Hi guys! I haven't abandoned my "nine Times" story but after watching yesterday's episode the Reverse Muse couldn't stop screaming inside my head... and that's how this story was born. It was originally planned as a oneshot, but ideas kept coming and I decided it was better to have shorter chapters focused each one of them on different characters rather than one single episode with multiple characters that may or may not interact with each other (yep, writing still in progress, so be patient!)

Anyways, I apologize for any mistakes as I am not a native speaker. Feel free to leave a review or to follow/favorite if you like :) You can also PM me if you want to call Zoom a few not-so-nice things or just speculate about his identity or about the future episodes.

Disclaimer: I don't own them.

Fatherly Concern

Henry sighed with relief as soon as he crossed the front door of his apartment. Home, sweet home, he thought. Sort of. Ivytown wasn't Central City, but it was nice, calm and quiet, and although he wasn't by his son's side (at least physically speaking), it wasn't too far from Central City to both stay at a safe distance from there but also to be up to date with everything going on with Barry and The Flash. It had been six weeks since he had moved from Central City, trying to make things less complicated for Barry. At first, the first days in Ivytown, he had regretted that decision… but then the first paparazzi arrived, and more had followed him, wanting to know more about the innocent man who had been in prison for fifteen years. Everything was calmer now, but he was glad he had made that decision. It wasn't like he hadn't talked to Barry for days…

…Except he hadn't.

Henry stood with his back on the front door, a serious expression on his face. He knew he shouldn't be worried; it wasn't the first time it had been more than three days without news from his son, but he couldn't ignore the feeling of a fist oppressing his gut. He didn't want to appear overly concerned, and he knew that Joe and everyone at S.T.A.R. Labs had Barry's back. Perhaps it was also the fact that he had neither heard of Barry nor Joe in the past few days; at first he had thought Joe had had enough to worry about with Francine coming back to town, but now he wasn't so sure… He just wanted to hear his son's voice just like any other day and tell him he was okay.

Full of fatherly concern and determination, he took the phone from his right pocket and called Barry. He tapped the floor with the foot while waiting for his son, but it never happened. Henry ended the call at look at the screen of his phone for a minute, lost in his thoughts. Something wasn't right. Barry's phone wasn't off, but he hadn't taken the call. It had hardly ever happened, and when it did Barry had called him minutes later while excusing himself. Maybe it was that, he thought. Central City needed saving once again and The Flash can't take calls from his concerned father while pulling people out of burning buildings. It was just a matter of time, he thought.

But it wasn't - time passed and Barry never returned his call. Almost five hours after his missed called to his son, when Henry was keeping vigil on it lying on the couch from his apartment but had almost already fallen asleep, he woke up with the sound of his phone.

"Barry"

He was almost smiling. That was it. Everyone's hero had returned home after saving them once again; it was late, but it would be okay as soon as he heard him saying hello. He took his phone without looking at the name on the screen.

"Hey slugger! You had me worried, I haven't heard from you in days and you didn't answer the phone when I called you earlier…" while talking on the phone, he relaxed and sighed, leaning on the couch and getting comfortable.

"Henry, it's Joe"

Henry didn't have too much time to get comfy; as soon as he heard Joe's voice, he stood up so quickly he felt dizzy for a moment. Even without paying attention to Joe's words, the fact that he was calling him instead of his son was something he couldn't ignore; that and the voice of the detective - he sounded just like when he had told him Barry had fallen into a coma after the lightning had struck him.

"What happened?" he sounded alarmed and scared. "Where's Barry?"

"He's in S.T.A.R. Labs. They're taking care of him"

"Joe…" Henry felt himself as cold as ice. He hadn't missed the fact that Joe hadn't answered his first question.

"I think you should book a seat on the next bus to Central City"

"Is he alive?" the former doctor felt the tears forming in his eyes.

"Yes"

Henry realized Joe's voice had trembled, as if he were not one hundred percent sure. Henry knew what it implied: not only was he a father, but he had also been a doctor for many years. Henry approached his laptop and started it, ready to get into the Internet to get his ticket to Central City, to his son, while still talking to Joe. There was no time to waste.

"What happened?" he repeated, this time his voice more serious than before.

"Zoom happened"