Chapter 6

Cecil's Visit

And News From Linda

Disclaimer: I own nothing but what you see here. Evidently in the last bits of the last chapter I goofed when I mentioned only three men, apologies for that!

The four men continued to look around at one another in silence as Barry rubbed his stinging cheek after Iris had slapped the ever loving crap out of him moments ago. He had considered going after her but was worried he'd get another slap like the first one, then again if he didn't do it he was liable to get slapped anyway. Talk about a rock and a hard place… He grumbled to himself in his head.

It was Eddie who finally broke the silence when he asked Barry if he needed an ice pack for his face, though the way he asked it was decidedly un-friendly, making Barry wince at the tone in the other man's voice. "Eddie." Was all Joe said in a stern voice, though he wasn't exactly willing to listen to the older man.

"I should be arresting him right now." Barry rolled his eyes at that cause there was no way the man was going to catch him unless he let him. Which, you know, would be never if he could help it.

Cisco even had his doubts about the detective being able to arrest him unless Barry himself allowed it. But chose for the time being not to say nothing as he didn't want to possibly escalate the situation. Joe was considering something to say before someone else said something and made an already tense situation pretty volatile. However he was beaten by the arrival of another when she spoke up. "There will be no arrests just yet Detective Thawne."

All four of the men looked towards the door to see District Attorney Cecil standing in the doorway with an expression on her face that pretty much said she shouldn't be challenged on that. Eddie however wasn't going to accept that. "Ma'am, with all due respect, Allen is a vigilante and one that attacked me several months ago. Both of which are grounds for an arrest and prison time."

"Yeeeaah… Barry wasn't himself that night when he attacked you as he'd been under the effects of the Rainbow Raider's meta ability at the time." Cisco informed the man helpfully while making Cecil wonder what heck a Rainbow Raider was.

He must have noticed the look however as he explained who Roy G. Bivolo is and what he could do, along with what led to encountering him in the first place. Which answered a lingering question Eddie had had about that bank case. "There you have it Detective Thawne, though unusual as it may be considering the circumstances. And as for Bivolo, if he is able to have such an effect on people, then where he is now as with such an ability he is highly dangerous?" Cecil asked, as he needed to be taken off the streets as soon as possible.

Her question made Cisco a bit uncomfortable as he knew the woman wasn't going to like what she was told, not to mention the trouble it could get Joe and Barry into. She noticed the look on his face and crossed her arms and fixed him with a look that made him gulp. Oh boy, she's not going to like this. Barry thought to himself while preparing for the worst.

"We… We were able to convert certain aspects related to the Accelerator into containment cells that can hold each Meta Human." Cisco finally informed her, making not only her eyes go wide in alarm but Eddie's too as he realized the implications there.

"Are you out of your minds!? Do you have any idea the number of laws that violates!?" She asked incredulously as she looked at Cisco, Joe, and Barry.

Barry wound up speaking before anyone else could. "We had no choice ma'am, normal cells couldn't hold them for very long and had any of them escaped the loss of life would have been horrible." And that's not something he wanted to see happen.

The glare he got was not pretty and he slowly backed away from the woman. "There is ALWAYS a choice Allen. Always. Arrangements will need to be made to ensure that proper justice is done, not to mention you, Joe, Mr. Ramon here, and the rest of those remaining at STAR Labs could be facing SERIOUS jail time for failure to follow proper procedure." It was also pretty much implied that Joe could lose his badge too and boy Cecil was NOT happy and she was letting it show.

"Why the Hell would Dr. Wells even allow this to happen?" She demanded to know, as she knew he couldn't be that foolish.

"Aside from being the maniac in yellow who killed my mom and got my dad falsely imprisoned you mean? I really couldn't imagine why he would let it happen." Barry bit out acidly, surprising the woman over his words.

"W-What!?" She couldn't have heard that right!

"Its true, if it wasn't for Caitlin, I wouldn't even be here right now. Plus we have video proof." Cisco told her, adding on to her shock.

