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David Singh's heart was pounding as Zoom stood above them, the Flash was lifeless in his hands. His gun and those of his officers were trained on the meta as he crowed about his victory.
“Shoot that thing now,” he ordered them to open fire, knowing full well the meta was fast enough to stop bullets if he was fast enough to stop the Flash. But he wasn't letting his city fall without a fight.
“What do you say, Central City PD? Do you want to know who your precious hero is?”
No one responded, but Zoom didn't care; he was enjoying his victory, “You want to see the man, the coward that failed to protect this city, to know who failed?”
The monster, his face blank but cruel, raised the bloodied head of the Flash. He ripped the scarlet speedsters cowl off and revealed the bruised and battered face of the last person David would expect.
The soft strangled noise that punched out of him was involuntary, it was only his years of controlling his emotions that kept it from being a scream.
Barry.
His Barry.
The man he'd been seeing for the last four months was the Flash. The man he'd realized he was in love with one night almost a year ago when he talked Barry through a crushing court defeat, was the Flash
And he was limp and lifeless in front of him. It took all his strength to keep his gun trained on Zoom as the villian laughed, his deep voice grating in David's ears.
“Surprised Captain, you of all people should know how good he is at keeping secrets.” Zoom's voice was mocking, “or did you think yours was special?”
David refused to respond, to give him the satisfaction of knowing that David did think Allen had been being honest with him. How had Barry been able to keep this big a secret? David felt his jaw clench and braced himself for further mocking. How had this monster known about their relationship anyways? No one did. They were operating so far outside the bounds of what was professionally appropriate that they'd agreed to keep it under wraps for a while. David knew that was a mistake and the shit would eventually hit the fan once internal affairs got involved, and that's not even accounting for the reaction of Joe and Barry's friends.
He was spared mocking when Zoom sped off his prize in tow. David turned to Joe, the older man didn't look surprised. He looked as terrified as David felt. The silence of the precinct weighed heavy on them all as they processed what they'd seen. The Flash undeniably defeated and revealed to be one of their own.
They looked at the bullets on the floor, they looked at David. But he was as lost as they were.
After breathless minutes, where David felt like he was drowning, the terrible silence was broken by the trilling of a phone. Joe answered and a modicum of relief filled his face.
“He's alive, he's at star labs.”
David's body swayed in relief for a brief moment. Joe turned to walk away, but David grabbed his arm. “Captain?”
“I'm going with you.”
“I don't think that's a good idea,” Joe started, David could tell how antsy he was to leave, but David had to be there, had to know, had to make sure.
“It wasn't a question, detective,” David could hear the harsh tones in his own voice, the steel in it and he saw the detective behind Joe flinch.
“Barry wouldn't want you to worry…” Joe tried to start again.
David cut him off, “I don't care what Barry would want right now, I need to see him Joe.”
“Captain, I know you're concerned…”
David growled low, “I am terrified Joe, terrified of what just happened to my boyfriend and it's not that I don't trust your friends at star labs, but I need to see he's okay for myself.”
In about an hour, once the fear and adrenaline stopped coursing through his veins, David would be a little more concerned about the fact that he just revealed his and Barry's relationship. But at this moment, he didn't care.
The silence filled the station was heavy, but charged with energy. So much had just happened and no one knew what to do. David had only one thought and that was Barry. Protecting Barry. Seeing Barry. Making sure Barry was actually fine.
“And not a word about the Flash's identity,” he said, quiet, dangerous, David was always his most scary when he was quiet. When he was loud and blustery you knew what to expect from him, but when he was quiet all bets were off. He glared around the room as the silent cops each nodded their agreement staring in shock at him and Joe.
Then he shoved past Joe and the rest of the stunned Police force. Joe knew he was defeated and well, he had no idea what to say about David and Barry, he knew when he wasn't going to be able to argue with David. The captain wasn't going to give in so he followed the man out of the building.
The dozen or so police officers looked at each other, they looked at the bullets in the floor, they looked at the balcony where Zoom had held his kangaroo court. They looked at the elevator where their captain had stormed out Joe West on his heels.
They all collectively came to the same conclusion, that they were not dealing with any of this.
Not tonight.
Tomorrow, they'd come together in small groups, away from their colleagues that hadn't witnessed this, to discuss it among themselves, to make sure it hadn't been a group delusion or something. It was Central City you never quite knew what would happen day to day.
They'd come to the consensus that no one needed to know what happened that night.
