#barryallenxreader

Dr. Wells wheeled into the room, noting the quietness of the usually chaotic atmosphere. "Well, it seems that even the bad guys have a day off." The team chuckled upon hearing him. "Why don't you all take the day off as well? No use wasting time here waiting for a crime that's not going to happen."

(Y/N)'s eyes lit up, having come up with an idea. "Hey, why don't we all go out today? We could invite Barry too!" She looked at her friends for their thoughts. Caitlin and Cisco both nodded in approval, while the Flash didn't seem too keen on the idea. Before she could ask what the problem was, Dr. Wells spoke up.

"Count me out, as well as the Flash. I need to run some tests on his biometrics." The Flash quickly nodded, agreeing with the doctor's statement.

"If there's work to be done still, then I'll stay too." (Y/N) frowned in disappointment, but didn't want to have Dr. Wells do all the work. She wasn't being paid to eat stolen Twizzlers..

"Nonsense, you all go out." He shooed them with his hands. "It's some small tests, so I assure you, I can conduct them myself."

Seeing the skeptical look in her eyes, he motioned for Caitlin and Cisco to lead her out of the lab.

"Fine, fine. I'll go," she said, being dragged out by her friends.

_______________________

"Caitlin, honey, I think you should stop drinking now." (Y/N) tried coaxing her friend to put down the new glass of vodka she had ordered, on her newly opened tab.

When the three friends left the lab, they had no idea where to go to. (Y/N) suggested the karaoke bar, that Caitlin had visited with Barry. She thought it would be good practice for Barry, for the Christmas caroling. Of course, Barry didn't know what he was going to be forced into, and accepted the invite. Once they got to the bar, however, she got distracted from her mission, instead trying to prevent Caitlin from having the worst hangover tomorrow morning.

"I need to pee." Caitlin mumbled, her face scrunching up.

"Alright, let's get you to a toilet." She turned to Cisco, whispering so Barry wouldn't hear her. "I'm going to take Cait to the bathroom. I bestow my mission unto you, brave soldier. I expect Barry to be on stage singing when we get back."

"Sir, yes sir!" Cisco saluted, assuring her he wouldn't let her down.

And he sure didn't let her down. After ten minutes in the bathroom, she walked out, with Caitlin leaning against her, to hear the crowd chanting.

"BARRY! BARRY! BARRY!"

Walking back to their table, she shot Cisco a questioning look, noticing Barry was absent from his seat. He titled his head over to the stage, where she could see Barry holding a mic, not looking too enthusiastic. She burst out in laughter, patting Cisco on the back.

"Good job soldier, I knew I could count on you." She continued to laugh as her eyes met Barry's and he threw her an annoyed glare. In response, she stuck her tongue out at him, playfully. But, she then noticed his glare turn into a smirk.

"Cisco, why is B-"

She was interrupted by Barry's voice over the microphone. "You know, my friend, (Y/N), promised that she would sing with me tonight."

If looks could kill, Barry would be dead.

She quickly planned an escape plan in her head. If she left now, she could make it out the door, and ask Cisco to bring Caitlin over to her car.

But there was no use. She knew she was doomed, when she heard another chant start to happen. And this time, she wasn't the one laughing.

"(Y/N)! (Y/N)! (Y/N)! (Y/N)!" She could feel the whole bar staring at her. Even Cisco started chanting along.

"Oh, you better run once the song's over Allen," she muttered under her breath, glaring darkly at the laughing Barry. With no choice left, she trudged up to the stage, glaring at her friend the whole way up.

Putting a hand over the mic, so the crowd wouldn't hear, she whispered to him.

"I hope you run fast."

Barry just chuckled, unfazed by the threat that came from the petite woman. A random song was picked, the music starting preventing the outbreak of an argument. Seeing that she was supposed to sing first, she sighed and glared at Barry.

"I really can't stay~"

Barry looked surprised, for a brief moment, before returning back to his smirk.

"But baby, it's cold outside," he responded.

She could see the teasing glint in his eyes. In front of her, she could hear some people in the crowd chuckle and a few whistle.

