Summary: The damage Barry took when the lightning struck him nine months earlier seems to be healing away, but as amazing as his new powers are Barry finds himself worried that they'll change who he is. Not to forget the all new health concerns lingering in the back of his mind.

Notes: Sequel to Chrysalis, part of the Neighbors and Butterflies series

Chaos in the Flap of a Wing

Barry looks carefully into the mirror, inspecting the scars on his face, torso, and arms. Lichtenburg figures that were the physical evidence of the otherwise invisible nerve damage left behind by the lightning strike that had flipped Barry's life upside down nine months ago.

But the nerve damage was healing. Barry's range of motion was nearly back to a hundred percent in his arms and he'd quit physical therapy entirely the week before. He'd been on a once a month schedule, but there was no point anymore. His arms were fine. Still scarred, but fine.

And if the night before was any indication, Barry's seizures had morphed into something else. Something new.

There'd been a feeling to them of something other, as though time slowed down. And then, last night, time really had slowed down... or his perception of time sped up. Whatever was happening to Barry was... impossible and amazing. A miracle, maybe.

It was just...

Gently touching the scars on his face, Barry wondered if his healing would take those away too.

Turning away from the mirror, Barry went to finish getting dressed. He had an appointment at STAR Labs to keep.

Lisa gave Barry an intense look before he left the car. "If you need anything, call me. I'll come pick you up early if you need it." She hadn't trusted Wells from the moment Barry had relayed the older scientist's admittance that the lightning that had struck Barry might have done so because of the dark energy the accelerator had seeded the storm with. Called him a vampire for asking to study Barry's blood, which Wells wanted so that he and his remaining scientists could use it to help figure out why some people had been affected by the energy released that night while others hadn't.

"If I need a knight in shining armor, I'll call you first," Barry promised.

"If its a knight you need, I'll send Len in my stead," Lisa teased. "You two have gotten awfully close lately. Anything I need to give the protective sister shovel talk over yet?"

"Not yet." Barry blushed. He hadn't meant to say that. "Uhm..."

"It's obvious you like him, Barry." Lisa poked him on the nose. "It's obvious he likes you. You two are just slower than a speeding heard of a turtles. Now get out of my car before you're late. Honestly, you'd never be on time if not for me."

Laughing, Barry got out of the car and waved her off, then headed inside the building.

Dr. Hartley Rathaway was inside, sitting in one of the visitor's chairs with his feet propped up on a second one and doing something with his phone.

"Email, games, or fanfiction?" Barry asked, half guessing.

"Fanfiction," Hartley replied. "Give me a minute to finish this reading update and then I'll take you on back. Glad you decided to go with us and not Mercury Labs, though."

"Couldn't get Cisco mad at you when you were so nice to me," Barry teased, garnering a laugh from the other scientist.

"It's not even that he dislikes Dr. McGee," Hartley said, turning off his phone's screen with a click. "He's just competitive. I'm not really much better, to be honest. So if we're not mad at each other over something, its probably a Monday morning," he said, tone more fond than anything.

Hartley lets them in past the front area using his id badge and then leads them over to the elevator. "So how're things going with you?"

"I'm trying to work up the courage to ask out that cute neighbor of mine," Barry told him. Hartley immediately perked up with interest. Their chat the other week had covered more than just getting Barry the information he needed to decide whether or not to donate blood to STAR Labs, but they'd ended up clicking rather well as potential friends. "I'm still nervous about how Joe'll react though."

"Foster father, right?" Hartley hummed thoughtfully as he swiped his badge on the elevator again and then picked their floor. "He's not homophobic or queerphobic or something is he?"

"No, no Joe was really supportive when I came out as bi in high school. But Len's an ex-con. Out on parole, actually."

"Oh-ho," Hartley chirped brightly, smile going wide. "You like the bad boys, huh, Mr. CSI?"

Barry cracked up. They were both still giggling when the elevator pinged open and Hartley led them to a big open lab down the hallway.

"Welcome to the Cortex," Hartley told him and... it was pretty gorgeous, all clean lines and computer interfaces. "This was the main control room for the accelerator, but now it's just kind of the hub where we meet up every day."

"Mr. Allen," Dr. Snow seemed to materialize out of no where behind them. Barry might've jumped, startled. "It's good to see you again."

"Thank you." Barry smiled politely.

"Oh, hey, you must be Barry," a long haired man greeted, bouncing into view with what looked the be a red vine in hand. "I'm Cisco Ramon." He was just so cheerful looking and Cisco matched the voice that Barry had head over the phone when he'd visited the last time. Though before Barry had only made it as far as the first floor break room and that was only because he'd needed a safe place to ride out a seizure.

Would he even have any more of those? Or had that strange occurrence that morning heralded the end of those and the beginning of something new?

Hartley hands Barry a questionnaire and some medical release forms including one authorizing them to take some of his blood for testing. Barry goes over the otherrelease forms, but its fairly straightforward and allows them to sequence his DNA and compare it to others and access copies of his medical records, none of which he has a problem with granting them access. He'll actually get a copy back of his own genetics, which should prove to be pretty interesting. The questionnaire is longer, starting with fairly normal questions about his medical history and family's medical history, before delving into some rather entertainingly bizarre questions about the potential after effects of the accelerator's dark energy. "Do I seem to be conducting electricity more than normal? Was that question added because of the lightning or...?"

