Displacement
Title: Displacement
Fandom: The Flash
Characters: Barry, Ralph, Cisco, Caitlin, Wally, Iris, Harry.
Rating: G
Warnings: Spoilers for all of S4
Summary: Barry goes to Wally after he hears about everything that took place while he was in Iron Heights and starts wondering if Team Flash really still needs a Flash.
“I think I might know why you called me,” Wally West began.
“Is it that obvious?” After a frustrating therapy session with that couples counsellor where Barry hadn’t been able to fully explain his feelings, he’d realised that maybe the problem was that he needed to talk to someone who not only knew that he was the Flash, but also had experienced something similar, so Wally had been the obvious choice.
“It started the morning I first came back,” Barry began.
He was going through the same morning routine he’d gone through right after he’d got out of the speed force; speed watching all the TV he’d missed, catching up on the news from the outside world. Then he’d read some story about Ralph, about how the Elongated Man had received recognition for putting away some fire breathing meta, and while part of him thought it was great that Ralph had come such a long way from the ass he could never stand in their CCPD days, that he was using his powers to do good now and was fitting in with the team, it had still given him a jolt to see pictures of Ralph in the suit in the newspaper where articles about him used to be.
He’d tried to talk to Cisco about it, but Cisco had just said something about the struggle they’d had with a nickname for Ralph, and at that point Ralph had walked in, so Barry couldn’t easily continue the conversation. But he’d been thinking to himself about the nickname conversation, and about how that had been yet another thing he had missed.
A few hours later, Cisco and Ralph had started talking about a guys’ night out they had gone on, and Cisco had started laughing about Ralph’s pathetic attempts to pick up some woman. Barry had wondered since when did those two go on guys’ nights out together, when they had become such good friends that they hung out alone like that. He knew he shouldn’t resent Ralph; it was down to him, after all, that Barry was home in the first place, and every day Ralph was dealing with the knowledge that Clifford DeVoe was hunting for him. But it was beginning to feel as though he’d been replaced.
“They don’t mean to,” Barry had explained. “They’re just trying to catch me up on everything I missed. But sometimes someone will mention something, some story about something that happened while I was away, and they’ll be laughing about it, or talking about how well it went, and sometimes it’s hard thinking about how they all got on with their lives without me.”
The Big Sir case had come up in conversation once, about how Iris and Harry had successfully taken the real killer down even if they hadn’t managed to get a confession out of him. As he’d listened to how Harry had been the one to figure out how to counteract the effects of the shrinking gun, how he and Iris had worked together to successfully outsmart and capture Rundin so Joe could arrest him, Barry had thought about how they all seemed to have been doing so well without him, how Team Flash seemed to have been getting along just fine without a Flash. Not once did anyone mention that if it wasn’t for Barry, they wouldn’t have ever been working that case at all.
“I get it,” Wally began. “I remember when I felt like I was the spare part on the team. And I still think leaving was the right decision for me. I’m going to be joining Sara Lance’s team, and I’m happy. They have need of me there. But you…you’re never gonna be the spare part. You might feel like that now, hearing the way they all talk about that time, but trust me, you were missed. Iris was calling me every night talking about how much she was missing you, and she’d tell me how the whole team missed you. You really haven’t been replaced by Ralph, or anyone. We’ve all had moments of feeling like that.”
“Take me, that time Ralph wouldn’t shut up about hanging out with Killer Frost, and I started wondering if everyone liked Killer Frost better,” Caitlin stepped out from behind Wally. “He called us,” she went on to explain. “Thought you might need to hear it from all of us.” She gestured behind to where Ralph, Cisco, Iris and Harry were standing.
“The guys’ night out Cisco mentioned yesterday?” Ralph went on. “What he didn’t mention is that he spent the entire time talking about how much more fun we’d have had with you. Well, he was talking about hoping to have another opportunity to get you drunk again…”
“Believe me, I’m working on it,” Cisco laughed. “Something better than your bachelor party, which hopefully will mean we all have a good time without Harry needing to bail us all out again.”
“And the metahumans we caught,” Harry went on, “we figured it all out, but it would have gone a lot better with you there. We were struggling the entire time.”
“And you’re the one who made me realise that I could change, that I could be a hero, a good friend, like the rest of the team. I may have taken the form of DeVoe for your appeal, but I could never have done that without you. Now, are you gonna let us quit the mushy stuff and come have a beer with us, or am I gonna have to get Killer Frost to give you a pep talk like she gave me?” Ralph asked.
“Trust us all on this,” Iris stepped out from behind Ralph, “Team Flash most definitely needs its Flash.”
As Barry looked around at all his friends, he realised they were right.