"I've got to go away~"

"But baby, it's cold outside." (Y/N) noted that her duet partner did really have a good voice, slowly forgetting about being forced to sing.

"This evening has been~"

"Been hoping that you'd drop in."

"~so very nice."

Barry, fully committing to the song, held her hand while singing, "I'll hold your hands, they're just like ice."

Playing along, she playfully swatted his hand away. "My mother will start to worry~"

"Beautiful, what's your hurry?"

"My father will be pacing the floor."

"Listen to the fire place roar~"

"So really, I'd better scurry~" she motioned walking off the stage.

"Beautiful, please don't hurry~" Barry turned her around and led her closer to the middle of the stage.

"But maybe just a half a drink more…" she smiled, letting him pull her in closer.

"I'll put some records on while I pour."

"The neighbors might think" She acted worried, going along with the lyrics of the song.

"Baby, it's bad out there." He held her side to prevent her from moving away.

"Say, what's in this drink?" She threw him a questioning glance.

"No cabs to be had out there."

"I wish I knew how"

Barry caught her eyes, in his gaze. His eyes lost all teasing, instead filled with something else. "You're eyes are like starlight tonight."

"To break this spell." She felt her cheeks heat up.

"I'll take your hat, your hair looks swell." He sang, while gently holding a lock of her hair.

"I ought to say no, no, no sir." She wiggled her finger in front of his face.

"Oh, mind if I move in closer?" He moved in closer, lessening the space between them.

"At least I'm gonna say that I tried." She felt a familiar feeling in her stomach.

"What's the sense in hurting my pride?" He continued to move in closer, barely leaving any space between them now.

"I really can't stay~" She sang, but didn't move away from him.

"But baby don't hold out"

They looked at each other before singing in unison. "Cause baby it's cold outside."

She moved away from his hold to sing the second verse. "I simply must go~"

A part of her wanted to leave. She wasn't sure what to think, when he looked at her with those eyes.

"But baby it's cold outside," he caught her before she could get closer to the edge of the stage.

"The answer is no, no, no~" She sang, but didn't try to leave again.

"Aw baby, it's cold outside"

"Your welcome has been~"

"How lucky that you dropped in."

"So nice and warm,"

"Look out the window, at that storm." He pointed towards the window, that seemed like a silent night.

"My sister will be suspicious."

"Gosh, your lips are delicious."

The both of them turned pink at the lyrics, but didn't break eye contact.

"And my brother will be there at the door," she continued to sing.

"Waves on a tropical shore."

"My maiden aunt's mind is vicious."

"Oom gosh, your lips are so delicious" She couldn't but blush again, while Barry smiled at her reaction.

"But maybe just a cigarette more."

"Oh never such a blizzard before." He motioned again to outside, playfully smiling.

"I've got to get home~"

"But baby, you'll freeze out there."

Barry tugged (Y/N) closer, bringing her into his embrace.

"Say lend me your coat." She tugged on the lapel of his coat.

"Oh, up to your knees out there."

"You've really been grand~"

"I thrill when you touch my hand." Barry grabbed her hand and put it in his pocket.

"But you don't see, no, no."

"How can you do this thing to me?"

There's bound to be talk tomorrow." They were so caught up in their duet, they didn't notice that the whole bar had their attention at them with knowing smiles on their faces.

"Think of my life long sorrow."

"At least there will be plenty implied." He gave her a wink.

"If you caught pneumonia and died."

"But I really can't stay."

"Get over that whole doubt."

Their eyes didn't leave each other's as they finished the last verse of the song in harmony. "Oh baby it's cold outside."

At the finish of their song, the bar cheered, whistling and clapping for the talented duo. The two proceeded with a short bow, while holding hands, then walked off the stage. When reaching their friends, (Y/N) saw Cisco smiling at them while holding up his phone. A light on the phone was turned on, indicating that it was recording a video. Caitlin, still drunk, was happily clapping with a big smile on her face.

She saw Cisco, from the corner of her eye, smile, while pointing at something next to her. Following his finger, Barry and (Y/N) noticed their still intertwined hands.

Before her face could turn into a tomato, she quickly withdrew her hand and turned her attention to Caitlin.

"How are you feeling?"

