Flash Mobile

"I'm telling you," Barry slurred, "Piston IC engines are not obsolete. They're the future."

"They're old school," Wally insisted, taking another swig of whiskey, "The Wankel Rotary engine has a much better weight-to-power ratio."

Barry stubbornly shook his head, throwing back another shot. Wally raised his eyebrows. He had lost count over how many shots Barry had taken at this point, but it seemed excessive.

"Not if you adjust the valve timing of a piston engine," Barry argued, "Ferrari just developed several dynamic valves that drastically improve the weight-to-power ratio, making them better than rotary engines."

"Ferrari," Wally huffed, "Didn't realize we were talking Italian cars here."

"Got something against Italian cars?" Barry asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No," Wally shrugged, "Just not a huge fan of Ferrari."

"I guess it's a good thing I didn't buy a Ferrari then," Barry chuckled.

Wally raised his eyebrows.

"You bought a car?"

Barry nodded and took another swig of Maker's Mark.

"Wanna see it?" he grinned.

"Um…Yes!" Wally nearly shouted.

Barry grinned at him.

"Come with me," he said, standing up from the couch, "The garage is this way."

The two of them maneuvered their way through Barry's house, which was now so packed full of people it had to be over ninety degrees. People were starting to get more rowdy as the night wore on. Drinks were being spilled, bottles were being broken, and people were raiding Barry's liquor cabinets for his top shelf booze. None of this seemed to phase Barry, though, as they walked through the house. He seemed completely at ease.

When he and Barry entered the garage, Wally's heart nearly stopped.

"No way," he gasped when his eyes landed on the car, "Is that a—?!"

"Lamborghini sixty-six," Barry laughed, "Just got it yesterday."

"Wells didn't leave this to you?" Wally asked, not tearing his eyes away from the car.

"God, no," Barry laughed, "He may have been rich, but he had shitty taste in cars."

"So you bought this?" Wally asked, "How?"

Barry laughed and shrugged.

"I have my ways," he said vaguely.

Wally tore his eyes away from the car to give Barry a skeptical look.

"You're a CSI," he said, "How the hell did you afford this?"

Barry laughed and shook his head.

"The same way I manage to pay taxes on this stupid mansion," he chuckled, "I use my brain."

Wally furrowed his eyebrows as he turned back to the car, not satisfied with Barry's vague answer.

"You're not drag-racing, are you?" Wally joked.

Barry laughed.

"No," he chuckled, "Nothing illegal. I work for the CCPD, remember?"

Wally laughed and shook his head.

"That's too bad," he joked, "This car would be sick in a drag race."

Barry laughed.

"Well, if you promise not to race in it, I'll let you drive it sometime," he said, "Sometime when we're not both drunk."

Wally tore his gaze away from the car to look at Barry, his eyes wide.

"Seriously?"

"Of course," Barry shrugged, "We're family, after all."

Wally couldn't help the small smile that formed on his face with these words.

"You know," he said slowly, "I always wanted a brother. Granted, I wanted a little brother, but still…"

"Guess you'll have to settle for an older one," Barry chuckled, ruffling Wally's hair.

Wally swatted Barry's hand away and rolled his eyes.

"Well, if we're brothers, then I can be honest with you," Wally laughed, "I would have gone with yellow. Yellow Lamborghinis are classic."

Barry laughed and looked down at the car, a small smile forming on his face.

"I have an affinity for red."

"Where is he?" Joe muttered, looking at his watch.

"Late as always," Iris sighed.

"Still," Cisco said, "This is late, even for him."

"Well, I don't blame him," Caitlin huffed, "This is a stupid idea. If I were Barry, I wouldn't show up either."

"This is a great idea," Cisco insisted, "What better way to get Barry's speed up than to pull a daredevil stunt?"

"It's over a hundred foot drop, Cisco," Caitlin said seriously, looking nervously out at the dam, "I can't patch Barry up if he's dead."

"You need to have a little more faith in him," Cisco said, waving a hand dismissively.

"I don't know," Joe said slowly, "I'm really not liking the sound of this."

