Sunnydale Middle School, a week later; 1530 hours.
"Alright, people," said Barry over the sound of the school bell ringing as his students starting closing their books and getting off their chairs beef pushing them back, the legs scratching on the floor. However, no one heard him as they started to talk to their friends, and all he could do was shake his head and smile. He caught a glimpse of Dawn looking at him with a small smile on her face, before turning to her lab partner and shrugging her shoulders. Barry coughed before putting his fingers on his lips, and then whistling out loud.
The shrill whistle made everyone stop talking and moving, and then look back at him. With a smirk on the side of his lips, the young man then spoke, "thank you. Now, remember to get the rest of the chapter done by tomorrow. There will be a quiz, and…"
Barry smiled at tall of the grumbling students who started to walk towards the door while Barry continued speaking, "and enjoy yourselves." He then walked behind his desk and packed up all his teaching materials as Dawn and another young girl stopped by, the dark haired girl telling the blonde that she'll see her later on. Barry looked up at the girl patting Dawn on the shoulder before waving at Barry, who waved back, and then left out the door.
"Yes, Dawn?" asked Barry as he slung his backpack over his shoulder, "what's up?"
"Just wanted to say that we haven't seen much of you, is all," replied Dawn as she walked out into the hallway with Barry by her side, "I mean ever since the gas explosion at the Cultural Fair three weeks ago you've been…"
"Well, technically I do see you every day," said Barry with a chuckle as they walked out of the school exit, and onto a large walkway with a lawns full of green grass on either side full of students either standing and talking, playing football, or just simply gathering in groups. At the roadside, Barry saw a familiar black SUV, and smiled as the passenger window went down and Joyce leaned sideways and waved her hand while calling to Barry.
"Hey, Mrs. Summers," said Barry waving his hand as Dawn got into the car, and closed the passenger side door before looking out at the young man, "hope you're doing okay, still going to the doctor?"
"Yes, Barry," smiled Joyce nodding her head as more students started to walk out of the front doors of the school, and within the crowd of young people were some of the teachers who were heading for their cars, preparing to leave for home. Barry turned back to Joyce and nodded to one of the bike racks at the front pavement of the school before telling the older blonde that he had to go back to his apartment; that he was supposed to be meeting a friend.
"Why don't you bring your friend and come over for dinner, Barry," said Joyce as Dawn nodded her head excitedly, "we haven't seen you much."
"Thanks for the offer, Mrs. Summers," said Barry as he rubbed the back of his head nervously, "this is actually a pretty big date with a friend from home, and… I mean, I haven't seen her in a while and I'd like to make this a… I mean… like a date, you know?"
"Right," nodded Joyce in understanding.
"Rain-check?" asked Barry looking at Joyce and then Dawn, and then back at Joyce again with a hopeful look on his face.
"You got it," replied Joyce before she looked at the bicycle, and then back at Barry, "how about you put the bike on the rack, and I'll give you a ride home."
"Thanks, Mrs. Summers," said Barry shaking his head, "but I like feeling the wind on my face while I'm riding the bike."
"It looks so clean," said Dawn as she stared at the boke, and then at Barry, "you got it when you started working here, right?"
"I clean it every day," chuckled Barry, "gives me focus."
Barry tapped his hands on the door of the Jeep before stepping back, and then telling Joyce and Dawn that he was staying for a little while longer before heading home to get ready for his date. Joyce waved at the young man, telling him that he and his friend were welcome for dinner before she drove off. Barry stood there waving before turning around and then walking towards the school, all the while checking to make sure that the Jeep had already gone out of his sight. Stopping on the pathway, Barry changed direction and headed for the bicycle while waving at some of his other students and fellow teachers who drove past.
Once he reached the bicycle, Barry looked at it and then at the spot where Joyce's jeep had just made a turn onto the main road. He then bent down and released the lock around the front wheel and then, once it was off, he wrapped the chain around the seat. He then got on it, and rode the bicycle around the school where there was no-one present. He then got off the bike, and picked it just off the ground before running at super speed towards his apartment.
Stopping at his front door, and placing the tyres of the bicycle on the carpeted floor, Barry sighed and shook his head at the lies he just told Joyce and Dawn, 'all they were doing was being nice.'
Barry reached into his pocket and took out a key, he then unlocked the door and walked in with the bicycle; the very same one he bought just before starting work at the school. It was the only thing he could afford at the time, and it was a ruse that would convince people of the way he arrived at, and left, the school everyday. He knew that was a more plausible excuse than arriving at, and leaving the school with no transportation; the bicycle was his alibi.
He walked into his small studio apartment, and turned on the lights. Heading for the wall next to the closed door, Barry leaned the bicycle against it, and then looked at the walls; walls that had some hand drawn pictures of Henry, Nora, Cisco, Caitlin, Joe, and Iris hung up with tape. He looked at the pictures of Iris, and then at the ones of his father and mother, and hung his head before turning around… sighing, and then heading for the fridge.