"Nope." Cisco was the one who answered, as it seemed Hartley had disappeared while Barry was filling out the forms. "Though have you been conducting electricity? Because we have learned that's less awesome than it sounds."

"Thankfully, no. The nerve damage from being struck by lightning seems to be healing, though." Barry raised his arms over his head. "Though this may not look impressive, last month I could only raise my arms about this much," he moved them down to show the significant improvement. "And they'd have been shaking a little. According to my doctors, having that even that much improvement was a miracle."

"But now you're arms are as steady as a rock," Dr. Snow observed. She looked fascinated as she walked over and gestured to one of his arms. "May I?"

Barry nodded and let her manipulate his arm around some.

"None of that hurts or feels too stretched?" She asked, releasing his arm.

"Not at all." Barry tapped his arms along his leg. "It's been improving the most over the last two weeks and while it's been a relief to be less clumsy at work, I'm concerned over what the implications of it might be." It would be great if what he was experiencing could help people recover from nerve damage, even help someone like Dr. Wells walk again one day. But if this miraculous recovery ended up swinging the other way around, it could lead to rapid cell growth and cancer which was anxiety inducing to say the least. Which was why he tried not to dwell on that possibility too much.

"Have you noticed any changes in your seizures?" Snow asked.

"Fewer and further in between. And... the way they feel has been changing but I'm not really sure how to describe it. Just that I prefer this sensation to the way they started off." Barry shrugged and finished off the last few questions, leaving most of them and N/A before filling in half a page worth of additional notes. He noted in there the sense of time slowing down but held off on describing what he'd gone through that morning.

"The lessening of the seizures could be due to the healing factor that's been regenerating the nerves in your arms also healing the neurological damage that led to the seizures in the first place," Caitlin theorized. "I don't suppose I can convince you to let me scan your brain."

"That means more forms," Hartley pointed out, breezing into the room with Wells rolling in behind him.

"It's good to see you again, Mr. Allen," Dr. Wells greeted.

Barry smiled politely. Dr. Wells was kind of eerie in a way that Barry couldn't really quantify. But he'd also been honest when he didn't have to be and that... it meant a lot to Barry. So did the loyalty and friendship that his remaining employees felt for Dr. Wells.

"It's good to see you again as well," Barry replied, before turning to Hartley. "Bring on the forms. Might as well get those scans done."

"I'd want to do follow up scans in a few days and then a week from now. If your healing is progressing at an increased rate over the last two weeks..." Snow trailed off. If his healing was affecting his brain in some way, this would be their last chance to catch evidence of it.

"I'll grab the forms," Cisco volunteers. "I know where they're kept."

"I'm going with you anyway, I want to talk to you about the changes you made to Project Hot Stuff," Hartley told his coworker, giving Cisco an arch look.

"Stop calling it that first," Cisco grumbled, blushing faintly.

"Project hot stuff?" Barry echoed, curiously.

"It's intended as a new, far more protective uniform for firefighters," Hartley told him, smirking and waggling his eyebrows. "Much more form fitting, too."

"Hot stuff indeed," Barry agreed with a laugh. The name worked on a lot of levels.

Cisco just threw his hands up in the air and wandered out, Hartley laughing as he followed after. Snow watched them leave in amusement, a smile tugging at her lips.

"So do they always flirt like that or..." Barry smirked himself when there was a crashing noise and the concerned sound of Cisco exclaiming Hartley's name followed by a distant, 'I'm fine, I'm fine, really'.

Dr. Wells snickered. "Well they've mostly moved past the hair tugging phase, but..."

Hartley reappeared in the doorway and glared at them for a long moment before stalking off again.

"We should probably take pity on him and stop," Caitlin observed. "Anyway, you've signed the consent form for me to take your blood already, so lets go ahead and do that."

Barry held out his arm and let Caitlin tie off his arm and tap at the blood vessels at the crook of his arm. He was looking away when the actual needle pierced his skin, a barely felt sting that he still had to hold back on the instinct to jerk away from. He absolutely hated needles.

"All done," Snow said cheerfully. "Let me just... clean that... up... huh."

"What?" Barry looked over to where she was wiping the blood from his arm. It was a few drops at most and no new blood was welling from the needle mark. Probably because there was no needle mark. It had already healed. He ran a thumb over the spot where he'd been pricked. "I really am healing faster than average, aren't I?" he asked quietly. It wasn't just in his head.

This was real.

Barry is no stranger to things with Joe being tense. Usually their relationship is good, solid even. But... Joe is still the man who arrested Barry's dad. Even though Joe wasn't involved, except peripherally, with the rest of the investigation into Nora Allen's murder, he was the one Barry remembered watching put cuffs on Henry's wrists while Barry shouted in protest. So tense can be a kind of mild word for the worst moments in their relationship.

But tense is an accurate descriptor for how things are between them at the moment. Barry had sued the city earlier in the year - and been granted a relatively quick settlement netting him less money than he'd asked for, but more money than he'd expected and they'd paid his lawyer's fees - and had been hesitant to tell Joe about the lawsuit. When Barry did finally tell Joe, his words of support had been less than encouraging. And he'd been the opposite of supportive when it came to Barry's career decisions, which had led Barry to relocating from the onsite lab at the CCPD to the offsite lab with his fellow CSIs. Then, to top it off, Joe's disapproval of Eddie as his daughter's boyfriend seemed to have manifested in an uncomfortable interest in pushing Barry towards Iris.

