The woman came out of the car and in front of her house stood Barry Allen; clothes dripping and eyes red. Freya noticed a few bags placed on the ground outside. With a heavy heart ,she cursed and grabbed Barry, dragging him to the bedroom.

Freya had ushered Barry into the en suite, where she was helping the young CSI to take off his shirt and pants, leaving him only in his boxers. Even though Freya's mind was panicking, a small part of her wondered how the boy had developed abs when he barely had time to work out. She pushed that thought aside. Barry looked terrible. He was shaking from the cold and it was clear that up until recently he had been crying. His expression was blank, as if he wasn't aware of his surroundings.

She carefully grabbed Barry's arm and guided him into the warm shower, letting him stand there for several minutes before cutting off the water. She was ready with a large fluffy towel to wrap around Barry, drying him off, before slipping him into a pair of Freya's brothers old sweatpants .

After another half an hour of fussing, Barry found himself curled up in a nest of blankets the couple had arranged on the couch, and palms warmed by the cup of hot chocolate Freya had thrust at him.

"Now sweatheart, do you want to tell me what happened?"

Barry tells her everything.

FLASHBACK

"Are you sure?" Is what Joe had asked when Barry told him that he was gay a week ago as if Barry wasn't as sure he was gay as Joe was sure he was straight. Joe had asked him if he'd been with girls, to which Barry had nodded and said, "Yes. Guys too." He'd then shrugged and added, "I realized I like guys better."

Joe had quieted, lips tight in a stiff line and grunted as he proceeded to "tenderize" the meat they were having for that night. Barry thought he was hitting a little hard after that, but then again, he couldn't be sure.

Now? Now, he was having doubts. "Hello," Barry waved a little awkwardly to a young woman with a skirt suit and thin framed glasses. She smiled at him and replied, "Hello." Her smiled reminded him a bit of Iris. Her hair, a bit of Felicity. Something felt.. odd.

"Hey, there, Barr," Joe said as he stepped out of the kitchen with a towel over his shoulder. Barry could smell the seasonings to his favorite lasagna from the kitchen. His stomach rumbled with need. "Um.. I'm back," Barry tried to smile.

Joe laughed and gestured to the woman. "This is Lise Anders." The blonde on the couch smiled up at him brightly. "She's new to the city and just started working at our bank as a teller. I figured she might like to have a nice home-cooked meal as a sort of 'welcome to Central' type."

Barry nodded slowly, making himself smile at Lise. "Welcome to Central. Smells like Joe's making the best lasagna in the city. I promise you won't regret it." Lise laughed lightly, "I'm sure I won't. I love lasagna."

"She also loves crime mysteries," Joe said. "Even that 'Criminal Minds' you're always going on about." The oven beeped and Joe stepped back into the kitchen.

Barry set his bag on the side of the couch and eyed the recliner only to find it full of books. "Joe said he wants to get rid of them, but I offered to take them in." He looked back at Lise. "I love reading," she admitted with a faint blush.

Smiling at her a little more, Barry nervously took the seat beside her on the couch as the recliner was just too full. "So do I," Barry equally admitted. "I love Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's work. Sherlock is the greatest."

Unease at the situation fading, Barry found himself animatedly talking to Lise, arguing about which Sherlock Holmes book was the best and how the mysteries played out. When Joe called them into the dining room for dinner, he found himself seated by Lise. It was odd. There were normally other chairs, but they seemed to be taken for potted plants. "Thought we needed some greenery around the house," Joe told him when he asked.

Barry liked talking about things he loved and found himself telling her about his work and in turn asking about hers. She seemed nice enough.

At least, until they retired to the living room while Joe washed dishes and cleaned up. This time, she appeared to sit closer to him as he told her about how the scenes in Criminal Minds were written from a forensic analysis' perspective. He scooted a little away from her only to find she'd scoot with him.

Before long there was no room left to move and he'd politely told her that 'it would be cooler if you stayed on that end of the couch'. Barry swallowed as she smiled at him, lips red.

What really clenched his unease with this new situation was when her hand rested on his thigh. Barry had frozen that instant and glanced at her hand and back at her, but she didn't seem to mind. Instead Lise began to talk about which couples in the TV show worked best together. She seemed to have a thing for Spencer. "Smart, lanky, but sexy," she'd told him as her hand slipped closer to the inside of his upper thigh.