Eddie would have added on to that but had no desire to open that can of worms about the possibility of being related to the man. "If it means my dad's freedom, I will happily hand over that proof to you." Barry told her, meaning every bit of it.

"Sorry Cisco." He then added with a sincere look on his face to the engineer.

The engineer couldn't find it in him to see much wrong with the plan and if it meant the final end of STAR Labs, then so be it. A man's freedom is far more important as it is anyway. "I'll even resign from the CCPD if need be if it means saving Joe's career." Barry added, and instantly causing an uproar in the process as well. It was a wonder that none of the nurses had wound up bursting in during all of it.

A loud whistle from Cecil quickly put an end to the uproar. "Ah! No!" She said quickly when she saw that Joe was about to start up again. He noticeably deflated after that as he wasn't about to get himself even more on her badside.

"There's a good likelyhood you'd be doing more then just resigning Mr. Allen, but for now, let's focus on the video proof you mentioned. Also Mr. Ramon, I'd liike for you to come up with a way to make it so that our kind of cells can hold a.. Meta Human. Perhaps also make something that can be put on them as well that can prevent them from using their abilities. Especially in the case of Mr. Mardon as his potential escape could be very unpleasant." She ordered and he nodded his agreement to that. No way was he going to go against her. As it was, its something he himself already should have thought of doing awhile back.

"Yes ma'am, I'll head back to STAR Labs and get started on a wearable device right away." He headed towards her direction to get out of the room and as he got closer to her, he thought of something that might be needed to be done.

"I know this is gonna be so not a cool thing to do, but you and Detective Thawne might want to consider keeping the Weather Wizard tranqed until this is done." He got a slight glare from that but Cecil knew however that it was their best feasible option.

"I don't like it, but its quite possibly the best humane option to us right now." She replied to him somewhat stiffly.

Cisco nodded and then turned to Barry. "You comin' with me man?" Barry shook his head no and said that it was likely best he stay here for now.

"Gotcha." And with that, Cisco was quickly out the door and on his way to the quickest route to the exit.

Silence reigned in the room after that until Barry broke it by asking what now. "Now Mr. Allen? Joe here for the time being focuses on getting his leg healed while Detective Thawne and I head back to the precinct to ensure that Mardon doesn't escape. With David Singh unlikely to ever return to work, a new captain will have to be chosen to take his place." Which to the woman, was honestly a crappy situation as Singh was damned good at his job despite the fact that pretty much a majority of the force knew how he tended to be rather hard with Barry for one reason or another.

"And me?" Barry asked a bit nervously.

Cecil sighed, somewhat unsure on what the best way to handle his situation is. "I think it best you not leave the city limits anytime soon and to just stay home as well for now." She informed him and Barry was relieved she hadn't decided to have him arrested.

"Yes ma'am." He replied, though he could tell Eddie wasn't happy about the decision but a glare from Cecil kept him quiet.

The two left after that, leaving just Joe and Barry in the room now. Barry walked over to Joe and pulled a chair up closer to his bed and sat in it heavily with Joe looking on in concern. "It will be okay Barry, do you understand? Whatever happens, we will face it together no matter what." He told his boy seriously.

Barry could only sigh as he wasn't quite sure he could believe those words just yet. Joe leaned over and put a hand on Barry's shoulder and squeezed it a little in support. "Trust me alright?" He asked while looking at the Speedster.

"Its not that I don't trust you, cause I do trust you, a lot actually. Its just I'm really worried right now about all this." The combined expression of lost, exhausted, and worried on his face nearly broke Joe's heart in two as he squeezed the young man's shoulder again in support.

"Look, why not go home for now and get some rest? Hmm? I can tell you obviously need it right now before you drop." Joe told him seriously and getting a look of shock in return.

