Confessions

[run_barry]

Barry has spent the last couple hours or so up in his lab at CCPD anxiously waiting for Eddie to clock out downstairs and leave. Most of Central City's finest have already called it a night, but Eddie has been putting in extra time for his task force.

The task force that's supposed to bring in the Flash.

Barry's nervous about this whole thing, but ever since Yamato made the suggestion, Barry hasn't been able to put it out of his mind. Yamato was right, Eddie deserves an apology and at least an attempt at an explanation and Barry is finally committed to trying. He just needs his moment.

"Bare? What are you doing here so late?"

The voice from the open doorway behind him startles Barry, and he turns around quick from the window he's been staring out of; relaxing when he realizes it's Joe.

"Hey. I'm just… waiting," Barry replies, stepping away from the window and pulling the chair out from his desk to sit down.

"For Eddie?" Joe guesses in that way where he already knows.

"How did you-- " Barry asks, surprised.

Joe just shrugs. "I just figured. What I don't know is, are you waiting for him to leave so you can avoid him, or are you trying to catch him on the way out?"

Barry shifts uncomfortably in his chair while Joe takes a seat on the edge of the desk.

"I was trying to catch him," Barry replies. A beat, and then he adds, "... as the Flash."

"Barry-- " Joe straightens, the single quick, sharp shake of his head conveying how much he doesn't like that idea. "What on earth would make you think that's a good idea? It's not going to change his mind about this task force, if anything it'll just spur him on."

"I know," Barry admits, folding his hands together up against his chest. "That's not really the point."

Joe gives Barry an assessing look and then nods at him to go on.

"I attacked him out of nowhere, Joe," Barry says with a frown, "and I hurt him. In front of Iris."

"That wasn't you, Barry," Joe counters. "You weren't in your right head."

"Eddie doesn't now that," Barry replies. "And whammied or not, I targeted him for a reason. Someone made me realize that I should own up to that. Eddie, he-- he deserves an apology, and to know why. Or, as much as I can tell him, anyways."

Joe frowns, drawing in a deep breath through his nose and letting it out slow. Barry can see Joe wrestling with his own feelings on the subject, and he can also pick out the moment when Joe relents.

"Can't say that I like it," Joe finally says before his expression shifts and he smiles a touch. "I also can't say I'm not proud of you, either."

Barry smiles, relieved and just damn glad to have Joe's support.

Joe gives Barry a nod and then starts to get up and Barry catches him, holding up a hand to stop his leaving.

"While I got you… " Barry says, deciding that if they're talking he might as well get everything out.

Joe resettles on the desk, just a touch wary now, "Hm… ?"

"I've got a friend visiting and he wanted to cook for me and Cisco. I was wondering if we could hang out at the house and borrow the kitchen?" Barry asks, just a touch tentatively.

Joe throws a snort to that request and replies, "Of course. You don't have to-- wait, which friend?"

The wariness returns in an instant and Joe asks, "It's not Oliver, is it? Because I appreciate what he did, but I don't know if I'm ready to-- "

"It's not Oliver," Barry interrupts, cutting Joe off there quick in an effort to try and prevent any comparisons between Oliver the Arrow and the friend who is dropping in. "It's my friend Yamato, the one who helped out during that flu-thing?"

"Ohhh," recognition hits Joe and his face brightens in a smile. "Sure, sure. I'd like to cook for him myself for after he helped out like he did. He's already making it back here from Japan?"

Barry smiles to hear what Joe says about Yamato, and then it falters a little in trepidation as he drops another bomb on Joe.

"Yeah… he's from Japan," Barry confirms, "but he'll be coming here from a multiversal bar that sits on the edge of space and time."

Joe's expression blanks and he stares at Barry. "He what now?"

The explanation about Milliways goes over somewhat better than Barry had thought it would. He keeps it simple and omits most of the full-on technical (and magical) theories and explanations, and the grittier details, but manages to get most of the gist across to Joe.

Joe takes a moment to process it all and then asks, "So what you're saying is, you go through a door and you leave this earth, and go to…another one?"

"No... " Barry shakes his head, "it's more like, a place between worlds."

"You're crazy."

"No, it's not-- that crazy," Barry replies, and he can't help a laugh from Joe's flat declaration and expression. "I can show you if you want, we can-- "

"Nooo. Noooo, no, no," Joe says, swiping his hands back and forth through the air to kill that idea. "I'm deciding right here and now that I will not be leaving this earth. That means if you world jump, or decide to go into space or whatever I'm sticking right here."

Joe points down at the ground to indicate where his feet shall be firmly planted.

Barry laughs and nods in agreement to that. "All right."

Joe then pulls in a deep breath, scrubbing a hand down his face as he tries to get a handle on all of this.

"Well, you know first I'm going to say 'be careful'," Joe says, to which Barry nods. A beat and Joe shrugs, resigned to this new thing being a thing for Barry. "But it's about in line with everything else this year so, different universes and a bar where they can meet is only slightly more crazy than masks and arrows and guys who turn into steel."

