White Elephant

Joe frowned in confusion when his eyes landed on the envelope sitting on the kitchen counter—an envelope that had his name written on it in Barry's handwriting. Joe hadn't seen Barry since yesterday morning. He had stayed out late on Flash duty and left early in the morning. If Joe didn't know any better, he'd say Barry was avoiding him.

Joe wasn't necessarily mad at the young man. Barry had made a good point. He hadn't really done anything wrong. He and Iris weren't dating, and Joe couldn't really accuse him of messing with his daughter's feelings when Iris was going on a date with someone else. He could, however, hold it against him for the awkward night he had had on Friday. Joe had heard sounds coming from Barry's room that he never wanted to hear again. It still made him shudder to think about it.

Immensely curious to know what Barry had left for him, Joe opened the envelope immediately. The last thing he had expected to find in it was a small card with a set of numbers on it. Joe stared at it for a moment, his mouth going dry as he realized what it was. He felt a swoop of anxiety in his gut as he then noticed the newspaper that was sitting on the counter next to where the envelope had been. A small section of it had been circled in red marker with a small smiley face drawn next to it by Barry.

Joe stared at the numbers in the newspaper, comparing them to the lottery ticket in his hand. They were identical. He was holding a winning lottery ticket. His heart racing, Joe looked down at the jackpot listing in the paper.

5.8 million dollars.

What had Barry done?

"Barry, what the hell was that?" Caitlin demanded.

"What?" Barry asked innocently as he hung up his Flash suit.

"We said to drop him off at the police station," Cisco said, crossing his arms.

"I did," Barry said, a small grin forming on his face.

"This," Caitlin said turning her computer screen towards him, "Is not what we meant."

Barry laughed when his eyes landed on the image of a man dangling from flag pole by his underwear, right in front of the CCPD. Cisco and Caitlin, however, were not laughing. They were staring at Barry with serious looks on their faces.

"Oh, come on," Barry chuckled, "You have to admit, it's funny."

"Dude, what the hell were you thinking?" Cisco asked incredulously.

"He wasn't thinking," Caitlin gritted, "That's the problem."

"Hey," Barry said defensively, "I'll have you know, I put a lot of thought into it. I don't think you realize how complex the logistics were, trying to get him up there. Running up a flag pole isn't easy. It's like walking on a tightrope, except you're horizontal and you're running instead of walking. Not to mention the fact that I was carrying another person. You should be more impressed."

"Oh, bravo, Barry," Caitlin said sarcastically, "Good job. You created a mess for other people to clean up. I hope it was worth the laugh. You know the fire department had to be called to get him down?"

"Please," Barry scoffed, "Those guys needed something to do. It's not like they had any fires to put out."

"Barry, we need you to be serious for a moment," Cisco said, crossing his arms.

"I am," Barry insisted, "I swear, those guys in the fire department just sit around at the station all day. They put out one fire a month while everyone in the police department runs their asses off every day. Yet, firefighters are considered heroes while police officers are politically and publicly slandered for all the hard work they do. They risk their lives every day, and people hate them for it. It's disgusting."

Cisco and Caitlin both looked at each other. Barry's mood had suddenly taken a complete one-eighty, going from joking to dead serious in a matter of seconds. They had never known Barry to ever get political, which was why they found his outspokenness somewhat strange now. Granted, he worked for law enforcement, so it was understandable.

They're conversation was interrupted then when they all turned to see Joe storming into the cortex.

"Barry, what is this?" he demanded, holding up a small piece of paper.

A smile formed on Barry's face.

"You like it?" he grinned, "I thought I'd make it up to you for Friday night."

"Barry, what did you do?" Joe asked seriously.

Barry shrugged as Caitlin and Cisco looked at Joe in confusion. Why was he so upset?

"I made a quick run to the gas station," he said simply, "It was no big deal, Joe. No need to thank me or anything."

"Barry, you time traveled," Joe accused seriously.

Cisco and Caitlin's eyes widened as they looked at Barry.

"You time traveled?" Caitlin asked curiously, "Why?"