Barry's tent, the same one he had been using in the desert outside Sunnydale, was folded in one corner as he took out a beer, opened it, and then drank while leaning back against the cream coloured wall. He slipped down onto the carpeted floor and looked at the pictures on the wall, and then at his air mattress that was covered in paper. His entire apartment was spartan; all in the hope that Cisco would find him soon. He wanted to have no connections to anyone or anything, and as Barry looked around the apartment, he knew that he was successful in having very little in his life on this particular Earth.
But there was a part of him that was already feeling lonely from not being around people who he could be close to; he didn't have a group like Team Flash on this Earth, and while one part wanted it to be that way, thus the non-existent date with a fictional young woman. However, there was another part telling him that he needed to be around people… that if he didn't, then he'd be getting depressed.
'And distracted,' thought Barry to himself as he leaned the back of his head on the wall behind him, 'even when I'm teaching, I'm not there. I am always hoping for Cisco to show up… hoping for me to just speed out of here and into a breach that he'll create, and I'd be home with Iris. That's what I want… I want to go home. Cisco, where are you?'
Barry splayed his legs outward and reached into his other pocket, and took out a phone. It had the number of the phone he had given Buffy, but there was no call to him after that day with the people that Willow and the others called the Knights of Byzantium.
'I guess she's doing good by herself,' thought Barry to herself as he looked at Iris' picture, and then at the phone. He put it down on his side, and then just looked straight ahead. He was all alone on this Earth, and he didn't know what he could do to alleviate it. It was a few hours later that Barry woke up, lying on the floor right outside his kitchen, and next to the fridge. HE got up to his feet slowly before stretching his arms over his head, and then picking up the beer bottle. Barry threw it in his thrash bin, and then rubbed his hands together and opened the fridge again, only to find stacks of frozen food. Sighing, he was about to reach for one of the red coloured boxes when he stopped and closed the door.
Barry slumped his shoulders, and turned around looking at the pictures of his friends.
"What do I do, guys?" Barry whispered as he looked at Cisco's picture; followed then by another one he drew of himself and the scientist standing back to back. He then looked at the picture of Iris sitting on the stairs of the West residence's front porch, a smile on her face and her hair flowing in the wind, "a little over two months, guys. I'm stuck here for two months and… and I don't know what to do. I'm helping here and there but… but I've avoided creating new friendships because… because I'm afraid that when I have to leave, I have to say goodbye to these people. And… and I know that coming back here is going to be difficult thanks to all of the meta-humans we have and… that's why I don't want to make any…"
Barry just sighed, put the picture on his mattress and rubbed the back of his head with both hands.
"Now I'm talking to my pictures," said Barry to himself as he turned and started to pace on the floor. All the while, he was looking at the sun setting outside the window before making a decision to go out and do a patrol; hopeful that it would help to clear his head. Barry then took a shower, following which he then ran out of the apartment in super speed. He ran around the city helping where he could before getting out towards Santa Barbara where he spent some time before heading to Los Angeles where he managed to stop a shoot-out, a mass shooting in an office building, and then a few muggings during the thirty minutes he spent there covering the entire city. Barry then zoomed out of the city and headed to Sunnydale where he made another round of patrols. This time, he ran past Buffy's house where, with everything standing still, Barry watched Xander and Anya getting into the house as Dawn opened the door. He caught a glimpse of Joyce in the living room with Tara and Willow, and Buffy in the dining room looking at some food.
All of them were smiling; and it made Barry long even more to get home. But he also knew that isolating himself was only going to make him upset and depressed. So, he made a decision.
The Summers Residence, at that exact time.
Xander and Anya were walking into the Summers house, with Dawn holding the door open just as a bolt of lightning shot past. Dawn rushed out of the house and into the porch, pushing past Xander and Anya who turned looking confused at the young woman who reached the railing and grinned. She watched the lighting, which Xander and Anya also caught a glimpse of as it made a left turn into another street, and grinned before turning around.
"He's here," said Dawn with a smile on her face.
"He just passed by us," said Anya shaking her head as she pulled Xander into the door, "so either he's doing his job, or stalking us."
"I'd like to think he's protecting us," said Dawn as she leaned out of the porch, hoping to catch another glimpse of the Flash. When he didn't pass by again, Dawn sighed and then turned around to see Xander stepping into the house and holding the door open for her. She walked into the home while Xander waved at Joyce, Tara, and then at Willow while Buffy said 'hi' and then went back to the kitchen to get some plates.
"Mom," Buffy yelled as she got into the kitchen, "you still want to hold a place for Barry?"
"I think he'll be coming tonight," Joyce replied as she walked into the dining room, and then rushed to the kitchen to check on her pie, "I talked to him today when I picked up Dawn, he said he might be coming... but I could see in his eyes that he wants to come."
"I don't think he's coming," said Buffy as she carried some plates while Giles walked down the stairs from the second floor while wiping his hands. He then walked into the dining room where he heard Buffy telling Joyce that they had asked Barry multiple times to come by for dinner, and that he refused every time.
Giles was about to head for the kitchen when he heard Buffy's voice getting closer, followed by Joyce who was telling her daughter that Barry seemed to be lonely.