Her friend's smile turned to a sudden frown. "Not so good."

"Okay, time to go home. Barry, could you help me?" She pulled Caitlin up to her feet, but struggled to keep her standing. Barry held one of Caitlin's arm, while she held the other and they slowly walked to the exit. Cisco trailed behind them, offering to carry the girls' bag. Once getting Caitlin into her car, (Y/N) turned back to the others.

"Do you need a ride?" The question was directed to both of them, but she was unable to meet Barry's eyes, and settled for staring at Cisco instead.

"Yup." Noticing the awkward tension in the air, he quickly opened the door to the backseat and got in.

"Umm, what about you Barr? She had no choice now, but to look at him.

"Nah, I'll walk home. It's not far from here." Barry seemed very interested in his shoes.

"Okay then, I'll see you tomorrow…" She opened the driver's door and got in.

"Yeah."

Trying to break the awkwardness, she joked, "Try not to be late this time."

Caitlin managed to get out of the car in record time, flinging open the driver's door, grabbing (Y/N)'s hand, and dragging her into the lab.

"Cait, Caitlin, c-can we slow down a bit?" (Y/N) wheezed, out of breath. But she couldn't help but smile, seeing how giddy Caitlin was. She hadn't seen her friend this happy, since Ronnie died.

"There you guys are! What took you so long?" The resident tech-genius whined. "Was there a shoe sale on the way here that you had to stop by?" He was still munching a Twizzler when they entered the room.

"Hey! There's nothing wrong with wanting to drive safe. Slow and steady wins the race, or in this case, stay alive." (Y/N) thought of herself to have superb driving skills, especially better than Cisco, who thought the speed limit sign was more of a suggestion for drivers, and Caitlin, who drove extremely slow in case she accidentally hit a butterfly.

"And where is this important person I need to meet?" Frankly, she was a little annoyed at the mystery of the fifth person. It had been bugging her all day, and having impatience as a personality trait was not helping the situation. Who was this secretive person who she had practically had to set an appointment to meet?

"Well, the need to wait is no more. Here he is!" Cisco stepped to his right, wiggling his fingers at the ground behind him.. "TA-DA!"

"A dog?! We have a team mascot? Oh my goodness, he is so adorable!" She half-whispered, half-screamed because the little puppy was sleeping, adorably, on the floor. (Y/N) was literally jumping up and down, unable to contain her excitement on the news of the unmasked fifth member.

So worth the wait.

"Dang it, I thought you would be mad, or at least a little annoyed." Cisco was disappointed at her reaction, thinking she would be mad that the mysterious fifth person wasn't even a person. "I completely forgot that you loved dogs."

Caitlin rolled her eyes at his attempt to annoy (Y/N) and turned her attention to trying to calm down her best friend. "(Y/N). (Y/N). (Y/N)!!" Her attempts failed, however, as her friend now kneeled on the floor, cooing at the sleeping puppy. "(Y/N), can you listen to me for five seconds, please?"

(Y/N) stopped her fawning, and stared at her friend, who was cutting into her time of cooing at the puppy.

"Yes?"

"Cisco was just kidding. We actually have someone, a real person, we want you to meet, before you lose your mind again over the puppy." Caitlin gestured her hand over to the area behind (Y/N), where a figure dressed in, what appeared to be, scarlet red spandex stood.  

"That cannot be comfortable," she commented, under her breath.

She focused her attention on his face, which she couldn't see very clearly. Standing up, she brushed off her knees and walked over to the red figure with her hand extended out.

"Hello sir! I'm (Y/N)! Pleasure to meet you!"

Even as she got closer, she couldn't make out his face very well. It seemed as though it was vibrating or something. She rubbed her eyes, thinking her vision was messing with her.

The red figure took her hand, and shook it, but didn't do anything else. He just continued to look at her.

"Umm, this would be the part where you tell me your name?" Immediately, the handshaking stopped.

"Wait, (Y/N). You don't know who this?" Caitlin voiced from behind.

"Of course I know who this is. You're 'The Flash'! But I meant, what's your real name? You must have a real name right? Or am I supposed to guess? Is it Clark? Bruce? Bart? Wilson? Wait no, you don't really give off the vibe of a Wilson…" She continued rattling off names off, already lost in her own world.