So Barry had skipped the last couple of West family dinners in favor of binge watching Netflix shows with Lisa and Len.

Iris, however, had put her foot down. Barry was to show up on Saturday and give her a chance to help mediate out the issues between the two men and get at least a semblance of family going again. Eddie would be skipping out instead, which Barry was fairly certain was a very wise idea on the detective's part. (If things went badly, though, Iris had promised Barry an ice cream and Princess Bride party, which he rather expected meant they were going to be hosting a quote along with Eddie, Lisa, and Len in his apartment sometime soon.)

At the door to Joe's house, Barry hesitated to just unlock the door and go inside. It used to be that they saw each other almost every day at work and that made it difficult for the two of them to stay upset with each other for long. This was the longest they'd been at odds with each other since Barry was in high school.

Steeling himself, Barry pulled out his keys and let himself into the house. "Hey Joe," he called out tentatively.

"In the kitchen," was the response and Barry dropped his keys and wallet on the entry table before heading on back.

Iris was already there seated at the kitchen table while Joe was cooking at the stove. "Hey Bar," Joe gestured to where the vegetables were laid out on the counter. "Could I get some help with those?"

"Hey! You wouldn't let me help," Iris grumbles.

Barry and Joe exchange looks and Barry just shakes his head. He's not saying a word.

"Do you... want to make banana bread?" Joe finally asks, slightly nervous. "Got two bananas, some walnuts, and a box mix in the pantry."

Iris gives both men suspicious looks, but nods and stands. "One delicious banana bread loaf coming right up, ready for eating in time for dessert."

Senior year of high school, Iris and Barry had both taken Home Ec. Iris took to hand sewing like a duck to water and discovered a great love for subversive cross stitch. Barry was better with the sewing machine than sewing by hand, but each could do a decent job with their less preferred method. Barry also did a good job of picking up on cooking and baking basics. Iris... burned water. And nearly chopped off a finger trying to make salad. And burned out a stove trying to make grilled chicken. But she'd excelled at making banana bread and fruit buckles, which no one wanted to question. She'd improved since then, but still tended to burn things and nick fingers and it was just... better to keep her to mixing ingredients in a bowl where the most dangerous thing in her hands would be a whisk.

Dinner's ready fairly quickly after that, bread loaf in the oven set for thirty minutes, and they all settle around the dinner table. Joe casually asks Barry how things are at the lab and Barry talks about some of the work he's been doing and colleagues who are finally letting their guard down around him. He's hesitant to talk about any of it at first because the last thing he wants is for Joe to hear about the difficulties Barry's had fitting in and respond to that with an 'I told you so'. But Joe is quiet and thoughtful and just lets Barry talk without interruptions. In return, Joe answers questions about how things are around the station. A lot of it Barry already knows thanks to Eddie, but it's nice to hear about things from Joe's point of view... and its also a test. To see if Joe would try to guilt trip Barry into coming back or subtly imply things would be better if Barry hadn't left or... but Joe doesn't pull any passive aggressive bullshit. A nice change from the last family dinner Barry attended.

Iris looks very pleased. "So, has Dr. Wells tried to lure you away from forensic science again?" she asked.

"What's this?" Joe's eyebrows went up. "Dr. Wells... not STAR Labs Dr. Wells?"

"Yeah, he, um... he asked to meet with me a few weeks ago." Barry fidgeted uncomfortably with his napkin. He hadn't exactly been truthful with Iris over the reason for that visit. "He's recruiting scientists in the area, trying to rebuild STAR Labs. I'm not really interested in the job offer, but... he did have another reason to contact me."

"Oh, you didn't mention that when you talked about it with me and Eddie," Iris' expression nearly mimicked her father's as curiosity lit up her eyes.

"Then you haven't heard the kind of crazy BS they're claiming is happening at that lab," Joe told her. "It's no wonder you wouldn't want to bring up their out there theories about meta humans. Two of their scientists came by the station a few weeks ago, trying to ask us about some woman who escaped from lockup. Tried to claim she must've teleported out."

Barry cringed internally and considered dropping the subject. It's not like he had to tell them, right? It was just... they were family and Barry wanted them to know.

"They're not as crazy as you think they are. Maybe teleporting is a touch out there," probably not, but that wasn't a hill Barry was prepared to die on just yet, "but there are people who've been affected by the energy released the night the accelerator failed."

"Oh, really?" Joe's skepticism dripped through his voice and Iris looked like she was a step away from burying her face in her hands, giving Barry a look that seemed to ask him not to go there. Don't start this fight...

"Considering I'm one of them, yes. Really." Barry feels the first curls of anger running through his chest at Joe's disbelieving look. This was the reaction he'd been afraid of receiving when he'd been fifteen and figured out he was bi. Whatever happened to that supportive Joe West who'd promised to be there when Barry needed him?

"They're crackpots, Bar. Whatever Wells told you..." Joe trails off as Barry gets up from the table, retrieves his multi-tool on his key ring, flicks open the knife, and cuts his hand.

