Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/ works/8260025. Rating: Explicit Archive Warning: Underage Category: M/M Fandom: The_Flash_(TV_2014) Relationship: Barry_Allen_&_Leonard_Snart, Captain_Cold_&_The_Flash, Mick_Rory/Leonard Snart, Barry_Allen/Leonard_Snart/Eddie_Thawne, Barry_Allen/Eddie_Thawne Character: Barry_Allen, Leonard_Snart, Mick_Rory, Original_Harrison_Wells, Cisco Ramon, Iris_West, Eddie_Thawne, Henry_Allen, Nora_Allen, Caitlin_Snow Additional Tags: Drug_Use, Drunk_Sex, Underage_Sex, Alternate_Universe_-_Student/Teacher, Teacher-Student_Relationship, Self-Harm, Alternate_Universe_-_High_School Collections: Coldflash_Big_Bang_2016 Stats: Published: 2016-10-11 Updated: 2016-10-31 Chapters: 6/11 Words: 18076 ****** Varsity ****** by DustinMcDreamy Summary Two husbands, an aspiring athlete, a desperate and unethical scientist, a taboo student/teacher relationship, a drunk night, a steroid, one mutually beneficial agreement that works out for everyone.........and the problems that go with it. How far do you go to get what you want? ***** Chapter One *****             Barry Allen sat on the school bus seat closest to the aisle with his best guy friend Oliver Queen right next to him, his best girl friend Iris West on the other inner aisle seat, and Iris’s boyfriend Eddie Thawne next to her. He had his teammate Cisco a seat ahead of him, and many of his fellow classmates were on the nearly packed bus as well. The students were on a trip to visit Northern Metropolis University. This was one of many ‘field trip’ days where the seniors got to visit college prospects. Many seniors went just to get out of classes, but Barry had been waiting for the day he would get to see this campus for himself. Northern Metropolis was Barry’s number one college pick. They had the best track and field team in the time zone, and Barry was actually being spotted by a recruiter from this school. Barry had sent out a few applications to a few other schools already, but none of them could compare to ‘No Met’.             Barry had already received one rejection letter from Star City College, but he had no intentions of going there at all. Oliver did, though. Star City was his personal top pick. Barry couldn’t understand why. Star City needed a lot of improvements. But still, even though Barry wanted to be with his friend, he was happy for Oliver.             The bus parked and the students all slowly but surely crept off of the bus. Barry suddenly regretted insisting that his squad claim the back seats before anyone else. It was too slow of a pace for Barry’s preference. He and his friends inched their way off of the bus and took in the beauty that was their campus.             “Listen up!” Ms. Spivot announced. “Last names A through H with me, I through P are with Mrs. Hall, and Q through Z are with Mr. Palmer.”             “The three of us all got Palmy Palmer,” Cisco said with a disgusted tone, making Eddie laugh.             “Why is he called that?” Iris asked innocently.             “Look at him,” Cisco explained. “He took his right hand as his date to his senior prom.”             “I heard he used to date Mrs. Hall before she left him for her husband,” Eddie said.             “You guys are terrible,” Iris said.             “Barry!” Coach Rory announced, gesturing for Barry to come over to him.             “I wouldn’t have gotten to be in your group anyways,” Barry said. “Coach and I are getting a tour with a recruiter.”             “That’s exciting, Barry,” Iris said positively.             “Allen!” Mr. Rory exclaimed sternly.             “And that’s my last warning. I’ll catch you guys later,” Barry said as he walked towards his coach. “Sup, Coach?”             “Come on, the recruiter will be waiting for us at the University Center,” Mick said in a very to-the-point manner.             “Where’s the excitement? This is a big day!” Barry said cheerily.             “It’s only a big day if you don’t fuck it up. I’ll be excited when you win state and get yourself into a good school,” Rory explained.             “Well let’s be positive. This is my number one school,” Barry replied.             “Then like I said; don’t fuck it up.”             Barry enjoyed the walk to the University Center. He watched the students as they walked by with their backpacks. The concept of going to school just seemed cooler here than in high school. He saw some guys riding longboards down the pathways of campus. Barry thought that was so cool. The two of them reached the university center, and Barry was in awe of how beautiful it was. There was a Starbucks, and Auntie Anne’s, a store full of Metropolis Supermen gear. Barry thought their mascot was so cheesy. It was a little cartoon superhero with the schools colors: blue and red. But Barry knew deep down he wanted to be one. The university center also had these big lounge areas with colorful blue and red recliners and sofas. Students were just relaxing and socializing with their peers. Barry thought about his friends who were seeing their own tour right now. Barry had heard many friend groups split up after high school. Barry hoped that he would meet new friends on campus in case that really did happen.             The recruiter was a really nice and warm guy. Other college representatives were too fake and scripted in Barry’s eyes, but this guy seemed very genuine. He answered all of Barry’s questions really well, and made Barry feel comfortable.             Barry’s favorite building were the science buildings. There was Science North and Science South because the school offered such a large variety of science and math based programs. Barry wanted to be a forensic scientist because he loved watching police shows on TV. He wanted to be a superhero and catch the bad guys. Maybe the mascot wasn’t too corny after all. One of the reasons ‘No Met’ was one of his top picks was because of the renowned science programs, which was one of the best in the country, let alone the region.             The recruiter showed Mick and Barry the athletic fitness center, which was smaller but separate from the student’s fitness center. Barry admired the up to date machinery and the atmosphere. It was significantly less dingy than the gross gym they had at Central High.             “We need this kind of gym, Coach, Barry teased.             “Yeah right,” Rory scoffed. “Central High can’t afford a new paint job, let alone new machinery.”             “We are very fortunate to have a very popular sporting program and wonderful donations from our successful graduates,” the recruiter said.             “And this is for athletes only?” Barry asked.             “Yes, but the other fitness center can be utilized as well 24/7, excluding holidays,” the recruiter said. “If you do well enough at the upcoming regionals, and then state down the road, you could be a Superman here.”             Barry smiled and looked around the room. “I want to be a Superman.” Mick smiled at Barry. Barry was one of the best athletes he had the privilege to coach in a long time.               Barry got home that day beaming with happiness. Iris came over and the two of them popped popcorn, brought out their one dollar candies from Walmart (because even gas station candy is getting too expensive) and put in Star Wars: The Force Awakens for their weekly movie night which Eddie was never invited to.             “I am so Rey. Rey is so me. When Eddie tries to give me attitude, I like, use the force and then I have power over him,” Iris said, enthusiastically gesturing to the scene where Rey breaks free from Kylo Ren’s captivity.             “I’m pretty sure that’s just him being whipped and wanting a blowjob,” Barry teased.             Iris gasped and playfully hit Barry. “STOP! Oh my god!” Iris was blushing hardcore. “We do not need to discuss anything related to that.”             Barry chuckled and rolled his eyes. “I know you two do it. Don’t act so naïve.” Iris was bashfully quiet, avoiding Barry’s gaze. “Iris, I’m sorry, you’re right, it’s none of my business.”             “We haven’t done it,” she said embarrassed.             “Whaaaaaaat?” Barry gasped.             “I know! We’re seniors, we’ve dated a long, long time, but I’ve just never felt completely comfortable with the idea yet,” Iris explained.             “Wow. On the bright side, I’m significantly happier knowing I’m not the only one not getting laid. I don’t have to feel as bad,” Barry teased.             “Oh my god, this conversation is completely over and done with. You will not say a word to Eddie at all. Understood?” Iris asked.             “Completely,” Barry promised.             They sat in silence for a bit, watching the movie intently, when Barry glimpsed over at his best friend, who he has known since he was born because his father and her father were best friends. “Iris,” Barry started. “Do you ever worry that…..that things might change too much after we graduate?”             Iris looked over at a solemn looking Barry. “What do you mean?”             Barry sighed. “Everyone says you lose your friends after high school, and that if you don’t believe that, you’re naïve. What if we go to different schools? What if we don’t come back for summers?”             “Barry, el tem stop you there,” Iris said, pausing the DVD, turning to Barry and holding his hands. “You have been my best friend all my life. Boyfriends have come and go, but you have always been at my side. You told me I was the first person you came out to. You were there for me when my mom came back into my life after abandoning me, dropped off her son I never knew about, and then died right as I was getting to know her. Life might get in the way, I would be naïve to think that too. We’re going to be busy with school and organizations, and everything. But we will never stop being in each other’s lives! We’re going to graduate, and we are going to live in the same city. Maybe even together if neither of us have boyfriends.”             “I’m telling Eddie you’re giving up on him,” Barry teased.             Iris laughed at the joke, and smiled contently. “It’s because I am realistic. And realistically, nothing is going to come between us. And if something does, we’ll overcome it, like we’ve overcome everything so far; together.”             Barry smiled, his eyes were watering. He wrapped his arms around his best friend and held her tight. “I love you so much, Iris.”             Iris reciprocated the hug. “I love you too, Bare.”                               Rory got home late that night because of the field trip. His husband Leonard was sitting at the kitchen table, looking stressed. There were papers scattered all on the table in front of him. Mick walked over and placed a kiss on his husband’s head. “What’s wrong, Len?” he asked.             “You and I both received a pink slip that went out to about 25 percent of the staff in the entire schooling district. Thanks to the state’s budget, many teachers are at risk for termination at the end of the school year,” Leonard said.             Mick’s heart sunk in his chest. “They can’t fire 25 percent of the entire school district. This can’t be a guaranteed thing.”             “No, it’s not,” Leonard said. “But not knowing almost makes it worse. We just have to cling to hope that our marks are good enough to convince them to keep our contracts. In the meantime, I’ve been looking over our finances to see what happens if one or both of us doesn’t survive this.”             Mick stood behind Leonard’s chair, placed his hands on Len’s shoulder and neck area and began to massage his husband.             “Everything is going to work out,” Mick said assuringly.             “I’ll tell you what,” Leonard said. “If Barry does well at regionals and state, the school will keep you around. Central High hasn’t had an athletic success like him in a long time.”             “And what about you?” Mick asked.             “Me? I’m just an ordinary teacher. One of half a dozen science instructors. They don’t need me,” Len said solemnly.             “Hey,” Mick said, stepping to the side of Len, and squatting down to meet his eye level. He looked deep into his lover’s eyes. “You’re extraordinary to me, and I need you more than anything else in the world.” He kissed his lover tenderly and stroked his face before they pulled their lips apart.             “Thank you,” Len said.             Mick stood up and headed over to his keys. “If you don’t mind, I think I need a drink.”             “That’s fine, just be smart. Call me if you need me to pick you up. Don’t be stupid,” Len said.             “Okay,” Mick said, taking one small step.             “I mean it, Michael,” Len said sternly. “I don’t mind if you drink, but please don’t do anything else.”             Mick looked at Leonard knowingly and vulnerably. He shook his head softly. “I promise. I’m not going to get like that tonight.”             Len nodded and took a breath. “Thank you. I love you.”             “I love you too,” Mick said before he walked out the door. He took the phone out of his pocket and sent a quick text to a friend of his who responded with ‘I’ll be there’. He got in the car and drove to his favorite bar in the city: Sinners and Saints. He sat at the bar and ordered a shot of vodka and a beer. He took the shot first because he definitely needed to destress as soon as possible, and there was something wonderful about something one-tenth the size of a beer containing about five times the alcohol content. Rory watched the baseball game on the TV and finished his first beer by the time his friend appeared.             “Hello, Wells,” Mick said.             “Rory,” Harrison greeted. “Having any trouble with the Mister?”             “You wish,” Mick teased. Harrison smirked at the idea. “Len and I might be getting fired due to budget cuts at the end of the year.”             “I see,” Harrison said as the bartender slid him a beer. “I am sure you don’t have much to worry about. The schools are always going to drastic measures. The state gives more money than they say they will, the schools have loaded reserves that don’t get reduced as drastically as they wish us to believe. You and Leonard are excellent teachers.”             “Thank you for the concern, but I’m not so sure,” Mick said. “This kind of news has been around for a few years. We officially got some notices.”             “Well I’m sure Len could easily get hired at one of the STAR Labs throughout the country. I’m not sure if he’d be comfortable with working with me here in Central City, but wherever he went I’d be willing to give a recommendation,” Harrison offered.             “Thank you, Harrison. That’s very kind to offer. We’ll have to find out for sure though if we get the boot,” Mick replied.             “Of course. Either way, I’ll stay optimistic for you,” Wells said.             “Thank you, Wells. How is STAR Labs going anyways? What are you working on currently?” Mick asked.             “I, personally, have been working on a type of metabolism booster to increase not only metabolism but speed, strength, and restoration rates. I think it would have great effects for our military,” Wells explained.             “Sounds like a steroid,” Mick said.             “Not your regular steroid. Something better. I’ve ran some tests on it and it actually hasn’t appeared on regular drug tests for steroids,” Wells said.             “Why’s that?” Mick asked.             “It’s an entirely different chemical compound. It’s had great effects on the animal testing, but the FDA won’t let me continue with human trials. My sponsors aren’t going to particularly like it. My program is going to be scrapped,” Wells said bitterly.             “I’m sorry your hard work has gone to waste,” Mick said sympathetically.             Wells sighed. “It wouldn’t be the first time in my life, Michael.”             Mick understood what he meant and took another drink of his beer.             “I am this close to paying people to take this drug just to finish my damn research,” Wells said.             “How illegal is that?” Mick asked.             “Very,” Wells said. “But I know it’s safe, and I just really want to see this completed.”             “Well let me know when you found your super soldiers so I can stay the fuck away from them,” Rory said.             “I’ll send them after your superintendent to make sure you and Len keep your jobs,” Wells joked.             “I’d like to see that rat’s ass kicked,” Mick said. Mick looked over at the clock on the wall. “I have to head back home. Len’s worried that I might, you know.” He began vaguely gesturing with his hands, rolling them in circles and then gesturing them upwards.             Wells raised an eyebrow at Mick. “Is that still a concern?”             Mick shrugged. “Once or twice.” Wells nodded understandingly.             “Get home to your husband,” Wells said. There wasn’t coldness in his tone, and it wasn’t pointed, but Mick felt something sharp in the sentence, understandably.             “Thank you for coming out, Wells. You’re still one of the only friends I have,” Mick said.             “I am painfully aware,” Wells teased.  “Have a good night, Rory.”             Mick gave Harrison a nod before headed out of the bar.               Iris had left Barry’s house a little over an hour ago, and Barry was playing a videogame on his Playstation. Barry felt his mouth uncomfortably dry up so he hit pause and started to head out of his room and to downstairs for a drink. He approached the stairwell, but paused himself when he heard his parents talking.             “We’re going to get Barry to college, don’t worry,” Henry said.             “I’m not sure how. There is a limit on how much in loans students are allowed to take out. The rest has to be covered with grants or scholarships or us,” Nora said.             “Barry’s got that Track scholarship in the bag,” Henry assured.             “What if he doesn’t? Barry’s grades aren’t that great. Athletes need a certain GPA and we both know Barry has cut it close one too many times, and college is a whole ‘nother ballpark. We don’t know if he’ll improve or do worse,” Nora said.             “Have some faith in our kid, he’ll be fine,” Henry said.             “Fine is not good enough, Henry. Look at the tuition for this school. This is Barry’s favorite school. I want him to go, I do, but it’s three hours away. Barry’s going to need a housing contract, and we’re looking at double the cost. They offer parent loans, but honey, I don’t think we can financially handle that. Not with all of my…medical bills,” Nora explained, holding back tears. “It’s all my fault we can’t afford to send our child to school.”             “That’s not true, Nora,” Henry consoled. “We’re going to find a way. Let’s panic after the season has ended.”             “Okay, okay,” Nora said quietly. Barry headed back to his room, quietly as he could, and curled up in his bed, defeated. The thought of not possibly attending school was crushing, devastating. He grabbed his remote and turned his TV off and reached over to his lamp, clicked off the lights, and tried his best to fall asleep. ***** Chapter Two *****               Barry knocked on the open door of Mr. Snart’s classroom. It was sixth hour, the second to last class of the day. Barry was supposed to be in his English class, but he knew that his favorite teacher didn’t have a class at this hour.             Len was standing at his desk/science table that was at the front of the classroom. He glanced over at the door, despite knowing that the only person that would be at his door at this hour was Barry Allen. “Barry,” Len said dryly.             “Mr. Snart, may I stay here for a while?” Barry asked.             “Only if you work on homework,” Len replied, which was not going to happen. Barry would open up his folders and notebook, complete one problem at most, and then they would spend the whole hour talking. Like clockwork, Barry carried his backpack to his favorite spot, and sat down. Len didn’t watch as the sounds of Barry unzipping his backpack filled the otherwise silence in the classroom. Len had about ten more seconds to finish grading this quiz before he knew he wouldn’t be able to.             Barry set one textbook on the table. It landed with a heavy thud. He flipped the pages of his notebook, one by one. The flapping noise reoccurred at pristine intervals. Len put an ‘X’ on the last question of the quiz and flipped to the front page where he wrote ‘42/50’ on the top.             “Hey Mr. Snart,” Barry addressed.             Snart had a faint smile. Barry was predictable, but so was he. Barry knew how this work work just as much as Len did. Snart never said ‘no’ to Barry. Barry wasn’t sure that he could. But Barry respected Mr. Snart, and it’s not like he usedLen. Barry only came here when he needed to, which was only about once a week; twice, at most.             “Yes?” Len asked, finally looking up at the boy. He was exactly the type of boy Len was attracted to in high school and college. Slender, boyish charm, brunette hair that always looked like Barry just had some phenomenal sex. Len felt shame for ogling Barry this way. It wasn’t appropriate, not to mention illegal. Barry was eighteen, but he was still a student of this school. He knew that gay men always had the stereotype of being pervish and predatory, and Len hated feeing like he fit that stereotype. But he did, and he was, and he tried his best to bury those demons.             “I’m really worried about college,” Barry confessed. “Last night I overheard my parents saying that if I don’t get this scholarship for Track then they probably can’t afford to send me to school. And it’s my fault, I don’t have the grades. There are a bunch of athletes out there just as good as me, with better grades and test scores.”             “Well, skipping English doesn’t help,” Len said without thinking. The hurt on Barry’s face was instant. Len’s heart wrenched at the fact knowing he did that to Barry. “I-I didn’t mean it like that, Barry. I’m sorry. That was rude and unfair of me to say.”             “No, you’re right. I’ve never tried very hard. I took school for granted,” Barry agreed.             “That’s not the complete truth. You are the best student I’ve had. You got the best marks in every science class you’ve had of mine, and this is our third year together,” Len argued. Len secretly liked the way their third year together sounded.             “But I could have tried harder. But now it’s too late and my future is ruined because I didn’t take this seriously enough,” Barry replied.             “It’s not too late. You still have your ACTs, and there are plenty of ways to afford college. If your family does have trouble there are some need-based grants. If you can get through your freshman year, become an RA and the school will pay for your housing contract,” Len explained.             Barry sighed and smiled. “Do you really think I could be an RA?”             Len smiled back at him. “You have the personality for it, but you’ll have to make good grades your freshman year, and keep them. They often have grade requirements.”             “Do you think I’ll do better in college?” Barry asked.             “You’ll have to work hard, but possibly. You’ll only have five classes, and those classes only meet once or twice a week,” Len replied.             Barry’s jaw dropped. “Are you serious?”             Len chuckled. “Yes, also don’t sign up for any eight or nine am classes. You can’t do it. I have faith in you for a lot of things, but not forcing yourself out of bed that early.”             “I do that now, though,” Barry argued.             “Trust me, it sucks in college,” Len said. “Don’t take early classes, you’ll only hate yourself.”             Barry smiled from the humor. “I do trust you, Mr. Snart.”             Len’s heart warmed at that, but he glanced over at the framed photo of him and Mick at their wedding day, took a deep breath, and grabbed another quiz to grade.               Mick Rory stood with the recruiter from Northern Metropolis while Barry did time trials around the track.             “How did you get such a performer out of this one, Mick?” the recruiter asked.             “Well, he had enough raw talent before he got here, but we just worked on his strengths more, fine-tuned his form and technique, and kept setting reachable goals for his next level,” Rory responded.             “Well he is one stellar athlete,” the recruiter said. “Honestly, all he needs to do is qualify for state and do moderately decently there and he’s a sure thing. Everyone on my team is impressed and wants him at ‘No Met’.”             “Really? That’s all he has to do?” Mick asked, proudly.             “Pretty much, but we advise not saying that to him. We don’t want him getting lazy and cocky, it’ll affect his performance,” the recruiter said.             “Of course,” Mick said.             “See you at regionals, Mick,” the recruiter said before heading back to his car. Barry jogged up a few moments later, beaming with hope and enthusiasm.             “Any good news, coach?” Barry asked.             “He said he hopes you suck dick better than you run,” Rory teased. Mick sounded serious with everything he said, but Barry knew he wasn’t serious, and thought it was funny.             “Not as good as you, coach,” Barry clapped back. Rory chuckled at the spirit in this kid.             “Go do two more laps,” he ordered.             “Yes, sir.”               Len was cooking pasta when Mick finally got home from work. He inhaled sharply through his nose and smiled. “That smells delicious.” He walked over to Len and kissed him, grabbing his ass with excitement. Len’s smile grew under their pressed lips. “I hate not being able to do that at school.”             Len chuckled. “That hasn’t stopped you before.”             “I wish I could ravage you at school. I think about it at least four times a day,” Mick said.             “The PTA would go nuts,” Leonard replied.             “They can enjoy the show. Especially the hot single dads,” Mick teased.             “You know me, Mick, I don’t like to share,” Len relied jokingly back.             Mick seductively placed a kiss on Len’s neck that sent shivers over his body and simultaneously ran his hands up Len’s sides. “But I am more than willing to share you.”             “The shit that comes out of your mouth. Why did I marry you?” Len ridiculed.             “Because of how well I put things into my mouth,” Mick replied confidently, pulling Len close and grinding their cocks together.             “Should we put dinner off?” Len asked.             “Definitely,” Mick responded. Len turned the heaters off the stove and left everything as it was while Mick picked Len up and carried him to their bedroom.                            “Are you excited for the regional meet on Saturday?” Len asked, wrapped up naked in his husband's arms, watching a Netflix movie on their bedroom TV.             “Eh. I’m not excited about having to be at the school on a Saturday. I’d rather spend all day in bed with you. Or without you. By ‘all day in bed’, I meant sleeping,” Mick said.             “You’re an ass,” Len said. “I hope Barry does well. He wasn’t himself today.”             “What do you mean?” Mick asked, concerned.             Len sighed, looking pensive as to what he should say. “Barry stopped by my class today during my prep period again, and he was worried he wouldn’t be able to get into college because he overheard his parents saying that they couldn’t afford to send him if he didn’t get this track scholarship. I tried to cheer him up and ease his mind.”             “Huh. Well he definitely seemed bright and chipper at practice, so maybe you helped him,” Mick said. “I hope when we have a kid he turns out to be like Barry.”             Thinking of his own theoretical and child compared with Barry gave him an uncomfortable feeling. “I hope so too,” Len lied, trying not to end the conversation on a bad or awkward note. “But I’m tired, I'm going to try to fall asleep.”             “Is it ok if I finish this movie?” Mick asked.             “If you wake me, I’m elbowing you in the gut,” Len threatened.             “I’ll risk it,” Mick said, kissing his lover on the forehead. "Just need to go to the bathroom really quick." Mick left his bed and Len in it, headed into the bathroom and closed the door. He turned on a water faucet, trying to drown the room in noise. He unlocked his cell phone and dialed Harrison Well's number.             “Mick, it’s late,” Harrison said, slightly annoyed.             “I know,” Mick said. “But I have a question. How serious were you yesterday, about your velocity thing? Because I have an idea.” ***** Chapter Three ***** Chapter Notes Sex scene! Which I am terrible at writing! But so is all my writing! So yay!               Friday went by at a slowly pace for Barry. It wasn’t a bad Friday, but nothing exciting really happened in any of his classes, aside from a lab in Mr. Snart’s class. Barry carefully combined two of the ingredients in a beaker and swirled it gently until it crystalized into a round disk with a dazzling swirl pattern. The other students didn’t do anything to their beakers while their ingredients crystalized, leaving them with regular lumpy chunks of crystal. Len walked over to Barry and looked at what Barry had come up with.             “It’s pretty,” Len said, picking up his worksheet, glancing it over. “And all your math looks correct. Good job, Allen.”             Barry smiled at his teacher’s praise, and as Len walked away, they both held eye contact with one another maybe just a moment too long. It made Barry’s heart flutter. He knew it was silly, having a crush on a teacher. It was the most stereotypical thing on the planet. But Barry was lying if he said he didn’t fantasize to the idea, or that his favorite porn genre was teachers and students. Barry has definitely masturbated to the scenarios in those films, but with him and Mr. Snart instead of the actors. But Barry felt bad because he had nothing but respect for Coach Rory, and the two of them were together. Barry occasionally wondered what a three way with the both of them would be like. He thought Coach was attractive, and he was a big fan of Coach and Athlete porn, but there was no substancebetween him and Coach to generate a crush.             Barry got home from school that day. There was no practice so the athletes could be prime and rested for the meet tomorrow. Barry set his backpack on a chair and saw a letter from a school in Iowa that Barry had a third or fourth choice. He ripped open the letter and his dad entered and saw Barry look over the letter.             “I didn’t get in,” Barry said defeated.             Henry sighed. “You didn’t want to go there anyways. It’s too prestigious anyways. It’s probably full of snobs.”             “It had a pretty good forensics program,” Barry said.             “Hey, listen. No matter where you get your degree, you’re going to learn a lot of things, and you’re going to be prepared, and you’re going to do great. Employers are going to see you for the fantastic and wonderful person you are, not that you went to some school in friggin’ Iowa. Nobody likes Iowa,” Henry reasoned.             “Dad,” Barry interrupted. “Just let it go.” Barry got up from the table and solemnly headed up the stairs to his bedroom. He collapsed onto his bed and played the Pretty Oddalbum on his phone. Barry just laid awake, feeling inadequate as a student. Did Barry even deserve to go to college? Was he a good person? Was this karma for something he had done? Maybe Barry was just destined to not have his dreams come true. He wasn’t going to get Mr. Snart to love him, and he wasn’t going to go to college anytime soon.             His phone buzzed as he got a text from Cisco.                         YEA ILL BE THERE                         Barry and Cisco showed up at Eobard’s house and knocked on the door. The ‘bouncer’ who opened the door looked like a college student, but had serious muscles. He was likely on the wrestling team. Eobard looked at Barry and Cisco, who were not necessarily the most popular guys in school. Eobard looked at the two of them, not with warm eyes. The three of them didn’t get along much.             “Barry,” Eobard said with a slight hint of test. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”             “To paint our fingernails,” Cisco said. “What do you think?”             “Cisco,” Barry said reprimanding his rude behavior, placing his hand on his friend’s shoulder.  “Dude, it’s Eo’s house. You don’t insult the host and then expect him to let you drink his booze.”             Eobard smiled triumphantly. “You’re a very smart man, Allen. You can come in. So can Ramon, but you have to teach him how to respect and behave.”             “I will, we appreciate it, Eobard,” Barry replied. He looked at Cisco expectantly, and then have him a hard nudge.             “Thank you, Eo,” Cisco said almost unwillingly. Eobard was pleased and stepped aside so they could enter. They walked their way deep into the house.             “I told you that would get us in,” Cisco said proudly.             “I shouldn’t have doubted you,” Barry complimented.             They entered the kitchen where a bunch of students were congregated and socializing amongst one another. Barry grabbed a red solo cup and walked up to four coolers. They were labeled ‘jungle juice’, ‘rum punch’, ‘electric lemonade’ and ‘water’. At least Eobard was somewhat smart to let people try to sober up. He filled his up with the electric lemonade. It looked like a berry flavor. He took a sip and it tasted pretty smooth and easy to drink. He continued to proceed into the living room. The music was playing loudly on the speakers and surround system that was set up.             Oliver was dancing with a girl named Felicity, who he had a crush on. Oliver locked eyes with Barry and smiled widely. Barry gave him a proud thumbs up. Barry danced to his own groove as he drank his cup. He finished his first drink rather quickly and proceeded to get his second. He decided to try the jungle juice this time, which was slightly stronger, but still decently smooth. Eobard was a surprising mixologist. He went outside onto the deck and backyard where more music was playing. Students were hanging out on the plethora of patio furniture. There were about six different lounge areas. Barry wondered what kind of outdoor parties Eo’s parents threw. Kids were jumping into the pool and swimming. Barry locked eyes with Eddie talking to one of their classmates. Eddie smiled at Barry and gestured him to come over.             “Barry! I’m glad to see you!” Eddie exclaimed.             Barry was starting to feel buzzed and he smiled widely at the statement. “Aw, really? Well, thank you, Eddie.”             “I’m going to walk around more and let you guys talk,” their classmate, Stephen said.             “See ya, Stephen,” Eddie said as his friend walked away. Barry watched as Eddie lowered his eyes and the corners of his lips gently curled up in a quarter of a smile. Eddie also blatantly elevator eyed Barry’s outfit. Barry was smiling, knowing he had caught Eddie.             “You just checked out Stephen, and you just ogled me!” Barry claimed.             Eddie looked bashful and embarrassed. “I did not!” Eddie argued.             “Yes you did! You looked at his ass! And I know because I’ve looked at his ass, and he has a great ass,” Barry teased.             Eddie began to turn red and bit his lip, looking away from Barry. “Yeah, yeah, I’m sort of…bisexual,” Eddie confessed.             Barry beamed with pride and gave his friend a hug. “Well, congratulations, my man! Coming out is great!” They let go of each other, but Eddie’s touch slightly lingered. “And don’t worry, I won’t out you, I know what that’s like.”             “Well, thank you, Barry,” Eddie said. “I uh, actually always thought you were really cute, actually.”             Barry blushed bright red. Not many people told him he was cute. Especially someone as attractive as Eddie. He was hot; Barry had seen him shirtless a few times in the locker room and swimming occasionally. “Well, thank you, Eddie.”             “The weird part is that I’m with Iris and I want to do things with her, but I also want to know what things would feel like with a guy,” Eddie confessed.             “Yeah, I feel you. I haven’t done anything with a guy either. I really want to…” Barry hesistated bashfully. “Naw, it’s too much information.”             