Caitlin sighed, not liking to have to raise her voice. "(Y/N). (Y/N). (Y/N)!!"

"Bernie? Stewar-" She looked at her friends' faces. They didn't seem as excited as she was.

"What?"

"We can't really tell you his identity…"

"Yeah, Dr. Wells told us that we shouldn't, or can't, tell you for your safety."

She gave her friends an 'are you kidding me' look.

"Well, WE aren't allowed to tell you, but if you found out for yourself, we couldn't stop you," the voice behind the vibrating face reasoned. (Y/N) turned back to the source of the voice, the man in the spandex suit. She gave him the same look she gave her friends.

"For all I know, you could be the guy selling hot dogs on the street. How would I even find out? Actually, the better question is, why should I even try?"

"The answer is closer than you think," the superhero hinted.

"At least give me a better hint." She pleaded the Flash and her friends, with the best puppy dog eyes she could muster. But to her friends, it just looked like she was trying to imitate bug eyes, so it didn't help her cause.

"So until I find out who he really is, he has to walk around in that costume whenever I'm here?"

"Yup. And it's not a costume, it's a superhero suit. There's a difference," Cisco insisted.

"Well, I do love a man in uniform." she said jokingly. "I think I'll take my time on this case."

"It's true, she does." Caitlin laughed at her friend's antics.

The Flash, on the other hand, seemed flustered at her words, making him stutter. "I-uh-um. Well, nice meeting you Ms-"

"Call me (Y/N)."

"Right. Um, well, I'll be leaving now. Let me know if anything happens or if you need me."

With an awkward wave, the Flash sped out of the room, making any loose papers fly about in the air.

"You know, you guys should really buy some paperweights." (Y/N) suggested to her friends. "Where's he going by the way?"

"Probably off to another rendezvous with his crush." Cisco informed, with raising his eyebrows up and down, in a suggestive manner.

"Huh, interesting. I wonder who she is?"

"Cisco, don't you dare." Seeing him about to answer her question, Caitlin hurried to interrupt him.

"Any-who, back to the real important matter at hand." (Y/N) gestured to the puppy on the floor. "Who's puppy is she?" The puppy of the matter was still sleeping, not even bothered by the previous events in the room.

"It's yours actually."

"WHAT?!"

With that yell, the puppy woke up from it's nap and gave out a yawn, before running over to (Y/N) and pouncing near her feet. He took a second to sniff the new human, before reverting back to jumping up and down.

"What do you mean?" (Y/N) was on the verge of tears from the happiness, and sadness that this whole thing might be a dream. She pinched herself to check. "Ow.. Yup, definitely not a dream."

"We got you a puppy as a welcome gift! I know how much you've wanted one but couldn't when you were in Starling." Caitlin exclaimed.

Her previous land lord didn't allow her to keep dogs in her apartment because of his allergies, so she had to hold off on her dream of becoming a dog lady (similar idea to 'cat lady', but instead with dogs). Well, she wasn't serious on the dog lady thing, but was devastated upon finding out that she wouldn't be able to get a dog. But now, with her changed living spaces, she could.

"You guys, you are the best friends that anyone could ever have." Caitlin's eyes got teary at her words, and Cisco was already a sobbing mess. "What's his name?"

Wiping away her tears, Caitlin responded. "We were waiting for you to name him, since he's yours."

Laughing, (Y/N) looked at the dog closely, through her watering eyes. "Hmm. I think I'm going to call you Chewy. Short for Chewbaca the Third."

The dog barked at his name. "Good! I'm glad you like the name! You're gonna be our new mascot!" Smiling , she picked him up in her arms gently.

"Well, if he's our new mascot, you better be ready to bring him in to the lab everyday. He's as much part of the team as anyone of us." Cisco said.

"Of course! And I hereby decree, Cisco Ramon and Caitlin Snow, the godfather and godmother of my child Chewy. If anything were to happen to me, I entrust him in your care." (Y/N) announced dramatically, sniffling through her stuffed nose.

