chapter thirty-four ; lots of talk
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The four companions shuffled as quickly as they could into the West household, after Barry had unlocked the door for them, and quickly started to formulate a plan on what they would tell Joe once he got back home. "Why don't we tell him everything? I mean it is pretty dang cool that we know what happens to Barry. Don't you think he'd have ease knowing his kid grows up to be successful?" Cisco asked as he plopped down on the couch.
"I don't see how the big words 'Flash Missing' sound successful," Caitlin deadpanned. Natalie returned to the chair she had deemed her seat and curled up, "Aren't there rules to this kind of thing? Like, don't tell everyone what happens in the future cause you could screw it up? Or the big one, you aren't supposed to know? Marty McFly almost wiped out his own existence."
The excited smile, behind the science of it all, fell from Cisco's face, "Marty went into the past thirty years, we didn't. Big difference." Natalie frowned and shifted in her chair, "Still, all of the information Gideon told us about Barry's life isn't relevant. All that he needs to know is about the article and the Reverse Flash."
"But don't you want Joe to know that you and Bar-"
"I need a drink," Natalie interrupted as she promptly stood up and passed a pacing Barry from the door, "Anybody else want one? You know what, I'll just bring out the whole pack of beer. After tonight, we all deserve one."
Handing a bottle to each person, Barry frowned when she held one out to him, "You know it won't work on me." A sad smile played across Natalie's lips, "Just take the bottle, Bare. I don't know how else to handle all of the information than to drink up."
Barry nodded his head slowly, holding the bottle in one hand, and inched his other towards Natalie's. Her fingers curled around his on instinct yet the same flutter in her stomach she felt in the secret room played again. "When are we going to talk about it, Nattie?" Barry asked softly, mildly aware that Caitlin and Cisco were listening in. Natalie shook her head and mumbled, "I don't know." Caitlin met Barry's graze and frowned at her cousin's reluctance. "Are you.. disappointed about it? Do you not want that?" Barry asked, his voice cracking in merely a whisper.
Training her eyes on her shoes, the brunette girl's eyes fluttered shut as her voice caught in her throat, "You have to understand it's a lot of information to take in, Bare. I just.. need to digest it." Realizing that's not an answer to Barry's question, Natalie stopped herself and sorted through her thoughts before she continued. "In a way, I am disappointed. Not because that happens, but because I already know. I wanted to grow with you, in this relationship, grow with us and now it's ruined because I already know the end of the journey. It's not a surprise anymore, Barry."
"But you don't know when I would propose. It would still be a surprise," Barry said, not understanding what she was saying. Natalie shook her head and blinked back the burn in her eyes as her throat tightened, "It wouldn't be a surprise when I know it's coming. Yes, people usually know but I wanted to go through the hassle of it all. I wanted to discover on our way that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Not anticipate it." She looked up to see Barry, his green eyes brightened as his eyes reddened and grew wet, frustrated and confused on his girlfriend's answer.
Natalie set the bottles down and took both of her hands in his, "I love you, Barry. And I'm not denying that I would eventually want to marry you, in the future. But we still need to grow. I just haven't thought about it because we're still new, still growing. It's all just a bit of a shock really, finding out that we supposedly get married." Barry nodded his head and squeezed her hand tightly as a jingling from the door signified Joe's return home.
The brunette, now returned to her self-claimed chair, was correct when she had said that Joe would be upset with them for going into what Cisco had named a Time Vault. She furrowed her eyebrows as she saw a frustrated Eddie, who she thought would be happier due to his recent repaired relationship with Iris, but briefly zoned out on Joe's chastising until Barry spoke.
"I did it. Or I will do it, I mean." Natalie looked up from the chair in confusion as her cousin mouthed the words 'time travel' to her, only confusing the brunette even more. Cisco got up from his seat, pacing a little as he began to get excited about the science, "One of the two speedsters in Barry's house the night his mother died was Barry. I mean the Flash. Which means that one day, in the future, Barry will travel back to that night."
Natalie and Eddie made eye contact, both having the same look as they thought they were sitting in a room full of crazy people. "Actually, I wasn't talking about that. I kind of already time traveled. On accident," Barry said, approaching the group tentatively.