They'd keep the Flash's identity a secret. A fact most of them found more surprising than the whole secret dating thing. They had eyes and Singh had always been easy on Allen.
They wouldn't say anything about that either. They didn't want to risk losing either man. Allen was the best CSI in the department and the regard they held for Singh, well they cared about their captain as much as he did them. Even if they like to complain about him, they wouldn't trade him for anyone else.
They'd protect their captain from any backlash against him and Barry both internally or externally. But for now, they just couldn't deal with this, it was too much, too unbelievable. So they shuffled back their desks and went about their night and tried to pretend their world hadn't been changed.
Across town, after a very tense, silent car ride, Joe led David into the heart of star labs. In their medbay, Harry and Cisco were frantically assisting Caitlin as she worked on Barry. David and Joe stood back and watched. Joe took a call from Iris, she was with Linda and they were safe and she was there as soon as she could.
After what seemed like hours to Joe and David, Caitlin finally finished and told them, with a brief moment of shock when she noticed that Singh was there, but she didn't say anything when she saw the look on their faces. She filled them in on the basic details and told Joe he could sit with Barry.
Joe, who was more and more agitated about the whole thing, wasn't in the right mindset to sit with Barry. He wanted to fight someone.
He nodded at David, who took no time rushing over to sit next to Barry's bedside.
Cisco barely waited until the man was out of earshot, “What is going on? What happened?”
“Why is the captain here?” Caitlin asked
“Zoom taunted us at the precinct and he revealed Barry's identity. And that led to the further revelation that they're dating,” he pointed towards the hospital bed.
“I knew it,” Cisco whispered loudly, “I know this isn't the time, but I knew he'd been seeing someone. And it makes sense that it's Singh.”
“Really?” Joe felt floored by the revelation.
Caitlin smiled in spite of the somber mood, thankfully Barry healed fast, “Cisco and I once saw Barry walk into a closed door when the captain complimented him on his haircut.”
Cisco and Joe both smiled at that thought. Joe cleared his throat, “he'll be okay though, right?”
Caitlin smiled, “thankfully he heals fast, otherwise it wouldn't be good.”
She looked so miserable that Joe's own irritation melted away and he pulled her into a hug, “thank you.”
David looked up as Joe entered the room. He pressed a kiss to Barry's forehead and let the other man sit with his son. David went to the main room and Cisco offered him a chair.
David sat with his head in his hands. This whole night is memorable in the worst ways. He had probably a thousand fires to put out, but he couldn't do anything until Barry woke. He wouldn't be able to focus.
“Soooo,” Cisco said and David rolled his eyes, “how long have you been seeing Barry.”
“About four months, Mr. Ramon,” David wasn't in the mood for small talk, he never was, but it was a distraction.
“Hmm, yeah that tracks.”
“Really?”
“A few months ago, his mood took a dramatic turn for the better. I guess you're to blame for that.”
David laughed, he usually wasn't the sort to improve moods, but Barry had seemed lighter and brighter these four months than he had even six months ago.
Cisco asked a few more questions that David answered absently. His mind reliving the important moments. Barry's interview, the coma, that moment when he looked over and only wanted to comfort Allen when the younger man looked so miserable after the court threw out the forensic evidence saying it had been compromised.
It was then, in an empty room in the courthouse as Barry vented sad and angry that David realized his feelings for this man went beyond friendship. He viciously suppressed those feelings, because he was dating Rob, they'd just become engaged, and he loved him.
But once you've opened a bottle, it's harder to get the contents back in. And he slowly pulled away from Rob and the other man noticed.
About six months earlier it was more common than not for David to be staying late at work. Especially since he had no one to go home to anymore, Rob having moved out months ago.
David got out of his chair and stretched his back, he looked at his watch and couldn't believe it was almost 10 pm. His workaholic tendencies had the final nail in his and Rob's engagement. He'd gotten home one night to find Rob long gone. He couldn't even blame his ex for leaving the way he did. Especially because David knew his own heart hadn't been in it at the end.
He looked at the stack of paperwork still on his desk and sighed, he'd deal with that in the morning.
Yawning and rubbing his face he locked his office door and nodded at the desk officer on his way out. Blearily, he poked at the elevator button.
“Captain?” he startled slightly when he heard Barry Allen behind him. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” David said confused.
“It's just that uh, you've been, ah staring at the elevator for a while.”
“Hmm,” David said as Barry reached past him to press the call button again. After a moment it opened and they both stepped in. Barry hit the ground button.