It's a shallow cut, barely stings, and Joe is cursing and going for the paper towels. Barry can feel the cut already closing though.

"Barry, what the hell?!" Iris demands, moving to staunch the flow with a wad of paper napkins imprinted with the Big Belly Burger emblem. And then she watches with wide eyes as each time she moves the napkins away the cut appears to have closed a little more. By the time Joe is back with the paper towels, there's barely a scar left.

"I'm not crazy, Joe. And neither are the people at STAR Labs. What's happened to me could help others... the nerve damage in my arms has been healing." Barry raised his free arm above his head, then out to the side, turning his shoulder in a few wide circles before dropping his hand back down entirely. It has an impact now that it wouldn't have had before his more dramatic antics. Joe can't wave that off as the doctors being wrong about the extent of the damage or the potential for recovery when he saw that cut literally heal before his eyes.

"How is that even possible?" Joe breathes, still staring at Barry's hand as the faint line fades away to nothing entirely. Like it was never there.

"That's what Dr. Wells and his colleagues at STAR Labs would like to find out." Barry put the keys away in his shirt pocket and slid his wallet into his back pocket. "I think it's time I headed out."

"But... Bar, we haven't even had dessert yet," Iris fretted.

"I came here tonight because I wanted the two of you to be the first people I told about being a meta human," not counting the scientists at STAR Labs, of course. And... well... Len and Lisa who sort of already knew. Ish. "But also? Iris promised me that you wanted to apologize, Joe. And while, sure, you've behaved a lot better tonight than you have in months, not one apology. Then, I try to tell you something important and you immediately jump to the conclusion that I'm being played like a fool. Why is that, Joe? Why is it that at twenty-four years old you treat me with less respect than you did when I was fourteen?" He huffed out a sigh. "I'm glad I told you, but now I'm headed home. I'll come back when you're ready to apologize, so I suspect I won't be here next weekend."

Barry's out the door before Joe can stop him, but Iris is following along, purse in hand.

"I'm sorry Bar," she tells him, heading towards her car and gesturing for him to follow. "How about we pick up milkshakes from a drive through somewhere and head over to Eddie's?

Barry is still trying to figure out the best way to ask Len on a date when the man in question arrives to pick Barry up from work. It's Tuesday and that's kind of their thing these days. Len picks up up from work, they pick up dinner, and join Lisa... or some variation on that theme. Sometimes they just have dinner together and it's really nice... but Barry would like to be able to call those evenings, when its just the two of them, dinner dates.

He suspects Len would like the same thing.

Getting into the car, Barry opens his mouth to ask where too, when Len starts talking.

"I was thinking maybe, if you wanted to, we could go to the Italian place that just opened up? Pastascuitta? It's... nicer than the places we normally go, but its just us for the evening and I thought..." Len trailed off, seeming to have run out of steam, pointedly not looking directly at Barry.

"Are you asking me on a date?" The words just popped right out of Barry's mouth.

"No." There was a pause. "Actually, yes."

Barry grinned and laughed softly. Reaching over, he put a hand on Len's shoulder. "I would love to go on a date with you, Len."

(They're kissing on Barry's couch when Lisa lets herself into his apartment with the spare key he'd given her months ago.

"Barry, Lenny's not home and I... oh... well... it's about damn time, you two!"

"Lise, go away."

"Wait, Len, she brought cookies."

Len's exasperated noise sets both Barry and Lisa off with a case of the giggles.)

Len and Lisa are the next people to officially learn Barry's a meta. And they take him at his word that cuts and bruises are literally healing in seconds, which is just so validating.

"And also... I think maybe there's something else," Barry paused a moment, gathering his thoughts, and then explains about his weird experience the other morning before he'd gone to STAR Labs.

"Do you think you were freezing time or moving fast and thus warping your own perception of time at the same... time?" Len grimaced at the last repetition of the word.

"The latter," Barry replied. "My seizures kept feeling more and more like time was slowing around me when they happened. I think maybe... they're turning into something else."

"Hopefully that's a good thing." Lisa tilted her head to the side and then said thoughtfully, "you know... you always get the munchies after a seizure. Don't really know if that's a normal post-seizure thing or not but, presumably, moving so fast that the world seems slow takes a lot of energy. So have you been eating more after your seizures lately?"

Huh. Barry hadn't even considered that. But he thought back over the last couple of seizures - particularly the one he had at STAR Labs during his first visit - and thought that maybe Lisa was on to something. "I think so. Can't say I'd really been paying attention, but... yeah. I think so."

"You'll let us know if anything changes?"

Lisa looked concerned and Len's hand on Barry's lower back felt inordinately warm and supportive.

"Promise," Barry agreed.

"So, now that's out of the way... Lisa, go away," Len glowered at his sister. "We were busy."

"Maybe leave the cookies?" Barry asked hopefully.

Both sibling's mouths did the same little twitch thing when they were trying not to laugh.

"So," Lisa said as Barry got into her car for a ride to STAR Labs, "the sister shovel talk."

Barry groaned and sank lower in his seat.