Eddie chuckled. “I just came out to you, you can feel comfortable to talk to me.” He took a step closer to Barry, closing the space between them. “It’s ok, Barry, we’re friends. Tell me everything you want to do, what you want done to you.”             Barry gulped and started to feel some blood rush to his dick. “I, uh, I really want to suck a dick, and get…fucked.”             Eddie smiled devilishly and looked Barry straight in the eye. “I’d also like to know what someone’s mouth on my dick feels like, and what it would feel like to be inside someone.”             Fuck. What was happening? Barry got nervous. His best friend in the whole world’s boyfriend was blatantly hitting on him.             “I’d also really want to know what it would feel like to have my face buried between someone’s ass and just Go. To. Town,” Eddie added.             Barry’s heart skipped a beat and he was rock solid now. He took several gulps of his drink and when his solo glass no longer obstructed his view, Len was standing in front of him.             “Do you find me attractive, Barry Allen?” Len asked.             “W-what?” Barry asked nervously. Len slid his hand up Barry’s arm.             “I bet you want me to eat out that sweet ass of yours. You want to lose your virginity to me, don’t you?” Len asked.             Barry looked straight into Len’s deep, beautiful eyes that made Barry feel frozen, sending goosebumps over his body.             “I do,” Barry admitted.             He blinked, and Eddie was right in front of him. “Let’s go to my place, Bare,” he ordered.             Barry finished his cup and nodded. “Yes.”               Mick arrived at STAR Labs late that night. Leonard had already gone to bed, and Mick had snuck out to do what had to be done. He waltzed up to the door and hit a buzzer. The sound of the entrance electronically unlocking was the only noise in the quiet night.             Mick thought that STAR Labs was actually quite creepy. Most of the lights were dimmed, as most people had left. Still, Mick knew how to get to Harrison’s laboratory or else getting lost in this maze would have likely resulted in Mick’s literal death. He could market the next horror survival video game.             Harrison was at his computer, looking at something very intensely. He didn’t move when Mick slid the glass door open and walked into the room.             “Let me have just a moment to finish this up,” Harrison said, typing on his laptop.             Mick nervously paced around as Harrison seemed to endlessly dwell on whatever it was he was doing.             “Stop moving, you’re very distracting,” Harrison said.             “Well your office sucks,” Mick replied.             Harrison got up from his computer and gestured for Mick to follow him. Harrison led Mick to a touch screen on his wall. Harrison typed in his password, and navigated the screens until a section of the wall emerged. A glass, refrigerated cabinet was revealed to Harrison and Mick. Harrison approached and plucked one yellow vial from a collection. He held it in front of Mick and moved it around.             “This is my greatest project,” Harrison said. “Speed and time are integral factors in numerous equations and most aspects of our lives whether we realize it or not. I am very proud of my work. Don’t mess it up.”             Mick grabbed the vial and looked at it curiously. “How is it administered?” Harrison walked over to a desk and opened a drawer. He removed a metal instrument that looked like a combination of a gun and that tool mathematicians use to draw perfect circles. “Jesus Christ.”             “Intimidating, yes, but easy to load. Veins in the back work best,” Harrison stated as he placed the tool in Mick’s hands.             “Barry won’t go for this shit,” Mick said, defeated.             “He technically doesn’t have to,” Harrison said. “I’ll keep my grant money.”             “I’m trying to think of the best way to convince him,” Mick replied solemnly.             “Exploit his weaknesses. Make him fear and feel like this is the only way to keep his precious scholarship,” Harrison encouraged.             “This is a boy we’re taking about. With his whole future ahead of him,” Mick said angrily.             “And what about your future with Leonard? One or both of you might get fired. You’ll lose your house. What about adopting a child? We both know Barry will get that scholarship and be alright. But what about you?” Harrison asked.             Mick stood there, looking at the vial of Velocity and the injector long and hard, internally debating whether or not this was the best choice.             “Fifteen grand, Mick,” Harrison encouraged. “I need just a small sample of data to send to my donors.”             “And then what?” Mick asked.             “I’ll get more money. They’ll buy on the low. I don’t care. I just know they’re rich, powerful, and want this badly and quick,” Harrison replied.             “So it’s about you?” Mick asked.             “It’s about all of us. Your family. Barry’s only chance at school. My life’s work. We can all be selfish together and we can all get what we want,” Harrison replied.             Mick took a deep breath and gripped onto the tools. “I will do what I can.”             Mick left the lab in a rush and didn’t remember getting in his car or getting onto the road. He was about to test dangerous, illegal drugs onto a kid, his star athlete, who didn’t deserve anything bad. Mick parked the car in a field by some woods, took a backpack and a duffle bag out of the trunk, and Mick trekked into the woods before finally reaching a cemented area. Mick put on gloves and a bandana around his mouth before he opened the duffle bag and took a one gallon canister of gasoline out of it and walked around the cement. He took a lighter out of his pocket, lit it, and dropped it on the ground. Fire stretched all around him in an intricate pattern. Mick walked between two paths of fire, arms stretched out, feeling the heat around him. He removed one of his glove and knelt to put his hand over a fire. He kept slowly lowering his hand lower and lower, his face writhing in some pain before he pulled it back.             Mick stood back up, and removed the backpack from his shoukders, watching the flames before taking out a photo album that contained younger photos of himself and Harrison. The photos featured the two of them at family functions, two separate weddings, and numerous date locations like the zoo and a science museum.  Mick pulled one out of the two of them kissing and looked deep at it. It was a selfie that was taken on a disposable camera on their first date to a fair their freshman year of college. Mick flipped over the photo and saw the ink writing that read ‘First Kiss: 10/11/08’. Mick walked up to the fire and dropped a photo into the flames. He looked intently as it writhed up, shriveled, and burnt.             One by one, Mick kept dropping photos of the two of them into the red, occasionally running his hands over the flames. Mick put his photo album back into the backpack, and took out a small fire hydrant from his duffle bag. Mick pulled the pin and began to spray the foam onto the fires throughout the concrete pavement until the night was dark again.             When Mick got to his car, he carefully opened his backpack, slowly brought out a giant container of aloe vera, and began to lather his hands with it. Mick sighed a breath of relief as his hands cooled and the heat was absorbed. Mick wasn’t sure how he would be able to hide his hands from Len, but that was a problem for Mick to solve in the future. Right now, he just wanted to go home, sleep, and deal with the track meet and his husband in the morning.               Barry and Eddie were making out as they hastily entered Eddie’s bedroom. Eddie grabbed the bottom of Barry’s shirt and raised it up over his head, making him shirtless. Barry returned the favor, but when the shirt was off, it was Leonard standing shirtless before him. Barry ran his hands over his abs and Len placed his hands on Barry’s ass and grabbed it firmly. Len undid his pants and wiggled his way out of them. His erection was stretching his light gray briefs. Barry sunk to his knees and placed his mouth on the bulge. He moved his lips up and down the length, teasingly.             “I don’t want your mouth on just my underwear, Barry. I want to be in that fuckable little mouth of yours,” Len said dominantly. Barry nodded and grabbed the hem of the briefs, and pulled them down. Len’s dick sprung out, bouncing slightly. Barry grabbed the base, admiring it. Barry looked up, seeing Eddie. Eddie brought his hands to rub through Barry’s hair, gently gesturing him to his cock, Barry stuck his tongue out and licked the length of Eddie, making the blonde smile.             “You’re such a tease, Barry,” Eddie said.             Barry smiled and took Eddie into his mouth completely. Barry gripped his thumbs tightly and inhaled strategically through his nose to make his way all the way down his best friend’s lover. Barry moved his tongue around, making sure to use that as well as the space in his mouth filled. Barry felt his throat contract before he made it all the way, and pulled back.             “Oh my gosh, Barry, that feels so good,” Eddie announced. “Please give me more.”             Barry felt confident to keep bobbing his head, occasionally moving his neck, changing the angles on Eddie. Eddie kept cursing and mumbling under his breath. Barry began to taste some of Eddie’s pre cum, and it was pretty decent for Barry; it encouraged him more, so Barry took his tongue and swirled the entire head before diving back in.             “I want to fuck your face,” said a lower, more dominant voice. Barry looked up to see Len, looking down at him. “Hold still. Open wide.” Len placed each of his hands on the back of Barry’s head. Barry maintained direct eye contact as he opened his mouth as wide as he could. Len stepped a bit closer and began to slowly thrust himself in and out of Barry’s mouth. Barry didn’t take his eyes off Len except to blink. “You look so beautiful like this, Barry. You should stay like this all the time.”             Len began to pick up the pace a little. Barry felt slightly embarrassed by the gagging noises of his throat, and how much he was drooling; bridges of spit and precum connecting Barry’s mouth to Len’s cock. “You’re my own personal little whore, and I’m going to use you like one, Barry Allen. Would you like for me to do that?”             Barry gently nodded and Len squatted down to help Barry up. He got up so fast, and he was dizzy from being drunk. When his vision collected, it was Eddie who stood before him, undoing Barry’s pants. “I’ll be nice and blow you too because you shouldn’t miss out on how amazing that was.” Eddie slipped off Barry’s jeans and underwear and made Barry sit on the edge of his bed. He positioned himself in between Barry and began to take Barry into his own mouth. Eddie used his hand along with is mouth, and Barry felt guilty he didn’t because damn, did that feel fantastic. Barry loved rubbing one out daily, and this was like an upgrade. Eddie looked so great down there, and he knew what he was doing. Barry laid himself down onto his back, looking at the ceiling, focusing only on the pleasure he was receiving.             “Eddie, I’m close,” Barry begged. He lifted his head up just slightly enough to look at his lover, only to see his sexy science teacher hovering over his erect cock. “Well we can’t have that, can we?” said the husky older voice. “Lift your legs up for me, baby.” Barry did as he was told and rose the lower half of his body, holding onto his thighs for support. Len smiled and practically purred at the sight. “That’s one beautiful hole. I can’t believe I’m going to be the first one inside of it.” Len lowered his head, using his hands on Barry’s ass, spreading both sides of him away, leaving Barry exposed. Len planted a kiss on Barry’s ass before taking his tongue to it and licking it slowly, sensually. Barry bit his lips as the strange, yet satisfying, wet tongue danced around his sensitive hole, giving him a sensation he never thought to imagine.  His breath hitched as Len pushed his tongue through Barry, moving deep inside of him.             “Oh my god,” Barry moaned. “This is amazing. Don’t stop.”             