A/N: Woooh it's been awhile. Sorry it's been so long and sorry for the short chapter, I really don't like posting short chapters, but I figured that you guys would rather have an update now instead of me waiting even longer to post. Thank you all for your patience with me, you rock.

Also quick note. In the last chapter, it said that Harrison would be able to take Barry the next day, but I changed this. I'm entirely sure how long this type of thing would take, so I went with a few days.

Chapter Five

Barry ran down the street, his feet pounding on the pavement as he made his way home. He was late, the sun had set at least an hour ago and he still hadn't made it home when he was supposed to. This immediately set fear into his already racing heart as he continued to rush down the road to get to his house. His parents were probably worried sick about him.

Barry spotted his house not to far away and picked up speed to get to his house faster and hopefully not be in too much trouble. Why he was so late to getting home was beyond him, but he knew neither of his parents were going to be to happy about it. Where had he been an hour ago? Barry was certain he had been at school dealing with a crisis, but for some reason he just couldn't recall what exactly he had been doing. The eleven year old boy came to a sudden holt when he came up to the front of his house.

All the lights were out, except for the bottom right ones where the living room was and the front door was open. Henry and Nora Allen never left the front door open at night. No one ever left their front door open when the sun went down for fear of the night or what lurked there. A horrible thought crossed Barry's mind, but before he even had a chance to process it, he walked forward without hesitation. It was probably nothing. His mom or dad just came out and didn't close the door because they were nearby.

Barry thought about calling out to his parents, to see if they were downstairs in the lit room, but his voice didn't come. He tried to open his mouth, but his throat tightened and no sound came from his lips. It was an odd and awful sensation that Barry couldn't ignore. Unable to say anything, he continued on his walk to the house until he stood in the doorway. It was then, he found his voice.

"Mom," he called out, "Dad? You guys down here?"

No response came which worried Barry. Hesitantly, he took a step into hall. He expected to hear the sound of his foot hitting wood, but instead he heard water. Had he stepped in a puddle? Barry looked down at his feet and what he saw was definitely not water. Deep, red blood was all over the floor. It stretched all the way from where he stood to the stairs ahead and on either side of him. Pools and pools of red liquid filled the foyer. His heart picked up speed, where had this come from? Whose blood did this belong to?

"Mom, Dad," Barry screamed to the house.

Ignoring the blood at his feet, Barry moved to the living room where a figure dressed in yellow stood, glowing red eyes staring ahead and at his feet, two lifeless bodies. His parents.

"NO!"

"Barry wake up, it's not real," said the calm, but worried voice of a young girl.

It had been two days since Barry arrived to her house and five times he either woke from nightmares or had to be woken up. The memory of his parents murder haunted him. The young girl, Iris, looked at her dad with worried brown eyes asking the same question?. How can we help him? What do we do?

Barry's eyes snapped open, he sat upright breathing heavily, his skin coated in sweat. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't think straight. Where was he, what happened to him? Where were his parents?

"You're okay Barry," this time Joe was talking, "It's over. Iris and I are here, you're in our house."

Barry blinked quickly, his senses returning to him and his heart starting to return to normal pace. It all came rushing back to him, the reality of his situation becoming more and more apparent with each passing day. He was at the West house because his house was a crime scene. He looked at Joe and Iris who were standing at his bedside, both with the same concerned faces. Guilt surrounded Barry. He had woken them with his bad dreams again.

"I'm sorry," Barry said softly, "I-I didn't-didn't mean to wake you."

"It's alright Barry," Joe replied honestly, "We're here for you... It doesn't seem like it now, but it's going to be okay. It's going to be okay."

The older man placed a hand on Barry's shoulder as a way to reassure him, but this did the opposite. Barry flinched at the touch. He didn't move away, but the feeling of Joe's hand on his shoulder wasn't reassuring in the least.

"It's not," Barry whispered, "None of this is okay."

Neither Joe or Iris could offer him any words to make him feel better. His parents were taken right in front of him. That is not something a child can bounce back from.

"Is he coming today?"

Cisco had asked this question each morning at breakfast ever since his parents told him about the boy coming to stay with them. Every day his parents would tell him no or not today. That never stopped him from asking the next day though. Francisco Ramon was nothing without his determination and humor.

Harrison looked up from the newspaper with a small smile. At least his son was excited about Barry coming to stay with them. Even though Caitlin wasn't very pleased with this new development, she was handling it in a very mature way.

"Yes Cisco," Harrison answered, his grin widening as Cisco's eyes lit up, "Barry is coming this afternoon. I'm going to get him from the station."

"Can I come with you," Cisco asked. Harrison hesitated, "I don't know about that buddy."

Cisco frowned, but continued to press, "Please dad… I know what it's like to come to a new home with strange people, sorry you and mom were strange to me. Anyway, I just- I mean… It was easier to settle because I had Caitlin. Barry, that's his name right, he will be good with you because he knows you and all. But-"

"You want to give him a friend," Harrison finished with an understanding look.

The twelve year old boy nodded solemnly. He remembered coming to the Wells household a few short years ago, even though it felt like a lifetime to Cisco. His brother was gone and he only had these three strangers to watch him. Even though he knew Caitlin from school, it was still hard to adjust to the new faces every morning and knowing that one face was missing every night.

Barry would have two missing faces in his life now. Caitlin had experienced that too. Cisco wanted to show Barry that he wasn't alone, that others knew what he was going through and wanted to help.

"We leave at one," Harrison said after a beat of silence.

Cisco brought his closed hand in front of his chest as he cheered, "Yes."