"And the moment's over." Caitlin sighed again at her overly dramatic best friend.

I groaned as I woke to a light in front of my face. Wincing, I put a pillow over my face. “Please don’t tell me it’s been another year” I said with my face still under the pillow, “because, no offense, but I have better things to do” I hear someone snicker and grab the pillow from my face. “Boo,” I whined, putting an arm over my eyes. “You’re not dead—you won’t die, it’s been 9 months, you were pregnant, and you just have birth” I hear Barry sarcastically say. I took my arm away from my face and narrowed my eyes at him. He was sitting in a chair next to me, he looked exhausted. He raised his eyebrows at me and gave a closed, crooked smile with a small shrug. “Shut up,” I laughed, “next thing you’re gonna tell me is I time traveled to the future” “You never know—“ Barry started but I cut him off by slamming the pillow he took from me in his face. “Ha-ha,” I mocked, sitting up, “What really happened?” “Oh! That’s right,” Barry’s face lit up as he reached underneath him and picked up a couple bags that had the words Big Belly Burger splattered over them. He placed them down on the medical tables near me. “Shhhhhh,” I closed my eyes, putting a finger up to my mouth, “my head hurts,” Barry became a lot quieter, but showed no signs of slowing down. “So, because you’re now officially a speedster, you burn through food, water, and energy super quickly—“ “Also clothes, you owe me a new blazer. I looked bomb in the work suit I was wearing, thank you very much,” “—Yes, and clothes, too, but don’t worry Cisco’s got that all figured out for you,” he gave me a shy smile, “You did look pretty good in the outfit though, you literally pull off anything. . . . “—Anyway, because you burn through food, medicine—and basically anything you consume—so quickly, you have to regain that all back, and fast. “Personally, I have consume about 10,000 calories a day, but considering your size and how fast you burn through everything, it’ll be different for you,” Barry explained and I nodded. “That explains why I’m always so hungry,” I said to myself. “And don’t forget—water is your friend!” Barry smiled as he reached down once again and got a pack of water bottles, he placed those on the table, too. “Caitlin suggests you eat at least 17,000 calories a day, at most 25,000” Barry told me as he reached into one of the Big Belly Burger bags and pulled out food, taking some for himself and giving me the rest. “Woah, dude,” I grinned at it, “This is my favorite thing from Big Belly Burger—I can't believe you remembered!” I gave Barry a skeptical look and he just smiled, shrugging and looking down. “I mean, I don’t think I’d ever forget anything from out first date,” he blushed. My smile faltered and I felt myself getting embarrassed as well. “We agreed that wasn’t a date,” I groaned, “not after what happened afterwards,” “I thought it was pretty cute,” Barry shrugged and smiled. I reached up and scratched the back of my neck. I let out a nervous laugh, remembering the night. “I don’t think I could ever forget the day we first met” I grimaced. *** “Ollie!” I ran up to Oliver, who was just now arriving to the crime scene, “I know we just got broken into, but honestly I’m glad it was us because I think I know what they took” I rambled as Oliver, Felicity, and Dig walked through the door. “So, you know how I’m a literal genius?” I continued, “I do a lot of research in my spare time—“ Oliver raised an eyebrow at me. “More specifically, on our family,” I narrowed my eyes and lowered my voice, “most of my research has been on the Queen’s Gambit and its sinking. Did you know that . . . “ My voice wavered on as I spoke. It was obvious none of them were really listening, but I couldn’t care less. “ . . . and what we do with all the technology laying around. We actually have—“ Oliver stopped me by gently grabbing my shoulders and turning me towards him. “(Y/n), you’re my sibling and I love you, but please slow down and start from the beginning will you?” I glared at him, but begrudgingly nodded my head. I grabbed Oliver’s hand and started dragging him to a broken door. “Woah—okay,” Oliver stopped as he crouched down to look at the door. “This door is made of expanded reinforced titanium,” I told them, “Which is crazy strong, yet is on the floor literally bleeding out, but there’s no sign explosives. How does someone break through expanded reinforced titanium without explosives?” I raised an eyebrow at him and he gave me a look. “Maybe a crane?” Felicity suggested. “Or a forklift” said Dig. “Or anything else capable of slamming through a metal door” Oliver responded. I ignored everyone, “Which got me thinking, who’d go through this much trouble and for what?” “So I did some more investigating, which led me to the industrial centrifuge,” I walked over to the base of where the centrifuge should’ve been, dragging along the trio, “An industrial centrifuge is—“ “I know what a centrifuge is,” Oliver glared at me again. “Okay,” I raised my hands up in defense, “Well, there’s three sets of broken bolts where our theif must’ve