Len continued to lap Barry up, palming at Barry’s ass as he pleasured his junior.             Barry was already in absolute bliss from the alcohol. The free feeling was even more heightened from the euphoria of everything Len, well really Eddie, was making him feel. The feeling of a warm mouth was removed and Len stood up. Barry was ecstatic that his sex vision of Len featured his teacher’s sexy, thick black nerd glasses. Whenever Len wore those, Barry got excited. He wasn’t sure what about them had that effect on him, but he wasn’t complaining. Len opened a drawer and grabbed a bottle of lube and slicked up his fingers.             “Are you ready to try some fingers, Barry?” Len asked seductively. Barry just nodded, speechless.             Len pushed gently against Barry’s hole, sporting a circular motion to dwell deeper. Barry relished in the feeling he was experiencing in his ass. It felt a little strange, but Barry liked it. Len moved his pointer finger in and out of Barry teasingly.             “This is such a tight hole, Bare. I almost wish I wasn’t loosening you up so I could have had all of you for just my cock,” Len explained. Barry moaned at that. He wanted more, immediately.             “I’m ready, L-Eddie. Please fuck me,” Barry begged.             “I don’t think you’re ready for that, yet, Barry,” Len replied. “I’ll decide when you’re ready.” And with that, Len added a second finger to Barry, causing him to exert beautiful noises as he started to feel stretched.  “I’ve waited a long time for this; you can wait a little more too. Besides, you’re so gorgeous like this. I wish I could see you like this every day.”             The fingers pulled in and out of Barry, turning, rotating. Sometimes they separated partly inside of Barry, loosening up his interior muscles. Len began to pick up the pace, truly finger-fucking Barry. He felt the fingers push against his prostate, and it felt phenomenal.             “Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck,” Barry whimpered. His eyes were shut in pure bliss. “P-please. I want to be fucked. I want to know what it feels like. I can’t take it anymore.”             “As you wish,” said Eddie.             Barry opened his eyes in surprise. No, he wanted Len to be the one for this moment. Barry tried blinking, looking away and looking back, but every time, Eddie was the one at the end of the bed. Eddie slicked up his dick generously.             “I’m going to do you Bare, Bare,” Eddie taunted. “We’re both virgins. I want our first time to feel as great as possible. I want to feel you, Barry.”             Barry was all of a sudden shy, knowing his virginity would be taken by his best friend’s boyfriend, and not Mr. Snart, although it was never really him anyways. But the drunk hallucination made it easier to pretend it was. “Go ahead,” Barry said softly.             Eddie pushed himself into Barry slowly, and damn, was Eddie’s cock a lot larger than just a few fingers. Barry tried to take a deep breath to help with the discomfort.             “Are you okay, baby?” Eddie asked.             The words would have been slightly more comforting if it was his sexy teacher, but Eddie was a friend, and this was a decent way to lose his virginity. At least it wasn’t a love who would eventually break his heart, and additionally not some sleazy stranger from an app.             “It does hurt a little,” Barry replied.             “I’ll be gentle,” Eddie said, removing himself slowly. The pulling out sensation jolted Barry, and caused him to moan. This was all strange, exciting, and scary.             “Put it back in,” Barry ordered. Eddie chuckled as he put one more coat of lube on.             “Anything you want, Bare,” Eddie said, inserting himself back into Barry. Barry moaned once more as Eddie slid through him. He brought his arms around Eddie and Barry lifted himself to Eddie’s mouth, kissing him tenderly. Eddie thrusted in and out of Barry as they held their lips together. Eddie held Barry in return, holding his friend up.             Barry broke their kiss to swear under his breath, causing Eddie to smile. “You make beautiful sounds, Barry. Don’t hold them back, baby. Let yourself enjoy this,” Eddie coaxed.             Barry relaxed and stopped bottling his breathing and his feelings. Barry was letting out small grunts and moans with every thrust. Eddie smiled widely at this; rewarding Barry by kissing Barry’s neck, teasing him with gentle nibbling on his skin. Barry was weak and limp in Eddie’s arms immediately. He just got lost in Eddie; the only thing Barry could focus on was how there was no feeling in the world greater than this.             Eddie began to laugh. “I see you liked that a lot.” Barry took a few moments to get his brain sorted.             “That felt so good. You feel so good,” Barry whimpered.             “Do you want to ride it?” Eddie asked. Barry enthusiastically shook his head up and down. Eddie laughed and smiled before returning to kiss Barry. “I love how eager you are.”             Eddie pulled out of Barry and crawled himself onto the bed, laying on his back. Barry crawled over his body slowly. The room was slightly spinny so he had to slow himself and take a breath.             “Are you okay, babe?” Eddie asked, concerned.             “Yeah,” Barry said with a breath. “Just drunk. Hard to crawl.”             Eddie chuckled and put his hand on Barry’s face, stroking the side, brushing his cheek. “You are so adorable, Barry.” Eddie raised himself to kiss his friend. Barry placed his hand on Eddie’s chest and pushed him down on the bed.             “Are you ready for me?” Barry asked confidently.             Eddie grinned enormously. “Yes,” he said enthusiastically, bringing his hands to grab Barry’s ass roughly. Barry smiled and let out a small gasp with the slap, but he was definitely encouraged. Barry reached back to grab Eddie’s dick and repositioned himself on it, and slid himself down. This angle was a brand new feeling for Barry. He gasped as Eddie re-stretched him out. Barry moved his hips front and back as he lifted himself up and down on Eddie, who was holding onto Barry’s plump ass.             “Fu-huck,” Eddie said with a well-pleasured laugh. Eddie bit his lip and scrunched his face up from the intensity of everything he was feeling. He reached to the lube next to him and tried to get a small coat on his hand. He then took his palm to Barry’s bouncing cock and began to stroke his friend as he fucked himself onto Eddie’s cock. Barry moaned at the feeling of Eddie sliding his hand up and down Barry’s length, rotating his wrists for friction. Eddie also took a thumb to massage Barry’s head, which sent him over the edge unexpectedly.             “ShIT!” Barry gasped as euphoria jolted through him, sending splashed of cum onto Eddie’s chest.             Eddie let go of Barry’s dick and grabbed a firm grip on Barry’s hips. He furiously fucked himself upwards into a hovering Barry, who was still slowly declining from his climax. Barry, mixed with the sensations of his orgasm, his ass getting destroyed, and the alcohol left him in a stupor. He couldn’t distinguish between anything he was feeling, and everything was blurry, dancing in front of him. His vision snapped together when he felt a spurt of warm liquid spill inside of him. Barry slowly pulled himself off of Eddie, and felt Eddie’s cum ooze out of his hole and down his leg.             “Oh my god, this is weird,” Barry complained as he repositioned himself, allowing for Eddie to get up behind Barry. Eddie pulled Barry’s ass apart to inspect the brunette’s leaking ass.             “I think this is beautiful,” Eddie stated, slapping Barry’s ass. “I destroyed that tight ass of yours.” He slid one finger in Barry to scoop part of himself out. “You are so loose now.”             “You’re ar-ongent,” Barry slurred, before collapsing on Eddie’s bed.             Eddie slid down at his side, and wrapped his arm around his friend. “You’re drunk, drained, and dicked down too well, baby.” He chuckled, and starting to comb Barry’s hair with his fingers. “You need to sleep.” Eddie kissed Barry’s shoulder blade, his back, and his neck. Barry had just enough energy to set an alarm on his phone before nodding asleep to the soothing and comforting touch of Eddie massaging his ass and stroking his hair. ***** Chapter Four *****           Barry’s alarm went off, jolting Barry awake from his heaviest alcohol-induced slumber yet. The noise sounded like there were eight alarms going off instead of one, and they all had surround sound in Barry’s head. Barry was dizzy as he reached for the phone, struggling to silence it. He was thirsty and his head hurt. There was an intense, strange smell in the room that made Barry feel nauseous. He quickly realized that it was sex. He slowly brought his hand down to his ass and slid a finger in between himself. His hole was still tender from the pounding it got, and there was dried semen on his leg.             “Good morning, sunshine,” Eddie grumbled, nearly inaudibly, still ninety percent unconscious. “Last night was fun. Would you want to do a round two?”             “No,” Barry said. “I have to leave for my track meet.” Barry got up and started to get dressed. Eddie stayed face down in bed while Barry rushed out.             “G’luck,” Eddie muttered as Barry bolted out of his room and out of his house altogether. Eddie lived in the same neighborhood as he and Iris did, thank goodness. But Barry did feel awkward knowing he was participating in his very first walk of shame. His heart sank when he thought about Iris, and what he did to her. He fucked her boyfriend, and they both lost their virginities to each other. Eddie was so sweet and tender to him too. It would have been easier to cope if he was just a dick who used him for sex. Or would it have been? Did Eddie still like Iris? What if Eddie wants to keep this up? What if he wants to have the both of them? What if Iris found out and they broke up? What if Iris found out and she doesn’t want to be friends anymore?             Barry threw up in the grass from the anxiety and leftover alcohol. The sun was intense and Barry felt like he was being fried under the microscope of God for everything he’s done. Barry entered his house and showered off everything from the night before. He felt sort of strange about the concept, but personal hygiene was sort of important, and he had Eddie’s cum up his ass still. He had hoped the shower would partially get rid of his hangover, but there wasn’t much help. Barry dried off quickly and got dressed in his track uniform, grabbed his sport duffle, and headed out the door.               Mick woke up that morning before Len. He had managed to not wake Len up at all last night when he returned from his late night bonfire, but Len was going to see his bright red hands soon. Mick began to start a pot of fresh coffee when he heard Len’s alarm go off. Mick anxiously waited for the pot to begin filling. He knew he would have a little time for Len to use the bathroom, but he wasn’t sure if that was enough. The machine kicked on and hot coffee began to dispense into the pot. From their bedroom, Mick heard a flush and the sound of a faucet running, and then stopping. The coffee level was almost at its full point. Mick heard the footsteps coming from around the corner. Mick quickly took the full pot of coffee and let it drop over the ground. Right before the coffee pot made impact with the ground, Mick screamed as loud as he could. The coffee pot shattered, hot coffee splashed all across the ground, and Len came speeding around the corner; barely braking himself before the mess of scalding coffee and shattered glass.             “Oh my god!” Len exclaimed. “What happened?”             “The fucking coffee pot handle gave out, burnt me, and I accidentally dropped everything,” Mick said angrily.             “Jesus Christ, Mick, your hands!” Len exclaimed. Mick looked at his hands for the act, but noticed they weren’t wet with coffee. He quickly turned his back to Len and turned the cold water from the sink on. “I’ll go to the laundry room and grab the mop and bucket.”             “Thank you, babe,” Mick exclaimed as his husband ran off.             