#cwimagine

"Who are you talking to (Y/N)?" Barry chuckled, seeing her struggling to try putting up a box on the highest shelf.

"Aaahhhh!" She jumped at his voice, letting the box go. Barry grabbed it before it could hit the floor, and shatter whatever was in it. "Didn't you learn in school not to sneak up on people, while they're trying to put things on high shelves?" she questioned in annoyance.

"I don't think they teach you that in school."

He tried not to laugh at her attempt to put on a menacing face. She glared at him, before breaking into laughter as well.

"Well consider yourself taught then. Now go, and spread the knowledge my young cricket." He chuckled at her response, while putting up the box on the top shelf, with little effort.

"What are you up to lady?"

"Well, since you're a liar, I took it upon myself to clean your lab."

"Hey, it's our lab now."

"Oh, sorry. I meant YOUR MESS," she enunciated the last two words, poking his chest for emphasis.

Barry took a moment to look around the room to find it a lot cleaner than he had ever seen, since moving into the office. The scattered pile of papers that had been on the floor for four months, were now filed in their respective folders and placed neatly on his desk. The multiple dirty beakers that were left in the sink were now on the drying rack, spotless. The empty boxes of donuts were thrown away in the trash, and the table that previously housed said donuts, was cleaned and free of any debris. He could go on forever playing the game, 'Spot the Difference'.

"I'm sorry..." He rubbed his neck, embarrassed.

"Yes Barry, I know you're sorry. I think the whole police station calls you "Sorry" instead of "Barry" now," she teased. "Anyways, it's not a big deal. The mess didn't bother me too much."

He raised his eyebrows at her lie.

"Okay fine, it was bothering me a little. But cleaning is very therapeutic for me, so it really wasn't a big deal."

"Still, it was my mess. You should have let me clean it."

(Y/N) threw him an amused look. "You and I both know you would have never cleaned. And besides, I wanted to decorate the place with a little Christmas cheer, so I volunteered to clean it."

"Let me make it up to you, though. I feel bad for making you clean my mess." He knew that he wouldn't have cleaned it either way, and was thankful she ended up cleaning his mess.

"I told you, don't worry about it." (Y/N) tried assuring him, but he continued pleading.

"Please!" he begged her.

"Fine! I have one way you can make it up to me."

"Yes!" He felt victorious, winning the "argument". "What is it?"

"Well, a little birdie told me that you have the voice of an angel." She enjoyed watching his face turn red from embarrassment.

"W-what? Who told you that?" His voice became high and he could feel the burning of his cheeks.

"Caitlin and Iris." she was trying to refrain from laughing, not wanting to upset him. She didn't think his face could become any more red, but was proven wrong. He reminded her of one of the round shiny red ornaments. "I want you sing for me."

(Y/N)'s face brightened at a new idea that popped in her head. "Actually, better yet, I want you to go caroling in your neighborhood for me. Why should I be the only one to enjoy your beautiful voice?"

"No, absolutely not."

"Wow." She feigned a disappointed face, using her dramatic acting skills she learned from years of watching Korean dramas and Spanish soap operas. "I thought Barry Allen was a man of his word. I guess not."

"I am-"

"Nope, I don't want to hear it. I have lost my faith in men. What's the point, when they are all going to lie to you? Barry Allen, you are to blame if I end up shunning men for life and become a nun."

Barry sighed, knowing that her dramatic acting would not stop until he gave in.

"Fine." he muttered.

"Uh, what's that? I can't hear you. Did you just say another lie?" she teased, cupping her hand to her ear.

"Fine." he muttered, more loudly this time.

(Y/N) broke into her widest smile at the response. She danced a little victory dance, while making a mental note of the songs she was going to make him sing.

"What's got you jumping up and down?" Joe walking into the room, watching (Y/N) with amusement.

"Joe! You came in just the right time! Barry, here, has agreed to go Christmas caroling around the whole neighborhood!" She couldn't help but laugh, picturing Barry caroling by himself.

"Really?" Joe was surprised, shocked even, at the news. "You know I tried to get this kid to sing whenever we went to the karaoke bar? He threatened to quit his job."

Barry buried his face in his hands, attempting to block them out.

"Never underestimate a woman and her power of persuasion."

When their laughing died down, Barry took the opportunity to change the subject.

"Joe, did you need something?" He said a little grumpily.

"Actually, I just came up here to ask (Y/N) if she wanted to join us for our Christmas get-together."

(Y/N)'s eyes lit up, like the Christmas lights in the room.