"I've done all the calculations," Cisco assured them, "Barry needs to reach mach three-point-three to make the jump, and yeah, I know that's faster than he's ever gone before…and I know he hasn't been making much progress with his speed…and that he's been a little scatter-brained lately, but…okay, yeah, maybe this is a terrible idea."

"Thank you," Caitlin said in irritation.

"I say we abort," Joe said, peering over the edge of the cliff.

He paled slightly when he saw the sharp rocks at the bottom.

"Okay, we're definitely not doing this," he decided, his voice rising slightly.

"Agreed," Iris sighed in relief, "Someone text Barry. Tell him not to come and that we're—"

Iris was suddenly cut off by the high-pitched sound of tires squealing on the nearby road. The squealing quickly ceased and was replaced by the grinding of gravel, dust quickly enveloping the small group as a car pulled up next to the STAR Labs van. Everyone coughed and tried to bat away the dust in the air. As the dust settled, a bright red Lamborghini quickly came into view. They all stared at the Italian sports car, trying to see through its tinted windows.

"Who's this asshole and what does he want?" Cisco asked in irritation, still trying to clear his throat.

That question was answered rather quickly when the car door opened, flipping upwards instead of out like a normal vehicle. The driver climbed out with a wide grin on his face.

"Barry?!" Iris ejected.

Barry smiled as he sauntered up to them, wearing his Flash suit with the cowl down and a pair of dark sunglasses over his eyes.

"Cisco," he said as he joined them, "I think it's time we make my suit a brighter red. It's clashing with the Flash mobile."

They all stared at him.

"What's with the car, Bar?" Joe asked in confusion.

"Yeah," Cisco said, walking up to the car with an awestruck look on his face, "What's with the…beautiful, beautiful car?"

Barry laughed and took off his sunglasses.

"You like it?" he grinned, "I had to go to twenty-eight different car dealerships to find it. It took me over an hour."

"Why does the Flash need a car?" Caitlin asked, frowning at the luxury vehicle.

Barry shrugged.

"Why not?" he asked, "Even speedsters get tired of running everywhere, especially when they're as hungover as I am today. Besides, just last week, I ran to work in the rain and had to deal with soaked shoes all day. A car would solve that problem. Not to mention the hazard of wet or icy roads. I'm less likely to hydroplane in a car than I am to slip when I'm running at—"

"Okay, okay," Joe said impatiently, "I care way less about the 'why' than I do about the 'how.' How did you buy this, Bar?"

"I saved up," Barry shrugged, his face stretching into a mischievous grin.

"This is a hundred-thousand-dollar car, Barry," Joe said seriously.

"One-seventy-five," Barry corrected, his voice somewhat smug.

"Where'd you get the money?" Joe demanded, "Did you time travel again?"

"Again?" Iris asked.

"I'll explain later," Joe muttered to her, his eyes fixed on Barry, waiting for an answer.

"Relax, I didn't time travel," Barry assured him, rolling his eyes, "No more lottery tickets, I promise."

"Then what did you do?" Joe demanded, "You didn't steal anything, did you?"

"Seriously?" Barry laughed, "I'm the Flash. Of course I didn't steal anything. I'm actually hurt you even had to ask that."

"Well, you've been more than a little impulsive lately," Joe said seriously, "Honestly, I don't know what's going on with you, but I'm concerned, Bar."

"You're concerned because I bought a car?" Barry asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Dude," Cisco said, "You're like the definition of an existential crisis right now."

"I'm twenty-six," Barry laughed, "I think I'm a little young to be going through an existential crisis."

"Says the guy who went and bought a flashy sports car," Cisco said seriously.

Barry grinned at him.

"Pun not intended," Cisco added before Barry could open his mouth.

Barry laughed and shook his head.

"I'm not going through any kind of mid-life crisis, guys," he chuckled, "I'm just trying to live a little. I work hard every day to protect this city. I think I deserve to buy myself a few toys every now and then."

"This isn't just about the car, Barry," Iris said seriously, "Something about you lately has been…different. You're distracted."

"I'm here, aren't I?" Barry said, raising his hands, "I'm still taking my responsibility as the Flash seriously. God forbid I have a life outside being the Flash. I swear, all you guys see me as now is a set of legs. I'm still Barry Allen, you know."

