor Stein, and even Hartley had all popped in, asking for not just his physical but also emotional well-being. And of course, they did so while tip-toeing around the main problem, the elephant in the room that no one, not even his siblings wanted to talk about.

Barry didn't know whether to appreciate it or resent it. Ignoring it wasn't going to make it go away, after all.

They were the last of his visitors — or, at least the last Iris would know about. No doubt Slade would drop in when Iris was no longer at his bedside, but other than him, and those who were too far away and bogged down by too many responsibilities to visit, there would be no more guests in his impromptu hospital room. Barry knew that, intellectually. It was the price he paid for keeping the rest of the Wests and his father out of his vigilante life, and thus, out of the auspices of his many enemies, who only became more powerful with time (as his current state attested to).

Yet, he couldn't stop the pang of pain that came with the thought. More than once, he was reminded of how little support he had from the parental figures in his life. Slade tried, of course, but he had five children to juggle and was leashed around with a rope that could quite easily be his noose if Amanda willed it. And as for the others… it was not their faults. They didn't know, could never know. Because if they did, it would mean eventually confessing truths that made it hard to sleep at night, truths that he already dreaded parting to Iris. He didn't want to lose them, but no matter which direction he went, he may lose them regardless.

Not for the first time, Barry wondered if keeping up this secrecy among his loved ones was worth it. It was amusing with Cailtin and Cisco and the common man, but was trying and exhausting with everyone else. Maybe it was time to let the secret out?

Not today, though.

Slade's visit came when the limitations of humanity made themselves apparent — to both him and Iris. Neither of them had eaten all day, and while Barry had the excuse of being bedridden and an attached IV, Iris did not. Even so, she was reluctant to leave him, only doing so at his urging and the knowledge that Caitlin was only a shout away. Barry purposefully neglected to mention that Caitlin would probably be using this time to catch up on her own needed sleep, but Iris would only be gone for a short while, so no harm, no foul.

As soon as she was strapped into her car, Slade appeared from beyond the hall, dressed casually. His one visible eye was completely trained on Barry alone as he sat himself at his bedside. Barry, not entirely in the best of moods right now, still managed to muster up a smile for his surrogate father.

"Before you ask, I've had better days. But I'll live and make a full recovery, which is the best we could've hoped for in this situation."

"I'd rather you'd not have to make any sort of recovery at all." Slade admitted tersely, grasping his middle son's hand.

"Yeah, well." Barry moved to shrug, only to wince at the pain that came with the gesture. "We're called metahumans for a reason. Even we have our limits."

"Your current state isn't a matter of limits, Barry, and you know it."

"But isn't it?" Barry asked in response, eyes stuck on the ceiling, unwilling to meet Slade's gaze. "I wasn't fast enough. So, I lost."

"You were fast enough to beat Thawne."

"The first time I fought Thawne, it was barely a draw. If he hadn't run out of speed when he did, he would've beaten me and we both know it. Second time, not only was I prepared, I had a ton of help. Third time, he would've killed me if not for that freak portal that I still haven't found an explanation for." Barry calmly narrated, though there was no mistaking the bitterness tinging his voice. "I was never 'fast' enough to beat Thawne, Slade. Just lucky enough. But all that luck wasn't enough to cut it with Zoom."

"So, get faster." Slade said immediately. "Isn't that what you were planning on doing anyway? Train up your speed to match Thawne if you two ever faced off again?"

Barry groaned. "Yes, but it's easier said than done Slade. If I go any faster I risk accidental time travel, which could have consequences for the entire world, not just us. It's been difficult trying to increase my speed while avoiding that — every time I hit a higher benchmark, I can feel whatever force that drives time trying to pull me into the flow of it, and it gets harder and harder to resist it."

"Then you just need to push past it, Barry, ignore whatever force is calling you; it's the only way you have of beating Zoom."

"You think I don't know that?" The speedster griped back.
"Under different circumstances I'd say we find the guy and sick Kara on him; but as powerful as Kara is, none of it matters if she can't catch him, if her speed can't match his. He even might be able to kill her if given the opportunity. So now it's all on me, and everyone in the world knows how poor a job I've done so far."

Slade sighed. "You're too hard on yourself. Barry, we always knew Thawne's return was a possibility, but at least we knew it was there. This guy — nobody could've known this guy existed. The fact that he was able to hide himself from us is proof enough, considering the resources at our disposal. So don't say you've done a shit job taking down this guy when nobody, not even you, knew you had to take him down at all."

There is a brief silence at that. Barry, despite his poor disposition, couldn't help but smile at Slade's encouraging words.

"Thanks." He offered.

