A Suit Before He Lifts

By: Riley

Summary – Barry saved Central City and the Earth from DeVoe. But there's one last thing he has to take care of and the suspense is driving him crazy. [Spoilers to 4x10; The Trial of The Flash]. Title inspired by Chainsmokers/Coldplay song 'Something Like This'.

He was overreacting, right? Right.

He was totally overreacting.

Overreacting that Captain Singh probably knew he was the Flash. No, not probably. Absolutely knew he was The Flash. There was no way he knew. Barry wasn't stupid, Captain Singh wasn't stupid. He knew Captain Singh was starting to get suspicious. How could he continue to come up with some of the dumbest excuses he'd ever had if he weren't The Flash?

How many times could he forgot to turn off his stove before leaving the house?

How many times could pipes burst in his walls?

How many times could one person have to deal with termites, a wasp infestation, and killer bees. In Central City? Enough so that Barry knew he was running out of excuses. Enough so that when it was his first day back to work and Captain Singh asked to see him before he started, Barry immediately panicked.

How could he have been so stupid? He asked himself. You were running on adrenaline, you didn't know what you were doing, he told himself. Which had been true. How could he punch out a burning satellite that was hurtling towards Central City, and come out of it completely unscathed? He couldn't, of course. He was able to heal fast, but he wasn't invincible. He figured that out when he came hurtling back to the ground, crashing against nearby buildings before he found his footing to run the rest of the way.

And it hurt.

Glass gouged into his arm sand legs, burning pieces of metal singed his face, the blowback of the explosive force from supersonic punching the satellite had sent such a concussive sonic boom through him that he was hardly able to stand still when he stopped. Was hardly able to keep himself from keeling over. Didn't notice that a good portion of his mask was blown off. Not until he'd gotten back into the Cortex and taken off his suit.

"My mask…" he muttered, fingering the broken latex.

Cisco came up behind him, still dressed in his suit, patted him on the back. "Don't worry, dude, you just saved the world again. I'm not going to get mad at you about your suit, I'm just going to bill you."

"No," Barry said. He shook his head. Tried his best to keep his growing horror at bay. "No, my mask is broken. It's burned. It didn't cover my face—"

"—Barry, I don't think anyone's—"

"—Captain Singh was there," Barry finally burst out. "He'll recognize my face. He'll know it was me." And that's when his full-blown hysteria hit. He started to pace the Cortex, but at superspeed, his pacing made it appear he was having a seizure, complete with waving hands and sudden appearances in front of his friends' and wife's faces. "You don't think he recognized me, do you? I mean, this is Captain Singh, he hasn't seen me in a while."

Even Caitlin, who was the one who healed him in so many ways, couldn't help but let out a softly sarcastic, "I don't think you were gone long enough for him to forget your face." Iris glared at her and she quickly added, "But, there's still enough of your mask left to hide your facial structure."

"Yeah," Iris agreed. She grasped her husband's arm. "It's not like he was looking closely."

"But I didn't hide my face," Barry said.

"Babe, you were tired, you just saved the world. Again. He's going to be focusing on that. Not who the Flash is."

"Right. Okay." Barry's shoulders slumped in relief. "You're right."

And so, Barry relaxed. Relaxed until he got to work and heard Captain Singh wanted to see him. He immediately turned to Joe, ignoring all the 'congratulations' and 'welcome backs' from his colleagues shot him as he frantically grasped Joe's arms. Joe, who was already growing tired from sleepless nights with Jenna, didn't take it kindly.

"Joe!"

"Barry, would you re-lax?" He pried Barry's hands off his arms. "He probably just wants to welcome you himself."

"Couldn't he just come to my office to do that? Or send a card, maybe? It's not like I'm hard to find."

"With how quickly you can get around, no, you're not hard to find at all," Joe said sarcastically. Barry turned his wounded puppy expression to him. "Bare, he's just happy to see you. You were falsely accused of murder and falsely imprisoned. As far as we know, he wants to make sure you're not going to sue him." Joe paused, suddenly looking interested. "Though, between you and me, if you were looking to get some extra cash…" he trailed off at Barry's disapproving look. "I'm just kidding. It's the baby." He waved a hand by his head. "I'm not getting a lot of sleep, not thinking straight."

"Yeah, you're really not," Barry murmured. He looked at Joe one last time, took in a deep breath, and strode to Captain Singh's office. He knocked on the door and waited to be called in before ducking inside. "You wanted to see me, Captain?"