Once the mess was cleaned, the two of them got ready for the track meet. “Are you sure you don’t want to see a doctor for those burns or something?” Len asked. “They look pretty bad.”             “It’s the regionals,” Mick replied. “I have to be there.” Mick thought about the Velocity burning a hole in his own duffle bag right now. Now is the only day he’s going to be able to convince Barry to take it.             Mick was the first one at the school, along with the referees. Mick’s students then showed up along with busses from other schools.             “Where the hell is Allen?” Mick asked angrily. This was not helping any situation. Barry finally ran up with his gear to the reserved area for the rest of the Central City Cyclones. “You’re late.”             “Rough night, Coach,” Barry responded. Mick needed to start being hard on Barry if this was going to work.             “Well you’re in for a rough future if your act doesn’t get together,” Mick said. Mick looked out at the stands and the representative from Northern Metropolis was in the crowd. “The scout’s here. You better give him a better performance than you give to me.”             Another coach from an opposing team blew his whistle and Barry expressed discomfort at the noise, even though it was far away. Barry was hungover, and this might be easier than Mick had originally planned.             “Go get in position for the first race,” Mick ordered.             Barry headed to the track and Mick tried to take a deep breath to handle the stress. He looks around to spot Len, who he had hoped would be there for him, but Len was looking in Barry’s direction. Mick huffed and looked back at the track.             Barry got into his position as anchor; the most important runner of the race. His heart was pounding fast, the audience was loud and distracting. His head was hurting and slightly pulsing. He didn’t feel as if he had all of his strength in his legs.             The gun shot went off to signal the start of the race, but it made Barry feel as if he was the one who had actually gotten shot. His head was ringing, and he could feel his brain throbbing inside of his skull. He looked behind him to see how much time he had, but he looked right into the blinding sun. Barry took a deep breath and tried to focus. He looked back behind him and his teammate was almost at him. Barry looked forward, determined. The baton was passed to his hand, but Barry was still thrown off. He fumbled the baton slightly, and struggled with his footing dashing off. He did not feel well, currently, but he had to power through it. He had to summon all of the strength he had for this. He saw one person ahead of them, and they were several yards ahead. Barry pushed himself, thrusting himself forward. The distance between the two was narrowing, but the finish line was also coming up fast. Barry imagined getting into ‘No Met’, and he picked up even more speed. He was going to be sick after this. He had caught up to the competitor and they both crossed the finish line at the same time, practically.             “The referees will now have to check that photo finish,” said an announcer.             Barry headed over to a trash can and threw up. Mick approached behind him and watched.             “What the hell was that?” Mick asked. “You fumbled the baton and your technique getting started was terrible. You were running with two left feet. Don’t think the recruiter didn’t notice that, Barry. Are you aware about what is at stake?”             “Yes, Coach,” Barry said.             “And the winner of that match was the Central City Cyclones,” the announcer said.             Barry sighed. “Don’t think that you won that. You got lucky.One millisecond more and you would have gotten runner-up. Do you know what that is? It sure the fuck isn’t first. And don’t think the recruiter doesn’t know that either. You’re a gamble. He doesn’t know if that was talent or sheer dumb luck.”             “I’m good at clearing distances,” Barry defended.             “Yes, so are the potential children I shoot from my dick, Allen,” Mick retorted angrily. “But if you don’t have form, technique, and endurance, you’re just fucking yourself.”             “I am so disgusted,” Barry said.             Mick sighed. “Come with me to my office, Allen.”             Barry and Mick headed inside the school to Mick’s office inside of the locker room. Mick set his bag on his desk and began to open it.             “What’s going on, coach?” Barry asked.             “The only way you’re going to get that scholarship and get to ‘No Met’ and get out of here and set up a future for yourself is if you nail state. Based on your performance, I don’t know if you can without some serious improvement,” Mick said.             Barry’s heart sunk at that. Coach had always been his biggest supporter and motivator. He felt crush that coach had lost his faith in him. Mick pulled out a yellow vial from his bag. “What is that?” Barry asked.             “This is muscle milk for runners. It is a stimulant, fitness booster, metabolism kick starter, energy booster, and etcetera. It was engineered over in STAR Labs. This is something that is going to be used with our nation’s armed forces one day to give us a competitive edge,” Mick explained.             “It’s a steroid,” Barry said softly, looking at his coach in disbelief.             Mick looked at his star pupil in the eyes and sighed. “Not technically.”             Barry was barely putting together the events of last night because it didn’t seem real, this seemed even less so. “Are you serious?”             “I want to help you get into college, Barry. You deserve it. But I saw that recruiter. He isn’t happy. This is the only way,” Mick explained.             A tear procured from Barry’s right eye. “I can’t do this,” Barry said, choking everything back before bolting out of Mick’s office.             “Barry!” Mick shouted. Fuck, Barry was going to go to somebody, rat him out, and then who knows what would happen? Mick had to hide the Velocity first in case shit did go down. Mick quickly bolted out of the locker rooms and sprinted down the hall. He opened a fire extinguisher case and hid the vial behind one of them, and proceeded to head outside.             Barry approached Len in tears. Len quickly jolted up and climbed down the bleachers to help him. “Barry, Barry, what’s wrong?”             “I just really need to talk to you, in private,” Barry said.             “Alright, let’s go to my classroom,” Len said. The two of them walked off towards one of the entrances to the building. Meanwhile, Mick went into a janitor’s closet and hid the injector in with a large pile of junk metal before heading out to the field. He couldn’t see Barry anywhere. He knew Len probably has, though. Mick went over to where Len was, but Len was missing too. Mick started to bolt to his husband’s classroom.             Len stood while Barry sat at his favorite spot in Len’s classroom.             “Tell me what’s happened, Barry,” Leonard encouraged.                  “It might be sort of personal, sort of T-M-I,” Barry warned.             “Tell me whatever you’re comfortable with, and if it’s relevant,” Len coaxed.             Barry nodded. “I got another rejection letter yesterday. It’s my second one. It was one of my top five. I was just feeling like a failure. My grades aren’t impressive. I only have this scholarship. But I did something stupid. I was feeling shitty so I went to a party.”             Mick slowly approached Len’s class, but stayed around the corner, lurking and eavesdropping.             “I got drunk. Really drunk. And I lost my virginity to my best friend’s boyfriend,” Barry explained. Leonard couldn’t help but feel a hint of jealousy and intrigue. Some other boy had his hands on Barry, hands that weren’t his. They got to explore Barry’s body, and he’d never be able to. Yet, Len wanted to imagine it. He wondered if Barry topped or bottomed, but knowing Barry he probably took it. Len couldn’t help but wish he was the one that entered Barry’s ass first, and was the one to take Allen’s cherry.             “So today I’ve just had intense anxiety over everything that has happened, and that on top of a mild to non-mild hangover, I messed up during my race,” Barry continued, silencing Leonard’s perverted train of thought. “And I just feel like a dumbass for ruining my scholarship and potential future over one stupid night of drinking.”             Barry began to cry and Len grabbed a box of tissues and handed them to Barry, who the used them to dry his eyes and blow his nose.             “Is there anything else, Barry?” Leonard asked.             Barry hesitated. “Well-”             Mick sprinted to the door and knocked. “Sorry to interrupt. I know you’re struggling Barry, but you have one more race coming up, and I need my star player.”             Barry looked at Len and Len nodded. “He’s right, you need to be out there. We can continue later. I’ll be around, Barry.”             Barry sighed and headed out with Mick. The two walked in uncomfortable silence all the way outside. Barry immediately diverted to the track to his position. He couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that Mick really wanted Barry to do steroids. Why had Coach lost faith in him?             The gunshot started the race one more. Barry took a deep, calm breath. He had to focus this time. He had to impress. He had to prove wrong. He looked behind him and waited for his teammate. The baton pass this time was executed flawlessly. Mick pulled up his smartphone and began typing away. Barry was ahead of the second place runner, and passed the finish line with nothing to worry about. Mick saw the times and smiled.             Barry approached his coach triumphantly. “How was that? I hope I met your satisfactions.”             Mick handed his cellphone to Barry. There were other athletes on there with their records. “All of the other state qualifiers. Their times beat yours.”             Barry cursed under his breath. “But I can do better, I know I can. I’ll make smarter decisions next time.”             “And what if that isn’t enough, Barry?” Mick asked.             “Then I’ll-” Barry hesitated. He couldn’t think of a comeback.             “All I’m asking for is a little insurance,” Mick asked. “Leonard and I may both be fired. One-third of the school district is receiving cuts. Both Len and I made it on the danger list. If I can win you that scholarship, I am at least guaranteed to stay to help support Len. He’s unfortunately a fish out of water. There’s no for sure way of knowing if he’ll stay at school. My buddy at STAR Labs who designed this said if Len does get fired, he might get hired there, but only if I help him out with this project.”             The guilt coursed through his veins, knocking hard into Barry’s heart. He felt it skip and lower what felt like a foot into his chest. His lungs constricted and tightened up, causing Barry to force himself to take a deep breath. The toasty air no longer warmed Barry, but instead, the moisture on his body chilled rapidly and froze him.             “I can’t, I-” Barry said nervously. “You can’t make me do this, Coach. It’s not right.”             Mick became tense. He was in so deep right now. Barry was going to nark on him and he would be fired. No, he would be barred from working anywhere. His head raced, trying to think of a solution. Suddenly, he spotted Iris and Eddie in the stands cheering Barry on.             “Your best friend is Iris, right?” Mick asked.             Barry looked at his coach suspiciously. He turned around and saw Iris and Eddie in the stands cheering him on. Barry turned back towards Mick. “Why?”             “I wonder how a conversation would go if I pulled her aside and said I was concerned about my star athlete because he is on a downward spiral, obsessively drinking, hooking up with a guy named Eddie at a party,” Mick said.             Barry’s heart rate spiked. He instinctively curled up his fist. “You wouldn’t.”             “My husband and I are going to lose everything. I would do anything for him. Isn’t there someone you would do anything for?” Mick asked angrily.             