"If he was lonely," said Buffy as she walked past Giles and placed the plates on the table while Joyce put a pot roast in the middle, "then he'd be coming by, I… mom, I'm glad he was there to save your life. I can't thank him enough for that, but we've asked him to come…"
It was just then that there was a knock on the door, leading to Buffy looking around at everyone before looking at Joyce, "don't tell me it's Spike."
"I seriously doubt Spike would knock on the door, speaking of whom… where is he?" said Giles as Dawn rushed to the front door, and opened it before stepping back.. her eyes wide in surprise.
"Dawnie? Who…?" asked Joyce as she reached the open door and smiled at Barry standing on the porch in a pair of jeans and a shirt while holding onto a box, "Barry?"
"Hi, Mrs Summers, you asked and… well, I hope you don't mind me coming by a little late," said Barry as a surprised Buffy looked at him as he handed the box to Joyce, and then stepped into the house with Dawn closing the door behind him.
"Where's your friend?" asked Joyce.
"She wasn't able to come," said Barry with a hint of sadness in his eyes before shaking his head, and then telling Joyce if she didn't mind if he arrived by himself.
"Of course not," chuckled Joyce.
"Barry," smiled Tara as he approached him with Willow by her side, "hi."
"Hi," he replied as he waved at Tara and Willow, while Dawn said that she didn't hear him come in on his bike.
"I ride really silent," said Barry before looking at Joyce, "hope you don't mind, I have it leaning against your garage."
"No, of course not," replied Joyce as she headed to the dining room, and then to the kitchen, "you're Just in time."
Barry caught the scent of home cooked food in the air, just like the one and only other time he was in this house, after Joyce returned home from the hospital. Barry looked at the spread and thought about dinners with Joe and the others back home; but he quickly pushed those thoughts away, mentally telling himself that those thoughts would only serve to depress him even more.
"I could eat like a horse," said Xander as he headed for the table, with Anya following close behind him. Dawn walked past Barry, telling him that she was glad he came by before telling the young man that he was sitting next to her.
Leaving one seat open for him, Tara and Willow then sat down... Tara telling the young man that it was good to see him again. Barry smiled and nodded his head at her before turning towards Buffy who stood next to him while Giles sat down next to Joyce who was waving the both of them over to the table.
"I thought you wouldn't be coming," whispered Buffy as they walked towards the table while Willow and Xander were calling out for their sides, "you surprised me, Barry."
"I try," he replied just as the back door opened, and a man with a British accent in a black coat, his face bruised, walked into the dining room through the kitchen. Barry looked at the man, and then at Buffy who was frowning at him while the others stopped talking and just stared.
"Spike," hissed Buffy as she strode forward before grabbing the man by the shoulders and then turned him around. She pushed him towards the kitchen while he looked back at Barry, and then at the food.
"Who's the new guy, and I'm hungry," said Spike as they reached the kitchen.
While Giles told Barry not to worry, and take a seat, Buffy pushed Spike out the back door and then slammed the door shut behind her. She demanded to know what he was doing at the house while crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at the vampire. HE told her that he heard about Glory's defeat, and that he wanted to congratulate her.
"I wasn't the only one there," said Buffy as she looked away from Spike.
"Oh, I heard," chuckled Spike as Buffy looked back at him, "well, now that the danger's gone… there is…"
"You not telling Glory about Dawn being the Key changes nothing between us," said Buffy as Spike leaned on the railing and smirked at her, "especially when you had a nerd create a copy that you… ewww… I don't even want to think what you did with it."
"So you're telling me that the kiss didn't mean anything?" asked Spike as he walked up to her and leaned into her face, "you remember t he one? When you pretended to be the Buffy-bot… I knew it was the real you just then. I felt the heat from your lips, I heard your heart beat jumping and…"
"I don't love you," said Buffy taking a step back shaking her head, "that kiss meant nothing, it was just to…."
"I can hear your heart beat racing when I mentioned the kiss," said Spike as he rushed down the stairs and, when he reached the grass, he turned and smirked at Buffy who was glaring at him, "you think that the plain old Tom inside the house is going to be what you wanted Riley to be? Please, Slayer… you and I know that you prefer the danger… and not the boring."
"Go home, Spike," said Buffy, "and he's just a friend."
"See you around, Slayer," said Spike before running off into the darkness. Buffy wondered if he had just come by to get her pissed off before she turned and opened the door to the house. There was no doubt she was surprised that Spike never told Glory about Dawn, but she felt disgusted at even thinking about kissing the very vampire that had tried to kill her on so many occasions. Closing the door behind her, Buffy heard laughter from the dining room as Barry was telling everyone about the time he and his friend, Caitlin, from New York were drunk and had spent the entire night singing Karaoke.
As she listened in from the kitchen, Buffy knew that Spike was right about one thing – the few times she's been around Barry, he reminded her too much about Riley; in that both of them were in danger form the supernatural.
Especially Barry since Riley had some military training.
And there was no way she was even kissing Spike again. Shaking her head, Buffy sighed before giving into the fact that she should enjoy her family life with Dawn, her mother, and the Scoobies… ultimately those were the only people she really loved. The ones who mattered to her more than anything, and she resolved to protect them as long as she breathed air.
TBC.