Fandom: The Flash
Characters: Barry, Ralph, Cisco, Caitlin, Wally, Iris, Harry.
Rating: G
Warnings: Spoilers for all of S4
Summary: Barry goes to Wally after he hears about everything that took place while he was in Iron Heights and starts wondering if Team Flash really still needs a Flash.
“I think I might know why you called me,” Wally West began.
“Is it that obvious?” After a frustrating therapy session with that couples counsellor where Barry hadn’t been able to fully explain his feelings, he’d realised that maybe the problem was that he needed to talk to someone who not only knew that he was the Flash, but also had experienced something similar, so Wally had been the obvious choice.
“It started the morning I first came back,” Barry began.
He was going through the same morning routine he’d gone through right after he’d got out of the speed force; speed watching all the TV he’d missed, catching up on the news from the outside world. Then he’d read some story about Ralph, about how the Elongated Man had received recognition for putting away some fire breathing meta, and while part of him thought it was great that Ralph had come such a long way from the ass he could never stand in their CCPD days, that he was using his powers to do good now and was fitting in with the team, it had still given him a jolt to see pictures of Ralph in the suit in the newspaper where articles about him used to be.
He’d tried to talk to Cisco about it, but Cisco had just said something about the struggle they’d had with a nickname for Ralph, and at that point Ralph had walked in, so Barry couldn’t easily continue the conversation. But he’d been thinking to himself about the nickname conversation, and about how that had been yet another thing he had missed.
A few hours later, Cisco and Ralph had started talking about a guys’ night out they had gone on, and Cisco had started laughing about Ralph’s pathetic attempts to pick up some woman. Barry had wondered since when did those two go on guys’ nights out together, when they had become such good friends that they hung out alone like that. He knew he shouldn’t resent Ralph; it was down to him, after all, that Barry was home in the first place, and every day Ralph was dealing with the knowledge that Clifford DeVoe was hunting for him. But it was beginning to feel as though he’d been replaced.
“They don’t mean to,” Barry had explained. “They’re just trying to catch me up on everything I missed. But sometimes someone will mention something, some story about something that happened while I was away, and they’ll be laughing about it, or talking about how well it went, and sometimes it’s hard thinking about how they all got on with their lives without me.”
The Big Sir case had come up in conversation once, about how Iris and Harry had successfully taken the real killer down even if they hadn’t managed to get a confession out of him. As he’d listened to how Harry had been the one to figure out how to counteract the effects of the shrinking gun, how he and Iris had worked together to successfully outsmart and capture Rundin so Joe could arrest him, Barry had thought about how they all seemed to have been doing so well without him, how Team Flash seemed to have been getting along just fine without a Flash. Not once did anyone mention that if it wasn’t for Barry, they wouldn’t have ever been working that case at all.
“I get it,” Wally began. “I remember when I felt like I was the spare part on the team. And I still think leaving was the right decision for me. I’m going to be joining Sara Lance’s team, and I’m happy. They have need of me there. But you…you’re never gonna be the spare part. You might feel like that now, hearing the way they all talk about that time, but trust me, you were missed. Iris was calling me every night talking about how much she was missing you, and she’d tell me how the whole team missed you. You really haven’t been replaced by Ralph, or anyone. We’ve all had moments of feeling like that.”
“Take me, that time Ralph wouldn’t shut up about hanging out with Killer Frost, and I started wondering if everyone liked Killer Frost better,” Caitlin stepped out from behind Wally. “He called us,” she went on to explain. “Thought you might need to hear it from all of us.” She gestured behind to where Ralph, Cisco, Iris and Harry were standing.
“The guys’ night out Cisco mentioned yesterday?” Ralph went on. “What he didn’t mention is that he spent the entire time talking about how much more fun we’d have had with you. Well, he was talking about hoping to have another opportunity to get you drunk again…”
“Believe me, I’m working on it,” Cisco laughed. “Something better than your bachelor party, which hopefully will mean we all have a good time without Harry needing to bail us all out again.”
“And the metahumans we caught,” Harry went on, “we figured it all out, but it would have gone a lot better with you there. We were struggling the entire time.”
“And you’re the one who made me realise that I could change, that I could be a hero, a good friend, like the rest of the team. I may have taken the form of DeVoe for your appeal, but I could never have done that without you. Now, are you gonna let us quit the mushy stuff and come have a beer with us, or am I gonna have to get Killer Frost to give you a pep talk like she gave me?” Ralph asked.
“Trust us all on this,” Iris stepped out from behind Ralph, “Team Flash most definitely needs its Flash.”
As Barry looked around at all his friends, he realised they were right.