Present

I jolt awake as I stare up at the celling above, something not feeling right. For a moment I sit there before sitting up in bed, finding myself back in the West household in my room. A part of me felt as if I wasn't supposed to be here, but another part of me felt as if it had just been a dream...which it most likely was. It was hard for me to decide what was real anymore.

I shrug it off as I throw the covers off of me, getting up out of bed. I use my speed to quickly change clothes, brush my teeth, fix my hair, and everything else before I flash downstairs, waiting to find Joe there like he always was.

Instead, I find a half naked Barry standing in front of the fridge.

"Barry!" I shout as I turn away, my mouth hanging open.

It sounds as if I scared him more than he scared me, because soon after I'm yelling his name, I hear him let out a little yelp, followed by the sound of him dropping something. "Raven? Y-you're-here?"

I stay turned around, placing my hands on my hips. "Here?"

He shakes his head. "Um, never mind, but what exactly are you doing...here?"

Confusion washes over me. "What are you talking about? I've been staying here now for at least a month and a half, Barry. I thought you'd figure out by now that you can't just stroll around here half naked...wearing superman underwear."

I glance over my shoulder at him, trying to hide my smile as his face goes red. "Y-You've...you've been staying here? I thought you were staying at S.T.A.R. Labs?"

"Barry, did you wake up too early or something?" I question, not quite sure what he was talking about. "After a few weeks of staying at S.T.A.R. Labs, you and Joe asked me if I wanted to come stay here, which I did, where I have my own room upstairs. This isn't the first time you've seen me walking around here-"

"Right, right," Barry nods as silence fills the room for a moment, causing me to bite my lower lip.

"So...are you going to go put some clothes on, or-"

I hear him flash away in that instance then before he's back. "You're safe to look now."

I cross my arms as I turn back around and face him, finding him now wearing jeans, a blue plaid shirt and converse. When I had turned around, I thought that he was going to be awkward, but instead it looked as if he was out of breath; as if he hadn't seen me in ages.

"Are you okay?" I ask softly, wondering why he was looking at me like that.

He nods then, snapping him out of his trance. "Y-Yeah, I'm okay. Are...are you?"

I furrow my eyebrows. "Am I okay? Besides the not sleeping, I'm great."

"Not sleeping?" he asks me, looking genuinely confused yet concerned. I've talked to him about this before, so I wasn't sure why he looked so confused about it all.

"It's nothing," I shrug it off before putting a little smile on my face. "Can we talk about the fact that you're a superhero, yet you wear another superhero's underwear-"

"I'll see you at S.T.A.R. Labs," Barry says quickly, avoiding the question as he flashes away and out the door. I groan under my breath when I see that he left the fridge door open, along with not bothering to clean up his mess that he had made.

Typical Barry Allen.

-*+*-

"When do you think people are going to figure out that I'm faster than a bullet?"

I laugh under my breath at Barry as he walks back into S.T.A.R. labs, seeming to be in a better mood than what he has been lately. For some reason, he sounded lighter and as if everything was right in the world, and it made me wonder where this sudden change in attitude came from.

"So what are we going to call him?" Barry asks as he looks around the room, his eyes landing on Cisco, who was standing in the corner. Ever since his brother had died, he hasn't been the same around S.T.A.R. Labs, but he was still Cisco.

Wally raises his eyebrows. "What, like a nickname?"

"Of course," Barry continues as he nods towards Cisco. "Cisco always comes up with the best nicknames. We can't just call him suspect on a motorcycle, can we? What do you think?"

Iris and I give each other a doubtful look before we look back over at Cisco. "I don't know."

"Okay well how about uh...the crook?" Barry proposes as I cross my arms, leaning back in the seat I was in. "No that's bad. How about the-"

"How about thief," Cisco says bitterly, giving Barry a nasty look. "He robs stuff so let's just...call him thief."

Everyone in silent as they watch Barry's face turn into confusion, which only made me grow more confused. It was almost as if he was confused as to why Cisco was mad at him, and I wasn't sure why he looked the way he did. I knew that Barry knew the reason why; he's talked to me about it all before, so now I wasn't sure what was up with him.

"I better go," Cisco states then as he walks around everyone, ducking his head before exiting the room. Caitlin gets up and follows after him then with her eyes glued to the floor, avoiding any contact with Barry. Cisco wasn't the only one to grow negative feelings towards Barry after his brother's death either; Caitlin was Cisco's best friend, and after learning what had happened between the two boys, she chose her side.

Before long, the only ones left in the room were Barry, Iris, Joe and I. It doesn't take long until the silence turns into awkwardness between Joe and Iris, and I knew that something was about to stir up if someone didn't take control of the situation. 