"I only traveled ahead by a day," Barry said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"Ahead?" Cisco asked, his eyes widening, "Barry, you went to the future?!"

"Yeah," Barry shrugged, "It was easy—the same as going to the past, really."

"What did you do?" Caitlin asked seriously.

"Not much," he said simply, "Just hung out for a bit…read a newspaper."

He winked at Joe then, a smug, satisfied smile on his face. Joe didn't smile back.

"Barry," he said, shaking his head, "I don't even know what to think about this."

"What is it?" Cisco asked impatiently, "I don't get it. You read a newspaper…?"

Joe walked forward and slapped the small paper he was holding onto the desk. Cisco and Caitlin looked at it curiously and quickly recognized it to be a lottery ticket.

"Oh my God," Caitlin said quietly, realizing what Barry had done.

"How much did you win?!" Cisco asked Joe with wide eyes.

"Five-point-eight million dollars," Joe gritted, shaking his head at Barry.

"I don't understand why you're upset," Barry laughed, "Shouldn't you be popping open a champaign bottle right about now?"

Joe shook his head seriously at Barry.

"Bar, I can't believe you did this," he said quietly, "You cheated."

"It's not cheating," Barry scoffed, "It's…using my natural abilities. If I were a psychic and knew the numbers that way, you wouldn't call it cheating. How is using my speed any different?"

"It…it just is," Joe said in a strained voice, "Bar, this is wrong."

"How is it wrong?" Barry asked, raising his eyebrows, "It's not as if I stole it from anyone."

"Bar, you did steal it," Joe said seriously, "You stole it from whoever else would have won it."

"There was no winner," Barry said stubbornly, shaking his head, "Nobody else picked the right numbers."

"So the jackpot would have grown and gone into another round," Joe countered, "There would have been another winner eventually, Barry, and now you stole it from them, all so you could…make it up to me?"

Barry's eyes shifted down to the floor. Joe's eyebrows furrowed in thought as he looked at him.

"This is about more than just Friday night, isn't it?" he said softly.

Barry didn't answer. He opened and closed his mouth, still looking at the floor.

"Bar?" Joe pressed.

Barry sighed and looked up at him.

"Why can't you just take the money and say thank you?" he asked in exasperation, "Why do you have to question the morality of it and then demand a reason? Maybe I just wanted to do something nice for you, Joe. Maybe I just wanted to repay—"

Barry's lips suddenly clamped shut, and he still didn't look Joe in the eye. Joe stared at him in shock.

"Repay me," Joe said quietly, his hard expression softening, "Barry, you…you never have to repay me."

"Yes, I do," Barry said simply, "You fed me. You gave me a roof over my head and clothes to wear. You gave me a home when I had nothing. I do have to repay you, Joe. Because I want to. Don't go getting all sappy on me by making a bigger deal out of it than it is. It's not a big deal."

Joe shook his head at him.

"It's five-point-eight million dollars, Barry," he said seriously, "It is a big deal. And while I appreciate the thought, I don't know if I can accept it. It would change the timeline, Bar. It's not right."

"It's a future timeline," Barry insisted, "It's not the same as messing with the past."

"Sorry to say it, bro," Cisco said, "But it is."

Barry let out a heavy sigh and ran a hand over his face.

"So, you're just not going to claim it?" he asked Joe in exasperation, "You're not going to bring in the ticket?"

Joe gave him a sad smile.

"Sorry, Bar," he said, putting a hand on his shoulder, "I can't tell you how much I appreciate the thought, but I can't do it. You know why I can't. And you know you don't ever have to repay me. You're my son. You don't owe me anything."

Barry sighed heavily and picked up the lottery ticket. He looked questioningly at Joe, who nodded firmly at him. Barry let out another sigh before ripping the five-point-eight million dollar ticket in half.

"I think a part of me just died inside," Cisco whined, staring heartbrokenly at the torn lottery ticket in Barry's hands.

Barry just laughed.

"Well, your birthday's coming up," he pointed out, "Maybe if our team gets rid of our annoying sense of self-righteousness by then, I'll get you another one—one with a bigger jackpot."

Cisco grinned at him.

"Deal."