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It had been a month.
The most awkward month Barry had had at the CCPD since the day, about a month after he started, that he saw the captain with his sleeves rolled up standing in the sun and realized his boss was possibly the hottest man in Central City. He had spent that month blushing and stuttering every time they interacted. It pretty much set up their entire workplace dynamic for the last few years.
But a month ago, Barry Allen slept with David Singh.
Instead of waking to the glow of new possibilities, Barry woke the next morning to David sitting on the edge of the bed rubbing his face.
"David?" he'd asked, spoiling the silence.
David looked at him, a hint of a smile peeked out from under his beard, Then he sighed, "Barry, we shouldn't have done this."
Barry could hear the resignation in his voice, and was suddenly annoyed, "you should just leave, if you're going to make excuses, I don't want to hear it."
"We should probably talk about it Barry," David said.
"So you can give me a laundry list of made up excuses for why we can't do this again. I don't want to hear them.."
"They're not made up."
"Let me guess, you're too old."
David's jaw clenched, "The difference in our ages is a fact."
"One I don't care about, so the next reason, you're my boss."
"It's a conflict of interest."
"There's got to be a work around, we can't be the first two people in the CCPD to want to fuck, any better reasons?"
"I just called off my wedding a month ago."
"Okay, that one might be legitimate, but I'm pretty sure I know why you called off the wedding." Barry didn't elaborate but he could see the blow hit. David flinched and shut his eyes, no doubt remembering what Barry was, the whispered confession of "I've wanted this since I met you" that he'd pressed into Barry's neck between kisses.
"I guess I deserve that," David said, reaching for his shirt. Barry flopped back down and watched as David left.
So it had been a month since Barry and David had their one night stand. And it was possibly the longest, most miserable month he'd ever had. And Barry was sure it was for both of them. He knew this because he had a hard time dragging his attention away from David when they were sharing space. And David looked miserable and exhausted. And that was how Barry felt.
He couldn't sleep most nights without remembering the feel of David's hands, or the soft kisses. And when he looked up at Jitters and saw David standing in line. He met David's eyes, as he walked by, they exchanged tight smiles.
Barry sped to the office, smirking slightly at the knowledge that he'd be there before David for once. Barry wished he was able to tease the older man about it. Like he would have a month ago before they trampled all over the lines. They built between them.
He wound up working on backlog cases all day and it was easy to avoid everything. It had been a quiet day in Central City, so he wasn't expecting anything out of the ordinary when he got to star labs that evening.
What he got was Cisco, Caitlin, Ray Palmer, who was apparently in town to work on a project with Cisco, Iris, and Eddie all talking about him and not very quietly.
"Um hi guys," Barry said, startling them all, "what's going on?"
"Barry!" Iris said with a smile, "we were just,"
"Talking about me?"
"We're worried about you," Iris said.
"Yeah Barry, you've been really out of it lately," Caitlin said with a small smile.
"It's fine," Barry tried to reassure his friends.
"It's not," Cisco said, he paused and then added, "does it have anything to do with Captain Singh?"
"What? Why would you think that," Barry sputtered. He knew his face had to be bright red.
"Eddie said it's been weird at the station lately."
"Really? Eddie?"
"Come on Barry, it's true. Things have been really weird between you and the captain, everyone has noticed."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Eddie gave him an unimpressed look, "normally when Barry and the captain butt heads it blows over in a few days, but it's been almost a month."
Barry closed his eyes. There was no getting out of telling his friends, he knew this, once they smelled blood in the water they'd not let it go. "Ok, yes it has to do with the captain, can we not discuss this?"
"Barry, we just want to help you," iris smiled softly at her best friend.
"You can't, no one can. Just let it be."
"Barry, if you tell us about it maybe we can help," Caitlin said and the rest chimed in with agreement.
Barry rolled his eyes, "fine, you want to know, ok, don't say I didn't warn you. Captain Singh and I had sex a month ago and that's why things are weird."
You could have heard a pin drop in star labs. They all just stared at each for a long moment. A beeping from Cisco's computer broke the stand still. Cisco fumbled for a moment but got the alarm turned off.
"Was it bad?" Iris asked.
"What?"
"Is that why it's weird between you cause it was bad?" Iris again. The others were still processing. Eddie was looking very shell shocked.
"No it wasn't bad, it was fantastic actually, some of the best sex I've ever had in my life."
"Then what's the problem?" Caitlin this time.
"The problem is that we haven't done it since."
"Why not?" Ray asked, feeling probably the most awkward of Barry's friends.
