Henry Allen Was Here

By: Riley

Summary – In a cruel twist of fate, Barry had never felt closer to his father. [Spoilers to 4x10; The Trial of The Flash].

Barry didn't so much as flinch when the door to his cell clanged shut.

Didn't hesitate as he crisscrossed his hands and stuck them out into the open space beyond his cell for his handcuffs to be removed, easing the bite to his skin.

Hardly blinked when the warden and his deputy took one last look at him before walking away. He was numb. Nothing phased him, let alone the fact that he could phase out of the bars if he wanted to. Could, but couldn't. He was as much of a prisoner in the cell as he was in his own body. He hadn't been put into a meta dampening cell, didn't know he was a meta. If the time came, could he really put aside his drive and reflex to run and help someone?

Could he make it out to the field and back, running fast enough that everyone would stay frozen in time? Or would that be suicide? Submitting him even further into his own personal hell than he was already in? Was it better to sit back and wait for the inevitable—his innocence to be proven? Or hold back and wait for what would never come?

Barry closed his eyes as he turned around, the shadows of his darkened cell washing over his face. He'd been in his own prison before, in the Speed Force, living away from his friends and family. This was different. He had his friends and family, but he was still in prison, ripped away from everything that was only a few steps away. The places he'd go running back to.

Iris. Joe. Caitlin. Cisco. Harry. Even Dibny.

STAR Labs. Jitters. The CCPD.

The place he'd turned to call his second home and put him into what would soon be his third, the four walls that would be the rest of his life unless the impossible happened. But he was the impossible, wasn't he?

Barry's leg bumped against his bed, his cot. Couldn't even call it a bed. Stuffed plastic that was to be a mattress. No blanket unless he bought it from commissary. But he knew how long it would take for that to be transferred over, his father spoke about it every now and then. But there were a few tips he remembered that Henry had thrown in with a laugh, wanting to add humor to the situation to not scare a young Barry.

"Don't give anyone your PIN, they'll steal from you faster than you can blink. They're already in prison, what are they going to do next?"

"Stick to yourself, they always target those that are outspoken and have something to prove. And I know you always have something to prove, you did stand up to more bullies than anyone else."

"Tuck our blankets and pillows away, it's the first to be stolen when given the chance. Getting beaten up is worse than having cold feet."

"If someone tries to shank you…well, you're already a goner if they want to shank you."

A light smile came to Barry's lips. He scrubbed his hands over his face, tried to stay positive, but found his thoughts drowned out by the jeering calls around him, echoing off the walls. In the distance he could hear anguished cries, moans, and hysterical laughter of those that had been imprisoned for years with no end in sight.

That wasn't going to happen to him.

He was going to get out.

He was innocent.

Almost as if something was calling to him, watching him, forcing him to move, Barry's eyes fluttered open to take stock of the room he was in. Four walls, a floor, a ratty cot. But what caught his eye, what drew his eye was the back wall. Filled with small scribbles and tic-tac-toe games with nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing other than the black smudge that upon closer inspection looked like a name.

Barr stood up and looked closer, angling his head to capture the light. Working to get a look at the smudge.

No, not a smudge. A name. A message. Not any message, the message of the one that had been there before him.

Henry Allen was here.

Barry mouthed the words as he dragged his fingertips along the divets made into the concrete. He pictured his father, younger, stronger, more able bodied than the complacent man that waited for his innocence or death to take him first etching the letters into the concrete. Pictured the man that pressed his lips together in concentration as he staked his claim on the cell, letting those that came after him know of the legacy that was to be Henry Allen.

The man convicted of killing his wife and later proven innocent by his son that had seen everything. He'd never given up though was strong enough to be realistic about his plight. In the end, he was able to get out and lived a life he enjoyed until it was cut short once more.

Lowering his hand, Barr turned and pressed his back against the wall, covering his father's message. He pressed his lips together, looking out beyond the bars in front of him at the further wall. The same way his father had once upon a time.

He made the same promise he made in the courtroom, but heard his father's voice say it along with him, "I'm innocent. And soon, everyone will know it."

A small smile came to Barry's face.

Because, in a cruel twist of fate, Barry had never felt closer to his father.

THE END

A/N: Who else saw the episode? What did you think?

Cheers,

-Riles