Chapter Text
Barry was leaned over his desk, staring into his microscope at a blood sample, when the sound of a throat being cleared jarred him from his work. When he looked up, Iris West was standing in front of him. He stared at her in amazement.
She work an elegant, one strapped pale pink dress that flowed down to her ankles. Her hair was fixed into an intricate knot on her head, and was decorated with small flowers that matched her dress.
“Wow.” He smiled. “You look…beautiful.”
Iris nodded. “Thank you, I know. My problem is that you still look like hobo.”
Barry looked down at himself, slightly offended. He didn’t look that bad. Maybe his sweater was a little dingy, and his jeans a little faded…okay, it was bad. “Hey,” He said, though, glancing down at his watch, “I still have time.”
Iris opened her mouth to argue, but was quickly cut off by a news alert popping up on Barry’s computer.
‘We interrupt for an important bulletin. A deadly high-speed pursuit between police and armed gunmen is underway, traveling northbound on Sixth Ave.’
Iris’ eyes widened. “No, Barry.” But he ignored her as he sped out of the room, towards STAR labs to change into his suit, and off to Sixth Avenue.
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The car was easy enough to stop. All Barry had to do was flash into the car, take out the perp, and then hit the brakes before the vehicle swerved into oncoming traffic. He resisted the urge to groan when he noticed who the two cops were that had been chasing it.
“Flash,” Joe said, raising an eyebrow, “don’t you have somewhere be?”
“Don’t you?” Barry smirked. Eddie chuckled as he shoved the cuffed criminal into the backseat of their car.
“Don’t worry, Flash.” He assured. “Joe’s going to be where he needs to be, just as long as someone else is where they need to be.”
Barry was about to respond with a clever and snappy comeback, but an alarm nearby cut him off. He glanced down at his watch. Still time. He flashed away, pretending he didn’t see the eyerolls from Eddie and Joe.
He followed the sound to Central City Bank, where a masked man was running out the doors with sacks of money. He moved to intercept but, out of nowhere, a stream of ice shot out from behind him, freezing the criminal’s shoes to the ground. Barry paused, confused at first, until he heard a familiar chuckle behind him.
“Cold.” He resisted the urge to smile as he turned to face his once-archrival. He was dressed in his usual costume—blue parka, black outfit, goggles pulled over his eyes. The supervillain smiled coyly his way.
“Scarlet. Didn’t think I’d run into you here.”
Barry scoffed. “Didn’t think I’d see you taking down bank robbers. I thought that ‘hero wasn’t on your resume’.”
“Yeah, man!” The robber behind them exclaimed. “I thought you were one of us!”
Cold pointed his gun towards the robber, who flinched away. “I’d keep my mouth shut if I were you.” When he turned his attention back to Barry, Cold was positively leering. “A simple ‘thank you’ would suffice.”
Barry shook his head, fighting down a smile. “Thank you. But I had it.”
“Sure you did.” Cold stepped closer, definitely leering now. “So, Scarlet. Doing anything later? We can talk all about how you had it.”
“Sorry. Prior engagement.”
Cold let out a low whistle. “Giving me the cold shoulder, Scarlet?”
Barry chuckled, fighting back the urge to blush. He opened his mouth to banter back, when his comm decided to static to life. “Barry. Emergency at Mercury Labs.”
In front of him, Cold raised an eyebrow. Barry shrugged. “Duty calls.”
Cold shook his head. “Thought you had prior engagements.”
Barry shrugged. “See you next time, Cold.”
Before the criminal could respond, Barry zipped away. When he was about a block away, he tapped his comm.
“Cisco, what’s up?”
“First of all, dude. Aren’t you supposed to be getting ready?”
“Aren’t you?”
There was a pause. “Touché. Second, there’s a robbery at Mercury Labs. Eyewitnesses are saying there was lightning in the building, and that alarms started going off in the lower labs.”
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When he arrived at Mercury Labs, there was no lightning. There were no people, either. In fact, the building was so quiet, it was eerie.
Barry crept his way through as quietly as he could, searching for any sign of what had happened. Eventually, he found most of the scientists locked in one of the upper labs. He let them out, warning them to watch out in case whoever locked them away came back, and made his way through to the lower levels.