The genetics results were finally ready and were quite interesting, but apparently Barry and the other metas are just giving the STAR Labs scientists more questions than answers. Caitlin suspected that there wasn't any single 'meta gene' but a series of genes that, depending on which ones a meta has, determines what kind of abilities they'll manifest when exposed to dark energy.

"And then there's the epigenetics element, where the expression of a gene varies from person to person as the events of their lives effects how their body works," Caitlin continued, finishing the latest run of scans on Barry's brain. "Despite our inability to determine the genes responsible for meta powers, Cisco and Hartley are getting closer to creating a sort universal power dampener."

Cisco blushed at the praise. "Our first attempts were tailored to specific metas, but if we focus on dampening the dark energy left behind inside a person instead of suppressing specific genes, its actually way more effective," he explained, sitting just out of the scanner's range to keep Barry company.

"Wait, so there's still unknown energy hanging around in me?" Barry did not feel reassured by that. What if... what if it was still changing him?

"Yeah. Probably a lot more people with dark energy than there are metas right now, but presented with the right trigger... and that could change." Cisco drummed his fingers along the top of the table. "Hartley's thinking of starting up a support group. He wanted to tell you about it himself, but today's a bad day for him."

"All done," Caitlin said, deactivating the scanner.

"Thanks, Caitlin." Barry said with a smile, then turned back to Cisco. "The support group sounds like a great idea. I attended one for a while after... my accident. It made adjusting to the scarring easier when I could hear other people talking about going through similar circumstances. You'll have to let Hartley know I'd be willing to attend if he does start one up."

"Awesome." Cisco doesn't sound like he thinks its awesome, though. He sounds... kind of sulky, actually. "I'll, uh, be right back." He disappeared out of the room pretty fast.

"What's up with him?" Barry asked.

"Ah, well... he's got it into his head somehow that Hartley likes you." Caitlin shook her head. "Hartley's not usually good at making friends, so we're all really glad he clicked with you so well, but then..."

"Cisco got jealous?" Barry glanced in the direction Cisco had left in.

"Yeah. Ronnie would've found this hilarious." Caitlin smiled, but it was a sad expression.

"Ronnie?" Barry asked gently.

"He... was my boyfriend. He worked here and the night the accelerator... he was in the pipeline when it happened, redirecting the energy flow up and out into the storm so that there wouldn't be an explosion." Caitlin rubbed at her cheeks. "He... he always thought Hartley had a thing for Cisco."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Barry said quietly. She'd probably heard that a lot, but he wasn't really sure what else to say.

"Do you think your healing factor will cause your scars to fade?" Caitlin asked, changing the subject rather abruptly. "It seems likely, considering the effect its had on your nerves. And come take a look at this."

Obediently, Barry came over to stand beside Dr. Snow. "Those are the scans my doctors took when my seizures started."

"That's right. They believed that the damage here," she pointed to a part of the scans and Barry pushed down on the remembered panic from the first time he'd seen these and realized he had brain damage, "was what was causing the seizures. However, these are the first scans I took of you." The pictures of his brain changed to a much more detailed reading - whatever STAR Labs used in place of MRIs and CAT scans was certainly ahead of its time. "As you can see, the damage is largely healed. And the subsequent scans..." she slowly flipped through two more sets before arriving on today's.

Each set of pictures showed the damage to be less and less until it seemed to be gone altogether.

"They said was I lucky not to be experiencing any major changes in personality or memory loss. That it was minor, localized damage, and that the seizures might go away as my brain learned to compensate." Instead his brain had... healed itself.

"They probably would have. The brain has an impressive capacity for rewiring itself and creating new pathways. But thanks to your meta abilities, your brain healed the damage instead."

Barry shook his head, a little in awe and a little scared. "If what's happening to me could be safely replicated in others..."

"People in long term comas could be woken up, people with varying types of paralysis could be healed... chronic illnesses, all potentially cured." Caitlin glanced over across the cortex to Dr. Wells office. "A panacea to cure all ills."

Somehow, though, Barry didn't think it would be that simple.

Every morning now, Barry checks his scars in the mirror. Looking for signs of fading.

He's not sure if he's disappointed or relieved every day that he checks only to find they're exactly the same as the day before.

Barry goes to the station for the first time since transferring to the offsite labs, waves at Eddie, smiles politely at Joe, and then heads into Singh's office. It's much nicer than how his predecessor kept it and Barry rather likes it.

"Barry, what brings you back to the station?" Singh smiled, "not that it isn't great to see you again."

"I was hoping I could take a look around my old lab. My therapist thinks I need the closure and that I'm not likely to, uh... have a panic attack this time." In part because he knew he didn't have to see it every day. He could walk out and never come back if that's what he wants.

"Sure. Come on, I'll go with you," David offers and Barry's more than happy to agree.

Upstairs, Barry finds the lab completely rearranged. It had probably been like this on his first day back, but Barry hadn't seen it properly through the haze of panic that had descended on him. But today? It's just a lab. It has a warmer feel to it than the one Barry's got now and he misses that, even if he'd rather stay offsite for now.

"Captain, I should have that analysis ready in..." the lab tech who'd taken Barry's place onsite trailed off. "Mr. Allen," Dr. Julian Desmond says stiffly. "It's good to see you again."

