A/N: This takes places directly before my fic "Late Night Distraction." Enjoy.

*Many thanks to my beta, sendtherain, for looking this over for me.

*I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

...

"What the bloody hell is this?"

Barry looked at Julian analyzing the colorful concoction in front of him and hid his smile in his beer bottle.

"The Flash."

Julian raised his eyebrows and looked at him. "I beg your pardon?"

"It's called the Flash," Barry said again. "After Jitters created a coffee drink inspired by him, bars decided to follow suit. Try it. It's good."

Julian looked down into the drink dubiously.

"It comes with a cherry."

Barry looked at him, amused.

"Only girly fruity drinks come with a cherry."

Barry opened his mouth to speak, but Julian kept going before he could get a word in.

"Do you think he's gay?"

Barry was too shocked to respond at first.

"Uh, n-no." Barry set his beer bottle down carefully. "The Flash is not gay."

"How do you know?"

Again, Barry found himself floundering for words; and again, Julian continued before he could think of any.

"I mean, he runs around in spandex for crying out loud."

Flashes of the very first suit Barry had to wear ran through his mind, and he shuddered.

"He does not wear spandex."

"Alright, I'll concede that was maybe reaching. But leather has to be in there somewhere. Don't all superheroes wear leather? There has to be something stretchy in there, and durable. Something that—"

"Reinforced tri-polymer."

Julian's brows rose again. "I beg your pardon?"

"Reinforced tri-polymer," Barry repeated. "Tripolymer Injection Foam insulation is a hybrid belonging to one of the oldest groups of synthetically produced thermosetting plastics. These materials are well-known for their durability, structural integrity, and extraordinary fire resistance."

Julian stared at him for awhile, mouth hanging open, his eyes not closing for one blink.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you quoted that straight out of a textbook."

Barry cleared his throat. "Just try the drink, Julian," he muttered under his breath.

Slowly, with all the deliberation and skepticism he could muster, even as worn down as he felt from the day, Julian lifted the glass to his lips and took a sip. Then, his eyes popped open.

"What?" Barry asked, surprised at how anxious he was for his co-worker's reaction.

"It's…it's actually quite good," Julian said, and downed the glass.

Barry laughed and signaled the bartender for another.

"Slower this time," he suggested to him. That got a smile out of Julian.

He liked this, Barry realized. This new dynamic that had evolved between the two of them all of a sudden. Ever since he'd arrived in this timeline, nothing about Julian had appealed to him, because everything Barry Allen-related seemed to touch a nerve with his blonde co-worker.

Despite the fact that he'd mostly set out to see things from Julian's point of view in order to more easily gather information for cases involving metahumans, at some point he figured he'd try just a little harder to gain an understanding of his pessimistic co-worker. Iris advising him to go for it was just the extra push he needed.

The fact that this had happened in a matter of weeks concerned him though, considering he'd apparently been working with Julian for a year and had made no progress whatsoever. He wondered if he had done something suspicious after all that inspired such disdain from the head CSI. He wondered too what kind of person he'd been in this timeline, how different, if he had succumbed to simply tolerating him for so long.

"So," Julian declared, breaking Barry out of his thoughts. "Since you're so positive our flashy friend has eyes only for the ladies, do you think he has a girlfriend?"

Barry nearly choked on his own breath.

"Don't you think we'd know if he did?" he managed, just barely suppressing the squeak that often snuck into his voice whenever he got a little nervous. "I mean, certainly someone would notice if he spent more time with one girl than any other. Maybe she would even boast about it."

"Not necessarily," Julian disagreed. "He had to have sworn her to secrecy. Plus, it's not as if reporters can catch even a glimpse of the Flash when he's not preventing a crime or attending a press conference."

"I don't think he really—" Barry began, sweat starting to bead on his forehead. His unoccupied hand was just moments away from wrapping around the back of his head.

"Wait a minute." Julian's eyes set on Barry. "Didn't Iris used to have a connection to the Flash?"

Barry's jaw dropped and his face turned red.

"Rumor is it that's how she got her job at CCPN," Julian continued, smirking now. That only made Barry more on edge.

"Iris is a solid reporter," he defended, because it was all he could do not to burst into flames. "Blogging about the Flash may have put her on the CCPN radar, but she's still there today because she's good at what she does."

