Summary: Barry returns from his bereavement leave and figures it's about time he came out to Captain Singh as the Flash. David would have liked to hung on to his plausible deniability a bit longer but, well... it had to happen eventually, right?

Notes: Season 3 AU with no Flashpoint, here's a version of Barry that's still traumatized and grieving but trying to do so in a healthy manner

Wave Goodbye (To Plausible Deniability)

So, coming out to Captain Singh about being the Flash went something like this.

Barry walked into the Captain's office on the day he returned from bereavement leave, sat down in the chair in front of Singh's desk, and listened quietly as he was filled in on the new guy currently sharing his lab space – Dr. Julian Albert, PhD. Meta cases were to be split between them from now on, though Flash cases were still all Barry's. And, as was already the case, Jacob Miller or Ann Dewitt across the street would pick up the cases that came in when either Julian or Barry were unavailable.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Barry asked quietly. "If it ever comes out that I'm the Flash, all those cases could potentially be tanked based on my working them."

Captain Singh stared at him, opened his mouth to say something, snapped his mouth shut again, and stared some more.

"I know you know I'm the Flash," Barry pointed out. "You've trolled me enough times that its obvious to everyone else who knows... except Joe. Really don't know why he thinks you wouldn't have figured it out, though, but it might just be really strong wishful thinking on his part."

"Mr. Allen, do the words 'plausible deniability' mean anything to you? Anything at all?" Singh covered his face with his hands for a moment, muttering what sounded distinctly like 'dammit, Barry' before looking back up.

"I heal ridiculously fast. Someone is bound to notice eventually," Barry shrugged, unrepentant. "And, seriously, if it does come out that I'm the Flash, I don't want, say, Weather Wizard getting his sentence overturned just because I was the CSI attached to his case."

"Julian doesn't like your alter ego very much," Singh told him.

"Enough that he'd forgo professionalism and skew results?"

"Enough that if we find your blood at a meta fight, it could wind up looking really bad for you," Singh shot back.

Barry sighed and leaned back in his chair. "It was supposed to be a one time thing, you know? Clyde Mardon's powers..." Barry shook his head, "he was creating a tornado that would've ripped apart Central City by the time I got to him. And it was... well, probably not actually sheer luck that STAR labs had what become the Flash suit already pre-fabbed, but close enough. It was a prototype next-gen fire fighter suit, the only thing that could withstand the speeds I was running at without bursting into flame from the resulting friction."

"Except then you started rescuing people from fires and stopping petty crimes," Singh responded archly, resolutely ignoring the 'not actually sheer luck' thing for now.

"STAR labs was testing how my powers worked and... it seemed like a good idea at the time? I knew, rationally, that the only real obligation I had in regards to my speed was to learn how to control it so I didn't accidentally hurt anyone. But I had an opportunity to help people and... it felt like if I didn't try and someone died, then I'd never be able to live with myself." Barry paused and then added, "also there was that one hilarious time when a mugger picked me as his mark out of an entire crowd. Dude clearly had the worst luck."

Singh couldn't help it. He snorted in amusement, a smile tugging at his lips. "For now, I'm keeping you on the Flash related cases. It's a risk, yes, but one that we're simply going to have to take, unless you can come up with a way to stop bleeding when you get hit in the face or stabbed through the suit. The fewer people who know your identity, the better."

Barry did manage not to wince at that one. He did not want to explain just how many people – how many fellow vigilantes – knew his identity. Or, well, Snart. He did not want to explain Snart knowing his identity at all.

"There's still the fact that I heal so fast that if I break my arm people can watch it heal in real time in under two hours."

"That... that sounds painful. That also sounds like the voice of experience."

"Yeah. It's worse, though, if it doesn't heal right the first time. Had to have my arm re-broken once and since I metabolize alcohol so fast I can't even get buzzed much less drunk, you can imagine how useful pain killers were." Barry grimaced at the memory. "That was definitely worse than the original break."

"People have been asking why Zoom targeted you specifically when he killed your father," Singh finally allowed. "Revealing that you have a meta healing factor would go a long way to explaining that. Just Zoom's irrational desire to collect all the meta's on his side regardless of what their powers are."

"We're like Pokémon," Barry responded dryly. "Gotta catch'em all."

"Physical healing only, or is your immune system affected too?"

"Well, I can get the flu for an hour, but I'd still like to use it as an excuse for when I'm hurt too badly to come into work like when..." he trailed off and looked away, remembering all too vividly sitting in Dr. Well's wheelchair.

"Barry?" Singh came around his desk and put a hand on Barry's shoulder. "When you had the 'flu' after Zoom dragged you around the city last November, what really happened?"

"He broke my spine. It, uh... it took a while for the nerves to finish reconnecting." He shrugged dully, knowing he'd gone a little blank there from the memories. "So, not really just speed healing. Nerves don't regrow particularly well for anyone who isn't a speedster, as far as I know anyway."

"Right, then, officially, you have enhanced healing and that's it. And you should still keep even that much to yourself unless you feel like you absolutely have to say something to get someone off your back about Zoom. Or they notice your healing for themselves. Technically speaking, being a meta is a personal medical issue and not one that has to be disclosed for any legal reasons." Captain Singh squeezed Barry's shoulder lightly then let his hand drop away. "How are you really doing, Barry? If you need more time off, I can find a way to make it happen."

"I'm... I'm not great, but I think I'll go stir crazy if I take any more time off work," Barry told him. "You should tell Joe that you know I have advanced healing. Be as dramatic as possible, so he thinks you're going to say you know I'm the Flash, then..."

"Bait and switch at the last minute?" Singh smirked. "Sounds fun. And if I can't troll you anymore..."

"Oh, like knowing for sure I'm the Flash is going to make you stop asking where 'Barry Allen' is when I'm in costume right there in the bullpen," Barry responded with a laugh. "You have way too much fun doing that to stop."

"True." The Captain patted Barry's shoulder again. "You do good work, Barry. And after seeing how other people have used their speed, I'm very grateful that you got these powers too. Though... do I even want to know what happened to the Reverse Flash and Zoom?"

"Reverse Flash caused the singularity that killed him," Barry responded, not to make light of Eddie's sacrifice but because he did not want to explain that Eddie killed himself so that Eobard Thawne would never exist. That was just... too heavy for him to talk about, even now, especially knowing that Eobard Thawne still wasn't 100% gone despite Eddie's death. "Zoom was dragged off by what we call Time Wraiths, who are flying zombies that enforce the Speed Force's no-creating-temporal-paradox rules. I'm pretty sure they turned him into a zombie too. And I really wish I was joking about that, but my life is basically the plot of a bad sci-fi/fantasy movie these days and if I think too hard about the fact that the source of my powers is basically a sentient cosmic force it starts really freaking me out."

"I have no idea what to say to that," Singh admitted. "Well, unless you're going to wreck anymore of my dearly held plausible deniability, then you'd better get to work. I'll let you know if I decide to troll Joe personally later."

Barry stood up and headed for the door.

"Oh, and Barry? It's good to have you back."