just ripped it out. And—again—how does someone do that? And why?” “And then,” I continued, walking around the base, “I found these,” I pointed to a set of footprints, “One person did all of this, guys. I mean, no offense, Ollie, but what kind of friends did you drag home with you from that island?” I whispered in a hushed tone to Oliver. Oliver’s face fell as he thought of the possibilities. Felicity and John exchanged a look. “Look, just keep this in the DL, okay?” I told all of them, “I don’t have enough evidence to conduct a real investigation on the one dude theory,” I held my hands out as if I were weighing an object in each hand, moving them up and down. “But, you know, I thought this would be good intel to let the hood in on,” I pointedly looked at Oliver. He just sighed and looked back at the door on the floor. Just then, detective lance walked over. The three eagerly looked at him, presumingly waiting for what everyone else thought of the situation. “I’m guessing there were 3 of them—maybe 4, given how quick they got in and out of here. They were fast” he told them. “Any idea what these guys were so hot to break in here for?” Lance turned to Oliver, “Didn’t happen to leave a spare earthquake machine lying around did you?” Oliver just looked at Lance. “Sorry” Lance looked away from him and onto me. “Queen?” He narrowed his eyes, “You always seem to have a theory of your own on cases. What is it now?” I opened my mouth to speak, “—You think maybe a group of Hulks came here and stole some precious prototypes of yours?” He mocked me. “Ha-ha” I answered sarcastically. “This is what we were able to pull off the, uh, security cameras,” said a guy suddenly behind us. I moved over so I’d have a clear view of what happened, shoving Oliver on my way. He just looked at Felicity and she shrugged back at him. We watched as one man appeared on screen and the camera gave out. I scoffed and gave out a grumbled response. “It’s the only guy we got in video, the rest of the crew must have come in after” the man told us. “Actually it was only one guy,” a voice said behind us. I turned quickly, trying to figure out where it came from. For the first time in forever I wasn’t the crazy detective on a case who had come up with a strange explanation for everything. Even though I was always right, everyone was hesitant to believe my theories. “I—Sorry, I’m late,” said a guy walking up to us. As he stepped into the light, I got a better look at him. It felt as if my breath had been taken away, my heart leaping into my throat. It felt stupid to say, but I couldn’t help myself. The man was lean and tall. Dark brown hair and piercing green eyes. He was dark and mysterious. “Actually, my train was late—well, the second one. The first one I did miss,” he stumbled over himself, “but that was my cab driver’s fault. I’ve got this great traffic app and—,” he let out a breath as he realized he was rambling. “He thought he was right. I’m here now though—so . . . “ He was clumsy and anxious. And he was perfect. I stupidly looked away as we made eye contact. I saw Oliver frown in the corner of my eye. I cleared my throat as detective Lance spoke to him. “Great, who the hell are you?” He asked him. “And do your parents know that you’re here?” Oliver said. I let out a short sigh as I looked at Oliver, nervously playing with my hands. “I’m Barry Allen,” he said surprised, “I’m from the Central City Police Department,” he took out his badge and we all gave it a quick inspection, “I’m with the crime scene investigation unit” Oh, my god—he’s really cute. “We’re working on a case with some similar unexplained elements in Central City,” He explained, “So, when the report of your robbery came in over the wire, my captain,” his voice faltered, “sent me up here” He smiled to cover the fact his voice wavered just a second ago, and it worked. He looked around with the dumb smile and I swallowed before quickly smiling back. He finally noticed me and his smile twitched before growing wider. He blushed and looked away. I stared stupidly down at the floor. I cleared my throat and looked up at the rest of everyone. Felicity was smirking and John was raising his eyebrows at Barry. I noticed Barry and Oliver make eye contact. Barry tried smiling at him, but Ollie only glared back which resulted in Barry’s smile going away. “And you think one guy ripped through this door like it was tin foil?” He looked back and forth between Barry and I. I couldn’t believe we actually had the same theory. “One very strong guy, yeah,” he responded. I looked at Oliver and gave him an ‘I told you so’ look. He just rolled his eyes at me. However, Barry took that as a sign of annoyance and quickly gave his evidence. “Uh—it takes about 1,250 foot pounds of torque to break someone’s neck,” Barry took out a tablet displaying the dead guard’s body. I frowned as I looked at the picture. Why had I not seen the body? Why had no one given me information on the dead guard? “You see the marks on the guard’s neck? The bruising pattern suggests the killer used only one hand,” he looked up at Oliver, “I’m guessing you don’t know how hard