"Really? I would love to!" Her expression turned worrisome for a moment. "Actually, I was planning to spend Christmas with Caitlin and Cisco. And Dr. Wells, whether he likes it or not."

"Barry was planning to invite them anyway. The more the merrier," the detective offered.

"That's settled then! I'll bring some of my brownies." she started planning in her head.

"That's not necessary, you don't need to bring anything-"

Barry interrupted Joe's sentence. "Joe, let her bring her brownies. Caitlin told me stories about them; they're the best you'll ever taste. Even Dr. Wells agreed." He was a little curious how good they were to have won over Dr. Wells.

(Y/N) patted her friend on the back. "You flatter me, my good man."

"Well, if you don't mind (Y/N)."

"Consider it done! It's really not a problem making them!" (Y/N) beamed at Joe, remembering to thank him for the invitation. "Thank you for inviting me!"

"Well, then I will see you both tomorrow night then!" Joe waved at the two, then left to take care of other matters.

"Iris is going to be there." Barry brought up, watching the detective leave.

"Cool?" (Y/N) responded, unsure why he was telling her this piece of information.

"You promised to help me with Iris?" Barry jogged her memory to a before, when she promised him to help with his love life.

"Right, listen Barry-"

"Oh no you don't. If I have to keep my promises, you have to keep yours."

"But-"

"If you back out, I won't have to carol around the neighborhood. You know what? Don't help me. Then I don't have to carol anymore." Barry grinned at the dilemma (Y/N) faced.

"Ugh, fine. I'll help you, she begrudgingly agreed. "But like I said, whatever happens, you better not blame me, mister."

"Sure, whatever." he agreed.

"Oh, and Barry?"

"What?" His mind was now occupied on how to rope her into going caroling with him.

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 thought I was friends with Cisco and Dr. Wells too?”

“Well…you know what I mean. And, you told me that you couldn’t hang out yesterday because you had work? If you didn’t want to see me you could have said so.” 

“Oh my gosh, Caitlin, stop. I did have work, but we had no current cases, so my partner offered to show me around town. And this all happened after you called me yesterday.” She tried reasoning with her friend, to stop her from wallowing in sadness.

“…”

“Caitlin, are you still there?” she asked, breaking the silence. 

“Fine, I forgive you.” her friend finally responded.

“Oh, thank you soooo much.” (Y/N) replied sarcastically, but with endearment. “Well, I’m gonna hang up now ‘cause I’m in the parking lot. I’ll see you in a bit.” 

“Okay, see you soon!” Caitlin exclaimed gleefully.

(Y/N) noted the very empty parking lot. Well, better parking spots for her, she shrugged. As she walked towards the building, it brought up nostalgic memories of her friends, when she visited them a year ago. 

“Caitlin? Anyone there?” She called out into the pitch black lab. “I’m pretty sure I’m in the right room.” 

She retraced her steps in her head, thinking if she made wrong turn in the hallway, when suddenly, the lights turned on, blinding her.

“SURPRISE!!” 

As (Y/N) regained her vision, she saw her friends standing in the middle of the room with bright smiles.

“You guys! You almost gave me a heart attack, and momentarily blindness.” She said with a grin on her face.

“Well, then it was worth it.” Cisco high-fived Caitlin, who was standing next to him and Dr. Wells. 

Playfully glaring at her friends, she walked over to grab them in a deathly hug. 

“I’m so glad you’re here!” Caitlin exclaimed when breaking apart the group hug. “And this time, you’re staying longer than before!” 

Caitlin Snow, or Dr. Caitlin Snow, was (Y/N)’s friend from university. They had met when Caitlin bumped into her inside the campus coffee shop, and when they discovered they were taking the exact same upper level classes, it became the start of a beautiful friendship. 

(Y/N) was also the reason Caitlin and Ronnie met too. When Ronnie was in need of tutor for Quantum Physics and Equilibrium, she overheard his conversation and gave him Caitlin’s number, who had a crush on him since the day she saw him in the Science Library. (Y/N) made them promise that she would be the godmother of their future children the second after Ronnie’s proposal. After she found out what happened to Ronnie during the particle accelerator incident, she grabbed the next train to Central City to help her friend through the rough time. It was hard already that she just lost one of her best friends, with Ronnie’s death, so she couldn’t even imagine what it felt like for Caitlin, to lose her best friend and her fiancee.

“Now we can have Sherlock marathons!” Cisco cheered.