He glanced towards David a few times, until the older man noticed, “what Allen?”
“Should you be driving?” Barry asked as the door opened.
David laughed, “probably not.”
They stepped into the lobby and started their way out side by side. David rolled his eyes, “are you offering to drive me home Barry?”
David didn't even realize he'd used Barry's first name, but Barry did. David made an effort to keep that simple boundary between them. He'd realized months ago that his feelings, his care for Barry went beyond professional or even the bounds of the friendship they had been developing over the last few years. So he made a concerted effort to not let it show.
Barry grinned at him bright and effortless and beautiful and David was too tired to deal with this, with him. “if you want.”
“Fine, but we're stopping at the closest big belly burger first,” David reached into his pocket and handed his keys to Barry.
As tired as David was he found himself trying to stay awake. Barry's nervous babbling, while sometimes could be annoying, at this moment David just found it charming. If he was being honest, it was usually charming. Not that he'd ever tell that to anyone.
That night was one of the moments that David used as a milestone for their relationship. Things changed between them. Their flirting became more overt, even if still behind closed office doors or on their way into or out of work.
About a month after that, Barry announced his intentions to David. David had been working late again, and Barry showed up at his office with late dinner. He looked up after he heard the office door shut, Barry looked good, he always did, and he was carrying a take out bag.
“Allen, I could kiss you,” David blurted out the first thought he had. He blinked and so did Barry, then David tried to apologize for this breach of boundaries. This was beyond their light flirting.
Barry cut him off as he walked to the desk, “Well, I would not mind.”
“Allen,” David started fully intending to stop this conversation, with all the reasons swimming in his head about how this couldn't work.
Barry took the long strides across the small office to cut him off with a chaste kiss pressed to David's lips. It worked as Barry intended, leaving the older man silent.
Before David could gather his resolve, Barry said, “I know you're going to give me a lot of very good reasons we shouldn't do this, but I want you to know I've had a crush on you forever. So it's not going to stop me.”
David groaned softly, Barry was as stubborn as they came, and David had confirmed that this thing that had been slowly growing between them was mutual. He'd ought to give in now, but he hadn't yet convinced himself it was possible.
Barry kissed David again, and David kissed him back knowing he should stop this and give Barry a lecture about inappropriate workplace relationships. But he could only think about the intoxicating feel of Barry's lips on his.
Eventually his stomach grumbled and pulled them apart with a soft laugh. They ate while Barry laid out his case.
David would hold out for about a month, Central City getting crazier every day meant that sometimes he'd go days without being able to stop moving. Sometimes he'd be the one chasing Barry out and sometimes it would be Barry turning the tables on him. All the while the tension between them building and building.
It had to break sometime and it did one night after a busy, hectic day, David called Barry. And the day ended in a night of passion David didn't think they could ever top. Except it had gotten better, the more time they spent together, the more they cared, the more passionate their love became.
David now, four months later, had to wonder if the office gossip and politics would have an effect on it, or if the inevitable bureaucratic nonsense that was internal affairs would try to suffocate it. He had no doubts about what they shared, their relationship was built on a strong base of friendship and mutual respect. But there was a spark of danger in a secret relationship, but they'd already been talking about revealing their relationship. So David had no doubts about Barry Allen, even with the shocking reveal about his secret identity.
In retrospect the pieces were there, David just didn't realize his lover was a puzzle to figure out.
Hell, even thinking about that morning the picture was clearer, David smiled to himself as he remembered the earlier day. He'd woken alone, which in itself was strange, on the nights Barry stayed over he revealed a habit of trying to cling to sleep at all costs. And lazy mornings in bed were so very tempting.
After getting up, he went to the kitchen, Barry had made a large breakfast. “So this is where you are.”
Barry came over and kissed him, then saying “sorry I couldn't sleep so I figured I'd make breakfast instead of waking you.”
“Appreciate that, babe.”
Eventually it was time for Barry to leave, David had a late shift that day, he switched with one of his lieutenants, it was their anniversary and he felt nice. But it also meant Barry lingering as they kissed goodbye.
They'd both found their kisses addicting and could get lost in the sensations. David pulled away, slightly after a few minutes, “you need to get to work.”
Barry pouted, "I got time.”
David smiled, “I'm not going to be the reason you're late to work.”
Barry laughed softly, David did love that sound, “but I can't kiss you in the office.”