Barry protested the man's words, saying he was fine and that he was needed here more. Joe countered by saying that there wasn't much he could do and he'd be better off going home to get some sleep before coming back to visit him tomorrow. Barry sighed defeatedly as he realized he wasn't going to win against Joe, though he did realize that getting some sleep no matter how light out it still is, sounds pretty darn good right now. "Alright, fine, but I will be back as soon as I'm able too." He informed the older man and getting a chuckle in response for his efforts.

"I have no doubt of that at all son, no doubt at all." The two hugged and soon Barry was gone, leaving Joe alone to think on everything he'd learned today.

Several Hours Later at Joe's House…

Despite the fact he'd been pretty darn tired, Barry had wound up sitting in a recliner in the front room covered mostly in darkness aside from an outside source of light from a window in the room. He'd basically been pulling an Oliver and had been brooding on the recent events of the day since getting home and was glad Felicity wasn't around to see him do it as he definitely didn't want to get on the wrong end of her Loud Voice. The thought of that had made him shudder a couple of times. A knock at the front door broke him out of his broody thoughts, making him sigh in slight annoyance as he got up to go see who it was. He didn't think it would be Iris as she had a key and all that. And hoped it wouldn't be Eddie or Cecil with the intent on arresting him despite her earlier words on the matter. He didn't really think it'd be anyone from STAR Labs or Team Arrow either but life could always throw a surprise or two at you.

The sight of Linda Park on the otherside of the door was a huge surprise to him and made him feel a bit ashamed of himself for not having thought of trying to get in contact with her. To him, she looked a bit angry and for whatever reason a bit nervous. Though he hoped the nervous thing wasn't cause she was worried he might do something now that his secret was out. "Linda! Uh.. Hi, I uhh.. Well I wasn't really expecting you to come by here." He told her in what he felt was a little on the lame side.

The decidedly unimpressed look she gave him pretty much told him how she felt about that. He indicated for her to come in and she quickly accepted the offer and noticed just how dark the room looked. Making her wonder just why exactly there was little to no light on. "Not interrupting something am I?" There'd be Hell to pay if he was messing around with someone that was most likely Iris when they are still together. Cause Hello! She wasn't blind to what was going on between the two at the bowling alley thank you very much!

He turned back to her after turning a lamp on and she could see the look of confusion on his face. "Um… What? No, no you aren't really interrupting anything actually. All I've really been doing is sitting in the dark, pulling an Arrow and brooding." His remark about the Arrow made her wonder how he even knew about the Starling City vigilante being a brooder. But she'd wait til another time to ask that as there was more important things to deal with.

"You as a brooder doesn't exactly seem to go hand in hand." She remarked to him while sitting on the couch across from the recliner he'd gone to sit in.

Barry just shrugged at her. "Yeah well, today's had me doing it." Linda supposed she could understand that, what with him getting exposed and all on live television while stopping a freaking tidal wave of all things!

Course the fact that Barry had gotten a call from Oliver at one point telling him he had the head of the LoA quite possibly looking to recruit him hadn't helped matters any either. But he wasn't about to say anything about that to anyone except for maybe Joe, Caitlin, and Cisco for the time being. "I guess getting exposed on tv would do it." She finally said, getting a huff of laughter from Barry.

"Yeah, if it was only just that." He replied sadly, making her a bit worried over that but unsure if she should even ask.

"Is everything okay?" She decided to try anyway with concern laced in her voice.

Barry shook his head negatively. "No, but I don't think you really came here to hear about my problems." That honestly hurt her but she could understand why he thought that despite the hurt it caused.

"I might not have, but I'm willing to lend an ear anyway. We are still together you know." She informed him while leaning over to lay a hand on his knee in support and getting a small smile in return for the action.

While he was grateful for what she had said and even done with her hand just now, the fact she still considered them together surprised him since she along with everyone else knows he's the Flash now. He damned well didn't think anything bad of her in relation to it as he'd gotten to know her to be better than that. "I honestly didn't think you'd even be all that willing to stick around." He told her honestly.