In the largest lab, Dr. Tina McGhee was sprawled out, unconscious, on the floor. “Dr. McGhee!” He called, kneeling at her side. The scientist’s eyes opened slowly, her face full of confusion until she saw Barry.
“Oh my god!” She screamed, tearing herself away from him. Her shocked expression morphed into one of relief. “Flash! I thought you were him.”
Barry frowned. “Him who? Dr. McGhee, what happened here?”
She swallowed hard and closed her eyes. “There was a man—he was dressed in yellow and surrounded by red lightning. He dragged me down here, and made me give him my tachyon prototype. He…I thought he was going to kill me…”
It was like cold water was being thrown over Barry. A man in yellow…red lightning…how could he be back?
He sat with Dr. McGhee until the paramedics arrived, his thoughts filled with the man who murdered his mother, and why he was suddenly back after all these years, and what he wanted with tachyon particles. It wasn’t until his phone started ringing that he was pulled from his musings.
From: Iris
Where are you? It’s starting in 10 minutes.
And there was that panic and nerves again. He apologized to Dr. McGhee for leaving (she brushed it away, saying it was no big deal and thanking him for coming), and darted away, stopping at his apartment for only a split second to change, before rushing into the church on 14th street. Iris, Cisco, Oliver Queen, and Joe were all standing by in the foyer, dressed in their finest, each giving their own version of the stink-eye.
“What? I made it on time.”
They all rolled their eyes. “Barry,” Oliver sighed, “how can you have superspeed and still always be late?”
Barry elected to ignore the question in favor of straightening his bowtie. “Is he here?”
Iris laughed, approaching to adjust the tie herself. “Yes. Unlike you, Leonard has impeccable timing.”
Cisco stuck his head through the double doors leading into the chapel, motioning for the band to start the music. He, Oliver and Iris lined up the processional, and Joe stepped up beside him. “Are you okay?”
It was near impossible to keep anything from Joe—Barry learned that not long after the detective first took him in and he snuck out for the first time. He bit his lip.
“The man in yellow is back.”
Joe’s eyes widened in shock. “What?”
“There was a break-in at Mercury Labs. It was a man dressed in yellow surrounded by red lightning.”
“But you’re okay?” Joe asked hurriedly. “He didn’t hurt you?”
Barry shook his head. “No, I didn’t see him. But, Dr. McGhee…”
“Barry,” Joe sighed, putting a hand on his foster son’s shoulder. “This is your big day. Tomorrow, we can focus on finding the man in yellow and stopping him. Today, though, is all about you. Don’t let him ruin anything else for you.”
A teary smile appeared on Barry’s face as he threw his arms around his foster father’s neck. The processional started to file into the chapel, and Barry wiped the tears from his face. The man in yellow had taken so much from him—he wouldn’t let him take away his future. Joe was right, like always. Well, almost always.
“So, does that mean that you’re accepting that this is happening and there’s no way you can talk me out of it?”
Joe laughed, stepping back to take Barry’s arm. “Son, if I thought that’d ever work, we never would have reserved the church.”
Barry opened his mouth to respond, but the double doors to the chapel opened once again, and Barry’s breath caught in his throat. At the end of the aisle, Leonard Snart a.k.a Captain Cold stood waiting, Mick Rory and Lisa Snart at his side, and his eyes fixed on Barry like he was the only one in the room. Barry’s heart fluttered.
“You’re late.” Len whispered when Joe delivered Barry to the altar. Barry blushed.
“Sorry.” He whispered back. “I got caught up in something. But I promise, I will never let it interfere with any of this again. From here on out, family—you—comes first. Before the Flash,” before the man in yellow, “before anything else. I love you. More than anything.”
A smile grew on Len’s face and, before the minister even asked for the ‘I do’s, he pressed his lips against Barry’s. He could hear Iris and Cisco chuckling and someone, probably Lisa or Mick, let out a whistle.
“I do.” Len whispered against Barry’s lips, and he knew that, no matter what happened, they’d be able to get through it. After all, they were the Flash and Captain Cold. What’s the worst that could happen?