"Thank you." It takes a moment to realize what's going on in Desmond's head. He's worried Barry wants the lab back. He's certain Singh would hand it over if Barry asked nicely enough. "I like the way you've reorganized everything. I hated planning everything around the skylight." Tentatively, Barry looks up and manages, barely, not to shudder at the sight of the new one. No more leaks, no more draw chain... "That thing was my nemesis, I swear." Shaking his head, he smiled at Julian. "Sorry for interrupting your work. My therapist has been pushing me to come back here one more time so this place doesn't feel like it's hanging over me and... I had today off so it seemed like a good time to give it a try." He'd swapped for a Saturday with one of the other CSIs, Jesse Dalton, who'd wanted to see his kid's softball game.

Desmond relaxes a little and actually smiles a bit. "How are you liking the offsite labs?"

"They're growing on me. More equipment to use, so I don't have to send off samples to for others labs to process nearly as much, and I don't have certain detectives showing up five minutes after I've returned from a crime scene, demanding to know why the analysis on the evidence isn't done yet."

"So it's not just me they do that to?" Julian sounded relieved.

"Nope. Honestly, I think they just watch too much CSI and think that science magic is real." That got Barry a laugh as he wandered around, not really touching anything, just looking. And finally putting the past behind him. "Anyway, I'm especially liking how much less of a commute there is to the offsite lab and how it's on the way for my boyfriend can swing by to pick me up after work on Tuesdays. Always nice."

"Dating someone? I'm surprised I haven't heard Joe complaining about him from my office yet," Singh spoke up, only half joking.

"I, uh, haven't told him yet. Joe wasn't exactly thrilled when this guy became my neighbor, after all. He'll throw another fit if he finds out I'm actually dating Len."

Singh's raised eyebrow tells Barry he knows exactly which neighbor Barry's talking about. But he doesn't say anything judgmental either, so Barry takes it as a win.

"I'll be in my office. Allen," Singh caught his eye, "swing by before you head back out, okay?"

"Sure." Barry nodded. There was one last thing he wanted to do while he was here, after all. Ever since he'd cried in Lisa's arms over his fears about his job, all the way back in January, he'd been putting together a sort of... contingency plan. One that was becoming increasingly appealing the more thought he gave it. "You did your graduate studies for your PhD here in Central City, right?"

"That's right. CCU's graduate program includes Forensic Science... are you considering getting a doctorate?"

Barry nodded. "I've got my mastery, obviously. Needed that to work here. But... it kind of feels like now would be a good time to go back for a PhD. It's something I've wanted since... high school really." But with the payout from the city, he might not even need to take on student loans even if he did have to take a hiatus from the CCCPD's forensic's lab altogether. "Mostly I'm still at the point of figuring out what my options are."

"Well... once I've got that analysis ready for the Captain, I should have time for a short coffee break. If you'd like to discuss the CCU grad program with me?"

"Thanks. I'd like that." Barry paused a beat, then said, "I'm going to wander over to the break room, say hi to a few people on the way over. Meet me there when you're done?"

Desmond agreed and Barry was headed back downstairs when he heard one of the officers walking past him say, "the witness said it was like a rain storm inside. So when I tried to clarify that the overhead sprinkler system must've come on, she insisted there were literal rain clouds inside the bank. Yeah, right."

Rain clouds indoors, hmm? That sounded... interesting.

Barry's out jogging with Lisa and Iris when they decide to race across the last ten minutes worth of their usual jogging trail. It's a nice normal evening, nothing special at all. But then the adrenaline kicks in, time slows... and Barry's running. Not just normal running, but there's electricity licking his heels and he's never felt this good before.

It's like he was made for this.

He doesn't just go back to their starting point, where Iris and Lisa parked their cars. He loops the park again and then has to quickly kick off his shoes because the rubber soles did not take to the friction well at all. They're still sizzling as Iris and Lisa run up to rejoin him. "What the hell was that?" Iris demands, sounding more shocked and awed than angry.

Lisa looks fascinated. "Did you just murder those poor shoes?"

"I didn't mean too," Barry mutters petulantly. Thankfully the pavement isn't too hot for his socked feet right now. "I think I've definitely got more than a healing factor going on," he mutters, staring half in shock as he deliberately vibrates his hand in front of him, recapturing some of that feeling he had while running. His hand turns into a blur and then stops on command. Just a normal hand, nothing to see here.

"So I'm driving you back to STAR Labs in the morning?" Lisa asks.

"Seems that way."

One day, Barry will probably be sick to death of running tests on his powers. But today he's just fascinated, running on a treadmill that he barely manages to get off before it overheats and dies. The treads are half worn-through already.

"I'm gonna make you the ultimate treadmill," Cisco declares.

"Uh, Cisco? We have a large circular space that isn't being used," Hartley pointed out. "It'd be easier to refurbish the pipeline than to make the ultimate treadmill."

Cisco pouted. "Fine. Whatever. We could still use a suped up treadmill for certain readings," Cisco muttered grumpily. Ears turning red beneath his long hair when Hartley slid his hand along Cisco's shoulder's for a moment before disappearing in search of the STAR Labs blueprints. "Why does he have to be so..."

"You should ask him out," Barry prompted, grinning when Cisco spluttered denials.