Something about the way she was looking at him made him want to push her off and run as fast as he could to his boyfriend. He honestly wanted to, but he couldn't. His boyfriend was away on business and couldn't be reached. It would seem weird if he called to Joe for help.

Lise was suddenly plastered against him, hand palming him through his pants and lips on his. Barry was frozen stiff with shock, not quite registering that Lise was touching him in a very private place. She seemed to think Barry's shock was some kind of 'go on' because she started to work his pants open.

The fingers trying to open his hands jolted him back to reality and he smacked her hands away, jumping off the couch and looking at her with wide eyes, jaw hanging. "What are you doing!?"

Lise frowned at him, not understanding. "I'm making a pass at you, silly," Lise said. "I heard you were single and 'just my type'." She licked her lips as she stood up, hand on her hip and the other popping her blouse open. "And you are."

Barry blinked at her, looking towards the kitchen, expecting Joe to come barreling out to see what the commotion is, but he wasn't there. He didn't hear a peep from the kitchen.

"Oh, Sweetie," Lise said, "he left so we could have some privacy."

It hit him. Right there. At that moment. So hard. This was Joe's idea. Joe had set him up. This was what he wanted, to see his adopted son with a woman.

Fury bubbled up inside of him and he had to keep himself from vibrating with hurt and betrayal. Glaring at the woman, he snapped, "For your information, I'm gay!" Lise blinked at him, stunned for a moment before she smiled at him again. "Are you sure?"

Barry gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. "Yes," he hissed angrily. "I like dicks." Burning with chaotic emotions, he grabbed his bag, swung it over his shoulder and marched out of the door. He spotted Joe sitting on the chair of their neighbor's with the old lady from next door.

Joe had started to get up when he'd marched out. Barry looked at him and yelled, "I can't believe I thought you were sure you'd 'love me no matter what'!" He gladly threw that overused assurance at Joe's face, watching him grit his teeth. "If you hate having a gay son that much, we're no longer family!"

Joe opened his mouth, but Barry whirled around and stomped over to an out of sight place and tapped into his speed.

END FLASHBACK

''I will rip his heart out."

Her voice ,soft as the morning grass ,but also as hard as nails.

''What about Iris?''

Barry stared up at his aunt in growing silent terror.

Barry cleared his throat and croaked out a reply. "She took it really badly. Kept saying that I was confused and lying. Then when I convinced her that I wasn't, they started saying I was disgusting and evil. Then she said I wasn't family anymore and that I needed to get out. I'm so sorry for coming here, but I didn't know where to go. And sorry for making a huge deal about this, being all upset. You probably know so many people who have been in real homophobic situations and here I am, pretending like this is important!"

Freya grabbed Barry's hand and rubbed comforting circles on it. She hated how her boy was feeling. He was a good kid, a hard worker; he deserves better than this. She's never seen Barry so broken up. And to find out that Joe had allowed Barry to be molested to try and change his sexuality? She was beyond pissed.

''Sweetheart, look. Firstly, everyone here knows that what they said is complete bullshit." She smiled slightly at the shocked look on Barry's face when she swore. "Secondly, if they act like that, they don't deserve to be your family; you're so much better than them. Thirdly, I'm so sorry for all of this. It's an awful position to be put in, but know that there is always a spare bed here, and you're more than welcome to stay here until you sort yourself out. And finally, don't compare yourself to others. Sure others have it worse, but a lot of others have it better too. This is your own personal experience and it most certainly is both wrong and homophobic of them to treat you like this. You don't have to pretend it's nothing."

Barry stared at her, eyes round with wonder.

''Come on, let me show you your room''

She showed the young boy his new room and lay with him until he closed his eyes.

She walks out of the room towards the living room to see an old friend sitting on the sofa.

"What the fuck?!" Freya exclaimed in pure frustration.

''What?''asked Malcolm Merlyn. ''Are not you glad to see me?''

''Malcolm ,I'm glad to see you again''said Freya as she embraced the man and he embraced back.

''What are doing here?''

''I have some family business to take care of." She gave him a grin hoping not to worry him.

"What are you going to do? About West?" Malcolm asked from across the room.

Freya flashed him a smile that was anything but comforting. "What can I do? I'm not like the metahumans Malcolm keeps going on about from Undead Journal or whatever, I can't hypnotise him into forgetting. I'll just have to explain the situation and make sure he doesn't step out of line," he said

"But I'll be sure to have a... word with him," The woman growled and the man took a step back obviously understanding the implications of 'a word'..