That wasn't strictly true, they'd tried not to, but they had kissed several times in David's office. Some occasions were quite memorable.
“Sorry baby,” David teased.
“Do you know how irresistible you are, in your nice suits and fancy cologne?”
David kissed him again. Pulling back he whispered, “you poor thing, maybe if you're a very good boy, and you get to work on time and you get your reports turned in, timely, to your long suffering boss, you can get a reward.”
Barry shivered and bit his lip, “promise.”
“I promise,” David smirked. “but first you have to get to work.”
He was pulled out of his memories when Joe came back. He looked at his former partner who took the seat next to Cisco. The young man noticeably tense at the expressions on their faces. The night had been tense and terrifying and David wasn't in a good mood. And Joe, while calm, was still on edge about Barry.
David stood up, and turned to Joe, “we've each got a lot to say about what we've learned today, but it's going to wait until Barry is awake.”
Joe stared at him for a long second, then nodded, “that's for the best.”
David went back to Barry's bedside. Which is where he was when Iris showered up about two hours later, after getting Linda safely on her way to Coast City. The emotional and physical exhaustion of the day had taken its toll on David and he had drifted to sleep, Barry's hand in his.
Iris gave her dad a puzzled look before hugging him, “how’s Barry?”
Joe filled her in on what he knew, he knew she'd corner Caitlin later and get the details directly from the doctor. He held her close, needing the comfort of knowing one of his kids was safe. Then she asked the big question.
“Why's Singh here?”
Joe laughed for maybe the first time all night, “that, baby girl, is a long story.”
“It's not that long,” Cisco chimed in.
“Well, we've got nothing but time,” Iris said.
Joe pushed her towards Barry's hospital bed, “you sit with Barry for a while, then we'll tell you what we know. Try not to wake David.”
A few hours later, when Barry woke up, he let Caitlin fuss over him for a few minutes, he looked around the room, at Iris and Joe, Cisco and Harry and then David. What was he doing here? Barry was glad, he wanted to see David, but what had happened.
“David?” he asked, not caring that he might have given away their relationship, but he also didn't care if he did. Not now. He wanted comfort from his boyfriend. Caitlin stepped back to give the police captain room by Barry's side.
Once he got close enough Barry grabbed him and tugged him into a kiss. His brain was still fuzzy and it didn't feel like his body was right, but he asked once they parted, “what are you doing here”
David smiled, “when you're feeling better, we have a lot to talk about. Namely, keeping secrets from me.”
Barry laughed weakly and tugged David into another kiss, he pulled back slightly and whispered, “I'm not going to get my reward am I?”
“We will have to see about that, you were on time and got your reports done, but you've also caused me a lot of stress.”
“That shouldn't count against me, I always give you a lot of stress.”
They pulled apart when Joe cleared his throat. And Cisco asked, “what's going on, here?”
Barry flushed and he noticed that David did too, he'd only had eyes for David that he forgot they weren't alone.
He mumbled avoiding eye contact, “That's private.”
“This is why you've been better at getting to work on time?” Joe asked, looking between the two men. There was a lot he didn't need to know, but this amused him for some reason.
“I find bribery quite effective,” David said, keeping his face serious, but the amusement radiated off him. Something settled the worry in Joe's mind as he watched them.
He and Joe left Caitlin to do her examination of. The speedster. He promised Barry he would be back, but he had to get to the office soon and needed a change of clothes.
“David,” Barry said before he left, David turned to face him, a bright smile shone in Barry's face, “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
A few hours later, in his office, Detective Myers asked to see him. David braced himself, he wasn't sure what the young man was going to say. He gestured to the chair and watched as the young detective cleared his throat.
“Sir, um, about last night, we talked it over and it was a lot sir, we mostly want to pretend it didn't happen, well not all of it.”
“Which parts?”
“Well we need to deal with the Zoom part, he can't be free to terrorize this city,” the man's dark eyes blazed with conviction, “the thing about Allen and the Flash, that part it was a lot to take in. And quite frankly no one would believe us anyways.”
David chuckled in spite of his nerves, he wasn't wrong, relieved about that part, he asked, “and the other part.”
“We're, um, really happy for you, shocked, it was a lot to discover, but really happy,” he seemed to catch himself to stop his nerves from faltering, “we aren't going to say anything, none of us are, I promise. Not until after you and Allen decide to tell everyone.”
“I appreciate that, I hope you all know that,” David was serious.