"Don't, Barry. I'm only telling it as it is." Slade let out a deep breath. "But as I said, this does beg another question — how the hell has this guy been able to hide from us for so long? We've kept meticulous records of who was inside the city that night, and the kind of skill this guy has displayed with his speed had to come from a lot of practice. He could've gone somewhere extremely remote, but…"

"… we would've noticed that." Barry finished for him. "I know what you mean. It's another mystery for us to solve."

Slade snorted. "I'm getting sick of all these 'mysteries' we need to solve."

"You're not the only one." Barry muttered.

Slade was gone by the time Iris returned from Big Belly Burger with a meal in hand, careful to get rid of any evidence of his visit. Barry, ever the actor, played along with the charade — Iris was in, but she wasn't in yet. She would be, one day, but until then, Barry was happy keeping certain things to his chest.

"You sure you don't want some fries?"

"My jaw is still healing, Iris. Maybe tomorrow."

An awkward silence fell between them, saved the occasional sound of Iris' chewing. Eventually, even that stopped, the crinkle of wrappers replacing them. Iris briefly got up to discard the remaining waste from the meal, returning with a cup of tea, which she sipped from as the silence persisted.

"I've been an ass, you know." Barry turned his head at that statement, to look directly at Iris, who had a wistful look on her face. "For the past months, I've been nothing but a complete ass to you."

"And to Joe." Barry tacked on, a little mirthfully. "Don't forget about him."

"Oh, I haven't," Iris said, leaning back into her chair, placing her tea on a small table Cailtin had placed next to the bed. "I just don't know how to apologize to him. I was being unfair to him, I realize that now. He was hurting too, from losing you. But I was so angry, Barry — and I guess that's my problem. I hold onto things longer than I'm supposed to. Like my anger at you. And I'm so very sorry for that, Barry."

Like your relationship with Eddie, Barry briefly thought, before banishing it from his mind. This wasn't the time for that, and besides, it was between Eddie and Iris only. "I accept your apology and… I-I know how you feel. I was angry at you too, you know; even though I understood, I was still angry at you."

"What is there to understand, Barry? I was selfish."

"And worried, Iris." Barry reminded her. "You said it yourself. Selfish, a bit controlling, perhaps, but deep down, it's because you cared. I should know — I'm no different with you. It's why I've kept you at a distance for so long."

Iris frowned, but not maliciously. At her unanswered question, Barry continued, "I didn't want you to get involved in this. In any of this. You still have the chance at a happy, normal life; a life that won't be haunted by the danger of being my closest friend, of knowing this secret, let alone the many others I have." He closed his eyes. "I'm scared, Iris. I've lost so much — I don't want to lose you too."

"Barry…" Iris reached out to take his hand, much like Slade had earlier. "I'm touched by your concern. But that isn't your choice to make — it's never been your choice to make. It's always been mine. You're my best friend, the one person who has always stood beside me until fate decided to take you away from us. I don't care about the danger that may come from it; through hell or high water, I will never leave your side."

For the first time all day, Barry smiled. It was a little weak, but it was genuine, and Iris felt her heart warmed by it. "Thank you." He wavered, and then his expression firmed into something determined. "I promise I'll tell you everything one day, Iris. I owe you that much, at least."

"Just not today." Iris added lightly, before patting his arm comfortingly. "I'm fine with that."

"Riding in first-class on a train seems like a waste with the trip so short," Laurel grumbled as she and Oliver exited the train.

"Maybe, but we've got a busy night so I'd rather we'd be as rested as possible. I'm the one paying, after all." Oliver replied as he moved to signal his family's driver.

Laurel had to concede to that, but was soon distracted by something else. She looked around the station, bemused. "Ollie, have you noticed?"

"Noticed what?"

"There are a lot more people than usual. The station is getting overcrowded."

"Huh." Now that she had pointed it out, Oliver couldn't help but see it. There were more people than usual. From the corner of his eye, he could see trains moving to and from the station at a much faster pace, not giving much time for the passengers to board before disembarking to whatever location they were destined for. "That's strange. I wonder what's the cause?"

Laurel was about to shrug, only to freeze. One of the televisions hanging around the train station had changed feeds to the local news. Oliver made an instant connection, and followed her line of sight, his jaw dropping slightly when he saw just what stunned her.

"Oh. That would do it."

All around Starling City, countless televisions were all tuned to local news channels. Each anchor reported the same thing, with the same pictures, and a similar graphic banner beneath. And on those banners, were the same headline:

MERLYN PUBLIC TRIAL PENDING

Barry has awakened, and now things are truly about to begin. The trial of Malcolm Merlyn is about to start.

I've been waiting to write this act for a while, and here we are — there are a lot of things planned, shocking things that will have you at the edge of your seat, and I hope I can do what I've planned justice.

Constructive criticism is welcome! Flames will be ignored! I'm not getting rid of WestAllen, so stop asking! Please update the TV Tropes page!

Until next time!