it is to break someone’s neck” I was still stuck on the picture. My mind whirling as I conducted more evidence and a case on my theory. “Hm?” Oliver raised his eyebrows, “No, no idea” “Uh, we’re gonna need a list of the entire inventory here to figure out what was stolen,” a voice cut in. “Oh, I know what was stolen,” I answered back. “(Y/n),” Ollie warned me. “I-I think I do, too,” Barry told everyone. Detective Lance’s stare on us became more cautious now. “A centrifuge,” I repeated myself in annoyance. “An industrial centrifuge,” Barry and I spoke at the same time. I looked at him in shock. Either we’re both going crazy or we might actually be right. “Probably the Cord Enterprises 2BX 900,” Barry told everyone as he started pointing it all out, “Maybe the six series. Both have a three column base,” he pointed to where I had previously pointed, “Here, you can see the three sets of broken bolts where the thief just ripped it out of the ground,” Barry mimed the action. “And what exactly is a centrifuge?” Lance asked and Barry tilted his head in defeat. “It separates liquids,” I stepped in, “The centripetal acceleration causes denser substances to separate out along the radial direction,” I explained, my hands flailing. “And lighter objects move to the top,” Barry continued and I looked up at him. “What did you say your name was again?” Felicity asked suddenly. “Barry. Allen,” he looked beyond terrified. “Felicity. Smoak,” Felicity gave him an overprotective look, eyes flickering between me and him. Oliver glared at him, too. Letting him know not to mess with either of us. I stepped on his foot as Barry looked away. ‘What the hell?’ I mouthed and he just looked away. “You can see the cracks heading towards the door,” we all looked over to the footsteps I had pointed out before, too, “Footsteps. One guy” he nodded. The rest of the group exchanged a look and I did a celebration dance in my head. “I was right—suck it” I whispered to all of them. Oliver kneeled down to look at the base further. I saw Barry staring and when he realized I knew he was staring he blushed again and looked away. “A-Anyway, it’s just a theory,” he went on, “One backed by a lot of evidence” “There has to be another explanation,” Lance pressed and I sighed. Always trying to knock me off my feet. “Yeah, I’m sure you’re right,” Barry shrugged in defeat, but I looked at him in desperation. Felicity and Lance walked off. Leaving Oliver to stare at the bolts again. I kneeled down next to him. “So, one of your buddies do this?” I asked, annoyed. Dig got down, too. Oliver grumbled something under his breath and I sighed. “So, who do you think did it?” A voice suddenly asked. I looked up and saw Barry standing over us all. I gave a panicked look to Dig and Oliver. John shrugged and Oliver glared at me. I looked back at Barry and stood up. “Um—I—well—I-I think it may have been an enemy of, uh, the family,” I stuttered and silently cursed myself. Barry’s eyebrows went up, his mouth hanging, “Um, do you think one guy did it, though?” “Oh! Um,” I trailed off, tilting my head. “Well—It’s just that, earlier, when I mentioned the footsteps you just had a look of victory on your face,” Barry smiled. “My foster dad gets it every time he solves a case, ya know? Like he knows he’s gonna put whoever wronged the world in the right place. He says I have a similar look on my face when doing anything that involves science,” he rolled his eyes playfully, “but I don’t think so,” The ends of my mouth twitched up. He noticed his rambling and the tips of his ears started turning pink. He coughed. “—I just noticed that you had the same look,” he shrugged looking down. “You ever consider becoming a detective, Allen?” I smiled. “Oh, I could never,” he says immediately, “I’m more of a lab kind of guy” I nodded solemnly. I thought for a moment, gathering my thoughts. He snorted and I held back a smile. An awkward cough brought me back to the world around me. This one coming from my brother, behind me. I looked back and glared at Oliver and John. Oliver gave me a glare back, eyes flickering behind Barry and I. I rolled my eyes and turned to Barry, starting to walk away speaking, expecting him to follow. Sure enough, he stumbled behind. “Actually, I had a theory only one person did it,” I spoke up, eagerly trying to get away from the guys, “What kind of detective would I be if I didn’t see the footprints,” I laughed awkwardly. “If you already knew it was one person why didn’t you say anything?” I grimaced, “Right, um, I mean, it’s just that . . . “ I scratched the back of my neck, “I didn’t have enough evidence. It’s not really likely one person could do all of this. . . . “Well, there was the bolts and the missing centrifuge, but one person doing it all doesn’t really come to thought. “But we saw the—the um—security footage so,” I lied, “yeah,” I cleared my throat. When I saw we were a good distance from everyone, I stopped walking. I turned quickly to look at Barry, but we bumped into each other. He quickly grabbed my elbows to steady me and my hands came up to his chest. ‘sorry’s stumbled out of both of our mouths.