How brave Malcolm was, staring down an angry woman from twenty feet away. Freya sighed. "Once upon a times he's has like a friend to me, I'm not going to hurt him. I'm not a monster."

Freya turned to leave, pausing only when Malcolm placed a hand on her arm. She glared and the boy met the woman eyes firmly.

"Freya... I don't think you're a monster. I just think sometimes you forget to be human," he said.

Freya came out of the house and walked to her car as she tried to find ways to torture Joe West.

When the door of the West's house burst open, Joe West wasn't even surprised. He had been kind of expecting it, if he was honest with himself.

He stared at the woman at the doorway, slightly amused and slightly disgruntled. She had been in Central City for less than a day, and here she were, already blasting door opens.

"Saying that I was expecting a warmer welcome it's an understatement." Said Freya with a cold voice

She was staring at the man with a huge grin plastered on her face as she stood there with her arms crossed over her chest, shifting her weight from foot to foot in that annoying way of his. Her blue eyes were looking at him with amusement tinted with mischief.

The detective sighed. "Hi, Freya." He directed his attention back on his files hoping they would go away. No such luck.

The woman rolled her eyes as she walked in towards the man. "Joseph, you are no fun! Where is the joy and happiness about your friend being finally back in Central City after all these years?"

The man rubbed his temples tiredly as he looked up at friend of Henry Allen. Freya looked the same way as she's always been, maybe a little more jittery than he had been the last time he had seen her. His eyes narrowed. "Which brings the question. What are you doing here? You've always hated Central City."

The woman cracked a half grin, her black lip ring shifting slightly. Joe couldn't help but focus on it for a second. "Thought I'd come visit my friends, I haven't seen in years," Freya spoke with cockiness in her voice.

''And to see my beloved nephew''She added with smirk.

"Freya, you're not allowed to go anywhere near Barry, you know that. Now, I want you to turn this car around and go back to London and leave us in peace," Joe stepped back.

Freya walks to a chair and sat ,she put her legs on the desk and decided to answer ''I'm gonna make you suffer in ways uou spoiled ,little mind cannot possibly imagine''

''What the hell did you do to my little boy?." Freya asked coldly and her tone caused Joe to flinch.

If there was one person in this world Joe was afraid of it was the woman. She was not a force you wanted against you;

''I..Barry..You...Iris buh-buh.''

''Uh-buh-buh ,oh now you can't speak English?''Freya mocked.

"I plead the fifth," Joe mutters, fleeing the chair.

He knew the woman waiting a reply and he tried to remember if in the drawer has a gun for protection from this woman and her temper.

''I do not know''He said and he knew that the woman would not be happy to answer it because Freya glared at him and stood standing in front of the office with her two hands on the desk.

Before Joe or Freya can say something, the door opened and a woman walked in.

''The little bought rapist," Freya glares down her nose at them, icily.

The cop glares at her, while the other woman looks terrified for her life. Freya likes that look on her. The cop needs a matching one. "Now, now, Detective. It's easy for me to look at your fucked up face."

Freya takes a knife and slices the Detective's cheek as she's cutting the gag off. She shrugs and proceeds to do the same thing to the woman. Freya smirks.

"What the Hell is this, woman?" Joe demands. Freya looks at him, unimpressed by his faltering confidence. He's starting to sweat.

"This? This is what you get for hurting the one I love," Freya growls, bringing the butt on her gun down on the detective's head with satisfaction. "He trust you and you hurt him."

Joe winces as blood streams down the side of his head and glares at the woman. "Where is he?"

The woman doesn't stop as she slams Joe's head down on the ground, growling, "Wherever he is, he's safe and happier without you."

Freya looks at the woman, eyes narrowing. She's frightened and he can't help but enjoy it. "You touched my boy," she coldly tells her. The blonde woman swallows, trying to find words. It takes her a little while, but she digs out enough confidence to say, "He enjoyed it."

Freya glares at her, furiously. She jerks her head at Lise , humming with the knife in her hand and cuts Lise loose just enough to hold her hands out. She jerks in Freya's grip, but she holds her hands still.

''She never loved you''said Freya. ''And that's broked you''

''Mirror ,mirror on the wall who is the most broken of us all''Joe chuckled softly.

The vein in Freya Nova's forehead was about to brust. The man was sure of it. She had a completely black expression plastered on her face but Freya refused to comment and left the house