Barry’s mind went to his parents. They wouldn’t have the financial burden of taking care of Barry forever. Barry thought of Iris, smiling happily with Eddie on their wedding day, with Barry by their side. And Barry thought of Len, living happily in his home with Mick. The two of them kissing. They could probably get a daughter or a son to join their family, too. Barry would never have that with Len, but Len could have that- if Barry chose.             “Fine,” Barry uttered. “I’ll do it.”             Len smiled and sighed a breath of relief. “Good. Let’s head back to my office.”             Barry obliged and headed with his coach back into the school. Barry had never felt more alone in those empty, echoing halls than he did right now with his coach. Mick, who often felt like an advisor, a mentor, and a friend was now a stranger to Barry whom he didn’t trust.             They walked into Rory’s office and Mick gestured for Barry to sit down. As the teen uncomfortably sat down, Mick rummaged through a backpack that he had left in his office and pulled out an orange vial and a metal device.             “Now?” Barry asked nervously, his voice cracking slightly from the fear.             “Yes,” Mick said. “Now. We don’t want to lose too much practice time.” He sauntered over to Barry and knelt down, placing the vial inside of the injector. Mick pressed the barrel to Barry’s exposed thigh. It felt cold against Barry’s skin, sending goosebumps up and down his leg.             “Are you ready?” Mick asked.             “Not really,” Barry admitted.             “Too bad,” Mick said as he pulled the trigger.             Barry’s face contorted from the pain of what felt like a spike being driven into his leg. Mick held Barry’s leg in place so he wouldn’t instinctively yank it away. Barry could feel the velocity coarse through the veins in his leg. It felt warm and tingly, but Barry no longer felt fatigued from his running or tired from his hangover. In fact, he was feeling himself becoming energized from the serum instantaneously.             Mick slowly pulled the needle out of Barry’s thigh and looked at the kid with anticipation.             “How do you feel?” Mick asked.             Barry took a minute in silence, looking and his fingers, moving each of them individually. He stood up, and brought each knee to his chest one after the other. “I feel pretty fantastic, actually.”             Mick nodded, pleased that this plan was working out well. “Good. Now, are you ready to get that scholarship?”             Barry smiled triumphantly at his coach. “Yes, Coach, I am.” ***** Chapter Five *****               It had been about two weeks since Barry started taking Velocity. Mick was already noticing exciting improvements in his star pupil. And Mick was excited about the money he was going to receive from Harrison. Wells knocked on the door to Mick’s office. It was Saturday and the school was empty. Harrison arrived with a rolling case full of medical equipment and contraptions to test and measure Barry’s progress with the Velocity. Barry was sitting with Mick, nervous yet eager to see how he’s been improving. Mick let Wells in, and the scientist kept a hard, fixed look in Barry’s eyes the entire time he crossed the threshold from the locker room to the office.             “Hello Barry,” Wells said in a low, dry tone.             “Hello,” Barry replied, not knowing what to think the man. Something about him was frightening. He was cold, and he seemed very tense and calculating. Barry felt like he was being measured, and dissected like a frog in a middle school classroom just from the eyes of the man.             “I’m glad you could come,” Mick said to Wells.             “Well, I’d like to thank Barry Allen for agreeing to take part in my research,” Harrison said. “Shall we get started?”             “Sure,” Barry said.             “Splendid,” Wells said. “The first thing we’re going to need is a treadmill.”             “All of the equipment is going to be in our weight room,” Mick said.             “Well then let’s head there,” Wells suggested.             The three of them walked out of the office, out of the locker room, and through the hallway to the weight room, which housed about a dozen bench presses, various weight lifting machines, four treadmills, three elliptical machines, and three stationary bicycles. It was decent for a high school gym. Some schools had even less than they did.             Wells opened up his mysterious case of technology. It opened up intricately; shelves that had been tucked away had rose up and expended outwards. Drawers extended out revealing keyboards and a monitor. Wells took out a few round stickers and small metal devices.             “Barry, if it’s alright, may you lift your shirt high up? I need to place these devices on your skin in order to accurately measure your vitals and performance,” Harrison explained.             Barry obeyed and lifted his shirt up to his neck. Wells placed two stickers on his pecs, two on his stomach, two on his shoulder blades, two on his lower back, and one in the center of his spine. He then attached small metal disks on the metal pin on each sticker. Once the disks attached securely, the lights in the center of the disks glowed red, making Barry feel even more like a science experiment.  Barry put his shirt back down over the devices.             Wells opened up his laptop and began typing away. “Barry, I need you to get on the treadmill and run for me. Let’s try a light jog at a 4.5, please.”             Barry obeyed, getting on the treadmill and setting up the speed. He jogged as he usually would, and tried to think about things that made him happy. He thought of his parents, and how they would feel seeing Barry graduate college. He thought of Iris, and how much their friendship had meant to Barry. He thought about Len, and how he felt around his teacher. Wells occasionally instructed Barry to pick up the speeds on the treadmill. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Barry slowly started to push himself more and more, however. Wells kept increasing the speed requirement. Barry was starting to worry about hurting himself.             “I don’t know if I can go that fast,” Barry said, trying to now focus on running well enough to not slip and get knocked off the machine.             “Go faster,” Wells said.             “I believe in you, Barry,” Mick said. “Just think of that medal.”             Barry increased the speed one last time, higher than he had ever gone before. He was determined, feeling the burn in his body of pushing himself further than ever before. Wells was clicking things on his computer. Barry was amazed at how well he was maintaining his composure on the treadmill. It was a challenge, but he wasn’t failing. Barry was smiling. He was feeling a type of pride within himself. He wanted to go outside and see himself sprint like this, with the wind enveloping him.             “That is enough, Barry,” Wells said. Barry turned the treadmill off and gradually slowed down until it was safe enough to hop off the treadmill. “That felt amazing!” Barry exclaimed. “The velocity seems to be working,” Wells said. “And it seems to not be having any negative effects on your body. Your vitals looks very well. Thriving, even.” “Well that’s exciting news,” Barry said. “Let’s get the monitors off of you,” Wells ordered. Barry took off his shirt and let Wells remove the devices. It hurt to have the sticking disks peeled off of his skin. Barry felt lucky he didn’t have much chest hair to make the peeling any worse.             “Let’s head back to my office,” Mick said.             Barry put his shirt back on and they headed back towards the locker room where Mick had his office attached. They entered, and they could see Len in Mick’s office through the glass partition. Len seemed surprised to see one of them, Barry couldn’t tell if it was him or Wells. He didn’t think Len and Wells knew each other, though.             “Barry, you can head home,” Mick said. “Thank you, again.”             “No problem,” Barry said. Barry walked towards his locker, directly across from the window of Mick’s office. He saw Mick and Wells go in and close the door.             Len eyed Barry briefly as his husband and Harrison came into the office, closing the door behind them.             “Hello, Harrison,” Len said with slight discomfort in his voice. “How are you, Leonard?” Harrison asked.             “I’m fine. What are you guys doing with Barry, if I may ask?” Len asked. Len and Wells stood uncomfortably across from one another, with Mick at the side, in the middle of the two, like a referee, judging one of the world’s most uncomfortable encounters. Wells had his back towards the glass, Len having a view of Barry, who took off his shirt, while making eye contact with Len. Len tried to keep his attention towards Wells, but the temptation of the boy led his gaze slightly astray.             “I am doing a study on athlete performance,” Wells said, sugar coating the truth. “Mick recruited a few volunteers for my research.”             “And what are you looking for that would be new?” Len asked. He diverted his eyes to Barry again, who had turned around to have his back facing Len. Barry briefly caught Len’s eyes before facing forward. Barry slowly removed his compression pants, revealing the jockstrap he was wearing. Len’s dick twitched, seeing Barry’s ass exposed, knowing Barry was doing this intentionally. Barry bent over, pushing the pants off of his ankles, exposing himself even more. Len, panicked, looked back at Wells. Mick noticed his husband’s flaky behavior, and quickly glanced to his left, through the glass, seeing a mostly naked Barry. As a coach, he had seen a lot, but had always respectfully looked away. He didn’t want any negative connotation bout being a gay coach perving on his athletes. Mick turned to look at his husband, slightly jealous of his husband’s relationship with Barry, now confirmed by Len’s physical attraction to the lad.             “I am researching the potential for athletic growth, and seeing if that potential can actually be measured, and if it exists in different variable quantities between individuals,” Wells explained.             “So you believe some people have a biological knack for improvement whereas others may not even have as much of a possibility?” Len asked. He eyes Barry once more. Barry had put on a shirt, but still had his ass out for view. Barry turned around, taking a quick look at Len. Barry grabbed shorts from his locker, and nonchalantly tugged at his erection in his jockstrap for Len to see before dressing himself completely.             “Precisely,” Wells said with a condescending smile.             Len kept his gaze on Wells for now, seeing Barry leave the locker room all together from his peripheral vision. “Well it sounds exciting. I wish you good luck.”             “Thank you, Leonard,” Well said. “I am done for the day, so I will just grab my stuff and head out.” Wells wheeled away his rolling case of science tech before shaking Mick’s hand on the way out, thanking him for the opportunity.             Len looked at Mick, trying to hide his hatred for Wells as well as his attraction to Barry, wondering if his husband caught him looking at Barry. “You’re spending a lot of time with Harrison lately.”             “Well the project came up when we grabbed a beer the other night, and I wanted to help an old friend of mine,” Mick said.             “Just say what you would like to say, Leonard,” Mick ordered.             “I don’t want you to end up cheating on me,” Leonard retaliated.             Mick chuckled. “I could say the same thing,” gesturing to the window.             Len froze. Fear crept through his skin. His husband was aware of the feelings he had for his student. What did his husband think of him? “Don’t be absurd,” Len replied, trying to save face.             “Likewise, my love,” Mick said bitterly.             “I’ve never cheated on anyone before,” Len argued.             