Barry gives Joe an apologetic smile, glad for Joe's acceptance, but also aware just how much he's dropped in the man's lap over the last few months.

"Joe, I'm sorry if any of this has been overwhelming or anything," Barry says. "I know it's not exactly what you signed on for when you-- "

This time it's Joe who stops Barry, raising a hand and firmly shaking his head. "Barry, I'm a cop. That means I'm ready for anything and I can roll with or deal with whatever comes along."

Barry nods and Joe continues. "More importantly, you're my son. Whatever you get into I'm going to do my best to understand it, I may not always get it, but I Will Always be there for you."

"Thanks, Joe," Barry replies around the sudden lump in his throat, truly grateful.

"I may not always agree with what's going on, but you," Joe adds, pointing at Barry, "you are what's important, and whatever overwhelming thing that comes along, we'll get through it, together."

Joe stands up and Barry follows suit in order to give the man a hug.

Clapping his hand on Barry's back, Joe embraces Barry tightly.

"Now, don't let Eddie arrest you tonight, alright?" Joe says which garners a chuckle from Barry.

"I won't," Barry promises, then watches Joe go.

Turning back to the window, Barry settles in again for the anxious waiting game of watching for Eddie. He doesn't have to wait long before he finally spots Eddie crossing the parking lot down below. Barry leaves his lab in a quick gust and a moment later the Flash is standing a few yards away from where Eddie is unlocking his car.

"Detective Thawne-- " Barry calls out, vibrating his vocal chords to disguise his voice while counting on the red costume and mask to conceal his features.

Eddie draws his gun and Barry moves. In an eyeblink the gun is out of Eddie's hands and back in its holster and Barry is standing back in the same spot where he was, his hands raised.

"I just want to talk," he tells Eddie.

Eddie blinks in surprise, looking at his empty hands and then slapping one against his holster, glancing down to look at his gun.

"Alright, I'm listening," Eddie says, looking up at Barry with an irritable and wary expression.

Barry takes a breath and says, "I wanted to apologize for what happened, and… try and explain some of it."

"There's nothing you can say that's going to make me stop coming after you," Eddie informs Barry sharply.

"I'm not trying to do that. Just… call it a point of honor," Barry replies, repeating the phrase Yamato had used when he'd made the suggestion Barry should do this.

"Honor? You attacked me and my girlfriend out of the blue," Eddie snaps, expression hardening further.

"I know, but I didn't-- I never wanted to hurt either of you," Barry says, shaking his head.

Eddie's snort is equal parts disbelief and insult, a cop hearing a line he's heard too many times. "It sure seemed pretty damn deliberate to me."

"I know, but-- it was someone else," Barry tries to explain, gloves creaking as his hands curl and uncurl nervously. "Roy Bivalo, the man you were after, he had powers too, and they caused me to act like I did for awhile, but I'm okay now."

Eddie's expression shifts when Barry brings up Bivalo, growing sterner, focus sharpening like a razor's edge.

"And what happened to Bivalo?" Eddie asks.

Barry falters, caught on a path he hadn't meant to tread down.

"He's not a danger anymore," Barry finally replies.

Eddie is quick to reply, "Is he dead?"

"What? No, I-- " Barry shakes his head, floundering for an answer. "It's complicated."

"Either you know where he is or you don't," Eddie presses, his hand hovering closer now to his holstered gun.

"He's contained," Barry replies. "That's all I can say about it."

"You expect me to just trust you? Or to believe anything that you say?" Eddie asks, shaking his head.

"I don't," Barry replies, a little morose and resigned. "I just felt like I owed you an apology, and an explanation. I'm sorry for what happened, the reason I went after you is because… I like Iris."

The confession comes out with hesitation and a helpless and apologetic note, but Eddie barges right past that.

"You stay away from her!" Eddie barks, striding forward quick and threatening.

Barry's eyes widen and he stumbles backwards, nearly tripping up on his own feet.

"No, I'm not-- I will," Barry says, bumping into the front of a police cruiser parked behind him as he backpedals. "Iris doesn't want anything to do with me anymore. She told me to stay away, and I will."

Eddie stops, his hands clenched into fists as he glares at Barry.

"Do you know why I pushed for this task force?" Eddie asks fiercely. "It's because of Iris and the danger you put her in."

Eddie stabs a finger in Barry's direction, and although they're still yards apart, Barry can feel it like he's been punched in the chest.

"I-- I never meant to-- " Barry stammers, stumbling over his words. "I'm just trying to help. To save people, to protect this city-- "

"I'm protecting her from you!" Eddie snaps. "She was kidnapped by one of your enemies. She was held hostage and you weren't there to save her. She thinks you're a hero, but I know what you really are. You're a criminal, and I swear to God I'm going to bring you in."

Barry can't summon any response to Eddie's words or his vow. The tension is thick in the air and it snaps when the door to the precinct opens up and two uniformed officers step out of the building.

Both Barry and Eddie's heads snap to look over. Eddie gives out a sharp shout, but before either of the officers can turn, Barry is gone.