Rescue Part 2

That son of a bitch is going down.

***** ONE WEEK LATER *****

(A/N- I'm just gonna say now, Iris is living with her mom in this because I can do that and she's not really in this, but if any of you are like me, you're gonna be wondering what happened to her so.... yeah.)

-Day 1-

Barry had officially moved in with David Singh, his new adopted father. To say Barry was nervous was an understatement.

He was terrified that history would repeat itself and he'd be stuck in another crappy home. Or he was worried that his new dad would simply grow tired of him and kick him out to live on the streets. Or that he would mess up in some way and be thrown into the system.

He didn't want to be in the system. And he was sure that David wouldn't hurt him like Joe did, but he was still scared.

Some scars take longer to heal.

Barry stood in the doorway of his new room.

It was roomy, especially compared to the crawl space Joe kept him in. And he had a full sized bed with actual pillows and a quilt. There was a desk with a lamp and a large closet that was much too large in Barry's opinion. The room was in no means fancy or expensive, but after living like Harry Potter for the last five years, everything other than his 'cupboard under the stairs' seemed extravagant.

David put a hand on Barry's shoulder. His heart broke a little more when Barry flinched under his touch.

"You like it?" He asked, "I didn't put anything up because I figured you would want to decorate it yourself."

Barry nodded. Then after a moment he said, "Thank you."

David smiled, "I'm going to make dinner. Pasta okay?"

Barry nodded.

Dinner rolled around, and Barry just sat at the table, staring at his plate of pasta.

Was he allowed to eat it? He wondered. What were the rules? Joe always had a specific set of rules.

1) Only call him Mr. West, Detective West or sir

2) Do not speak unless spoken too

3) He could only eat after Joe and Iris were finished. (Though Iris always made sure to try and leave extra for him)

4) Do all the chores right the first time

5) Don't leave his 'room' after his curfew of 8:00

6) Make sure breakfast is ready for Joe when he gets downstairs

7) Don't make too much noise during a beating

8) Break any of these rules and he gets a beating

So Barry sat at the table staring at his food.

"Bar, are you not hungry? You've got to eat something. There's yogurt in the fridge."

Barry swallowed his nerves and asked quietly, "I can eat?"

David's shoulders slumped, "Of course Barry. You can eat any time you like."

David was going to kill Joe West. Prison wasn't enough for that bastard.

Barry started to eat slowly, then quicker after discovering that his new foster dad made some mean pasta. But he still had doubt in the back of his mind.

The night went fairly smoothly. Barry didn't say much, but he was getting himself familiar with his surroundings. Once bedtime came, at 9:00 much to Barry's shock, he laid awake, restless.

Eventually, he grabbed his pillow and quilt and walked over to the closet, opening it quietly. He set up a sort of nest like the one he had back at Joe's. At least this time he had an actual pillow and not just bunched up clothes.

-Day 2-

When David opened Barry's door to wake him up the next morning, he panicked slightly when he wasn't in his bed. But then he saw the closet door ajar and a leg sticking out of it.

David's heart clenched as he left the door cracked while he went and whipped up some eggs for the two of them.

Barry woke up to the sound of pans clanking below him. He felt well rested for the first time in a long time. Then he realized that he hadn't made breakfast.

His eyes became panicked and he darted down the stairs, only to find David putting scrambled eggs onto a plate.

He hadn't been up in time to make breakfast. David had to make it himself. He was going to get in trouble and have to go the day without eating. He-

Barry's thoughts were interrupted by a soft voice.

"Deep breaths Barry. It's alright. Everything is fine. Calm down. That's it."

David was rubbing small circles on Barry's back while Barry regained control of his breathing.

"I'm sorry-"

"For what?" David asked, cutting him off, "You didn't do anything."

Barry looked at him confused.

'But', he thought, 'I didn't make you breakfast.'

Or apparently he said it aloud because David frowned slightly as he handed Barry the plate of eggs.

"You don't have to make me breakfast Barry." David said.

Barry shook his head and placed head in his hands.

"This is so confusing," Barry whispered, a few stray tears leaking down his face.

David sat next to Barry, "What's confusing Bar?"

Barry swallowed hard before saying, "You don't seem to have any rules. I don't know how things work."

David frowned harder, "What were your rules before?"

Barry answered meekly, but without hesitation:

"1) I can only call him Mr. West, Detective West or sir

2) Do not speak unless spoken too

3) I could only eat after Joe and Iris were finished.

4) Do all the chores right the first time

5) Don't leave my room after my curfew of 8:00

6) Make sure breakfast is ready for Mr. West when he gets downstairs

7) Don't make too much noise during a beating

8) Break any of these rules and I get a beating."

David felt his heart break all over again. He reached over and hugged Barry, who tensed at first but then relaxed into the embrace.

"You don't follow those rules anymore okay?" David said.

"But what am I supposed to follow?" Barry asked.

