"Barry Allen do I have a surprise for you!" Caitlin said with a flourish of her arms. She had a flask in her left hand and a triumphant grin on her face.

Barry had been feeling down for a while. After the fight with Zoom, he had time to grieve his father. It had been quite the Kubler-Ross ride for months. He'd finally accepted that Henry Allen was dead, killed in the same room in the same house that his mother was taken from him. However, he was still hovering over the edge of a deep sadness that makes his limbs heavy. Never before did he have the ability to hide himself away from the sharp knife of death that stabbed at his heart with alcohol, never had he been able to numbs the fresh wound on his mind with a round of shots. Until now. Caitlin had perfected her solution, a combination of chemicals that would slow down Barry's hyper metabolism and strengthen any alcohol he poured it into.

Cisco walked in behind his fellow scientist, grinning at the speedster. "Time to get shit-faced, !"

Barry smiled.

oO-Oo

Barry didn't want to get drunk at a bar and possibly drool on a stranger and tell them that he is in fact the Flash, so the trio walked down the street to the grocery to buy multiple different alcohol. They even bought whatever they needed for a pina colada and margaritas. Sure, mixing drinks was stupid but Barry needed this badly. They didn't go back to STAR Labs, however, instead opting to spend the night at Joe's house. So when they arrived, Barry set up some music and used his super-speed to make the drinks for the three of them.

When Joe, Iris, and Wally arrived when they were each one pina colada, two margaritas, and 5 shots of rum in. Barry was also singing at the top of his lungs, which should have sounded terrible, but apparently his talent was still present when he was drunk. At the moment, he was serenading his friends with a verse from Clint Eastwood by Gorillaz. At least Barry could sort of rap. "What the hell?" Joe asked. Barry stopped singing long enough to reply.

"Caitlin- sweet, sweet Caitlin, f'nally did it," Barry slurred. He had a goofy grin on his face and he patted said doctor's face absentmindedly. She giggled and poured them all another shot. Barry's leg vibrated, then his other foot. His body sporadically vibrated, making Cisco and Caitlin guffaw.

"They're going to have impressive hangovers tomorrow," Wally said, grinning. He'd never seen Barry this loose. This happy. Granted, he was shitfaced drunk and might not remember this tomorrow, but he's still happy. It counted. Right? Barry grimaced, sort of, and used his super speed to pour 4 more shots in a blur. His face felt fuzzy and his hands looked really funny. In fact, he was laughing and muttering about how his hands were magic, but he didn't know that he was actually talking. Iris' eyebrows rose.

"Hey! Share wiff us, would'ja?" Cisco complained as Barry drank the shots in quick succession.

"Aren't you worried about alcohol poisoning?" Iris asked.

"Nahhhhh," Barry said around the bottle of rum that he's grabbed after deciding the shots only slowed him down. It burned on the way down and sat warm and heavy in his stomach. It reminded him of mother, when he was almost too young to remember. She would rub his stomach if he was sick or had a stomachache. One of Barry's hands wrapped around the neck of the bottle and the other rested on his belly. If he closed his eyes, he could imagine she was still there and Barry wasn't an orphan. As the thought ran through his mind, he remembered his father. Lovely memories of his father and mother passed behind his eyes. Them leaving for a date and leaving Barry with a babysitter. Even though he was young, he knew how much his parents loved each other. He remembered working on science projects with his dad and baking cookies with his mom. Then, he pictured Zoom phasing his demonic claws through Henry's chest. He saw his father's eyes widen, then close. Barry's hand clenched on his stomach and he let the bottle rest on the table.

"Barry?" Joe noticed his shoulders tense. Barry rested his head on the table. He mumbled something unintelligible into his free hand and refused to say anything else when prompted by Joe. Joe pulled up a chair next to his adoptive son on his right. He scooted close to the other's side and hung his arm over his shoulders. Barry leaned his head on his father's shoulder and made grabby motions for the rum. Joe's other two children sat at the table and laughed quietly when Cisco lazily slid the bottle over. There wasn't much left, thankfully. The forensic scientist chugged it the moment he had a solid grip on it. "O-kay that's enough." Joe looked over at Iris pleadingly and smiled when she nodded and got up to get the drinks out of the way. The three were already drunk, anyway. Barry leaned forward until his forehead pressed into Joe's forearm. "Barr, what's wrong?" He nuzzled his nose into his adoptive father's arm.

"I miss my mom 'n' dad," he mumbled. The hand that was on his stomach swept across the table, looking for some more alcohol to drown his renewed grief. It found nothing but Joe's hand.

"Let's get you up to your room." Seeing as the young man had a runner's build, he was still relatively light. Plus, Joe might be getting old but he's still a cop. So he tucked an arm under Barry's knees and scooped him up in bridal style. Iris and Wally directed Caitlin and Cisco respectively to a bathroom to change. By the time Barry was lying down on his side with a large plastic bowl, the two scientists were asleep on a couch. Caitlin borrows pajamas and Cisco had a blanket draped over him. They each had a bowl like Barry's just in case. He turned to look at his dozing son and whispered, "Good night, Barry."

Joe faintly heard an achingly raw, vulnerable, "G'night dad." He closed the door before his emotions could get the most of him and ignored the prickling in his eyes.