I examined his face up close. He was even cuter than I thought. I realized how close we were and felt myself become nervous. We looked into each other’s eyes, like we were in a cheesy romance novel.

“You ever consider becoming a CSI?” Barry asked curiously.

I licked my lips, “I don’t think it’s really my style. I like to be out here with all the action,”

I couldn’t maintain eye contact, and looked down, nervously. I cleared my throat and backed up, out of his arms.

“Do you want to get coffee sometime?” Barry blurted out, eyes examining me.

“Uh—“ I was surprised.

“It doesn’t have to be coffee!” Barry blurted again, “we could get,” he stopped as he thought for a moment, “t-tea, or, um, smoothies or something,”

“No—yeah-y-yeah—definitely!” I smiled widely.

“—I mean, we don’t even have to get drinks, we could get lunch, or dinner, or just, um,” Barry rambled again, “we could just discuss the case,” he shrugged, “sometime,”

He seemed to be staring anywhere but me.

“I’m free right now,” The words stumbled out of my mouth before I had a chance to stop them.

Barry looked back to me in surprise. We once again stared at each other for what felt like minutes. In reality, it was probably a few seconds.

“Okay,” he smiled, “um—coffee?”

“Sure,” I laughed softly.

“I have to warn you, I don’t know any good places around here,” Barry brought up.

“Oh,” I thought, “I think I may know somewhere we can go,”

I grabbed his arm and took a step towards the exit, but stopped myself when I realized what I was doing.

“I’m,” I looked at him, “(Y/n), by the way. (Y/n) Que—“

“(Y/n) Queen, I know,” he blurted and I frowned.

“You know?”

“No, I mean—I-I’ve seen you in the news,” he scratched the back of his neck.

The news. The news wasn’t very nice.

“Oh,” I tried to hide my disappointment.

“No!” Barry explained himself, “I mean—yes. I have seen you in the news, your family’s kind of famous and—“ he stopped when I interrupted him.

“It’s okay, I get it. I mean with my brother and the family company—“

“I’ve read your papers online!” Barry blurted out again.

“ . . . My—?” I looked at him, confused.

“It’s just—you used to write these research papers on your blog you had in college and I’ve read some of your work. You had this particular one on the physics behind Star Wars which was crazy because as a student going into forensic science I almost switched my majors because of the paper.

“I mean, after I’d read everything on the blog I stared following your career and I was surprised to see you went into law enforcement, but glad because—like I mentioned earlier—my foster Dad is a detective and to think you two were doing the same thing was crazy. I mean, what are the chances that my foster dad and you are in the same career?"

He spoke like being detectives were award-wining Oscar celebrities.