"You'd have to ask the captain, it could be because he's my boss and it's a conflict of interest or because he just broke off his engagement, or because he is older than me or who knows what other reasons, he apparently just doesn't think we should."
"Oh Barry," Iris said, giving him a hug.
"It's fine," Barry said, hugging back, "but I'm going to go for a run, I need to clear my head."
When he got back, Barry was hoping everyone would have dropped it.
He was wrong.
If anything it was only worse. He should have expected this.
"Barry," Caitlin said brightly when he got back, "we have been thinking about your problem."
"It's not a problem to be solved guys."
"But we think we have," Iris smiled. "We just need to make Captain Singh jealous."
Barry closed his eyes. When he opened them, his friends were still there giving him earnest looks. "I don't think the captain gets jealous."
"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Eddie chimed in, "gossip around the precinct is that he seemed pretty jealous the last time Felicity came to visit."
"Nothing happened," Barry said with sigh, he remembered David being irritated but what else was new?
"You're a catch Barry, of course he will get jealous if he thinks he could actually lose you," Cisco chimed in.
"Okay, fine" Barry gave in, he knew he would, there was only so much that could stand against the full force of team Flash when they set their mind to something. "I'll bite, what's the plan?"
"Fake boyfriend," Iris said with a smile as if that explained everything.
Barry's brow furrowed, "what?"
"Fake boyfriend," Caitlin said, "we pretend you have a boyfriend and it makes the captain jealous."
"We do not live in a romcom."
Caitlin and Iris rolled their eyes. Then Iris spoke, "Yes, we know, but sometimes a push is needed and jealousy can be great motivation."
"And the rest of you agree with this?"
There was a chorus of agreement. Barry gave in, "if we do this what's the plan?"
They laid out the bare bones of the plan, and Barry could admit they'd thought of everything. He sighed there was probably no stopping this. "Ok if we do this, there is no way he's going to believe I'm dating any of you."
"Wow, rude," Cisco chimed in.
"That's where I come in," Ray said with a smile. Barry laughed. "I'm not from here so it would be easy to pretend."
"You really did plan this out, " he sighed "I guess I can't stop you."
David was having a bad day. Well another bad day Ina string of bad days. It was mostly his fault, today city hall was on his case. He slept through his alarm this morning. And Jitters got his order wrong. And he couldn't shut his eyes without being reminded of the dreams that were plaguing him.
Dreams about Barry Allen were not new, but now he had context. He knew how warm Barry was, how he kissed, and how he felt in David's arms. The dreams had only been worse since they slept together.
Walking into his office this morning he wasn't able to block out the usual gossip. In part, because Barry's name was mentioned and he couldn't stop himself from listening.
Apparently, one of the admin assistants had been getting some paperwork filed and overheard Barry and Eddie talk about double dating. David's steps had briefly faltered as he walked past them to his office. He'd never admit to how much time he dwelled on the idea of Barry and Eddie going on double dates. Because that meant Barry was seeing someone he wanted to introduce to his friends.
David forced all thoughts of Barry Allen from his head and tried to focus on his work. It was easier said than done. He could only tune out so much gossip and the officers loved a spot of drama apparently. He double checked his calendar and was sad to see he had no meetings scheduled.
After a few hours of reports he realized he needed at least three from the CSI lab. He growled to himself before poking his head out of his office "Gibbons!"
"Yes sir," the officer said, looking up from his desk.
"Go tell Allen I need his prelims on the Martin homicide, the jewelry store break-in, and the Wainwright mugging ASAP."
"Yes sir," the young officer said, turning quickly to go up to the lab.
The young officer was back too quickly for David's peace of mind, he stood nervously in David's door.
"Uh, captain," he started and David looked up from his computer. "Barry is at lunch."
"Tell him when he gets back then."
"Yes, sir, " he said, turning to leave. David waited a moment and then got up and closed his door hard.
Barry got back from lunch on time for once, for the sake of appearance, he enjoyed a nice lunch with Ray. Barry had set an alarm so they didn't get too distracted by the newest advancements in micro technology. He had wondered what Ray was getting out of this and apparently he had a crush on someone and needed a distraction from it. Ray walked up the lab with him and Barry showed him around a bit.
They were still talking when officer Gibbons entered the lab.
"What do you need?" Barry asked. He watched as the other man flickered his gaze between the two of them. Ray Palmer was pretty recognizable.
"Captain Singh wanted me to tell you he needs the Martin homicide, the jewelry store break-in and the Wainwright mugging prelims ASAP."
Barry nodded and smiled, the reports were mostly done.
"Well I better get out of your hair then," Ray said before pressing a kiss on Barry's cheek. "I'll call later."