Someone live streams a tornado that grows out of nothing inside one of Central City's oldest banks. The bizarre weather appears to be the doing of one Clyde Mardon, previously believed to have died in a plane crash after killing Detective Chyre.

It's all over the news one Tuesday night, but Barry's not really paying attention as Len turns off his tv and finally lets Barry lead him into the bedroom for the night.

Lisa might have a point about them moving at the pace of a speeding herd of turtles, but it seems to suit them just fine.

Barry's warm and content and not really awake when there's a pounding at his front door. He's not pleased to be leaving the warm cocoon of his bed, especially because Len is in those blankets, all tempting and naked. But he hastily pulls on some clothes, only realizing halfway across his living room that he'd grabbed his own pajama pants, but Len's shirt.

He opens the front door to see Joe there, looking nervous and holding up a bag of peace offering baked goods from Barry's favorite donut shop.

This is going to be a train wreck.

"Hi, Joe..."

"Hi, Bar..." They stared at each other for a long moment and then Joe thrust out the bag of donuts. "I brought breakfast."

Barry tells himself he's just ripping a bandaid off as he lets Joe inside. "My boyfriend is here," Barry tells him.

"Oh, you're... you're dating someone." Joe's eyes flick to Barry's bedroom, well aware that 'someone' was probably still in Barry's bed.

"My neighbor. Len." Barry lets that sink in, watches the emotions play out over Joe's face. Somehow, Joe manages to bite back his knee jerk response.

"He's been in prison," Joe finally says, managing to make it sound like he's just stating a fact instead of being judgy.

"He's on parole," Barry agrees. "All my i's are dotted and t's crossed with HR. If Len is ever a suspect in a case again, I won't be allowed near it with a ten foot pole. I don't think that'll be a problem, though."

"So you're... serious, then."

"He's smart and funny and makes me feel safe when my life seems to be upending for the umpteenth time this year. So, yeah. I'm serious about this." And Barry can, indeed, hear the soft squeak of his bedroom door that tells him Len probably heard all that. But Barry doesn't call Len out; the other man will join them when he's ready. Instead, Barry goes and sets up his coffee pot so they've got something warm to drink with the donuts.

"How long have you been dating him?"

"A few weeks. We've been kind of annoying Lisa by dancing around it for a while before that though. My life's been kind of a mess so I was hesitant to inflict that on him and I think he was nervous that I'd say no because of his past." Barry leaned over his kitchen bar top and stared pointedly at Joe. "Why are you here?"

"Because I'm sorry. And apologies are hard." Joe sighed and then glanced over at the bedroom door. "Might as well come on out, Snart. Got enough donuts, you can have one too."

Len, hesitantly, comes out of the bedroom in pajama pants and a shirt that are both obviously Barry's, given how the pants are slightly too long, dragging across the floor around his feet, while the shirt is too small and clings to Len's shoulders in a way that makes Barry's stomach heat with interest. Oh, yes, Barry likes how Len looks in his clothes.

Joe looks between them and rolls his eyes. "Well, I wasn't planning on doing this with an audience, but I'm not going to ask you to send your boyfriend home even if it is literally across the hall. I'm sorry Bar. I've screwed up a lot these last few years. And since it started with me not listening to you about that damn skylight, that's where my apology should probably start too."

(Barry might've been crying a little bit by the time Joe gets through everything. But that's okay. He kind of needed a good cry over it all anyway.)

Things aren't automatically okay between Barry and Joe just because Joe apologized. But it was a start and it was a good one and so Barry shows up at the next West Family dinner and tells Joe he's bringing both Len and Lisa with him for Thanksgiving when November rolls back around.

Joe just sighs in defeat and asks if they've got any dietary restrictions he should know about.

Clyde Mardon hits another bank, creating another tornado that, this time, breaks out of the bank and is swirling its way towards downtown.

"How fast would I have to run to dissipate it?" Barry demands, already trying to do the calculations in his head. He's slow at math, though. Chemistry is more his thing.

Cisco gets to the answer first. "It's on its way to becoming an F5 tornado. You'd have to clock around 700 miles per hour and the fastest you've gone so far is 500. Barry, you might not be able to run that fast..."

"And even if you could, the friction would tear you apart," Hartley chimed in. "You'd rip your shoes apart and run your feet bloody. And that's not even to say what it'd do to your clothes..."

"What if I borrowed Project Hot Stuff?" Barry could kind of understand now why Cisco disliked the name.

"Oh come on," Cisco muttered under his breath. "Really? Just call it the fireman's suit."

"Yeah, okay, that'd work. Hot Stuff is all yours, just don't forget to bring it back. No using it for kinky stuff with your boyfriend, alright?" Hartley was beaming.

"You can't be serious," Caitlin objected, but Barry'd already run off, changed, and come back. "Oh god, he's serious. Barry, you'll die. You can't just... unravel a tornado."

"It's out there destroying buildings and killing people as we speak. I can do this," Barry insisted.

"Let him try. I believe in him," Wells spoke up, wheeling into the room. "You can do this. Run, Barry. Run."

So he does. Barry runs out of STAR Labs and through the streets, Cisco directing him via GPS in the suit and a comm system already built into the cowl. He's never run so fast before, but he zips through the city with ease until he reaches the tornado. It takes him a moment to figure out which way its rotating. Most natural tornadoes in the northern hemisphere turn counterclockwise. But this one is artificial and spinning clockwise as a result.