"Okay either I'm drunk from just taking a few sips or Barry ran too fast into a wall," Natalie muttered as she propped her elbow on the armchair to rest her head. Joe narrowed his eyes at her, "You guys dank my beer?" She threw her hands up and huffed, "Well I think after tonight it was well deserved. I'll buy you a new pack, okay?"
Barry waited until he was sure the two were done before he continued his bizarre explanation, "I was running to stop a tsunami from hitting the city-"
"-When was that?" Barry sighed as he glared at Caitlin for being the one to interrupt him again, "A few weeks ago. It was right before Cisco started getting those dreams."
At the mention of them, Cisco shivered in response as his face darkened, "Oh, you mean the ones were Wells uses his super-speeding hand to shred apart my heart. Those?" Barry nodded his head sadly as his friend slipped back into his mind, the images of the dreams playing across his mind. "What if those aren't dreams?"
Caitlin tilted her head, looking between the two men, "Well what else could they be?" The young doctor's cousin piped up, "Like I said before when Cisco said the dreams felt real, they could be memories. Caitlin, you remember when we watched a few episodes of Teen Wolf and Stiles talked about how you know you're dreaming when you have the wrong number of fingers?"
"So that's why you asked me that?" Cisco remarked as his lips formed into an 'o' shape. Caitlin shook her head at her cousin, "You can't use a line from a show that focuses on a teen werewolf to determine whether or not Cisco was actually dreaming."
Barry bit his tongue to keep from chuckling at his girlfriend and took a deep breath before he continued as he saw all of the confused expressions in the room, "What if the day I traveled back, Cisco found out that Wells is the Reverse Flash. Then Wells killed him because of it and when I went back, I changed the timeline so that the event never happened."
Joe clicked his tongue and pointed at Cisco, "If it never happened, then how can Cisco remember it?" Not having an answer, Barry shook his head, "I think the important thing is.. he does. I think I've got a rally bad idea."
"Well do you think you can come with a good idea?" Natalie asked, wincing in anticipation for an angry expression from her boyfriend.
The next day, steps to carry out Barry's bad idea were taken, which was to somehow access Cisco's memory and get Wells to confess to murdering Nora Allen, thus clearing Henry of the charges. Given that, Barry, Caitlin, and Cisco were at S.T.A.R. Labs, working on a device to do the accessing while Natalie went to work at the station to keep up normal appearances. Plus, she would have to cover for Barry when Captain Singh needed work done, though she would have to call Barry or Caitlin for help if the precinct needed any forensics done. But for now, she was cleaning up all of the papers Barry had blown around in his Lab.
"Hey there, sweet thang," Barry said slyly as he attempted to sneak up behind his girlfriend as she set some papers down on Eddie's desk. "Thang? You really are a dork," Natalie laughed as she patted Barry's chest. His nose crinkled as he smiled, happy that she hadn't run away from him this time after a big shock, given that the first time when he said he loved her, she did. "Well I am your dork," he said, kissing her lips gingerly and stepping forward causing her to lean against Eddie's desk.
The two broke apart when they heard a cough. "Ms. Reed, Mr. Allen, I think Thawne would be very much appreciative if you two didn't make out on his desk," Captain Singh exclaimed loudly causing the two to have reddened faces. "Aside from that, Allen, the Owens case. I'm still waiting on the fiber evidence and the ballistics report. Are you on vacation or something?"
Barry shook his head and stumbled across his words, obviously flustered, "No, I'm just busy working on another case, but that is no excuse.." He trailed off as Captain Singh checked his phone, not paying attention to Barry anymore. Singh waved him off, "Okay, just get me the reports when you can. There's no rush." The brunette glanced up in confusion at her boyfriend before stepping towards the captain, who was now walking away, "Wait, Captain. Is everything alright?"
Captain Singh sighed before walking back towards the couple. "Yeah, since Ron and I have been planning the, you know, wedding.. between the florists, hundreds of kinds of cake filling, and who can sit next to who.." He sighed again before placing a hand on Barry's shoulder and his other on Natalie's forearm, "Never get married, you two. I get you're obviously in love, but it'll just bring hell. Just elope. It'd be a hell of a lot easier." Natalie looked up at Barry wide-eyed as the Captain walked away, "I am just going to say this now, we are never ever eloping."