"I better get going," Iris states as she gets up out of her chair, grabbing her jacket to head out to CCPN. Before she can leave however, Joe stands up and grabs his keys, walking towards the door.

"It's alright, I was just leaving," he says, and I thought that he was about to leave, but that was before Barry stops the two of them both. I raise my eyebrows. 

"Hey guys, listen, I know you aren't speaking to each other right now but..." he fades off, puffing air into his cheeks before continuing. "Can we talk about why that is?"

Everyone's eyes dart around after that, and I couldn't help but wonder to myself what in the hell was Barry's problem today. However, Iris is the first to speak. "This is because of what he did, Barry. Not me."

"Iris-" Joe says before she cuts him off.

"What? What could you possibly have to say?" I lean back in my chair once again as my eyes flick between the three of them, growing tempted to pull Barry away from this just so it would end. 

Instead, I decide to pull Iris away. "Alright well this was a great talk, but I think it's time for work, isn't it Iris?"

She looks down at her watch. "Yeah, I better get going."

"Need a lift?" I ask her as she nods her head, a faint smile appearing on her face. I take that as a yes as I start to take her, but before I can, Barry's voice is making me stop for a brief moment.

"Actually Raven can I talk to you for a minute?" Barry asks as he clears his throat, looking down at me. 

I glance between Iris and Barry. "Uh yeah, what do you want to talk about?"

Barry kind of gives Iris and Joe a look that he wanted to be alone before they get the message. Iris faintly smiles at me as Joe leaves the room. "I'll wait out here, might wanna make it quick though or else boss man might get onto us again for being late."

I laugh for a moment as she walks away, remembering the incident she was talking about. Barry gives me a funny look. "Being late?"

"For work," I state simply before I look up at his face, still seeing that he wasn't following. "You know, the one that Iris had gotten me? Ever since I stopped working around here?"

He looks more confused than ever. "Stopped working around here?"

I groan under my breath. "Seriously, Barry? Are you feeling okay?"

"Yes, I'm...I'm fine, but what do you mean? I'm just operating a little slower today I guess," he scratches the back of his neck.

"Ever since...Zoom died, I thought it was time that Silver Trickster went along with him, so you, The Flash, is operating solo now. Iris got me a job at CCPN soon after. I can't write worth a damn but photography is what I'm best at." I pause for a moment, noticing how confused he appeared. "Ringing any bells?"

He tries to find the words to speak. "Y-You...gave up being Silver Trickster?"

I nod my head slowly. "You said that you could do things on your own again. I promised that I would help around S.T.A.R. Labs but I can't...I don't want to be something that reminds me of that part of me."

It's silent between the two of us for a long time before I get us back onto topic. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

He clears his throat again, getting back to what he had meant to say in the first place. "Uh yeah, I was just wondering what...what happened with Cisco? And Iris and Joe?"

I shake my head as I cross my arms. "Seriously, Barry? I think you need to see a doctor."

"No, I'm seriously fine," he says simply once again, but I knew that something had to be up. There was no reason for him to be asking all of these odd questions when I knew that he already knew the answers to them. 

Either way, this wasn't my drama to tell. "You'll have to figure that out on your own, Barry Allen. Just please, don't pull another stunt like you did just now. Iris and Joe seriously-"

"Why aren't they talking to each other anymore?" he asks me once again as I take a step backwards.

"I really gotta go Barry," I state as I make my way towards the exit. "If I were you, I'd go get your brain checked."

I hear Barry stutter on his words for a moment before I'm flashing away, finding Iris standing out in the hall leaning up against the wall as she waited for me to get done. I glance down at my watch, finding that we were already two minutes late...how wonderful.

As I grab Iris and race to CCPN, I couldn't help but wonder what in the world was wrong with Barry. Something about him has been off ever since this morning, and I couldn't quite pin what it was exactly. It seemed as if the past few weeks were just a blur to him, but to be fair, he went through a lot. Maybe he was just having trouble keeping up with it all.

Or maybe he was hiding something.

-*+*-

SO SORRY that this took me so long to get out there! I got back from my cruise Saturday night and ever since then life has been hectic and I've been too busy to have time to write. But don't fear, I'm back with another update!

Let's assess what's happened with raven since flashpoint, shall we? I don't want you guys to get too confused. Basically, Raven's been staying at the West house instead of at S.T.A.R. Labs, she quit being Silver Trickster, got a job at CCPN, and something else that I don't wanna reveal just yet *wink*

OH, and her and iris have grown closer since the whole job thing and whatnot, I'll try and show more of that in the next chapter and the others soon to come!

don't forget to comment and vote like always! xx