"Bye Ray," Barry said with a smile, he then turned to the officer, "I'll get right on them, they're almost ready."
"I'll let him know," Gibbons said with a wry smile, "Oh and Barry, he's been in a mood all day, you probably should be quick about it."
Barry nodded and watched the other man leave. He gave himself a moment to wonder what was the cause of David's mood. It could really be anything, but Barry did wonder if he might be part of it.
Team Flash had insisted that Barry start the "plan" immediately. Barry felt like yeah, the captain might get jealous, but enough to want to act on it? They'd spent the better part of a month miserable and David still hadn't given in. And Barry knew he was miserable because Barry was observant. And he often felt David's gaze and there was a sad look on his face when he thought Barry didn't notice.
Barry was certain if he could just corner David and actually talk they could resolve this. But David was apparently on a mission to avoid being alone with Barry at all costs. Not that Barry could judge him too harshly; he was avoiding the captain too.
The next day, Barry made sure to text Ray to meet him at the station. Ray had a knack for this, he showed up with Jitters in hand while Barry was talking with the captain and a pair of detectives. Ray hung back as the detectives finished up with him. One of them glanced between him and David and gave Barry a tight smile.
Barry tried not to react and was pretty sure that his lunch date with Ray had spread about the precinct.
The two detectives faded back and Ray stepped forward. Not seeming to notice the look David gave him.
"Just a moment captain," Barry said and then turned towards Ray with a smile, "Ray, I didn't expect you."
"Well, you left without coffee this morning so I figured I'd bring you some, I know how much you need it."
"Thanks Ray," Barry said. Trying not to notice the hard look on David's face. Ray, if he noticed, pretended he didn't.
"Anytime babe, should I pick you up here for dinner?"
"I'll call you when I'm done here. I know how distracted you and Cisco get."
Ray laughed and turned to leave. Barry turned back the captain, David's face was unsurprisingly blank.
"Sorry, sir," Barry said softly. He knew this was the plan, and David was obviously irritated. But Barry was worried it would backfire.
"If you're done conducting your personal business, I will suggest you get your reports on my desk by the end of the day."
"Yes captain," Barry said watching the captain step into his office. He almost thought he could feel the vibration from when the captain shut his door, hard.
"Damn Allen, you're playing with fire."
"What?" he asked, trying to be innocent.
Detective Addie smiled, "look I don't know what happened between you and the captain this past month, but you parading your new, hot, rich boyfriend isn't going to help. Unless you're trying to piss Captain Singh off.."
Barry flushed "most of what I do pisses him off."
"That's a lie and you know it, you are clearly the captain's favorite." she smirked, "whatever your planning, Allen, I hope it works."
"Me too," Barry sighed before heading up stairs.
Again Ray's arrival seemed to be timed perfectly, Barry had called him to let him know he was ready to be picked up and the engineer showed up just as Barry was handing off his reports to David. Barry couldn't help but notice the clench in David's jaw as the other man got off the elevator. He almost thought David was going to say something when the captain just turned in his heel and went into his office.
"Right," Barry said to no one and went to greet Ray. They were meeting up with the rest of their friends and so Ray asked if Barry thought the plan was working? Eddie apparently did.
"Well he's annoyed, very annoyed and I can assume it's because of this, but David's base line is annoyed."
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
"The fake boyfriend thing or the David thing?"
"The David thing?"
"Look, he is intense, and grumpy, but he's also kind. And he cares so much about the city and the people he works with. And he's surprisingly funny, and yeah we're both stubborn and it probably won't always be easy but I want to try."
"I just wanted to make sure."
"Thanks Ray." Barry said and they shared a smile. "What about you?"
"Hmm?"
"The person you have a crush on, have you decided to tell them?"
Ray smiled nervously, "I've had some bad luck in recent years, so I don't really know if I want to risk rejection."
"Having spent a few days as your fake boyfriend, I can definitely say you're quite the catch."
"Thanks Barry."
"Besides, I think Cisco would be receptive."
Ray blushed, "is it that obvious?"
"I've been paying attention."
The plan continued for another day, with Ray walking Barry into work. David gave them both a curt nod as he headed to Jitters. Joe grabbed Barry after Ray left, "I hope you know what you're doing, son."
"What? I'm not doing anything?"
"Unless you're really dating Ray Palmer, which will leave Cisco brokenheartd, you might want to lay off making the captain jealous before he starts taking it out on the rest of us."
Barry sputtered. "Joe?"