Cisco Ramon, was (Y/N)’s spirit animal. They agreed they were each other’s soulmate, platonically of course. Their first meeting was when she visited Caitlin after the particle accelerator explosion. They clicked right away, and kept in touch after she returned back to Starling. And of course, he would always butt into her and Caitlin’s facetime whenever he could.

“Of course! You better have been training for it.”

“Duh. Dude, marathons are the reason for my existence. I’ve been training for 2 years for this.” Cisco happily chomped on his 45th Twizzler of the day, grinning in between chews.

“Ms. (Y/L/N), it’s good to have you back.” Dr. Wells greeted her. 

(Y/N) also met Dr. Wells for the first time, when she came to Central City nine months ago. He was cold at first, but eventually warmed up to her; noticeably, after he had a bite of her famous brownies. Her mother always said, “the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”. 

“Thanks Dr. Wells! It’s really nice to see everyone again!”

“Have you thought about my offer from last time? It still stands. Although, I understand if you choose not to take it, based on our lab’s reputation now.” Dr. Wells’ smile faltered, being reminded of the events a few months past.

When Dr. Wells met her, he was intrigued to find out that, instead of becoming a scientist or working in a lab discovering the next element, she was working as a forensic scientist in Starling City. She was offered a job at STAR Labs when she came to console Caitlin, but turned it down because she didn’t want to leave Starling City at that time. But now that she moved, the situation was different.

“Really?” (Y/N) lit up. “I completely forgot about it, with all the moving and chaos.” 

“Well, STAR Labs would be lucky to have a scientist with your expertise join us.”

“Dr. Wells, there’s really no need to persuade me. I would take the offer in a heartbeat. But…” she trailed off, a frown forming on her face after remembering her other job.

“I moved here to work at the CCPD, and so I wouldn’t be able to work full time here.” 

“Of course, forensics is your passion. But, not to worry. We’ve been in a partnership with the CCPD, ever since the appearance of the metahumans in the city.” Dr. Wells explained. “I’m sure we could work something out with them.”

“Are you serious? Thank you! Thank you so much!” She shook Dr. Wells’ hand rapidly with excitement. Caitlin and Cisco grinned at the news, excited to hear that their friend was joining their small team. 

“Well, we have one more member of our team who has to approve of you, but I’m sure he will.” Dr. Wells chuckled at her persistent hand-shaking.

“Who?” 

She didn’t notice anyone else in the room with them when the lights had turned on. 

“He’s not here right now. He, uh, works part-time here at the labs actually.” Cisco fumbled over his words nervously.

“So, what’s the plan for today guys?” A voice sounded from behind her, making her slightly jump. 

Turning around, (Y/N) saw Barry saunter into the room with his hair all over the place, like he just walked through a windstorm. She was surprised to see him in STAR Labs. It seemed he was too, by the look of his widening eyes and his frozen state.

“Uhhh…” He paused, failing to come up with any words. “Y-(Y/N)! Wh-wh-why, I mean, w-what are you doing here?” He scratched his neck nervously, looking at the others for an explanation. 

“Barry! What are you doing here already?”

“We thought you were coming later…”

Cisco and Caitlin were in a state of panic as well, while Dr. Wells pinched his nose in frustration. Barry continued looking antsy, looking anywhere in the lab except for at her. 

“What’s going on here guys? Is Barry the other person I’m supposed to meet?” Her friends continued to panic and everyone continued to look anywhere but at her, trying to avoid answering her question. 

“Barry is actually…” Caitlin finally spoke, looking at the others in the room for help with her sentence.

“He’s here for CCPD!” Cisco yelled out. Confused, Barry gave a ‘what’ look to Cisco, wanting further explanation.

Dr Wells chose to intervene at this moment. “Yes, Mr. Allen is here to go over the recent meta human case we just closed. Isn’t that right Mr. Allen?”

“Y-yes! That is exactly why I’m here. To talk about the case…” Barry echoed Dr. Well’s words, seeming unconfident with his words.

“Really? I thought today was your day off Barry?” (Y/N) wasn’t convinced that it was the real reason he was here.

“It is!” Cisco interrupted. “But you know Barry. He’s a workaholic. Those off days still can’t stop him from working, right Barry?”

“Yeah!” Barry replied a little too enthusiastically. Caitlin buried her face in her hands, shaking her head.

Something seemed off to (Y/N), but she decided to drop it at the expense of not wanting to hear anymore lame excuses. “Alright then, I’m just gonna head out now with Caitlin. I’ll see you at work tomorrow, Barry.”