“We do, captain,” Myers said with a grin, “we think it's best if we just pretend most of last night didn't happen, there was a lot going on and the night was really a blur.”
“I have a feeling Allen and I won't be able to keep this secret much longer,” David said before the young man left his office.
“Well, when you do tell everyone, you've got our support, sir.”
True to his word, David showed back up at star labs after his work day ended. He felt the rush of affection when Barry smiled at him. David leaned over and kissed Barry in greeting.
“Hey baby.”
“Allen,” David's tone was gruff, but Barry could tell he was just feeling a little self conscious with Cisco and Caitlin present. His relief that morning, had him not caring that they were being observed, but now he was more than a little self conscious. “how are you feeling?”
“Not great but better, ” he said honestly.
“You look better,” David told him, coming to sit beside him.
Barry grimaced, “I imagine it looked pretty bad last night.”
David closed his eyes for a moment, he sucked in his breath, “when Zoom first unmasked you, baby, I wasn't sure you were going to live.”
“I'm sorry, David.”
“Not your fault, I might not have known what I was signing up for, you know having a superhero for a boyfriend, but I know you, and that you'll risk anything to help people. And I'm okay with that, scared, worried, but okay.”
“I worry about you too,” Barry admitted. They smiled at each other for a moment.
“As touching as this is, is Joe here, I have a feeling the three of us need to have a pretty serious conversation.”
Barry's nose wrinkled, “he's not here, he said he would be by later. Do we have to?”
“That face, as cute as it is, isn't getting you out of this conversation, not if you still want your reward.” David laughed at the pout that grew in Barry's face. “We need to clear the air with Joe about us and have a big conversation about all this. And what I do and don't need to know.”
Barry made a reluctant sound, “if we have to.”
“We do, because I have a feeling there's a lot I don't want to know about.”
“That's a good idea,” Barry admitted, knowing there were a lot of things that David couldn't get involved in. “What about last night, the officers that saw me?”
David smiled fondly, thinking about the moment in his office earlier, the earnest support that he was given, “you don't have to worry about them saying anything about your secret identity, I made that clear last night, and Detective Myers confirmed that no one would say anything.”
“That's a relief, what about us?”
“Well, we have their support when we decide to tell everyone, but until then, they're not going to say a word, because it's apparently too unbelievable for them to tell anyone.”
“I don't know if I should be relieved or offended by that,” Barry grinned at him, “I can't believe you just blurted out that I was your boyfriend, I always figured I'd be the one to do that.”
David scoffed softly, “me too, but you'll have to forgive me, my boyfriend was bleeding and carried off by a monster and I just found out he was the Flash. I wasn't exactly in the best mindset.”
“That's true,” Barry agreed, “I would have probably done the same thing in your shoes.”
“You kind of did, wanting to know if you'd get your reward for being a very good boy.”
Barry grimaced and his voice dry, “Yeah, Cisco and Caitlin are getting a lot of mileage out of that.”
“Poor thing.”
“You could be more sympathetic, I'm hurt and and I might have told my friends and family too much about our sex life.”
“You definitely did.”
David stayed with Barry until Joe showed up and the three men did have the needed conversations. Now that he wasn't surprised, Joe was more supportive than Barry anticipated, given his previous disapproval of Eddie.
“That's something I do regret,” Joe admitted, “and I'm trying to be more open about my kids’ love life's. And honestly, you could have done much worse than David”
“Thanks, I guess,” David smiled at his old friend.
“I don't know if I want details, but how did this happen anyways, it's not like you to cross professional boundaries, David.”
“My fault,” Barry was unrepentant, “once I got a hint that David might return some of my feelings, I pursued him until he gave in, and then kept at it.”
“And I'm sure you know how determined and dedicated Barry is until he gets what he wants,” David said wryly, “eventually I had no choice but to give in.”
“That's a nice way of saying bull headed and stubborn,” Joe smiled at his foster son.
They'd figure this out. Barry and David would learn to navigate how their relationship will change with the truth of Barry's identity. It was something worth fighting for, so they would. And knowing their friends and coworkers were on their side helped.
Whatever the future holds for them, be it the fight with Zoom or enduring the internal affairs investigation, they do it together when they can.
Not that David wanted to be an official part of team Flash, there was still a lot he didn't need to know, at least officially. The political minefield of their relationship had one become trickier to navigate. Unofficially, David would always help when he could. And that mostly meant turning a blind eye, and pretending that Zoom didn't reveal Barry's identity to him.