"Yes, Allen," Captain Singh replied. He turned from where he was pacing the floor, reading files in a folder in hand. "Glad to see you're here bright and early." He snapped the folder shut and placed it on his desk. "I wanted to be the first to say how happy I am that you're back with us at the CCPD." He extended a hand towards Barry, which Barry inspected suspiciously before shaking it.

"It's good to be back, sir," Barry said. "I can't wait to get right back to work."

"Yes, well, things won't be as you're used to," Captain Singh said.

Barry's eyebrows furrowed. His heart started to race, mind shuttling through every possibility of the meaning behind his words. "What…uh…what do you mean?"

"I mean, I know you get things done quickly…" Captain Singh's eyelashes fluttered. "And a bit late, but our interim forensic scientist doesn't work as quickly as you do, so there's a stack of tests and files you need to finish filling out for me."

"Okay." Barry was starting to breathe easier.

"And there's new evidence that needs to be input in our system."

"I can do that."

"And I need you to be sure that you're not tardy or coming up with other bizarre excuses for your moments of disappearance." Captain Singh lifted his chin and looked Barry directly in the eye. Barry continued to watch his boss's face. Was that a flicker of…pride, he saw? "No matter how important."

"Um," Barry said, slowly. "I'm not quite sure what you mean."

"Well." Captain Singh rubbed a hand over his chin. "Within the last year you thought you've left your stove on twenty times, had a pipe burst ten times, and had termites and other infestations seven times. Even I know people don't have that bad luck."

"Like being sentenced to prison for murdering someone?" Barry couldn't keep his voice from turning dry. It was a touchy subject for him before, with his dad, but now with his own experience…

Captain Singh leveled his gaze at Barry. "Let me be the first to wholeheartedly apologize for what happened. I didn't have a choice, with the evidence given to me I had to follow the law. But…as I said in court, no matter what the excuses you come up with, no matter your disappearances, you're one of the best men I know. You were young and had half the experience of people I interviewed. But you wanted to help the innocent. Just like a hero would. I thought Central City deserved someone like that and I still do." He blinked slowly. "Even if it's as The Flash."

Silence stretched between them.

Oh crap.

He was screwed.

Don't freak out, Barry. He doesn't exactly know anything. Barry took in a deep breath, tried to steady his nerves. He cleared his throat and stood up straight. His mind shot back to Captain Singh's cross-examination at the trial.

"Would you cover for Mr. Allen if you had to?"

"No, of course not."

"No? It says in his personnel file that he took six months sabbatical to the Czech Republic. Did he get approval from you first?"

"Not exactly. He said it was for a personal reason, I'm sure he had a good reason to go."

"It also says in here he was late seventy-two times in the last two years. Did you ever ask him why?"

"No. Because regardless of what time he got in, he always did his job."

"I'm just curious to imagine what he does with his time when he should be in work. It's like he has this secret life."

He was screwed.

Barry took in another breath, started to stammer. "Captain Singh, it's not what it…it's not…uh." He pulled at the collar of his dress shirt, rubbed the back of his neck. All the while, Captain Singh continued to stare at him. "I, uh, you…I…w-what happened was…" He coughed. "I mean, it's not, you don't think—"

Captain Singh let Barry off the hook. "What? That you're the Flash?" He started to laugh, making Barry laugh nervously as well. A staccato machine-gun kind of laugh that Captain Singh didn't seem to notice, nor the way his eyes shifted about. "No offense, Allen, but I'd believe you were the Flash when pigs fly. Not that I don't think you're heroic by any means, you care about justice and the innocence of people more than anyone I know. But you're also always late, jump at every loud sound, and seem to be missing form action whenever something goes on."

He patted Barry on the arm.

"But yeah, you're The Flash." He went to his office. "Have a good first day, Allen. Welcome back."

"Right, yeah, you too, sir." Barry backed away from Captain Singh's office, taking long strides, glancing over his shoulder as he went. "Thank you."

Captain Singh, with his head bent over the important papers, lifted his gaze just beneath his eyelashes. Just in time for Barry to move out of his view, a sudden streak of yellow light and a cascade of flowing papers shooting after him.

Right.

He wasn't The Flash.

THE END

A/N: Nervous Barry is always a fun Barry to write. I doubt we'd ever get this scene, since he didn't seem to notice Captain Singh being there (and he was just saved from dying) and Captain Singh didn't really seem to notice him, but here we go.

Cheers,

-Riley