He almost doesn't manage it. Barry nearly trips and falls on a street curb, but he catches himself mid stumble and keeps going until, finally, he generates enough energy to cancel out the tornado and he's thrown across the street as the tornado practically implodes. In the eye of the fading storm floats Clyde Mardon himself, who tumbles to the ground and passes out. As the police converge on Mardon, Barry stands up on shaky feet and then runs to find Captain Singh.

"What the hell are you wearing?" Singh asks when Barry pulls off the cowl after seemingly appearing out of nowhere in the Captain's office.

"It's a friction proof suit. Because I can, um, run. Really fast. It's kind of new."

Singh massaged the bridge of his nose. "So you can run really fast and Mardon can create localized storms. I suppose that girl the STAR Labs scientists thought could teleport really can?"

"Probably." Barry offered him a lopsided smile. "The good news is, STAR Labs already has dampening technology that can be used to detain Mardon. And I can probably get them to let me borrow this suit again if something else... or someone else my speed would be useful against popped up."

"You look ridiculous."

"Yeah... just wait until you find out what the suit's project name is. I'm probably never going to live it down," Barry sighed.

Len's at STAR Labs when Barry goes to return the suit. He tilts his head sideways and shuffles to the side, clearly trying to get a better view of Barry's ass.

"You know what," Len say's smirking, "project hot stuff looks good on you, Bar."

"Oh, god..." Barry just buried his face in his hands. "How..."

"I may have unlocked your phone and called your boyfriend," Hartley volunteered, bouncing on the balls of his feet with a mischievous smirk on his face. "I figured Len deserved to see how tightly the suit clings to your ass in person. Also, you need a less obvious phone unlock code."

"Thanks, by the way," Len replies cheerfully before Barry can get upset with Hartley. "Can we borrow the suit?"

"No sex in the suit, or involving the suit," Cisco insists, blushing. And then he blurts out, "I take back what I said about the project name. It's totally appropriate."

"No its not," Barry grumbles petulantly.

And then Wells starts applauding. "Very well done, Mr. Allen. Very well done indeed."

"The suit has sensors in it and it took a lot of readings," Caitlin adds, sounding very pleased. "Maybe we should have that be what you normally run in."

"Uh, it's got a few downsides," Barry said. "It doesn't breathe well and I kind of reek of sweat. So I'm going to go hit the showers." He turned to Dr. Wells. "Thank you, for what you said earlier about believing in me. That... meant a lot."

Wells smiled. "Any time, Barry."

Singh is keeping Barry's name out of things for now, so the newspapers have named the mysterious 'speedster' who unraveled the tornado and saved the city "The Blur" which is a terrible name. Barry's already plotting with Iris to get that changed to something catchier. She likes the Flash and certainly Barry agrees that it has a nice ring to it.

But he's back in front of his mirror the every morning just the same, carefully checking his scars.

"You do that a lot, don't you?" Len asked, coming up behind Barry and sliding his arms around the brunet's waist.

"Do what?" Barry asks, a touch nervous.

"Inspect your scars. Are they still bothering you? Sometimes the one on my hip will ache if I stretch it the wrong way."

"It's not... it's not that." Barry sighed and leaned back against Len's bare chest. "They're not healing away. Everything else about that night has healed. Nerve damage, neural damage... no more seizures. So why not no more scars? And, as much as I'd like to know why the scars aren't healing... I'm scared that they will. Which is... its crazy, right? I mean, I hate the way people stare at me and I miss the way I looked before these. But I still..."

Len gently ran his fingers down Barry's face along the scars before kissing Barry's jaw. "It's not crazy. Don't call yourself that. You've gotten used to these scars. They're evidence of how you not only survived something that could have killed you, you've since re-learned how to thrive. You turned the scars into a source of strength and of course you wouldn't want to lose that. And you won't. Even if these scars do fade away one day... you're the strongest man I know. And that was my opinion of you even before you developed the ability to unravel tornadoes and pickup pizza from Coast City for dinner. Though it was amazing when I got to STAR Labs and saw what you were doing. I was afraid to say anything the comms might pick up, though. Didn't want to become a distraction when you were doing something that dangerous."

"Len..." Barry's voice hitched as he turned to kiss Len, whining against Len's lips when the former thief's hands traced over the rest of his scars. "Is it awful of me that my first thought is that I'd love to hear your voice over the comms, telling me what to do?"

"Kinky."

Barry laughed and relaxed into Len's embrace. "Thank you," he said, voice low and emphatic. "Thank you, Len."

Inside a hidden room in STAR Labs, Eobard Thawne stood up and walked away from his wheelchair. "Gideon. Show me the paper."

"Of course, Dr. Wells," Gideon responded pleasantly, as always. Her visual interface disappeared and the enlarged image of an internet newspaper's front page took her place.

The headline read 'Reverse Flash Defeated During Crisis!' by Iris West-Thawne and the picture showed a man in a yellow speedster's suit being escorted into Iron Heights.

Thawne snarled and punched the wall. "We'll just see about that."

Notes: I have 0 regrets having Hartley name the suit Project Hot Stuff. Zero. Nada. Am still cackling with laughter over this decision.