Still shocked by Singh's kindness and words of 'wisdom', Barry nodded his head in agreement before turning the two in the direction they were to go, but not before bumping into a very cheery Iris. "Hey you two," Iris said as she flashed a smile at the two, "You guys okay?" Natalie bit her lip as she saw a flustered Barry, "He's just a bit weird cause Captain Singh was being nice to him." Barry nodded in agreement.
"Well, he's in a good mood, Bare. He's about to get married," Iris said brightly, though this only seemed to further Barry's and Natalie's shock, the latter being lesser, "Anyways, Bare, can I talk to you in private. It's kind of work related-" Barry seemed to temporarily snap out of his state and spoke up, "Umm Iris, now really isn't a good time."
"Hey Barry, Natalie," Eddie greeted as he joined the three, greeting Iris with a gentle kiss that made Natalie 'aww' silently. He turned to the couple beside him, "Natalie could I talk to you? Barry, it'd be great if you came to." Natalie nodded her head and followed Eddie to the lobby, dragging Barry behind her as he promised Iris he'd talk to her later. "What's up, Eddie?"
Eddie smiled brightly before reaching into his jacket's inside pocket and pulling out a ring box, opening it up quickly and placing it back inside before anyone else could see. "Weddings. Everything weddings. What is going on? Is this a sign?" Natalie muttered under her breath. Eddie cocked his head at her and furrowed his brow, "What?" She shook her head and took a deep breath, calming her nerves.
"Woah, okay. Um.. what did she say? Well you still have it, so duh, you haven't asked her.. Or you did ask and she said.." Barry rushed, running a hand through his hair as he worried about his foster sister.
"I was going to propose tonight," Eddie kindly interrupted, stopping Barry from rambling. "But I went to ask Joe for his blessing and he said no. Repeatedly." Natalie's face softened into a smile and her 'aww' was audible, "That is so sweet. I mean you asking for permission. Not Joe saying no."
Eddie smiled gratefully before he continued and looked at Barry, "I need you to talk to him and find out why. I know how awkward it is, me asking this, but you know how heartbroken she will be if she finds out Joe's not onboard." Barry glanced at the elevator at Caitlin and Cisco stepped off, walking up to Barry's lab to get ready to delve into Cisco's mind, and nodded his head.
"Thank you so much, Barry," Eddie said, his smile even wider, "And so will the future Mrs. Thawne. Iris Thawne. Sounds pretty good huh?" Barry, flustered by all of the sudden marriage talk, quickly nodded his head in agreement while Eddie turned to Natalie. "Natalie, you're a girl-"
"Woman, with child-like tendencies," Natalie corrected, holding her hand up, "And I am very aware of that but please continue." Barry and Eddie couldn't help but chuckle at her. Eddie obliged, "I would like from you advice on how to propose."
Natalie smiled widely and immediately pulled Eddie into a hug, "I would be honored to help. But we have to handle Cisco's memory problem right now so we can meet up later and formulate a plan to make your girlfriend Mrs. Iris Thawne. Okay?"
Eddie nodded and let the couple be on their way to complete their mission. "So this has been a very interesting past twenty-four hours," Natalie said as she and Barry walked hand and hand up the stairs.
Barry nodded his head, "Yes it has. A lot of talk."
"Yup."
"Maybe we could have a triple wedding."
Natalie lightly smacked Barry on the arm and laughed, "First of all, we are not engaged nor are you planning on proposing, as far as I know."
"But you aren't supposed to know if I'm proposing anyways," Barry countered, smiling widely as he knew she was comfortable with the teasing.
"Okay well we're still growing, so if you asked now I would say no, for your information and to save you any trouble," Natalie countered back. Barry laughed and nodded his head as they turned the corner once they reached the top of the stairs. "And second of all, I am never ever going to share my wedding day with any other couple because it will be mine."
Barry smirked, "And mine."
His girlfriend narrowed her eyes and cocked her hip, "To be determined. Now let's go delve into Cisco's mind. Though, I must admit, I'm a little bit scared of what that boy has hidden in there."