And there was the crux of the matter for the girl as she had something she needed to tell him about due to the fact its a pretty serious game changer. "That… That Barry all really depends on you. I know there's a good chance of feelings between you and Iris cause hello! The way you two acted a bit around one another last night at the bowling alley." She started but held up a hand to ward off anything he was about to say.

"I'm not, I'm not going to worry a lot over that right now. As I know even if we break up and you go and be with her, you'd still be in my life." He looked at her confusedly, wanting to say something as he really wanted to know where she was going with this. Because of course he'd be in her life still if they did break up. Having her in his life even as a good friend would be far more preferable then not having her in his life at all.

Linda had a strong feeling that he would still be in her life no matter what as he wouldn't be willing to let his child be with out a father considering his own circumstances. "You see Barry, the reason I know you'd be in my life still other than cause of a bond of friendship between us is cause…. Is because I'm pregnant." She looked down at this, worried about his reaction and completely missing the shell shocked jaw dropping look on his face at her news.

Pregnant!? That's the last thing I was expecting her to say! He thought to himself as he tried to process her words while trying NOT to freak out over it. Holy crap! What was he going to say to his dad!? To Joe!? To Iris!? To well… Anyone really! He had a strong feeling Caitlin would be very interested in this development as it'd be as far as any of them knew, the first documented case of a meta having a child. And there was no telling what potential side effects there could be during the pregnancy, or if the baby would have abilities of its own.

"Wow." Was what he finally said after several minutes of processing it all and causing her to look up at him.

"This… This changes everything." Barry said and Linda had a feeling he was thinking of the potential ramifications of what her being pregnant could mean. Especially with the fact he could run incredibly fast! She was honestly worried too over the whole thing and hoped he knew someone who could be reliable and trustworthy enough to help them in dealing with this as she had absolutely no intention of getting rid of her baby.

Well… Our baby I mean. She mentally corrected while waiting for him to say something else and gladdened he hadn't reacted in a more horrible way but hoped he wasn't going too.

The Speedster looked at her for a moment and she returned the look, unwilling to look away. Her ability to be unwilling to back down from anything was something he honestly liked quite a bit about her. "What um… What do you want to do? About you know, the baby?" He asked and hoped that even if she didn't plan on doing anything like abortion or adoption that she would let him be in their baby's life.

She looked deeply into his eyes for several seconds before responding. "That's up to you Barry, I honestly want you in our baby's life. Whether or not you want to be with me as well is another thing. I will understand though if you don't want to be with me. But please, please be in our baby's life." She pleaded, hating that she had to do so since she liked to consider herself one heck of an independent woman but this was important damn it!

He looked at her shocked that she would even think he wouldn't want anything to do with their baby, cause hello! Lack of a real father due to his being in prison and only being able to visit from time to time had already made him decide long ago that he would do what he had to do to be a part of any kid's life that he was responsible for helping bring in to the world. The example he had of Joe's parenting also ensured he wanted to be involved in his kid's life. "Of course I'll be in our baby's life! No doubt about that!" He told her seriously as he leaned over to grab her hands to hold in his as he looked at her with seriousness shown in his face.

She honestly felt relieved by that and a bit happy too in knowing it. And even if they did break up, at least they would hopefully be able to end it on good terms so that they could be around one another on friendly enough terms for their child's sake. Barry suddenly had the feeling this is why she showed up at the precinct earlier in the day when she needed to talk with him. She surprised him next when she got up and sat in his lap, cuddling into him as he instantly wrapped his arms around her making her feel safe. She didn't give a crap if he could run faster then should be possible, as all she cared about was this moment, this huge life changing moment that they were now entering. Barry didn't know what was in store for them and their baby, but he'd face it all as it came.

Author's Notes: Well folks that's all for now and thanks for reading! I know it was most likely that she was probably going to break up with him when she came to see him at the precinct, but I figured I'd go in a different route between the two with this. There will be a sequel to come and it will feature Ra's Al Ghul and Amanda Waller as they look to get Barry on their sides. Along with any other continuing ramifications of his secret being out in the open. R and R!