They all stared at him, shocked by his outburst. Barry didn't even sound angry. In fact, he spoke in a matter-of-fact tone, as if what he had just said was an everyday statement.

"Barry, you know that's not true," Caitlin insisted, "You're more than just the Flash to us. You're Barry."

"But lately you haven't been the Barry we know," Joe continued, "You've been reckless…impulsive. I don't know what's gotten into you—if this has something to do with Zoom or what—but we have good reason to be concerned about you right now."

"And why is that?" Barry questioned, raising an eyebrow, "Have I done anything wrong? Is it wrong to ask for a pay raise at work or to buy a nice car?"

"Barry, you dangled a man off a flag pole by his underwear," Caitlin said seriously.

"Not to mention how everyone at work keeps calling you 'slut' now," Joe added with a grimace.

"They're just joking around," Barry laughed, waving a dismissive hand.

"Was it joking around when I walked in on you arguing with Detective Dilloshaw last week?" Joe asked seriously.

"Well, that's different," Barry shrugged, "That guy's a dick."

"No, Bar, you are," Joe countered, "At least, you have been lately. At every crime scene you go to now, you've been condescending and downright arrogant towards the other detectives."

"And look at the result," Barry said, completely unabashed, "Detective Dilloshaw wears gloves now. Detective Henderson actually tapes the scenes off right. And Officer Brooks doesn't get crumbs all over the scenes with his impromptu diabetic snacks. I'm not going to apologize for demanding a little more respect from my coworkers, Joe. Those guys have been walking all over me for years. It's about time they start listening to me and do their jobs right."

"I never thought you cared about respect," Joe said seriously, "I always thought being liked by your coworkers was more important to you."

"It is," Barry shrugged, "But being liked only gets you so far. I can still be liked without being a total pushover. I'm tired of being taken advantage of."

"Is that how you feel?" Joe asked, "You feel like they're taking advantage of you?"

"Everyone does," Barry shrugged.

They all stared at him, stunned into silence.

"Are you talking about us?" Cisco said after a moment, "Because we already told you, you're more than just a 'set of legs' to us, man."

"Well, forgive me if it doesn't feel that way sometimes," Barry said calmly, "All the training, the medical tests, speed drugs…"

"We're not making you take the V9, Barry," Caitlin said seriously, "Jay told us it was too dangerous. Besides, you're the one who's always saying you want to get faster. If it feels like we've been pushing you, that's only because we thought that's what you wanted."

"It is," Barry said, "It is what I want. I'm just saying it would be nice to be seen for who I am and not how fast I am."

They all stared at him, no one knowing what to say. They didn't know where all this was coming from. Had Barry been feeling this way all this time? He was the one who seemed to always define himself by his speed, but maybe they had something to do with that…

"Anyways," Barry said, starting to stretch his legs, "Are we going to do this or what?"

Everyone gave him confused looks, glancing back at the dam behind them.

"Hang on, Bar," Joe said seriously, "We decided not to do this. I think we all need to go back to STAR Labs and talk more about what's going on with you right now."

"I'm done with talking," Barry said impatiently, "I just want to run."

They're eyes all widened when Barry started backing up, getting ready to jump the cliff.

"Dude, wait," Cisco said seriously, "We just discussed it, and we all agreed this exercise is too dangerous. I never should have suggested it."

"Why not?" Barry laughed, still backing up, "It's genius!"

"Barry, seriously, stop!" Iris pleaded, her voice on edge, "If you don't make it to the other side, the fall could kill you!"

"That's the point," Barry laughed, "The whole point of the cliff, of the danger, is to increase adrenaline and trigger more speed."

"Barry," Caitlin said seriously, "Just wait! Let's talk about this a second!"

"Less talking, more running," Barry laughed, digging his feet into the ground and getting into running position.

"Barry!" Joe shouted angrily, "Listen to us!"

"Relax, guys," Barry grinned, "I can do this."

"Barry, please!" Iris cried, "Please, just wait! You can't do this!"

Barry gave her a wide grin.

"Watch me."

And then he took off, charging toward the cliff with a streak of lightning.

"Barry!" they all screamed, but it was too late.

Barry leapt off the edge.