Joe smiled fondly at his foster son, "you're not subtle Barry. You never have been. And I've been watching you and the captain make eyes at each other for a while. So after David called off his wedding and things got wierd between the two of you, it didn't take much to figure out something happened. Now, I don't want details, the last thing I want is details, but be careful for both yoursakes."
They talked a little longer and Barry went to his lab. Which was where he was a few hours later when he got the alert that an officer was taken hostage at a B&E. He flipped in the news and patches though a call to star labs. His heart nearly stopped when he saw that it was Captain Singh being held at the top of a high rise. He didn't stay long enough to care if there were demands.
He hadn't known that David had gone out on the call. He routinely did so it wasn't unusual for him to be at the crime scenes. Cisco was in his ear with specs for the building. Barry, as the Flash, stopped next to Eddie. The detective filled him in as the robber shouted his threats down.
Barry growled as David was pushed closer to the edge. He knew that there were officers trying to get in, but they were dealing with a meta that could phase through solid objects. Barry ran the building and stopped when he realized the meta had let go of David and shoved him, the captain's eye were wide and terrified.
"You can catch me or him, Flash, even you can't do both." they taunted him. As if it was an option, even if it wasn't David, Barry's main priority was always to save lives. He raced towards David as the captain fell over the edge. Barry ran to down the side to the balcony about 15 feet below and managed to catch the captain as he fell. Barry pulled him over the rail and onto the balcony David grasped the railing with white knuckles, he took a deep breath.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes, thank you," David said leaning heavy against the rail. "I'll be fine, just go after him."
Barry gave him a once over looking for anything amiss. He sped off, asking Cisco to have Eddie send up EMS. Barry sped up and with the help of star labs tracked and captured the robber. Barry slapped a anti meta cuff on him.
"I can run through walls too," Barry said before hauling him over to the waiting squad car. He watched as David came down the stairs with the paramedics flanking him. Satisfied that he was safe, Barry sped back to his lab. He tried to calm his racing worries in the mundane tasks of his job. Eddie gave him a heads up that the captain was in his way back to the station.
"Captain," Barry said as David exited the elevator. David was taken aback at the look of concern in the younger man's face. David himself was still emotional about having been nearly killed that he wasn't in the mood to hide his emotions.
"Barry," he said softly, stopping about a foot away from the CSI. Barry closed the gap. Barry reached out almost blindly and grabbed at David's shoulder, apparently he wasn't hiding his feelings either. David frowned slightly.
"You're not hurt are you?" there was a slight quiver in his voice. Barry knew there were no obvious injuries but he didn't actually have time to check.
"No, the Flash got there in time," David replied, caught in the brightness of Barry's eyes. He knew he'd have nightmares of the meta shoving him off the roof for a while. But physically he was fine.
"I'm glad," Barry said, stepping even closer. David feared his resolve would snap if Barry kept touching him. He'd been on edge all week with jealousy and now to have Barry's focus on him, he wanted nothing more than to be comforted by the man he was painfully in love with. They were in the middle of the precinct and this was not the best place for this to happen. They actually needed to talk. But David was still riding high on adrenaline.
Barry's hand slipped down and was now resting at David's waist, under his open jacket, "Barry."
"David?"
"I'm ok, we're in the middle of the precinct, you should probably stop touching me."
"What, why?" Barry asked, unconsciously rubbing his thumb against David shirt
"You have a boyfriend, Barry."
Barry was still checking the captain for any missed injuries and he frowned, "no I don't."
David snorted, "Ray Palmer, does that name ring a bell or did you hit your head when you rescued me?"
"My head is fine, Ray is not my boyfriend. He never was."
"What? Really?" David asked, he had to be hearing what he wanted. He knew he hadn't hit his head, but still.
"Ray and I were never dating, it was a ruse to make you jealous."
Now David felt a mix of emotions but the strongest was relief. "Barry, I'm going to kiss you if you don't stop touching me."
Barry's smile was blinding, and in response he slid both his hands around David's waist and tugged him closer.
David wrapped a hand around the back of Barry's head and pulled him into a searing kiss. They stayed lost in the moment and sensations of the kiss that it took them a few minutes to recognize they were still in full view of the bullpen. Eventually, the whistles and cheers broke through David's hazy mind. He pulled Barry into a tight hug and whispered in his ear, "I hope you can forgive me for being stupid."
He felt the breath of Barry's laugh on his cheek, "I already have."
Not caring about the audience, Barry kissed David again. David was cataloging the sensations when Barry pulled away with a frown, "what do you mean I rescued you? The Flash rescued you"
David kissed him softly, and whispered "and you're the Flash aren't you."