David pulled back so he could look at Barry, "If you want some rules to follow, here are my rules:

1) Don't do anything illegal

2) Be honest

3) Make sure you try to be in bed by a good time unless there's a special occasion or something

4) Make sure you at least have one good meal per day, but preferably three

5) Don't be afraid to come to me for anything you need"

Barry looked at David for a good long minute as he pondered his new rules. They were so opposite of what he learned. And so simple and general and relaxed.

"Really?" Barry finally said, "That's all?"

David shrugged, "That's all."

And Barry smiled.

It was the first real smile David had ever seen on Barry's face.

And it made his heart light.

-Day 10-

It had been just over a week since Barry moved in with Singh and things were going smoothly.

Well... mostly.

Barry was still having a bit of hard time adjusting to his new set of rules. He was still not quite as chatty as David knew him to be, but he was confident that they would get there.

But the biggest bump they had faced so far was on day 10. When David suggested/offered that Barry see a psychiatrist.

The moment the words came out of his mouth, Barry suddenly got angry. It shocked David a bit to say the least.

"No thank you," Barry mumbled angrily.

"What?" David asked, having genuinely not heard him.

"No thank you." Barry said sharply.

David sat back, folding his arms across his chest. "How come?"

Barry pressed his lips together, "Because I don't need one and I don't want one."

"Why don't you want one?" David asked, "It would help."

Barry scoffed and rolled his eyes.

Part of David was happy that Barry was comfortable and felt safe enough to be defiant and have attitude like this. But the other part just wanted to figure out why Barry didn't want to see a psychiatrist and talk him into it.

"It would be good for you," David argued, "Psychiatrists-"

"Know jack shit."

"Barry!"

Barry shrunk back a little and David reigned in his anger when he saw fear dance across Barry's eyes. Seeing that David calmed down, Barry continued.

"Shrinks don't know anything. All they do is make you feel like you're crazy and try and tell you you're wrong. They don't actually listen."

David pondered this for a moment. "What makes you say that?"

Barry mumbled something under his breath that David couldn't make out. Apparently this was a touchy subject.

"What?" David asked, trying to act less annoyed than he felt. Know he knew what all the complaining of teenagers was about.

Barry huffed, "I said, because I've dealt with shrinks before. Would you just leave it be?"

David leaned forward and rested his hands on the table. Barry rolled his eyes, stood up, and left. Then David heard Barry's door close with a harsh thud. Not quite a slam, but enough force to let him know what Barry was feeling.

But he didn't know why Barry was feeling this way.

He tried to think of when and why he might've gone to shrinks and then he remembered.

His mother's murder.

How the little eleven year old boy had believed a man in lightning killed his mom. How he was certain his dad was innocent. And David had a hunch that that hadn't changed.

And that's when all the crap with Joe had started too.

Then David realized that Barry probably hadn't seen his dad in years. He quickly dialed Iron Heights to let them know he was coming and then went to grab Barry.

He knocked on the door gently.

"Hey Bar?" David said softly.

"What?" Barry asked.

"I'm sorry if I pushed, I just wanted to know where you were coming from. I just want to see you happy."

Barry was quiet for a few moments. He was not used to being apologized to. He was always the one doing the apology, usually begging was thrown in the mix too.

"It's okay." Barry said.

David let out a breath of relief he didn't know he was holding. "Great," he said, "I have to go somewhere for a bit, will you come with me?"

David crossed his fingers, 'please say yes please say yes please say-'

"Yeah sure." Barry said, opening the door.

David smiled, "Let's go then."

David watched Barry carefully as they walked into Iron Heights. Barry's face was full of hope. They went into the visiting room and found that Henry Allen was there and waiting with the same expression as Barry.

As soon as the two Allen's saw each other, their faces lit up. Barry's smile made David's heart melt. He'd do anything to see his kid happy.

"Dad!" Barry said, racing towards the glass and picking up the phone. That hurt a bit more than David would care to admit.

"Hey there slugger!" Henry said. "It's been so long. You're so big."

Barry bit his lip, trying to hold back tears. "I've missed you," he whispered.

"I've missed you too."

After Henry's time ran out and David promised to come and explain everything to Henry later, Barry and David headed home.

David glanced over at Barry, "You want pizza?"

Barry's face lit up into a smile again, "You bet!"

David laughed and pulled into a pizza place, "what kind?"

"Pepperoni, olives, and jalapenos please." Barry requested.

"You got it boss." David joked, making Barry laugh.

It was a light, happy sound that made David feel happier than he had ever felt before.

The pair arrived home and Barry set their two pizzas on the table. After he set them down, he paused. David paused too and looked at Barry with a bit of confusion.

Suddenly, Barry turned around and ran to David, wrapping his arm around him in a great big hug.

David happily hugged back.

"Thank you," Barry whispered.

Then in his head he thought, 'Dad'.

He wouldn't say it out loud yet.

But hopefully one day.

**********

A/N- Wow. That felt very wholesome to write. :)

Thanks to @Amy4321 for the request and then the other people who were like "yeah yeah yeah! Do that!"

So here you go. Hope it's what you were hoping for. :)

Love y'all a lot! :)