"Oh, I know she is," Julian said, seemingly surprised at Barry's defense. "I've given her information to use many times in the past year, and she's done the same for me."

Barry held his tongue. He didn't need another reminder of how his status at the CCPD had prevented access to almost every avenue he'd usually had available to him. The fact that the co-worker he was just beginning to move past tolerating had interacted with Iris frequently must've annoyed him since the first time it happened, given how the knowledge alone bothered him now. He should probably be thanking his lucky stars he didn't have a memory of all those times Julian had tested his patience and filled him with envy.

"You guys were best friends before she, for some unknown reason, decided to take a chance on dating you," Julian was saying when Barry tuned back in. His jaw clenched, but he said nothing. "Surely you noticed how glowing her posts about the Flash were. Are you sure she wasn't dating the Flash at the time?"

For the first time, Barry heard the teasing lilt to Julian's voice and turned his head to find a smile creeping onto his face.

"A crush," he allowed, because he had been aware of how giddy Iris was around him as the Flash in the beginning. He'd taken immense pleasure in it too.

"A crush," Julian repeated. He couldn't keep his lips from spreading.

"Yes." Barry's eyes narrowed. "I hear superheroes can have that affect on some people." He took a breath. "Besides, she had a boyfriend at the time. She wouldn't have cheated."

Julian's smile receded into a smirk. "She does seem the loyal type."

Barry sighed and shook his head, trying to brush the recent comments off his shoulder and redirect the conversation.

"What I was saying before, though, was that the Flash rarely shows up for press conferences."

To Barry's relief that comment seemed to have sobered his companion up somewhat.

"Not often," Julian consented. "But it has happened. Usually when the city needs reassuring or the mayor wants to congratulate him for one thing or another."

Barry could hear some cynicism in Julian's voice and felt himself getting defensive again.

"I thought you said earlier tonight you'd misjudged the Flash."

Julian sighed and Barry could see the events of the evening washing over him again. Guilt stabbed at him, as did concern.

"Right," he said, his voice lower, more hollow, more like how it had been when they'd left the precinct. "Old habits, I guess."

Silence settled between them. Barry worried he'd ruined the lighter mood he'd been able to instill in Julian just by taking him out for a drink.

But then, after another Flash drink had flooded down his throat, he surprised him with a question straight out of left field.

"Who's the best kisser you've ever kissed?" Julian asked.

"Uh…" he managed.

"And you can't say Iris just because you're dating her," he informed him, pointing a wagging finger slightly off-center from Barry's face.

Barry smiled at Julian's revived demeanor. To say he was amused by his recent not so much enemy getting drunk in front of him was an understatement. But the smile that spread across his face now was also because of the question.

"Iris," he said, having moved smoothly from disoriented shock to proud boyfriend mode.

Julian rolled his eyes. "Allen, I just said-"

"It's not because I'm dating her," he insisted. "It's because…"

Julian raised his eyebrows, daring Barry to give him an answer he'd approve of.

"I've loved her all my life."

Julian scrunched up his nose in disgust and scoffed.

"You're such a sap," he said, and downed the rest of his third glass.

Barry smiled into his beer bottle and then set it down.

"And because she's the best," he assured him. His eyes went dark as he let his thoughts wander to the last time he'd made out with Iris. "The things she can do with her tongue…" His voice said without permission.

"TMI, Allen," Julian said, holding a hand up to stop him, and then turning it slightly to request another drink from the bartender. "We're not…besties or anything."

Barry smiled, making a note to himself though that four Flash drinks were probably enough for Julian for one night. He would tell Iris about this, he decided. She would be proud of the progress he'd made with Julian, even if he wasn't certain it would stick past tonight. But maybe there would be less tension, less glaring from across the room in the workplace. By the time he'd get Julian home tonight, he would've lost some of his cheery spontaneity no doubt, but if the Flash had saved him from the worst of himself tonight, maybe Barry Allen could help maintain a positive outlook in Julian's life, instead of one of despair and hopelessness.

He wouldn't stretch out their late night drink too long, though.

Just the mention of Iris's tongue spilling out of his mouth brought urges to life that he could usually keep under control when necessary.

He wondered if she'd be up late tonight. And if she'd be busy if she was. And if maybe she wouldn't mind sparing him one goodnight kiss.