Mick scoffed, looking away from his husband. “Don’t fucking use that as a fucking excuse. There’s obvious reason one that it was a long time ago when we were young and foolish. And then there is the second obvious reason that you were the fucking other woman. I left him for you, and you married me knowing that. Don’t project your fucking insecurities about you being in love with one of your fucking students onto me, Leonard,” Mick shouted angrily.             Len felt like a dagger had been placed inside of his heart. Everything Mick said was true. Len wasn’t coping well with his feelings. He felt himself slipping away from Mick. There was so much pressure with them keeping their jobs. Len wasn’t sure how one or both of them getting fired would affect their marriage. The cracks were already showing. Len shed a tear, and he felt it tickle his skin as it trickled down his cheek. Mick tried to step closer to comfort his husband, but Len put up his hand to distance himself. “I’m going to spend the night at my sister’s tonight,” Len choked out softly. Mick sighed and frowned. “Baby, please don’t. I am sorry.” “It’s ok, you were right,” Len said as he passed Mick’s arms and headed straight out of the school.   That night, Mick sat on a log in the forest, drinking vodka straight from a bottle. He had compiled a small pit of leaves and twigs. Mick poured a small amount of lighter fluid on the pile and then struck a match, tossing it in. He watched as the fire lit, and how the flames danced. Mick took another swig of his vodka. His vision began to blur. The reds of the fire and the blue of the night became one swirl, like an artist’s palette. He didn’t see the fire inch closer towards the container of lighter fluid. The small explosion frightened Mick, and he fell backwards off his log. When he opened his eyes, he was in the backseat of a car. His eyes faded to black, and next he was in his bed. His head was pounding and pulsing. The light was extreme to his eyes. “Where am I? What happened?” Mick asked. Harrison came into his focus, standing across from his bed, looking right at him. “We’ve got a lot of work to do, Michael.” ***** Chapter Six *****   Mick struggled to sit up, immediately experiencing sharp pains in his body. He let out a small yell before ripping off the covers to seeing his skin bright red and partially blistered. There were already bandages on certain parts of his body. “Michael, listen to me very closely. We don’t have a lot of time,” Harrison demanded. “What’s going on?” Mick asked. “You caused a forest fire,” Harrison answered. “A pretty bad one. In your drunken stupor you told me where you were and I found you and got you out of the forest fire. I called the school and told them you were using a sick day. You can’t show up in burns.” “Thank you for saving me,” Mick uttered. “Well now it’s your turn to help me because my car was the left behind at the site,” Wells said. “I have a friend at the police station that said they’ll be looking for anything that links me to the fire. They will find out I was in your office yesterday.” “And?” Mick asked. “The office is where you stored the extra velocity. We need to get that velocity out of there by the time the police get there, whenever that may be,” Harrison demanded. “How do we get it out of there if neither of us can be there?” Mick asked. “Think of something. It’s your office. The velocity will be linked to you and your students. Get a hold of mister Allen,” Wells ordered. “Barry and some other seniors are on another college visit,” Mick said. “I thought he decided already,” Wells said. “It’s a day out of classes,” Mick responded. “Well think of something,” Wells said angrily. “I do have one other student. He’s the announcer and sound technician,” Mick said. “Can you please grab me my phone?” Wells headed to the table where it was charging and brought it over to Mick. He unlocked his phone and went through his contacts. He tapped on one and held the phone up to his ear. “Pick up, pick up, pick up,” Mick begged. “Hello, Coach,” the other line said. “Hartley, I need a favor from you,” Mick said. “Anything for you coach,” Hartley said flirtatiously “In my office, under my desk is a secret shelf. Inside is a spare key to my cabinets. I need you to get into the gray one in the back, and in the bottom is a weird metal device and a lot of orange vials. I need you to get them out of there as soon as possible and keep them hidden somewhere else,” Mick explained. “This seems slightly suspicious and illegal,” Hartley said quietly over the phone. “I just really need this done, or a lot of bad things are going to happen,” Mick tried to explain. “What do I get out of it?” Hartley asked. Mick sighed. “What would you like?” “I’m doing a favor for you, so I would like you to do some favors back. Maybe some type of jobs as well,” Hartley teased. “That’s off the table,” Mick said. “I don’t know how much negotiation room you actually have, Coach. I also want my grade raised in Snart’s class. You can get onto his software right? All of the grading is online,” Hartley said. “Yes, I can do that,” Mick said. “Thank you for your business,” Hartley said. “The gym is empty first period. Can you get it as soon as possible?” Mick said. “I am great at quality service, Coach. Which you’re going to see,” Hartley said. Mick just stayed silent. “Just get it done,” he ordered, hanging up the phone.             Hartley smiled and headed his way to the locker rooms. He took out his set of keys he had for the P.E. department for his position in the sound booth. He got into Mick’s office and headed to his desk. He started to feel under the desk for the spare key. His fingers finally felt something and he slid the key into his hand. Hartley headed over to the cabinet in question and unlocked the doors. He quickly opened his backpack, grabbing everything in the bottom and shoving it in. He looked at the orange vials suspiciously, but just placed them all in. He quickly locked everything back up, and headed out, relocking the door to Coach’s office. Hartley took a few steps to see police officers coming into the locker room. Hartley froze out of fear as one of them came up. “Hello son, I am Detective West of the CCPD,” Joe said. “What are you doing in here at this time? We were told nobody is here right now.” “I just left some homework in my gym locker yesterday and I came to grab it,” Hartley lied. “I see,” said Joe. “Were you just in that office?” Joe pointed to Mick’s door. “Uhm,” Hartley stuttered. Hi heart began to race, rapidly pounding within his chest. Did they see him? Could they catch him for lying? What was the extent of the law? What was he being an accomplice for? “I’m sorry, I feel really uncomfortable right now being asked these questions. I am just trying to get to class. Am I in any trouble? Because if not, I’d like to not be late.” “That’s fine, go ahead, son. I apologize,” Joe said, stepping out of the way. Hartley continued his way out of the locker room, sighing when he was out of harm’s way. Hartley took out his phone and sent out a text to Mick. > DONE. ITS MINE UNTIL I SEE A B IN ORG CHEM. Mick looked at the text he got from the comfort of his own bed. “He got the stuff,” Mick announced. “That covers at least most of it. I am not sure how I am going to answer how my car was there,” Wells said. “You were researching something in the woods. You saw teenagers lighting the fire. You left to try to get a hold of police. Your phone didn’t have signal and you misplaced your keys somewhere,” Mick ordered. “I suppose that’s as good as a start as any,” Harrison said. “Are you going to be able to get the velocity back?” “Yeah, that’s just going to be the difficult part,” Mick said. “Do what is necessary,” Harrison requested. His phone lit up and Harrison looked at the text. “My ride is here. Keep applying ointment to your burns. And for the love of god, find a better coping mechanism.” “Thank you, Harry,” Mick said as Harrison started to head out, causing the scientist to pause. “You haven’t called me that in a while.” Mick paused, contemplating the significance. “I suppose you’re right.” Wells lingered in the doorway a moment longer. “Stick to Harrison.” Mick just laid there in bed as he heard Harrison leave his house. Mick eventually got the strength to climb out of bed and head to their home office. He opened his laptop and then searched through the drawers of their desk. He took out a small journal that had a list of websites in it with usernames and passwords. Mick flipped through the pages and finally found the section that said “Teacher’s Aide”, the name of their online software. Mick went onto the website and typed in Len’s username and password that was written on the page. He logged in successfully with “Hello, Leonard” written on the top of the page. He typed in “Rathaway” into the search bar and found the class section that Hartley was in. Mick looked at the kid’s grades and how much each assignment was worth. Mick added a few points to each of his assignments and quizzes until his grade slowly surpassed the 80% range. He took out his phone and clicked on Hartley’s contact info. > You have a low B now. Can’t risk anything higher. Do better in class. <  See you in your office soon for Part 2 of the arrangement.               Mick slid the phone away from him. That was a problem for another day. Hopefully he wouldn’t have to do anything and could talk Hartley out of it. But the evidence was out of his office, for now.               The bell rung, and Leonard’s students left his classroom. It was time for Leonard’s break period. Leonard opened up his email and scrolled through his new messages. There was one from “Teacher’s Aide”. Leonard hadn’t received many emails from the software before. E clicked on it, and read what was inside.             ‘Hello, Leonard. Your Teacher’s Aide account lsnart@cchs.edu was just used to sign in on this device.’             Len looked at the information for the device that was used. It was a private laptop, and the time was that morning. Len clicked on ‘block that device’, and then clicked on ‘recent activity’.             Leonard saw that changes were made to the ‘Rathaway, Hartley’ section in one of his classes.             Barry walked into the classroom and knocked. “Mr. Snart, is it ok if I hang out in here and work on homework?”             Leonard was too focused on his security breach to be able to deal with whatever happened between with him and Barry in the locker room the other day. “No, Barry. I’m-I have to work on something. Go to your class.”                  Len looked over at Barry, who was shocked and a little hurt. Len didn’t know how exactly he affected Barry. Barry had essentially bared himself naked for Len, and now here he was, denying him. Len was being professional, but after so long of being unprofessional, Len just felt like he was hurting the poor kid.             Barry just left without saying a word. Len’s heart sank, and he tried to breathe away the stress. “Now’s not the time for this, Leonard,” he said to himself. He clicked on Hartley’s name and looked at everything. Nothing seemed too outrageous at first, but he saw the 80.27% in the final column. What was Hartley at before? Leonard opened his drawers and searched through the random stacks of paper for the most recent grade sheet that he had. It was only one week old, so it couldn’t have been terribly inaccurate. Hartley had a 76.59% one week ago. Leonard looked closely at each assignment, quiz, and test score to what Leonard had. Sure enough, nearly every quiz or test had been raised by two to three percent across the board.             “Son of a bitch,” Leonard said to himself. He pulled out the email again and copied the IP address of the stranger’s computer. “Let’s see who you belong to.”             Leonard texted the IP Address to his hacker friend, Sara. > Can you tell me where this computer is located? I think I was hacked.             It was about half an hour later before he got a response.             < I’m pretty sure this is your house, right?             Leonard looked at the address that Sara had sent back. Sure enough, it was his house. Leonard left his classroom and headed all the way down to the gymnasium and went to Mick’s office. The lights were off, and the door was locked. He went to another gym teacher’s office and knocked on the door.  “Hey, Malcolm,” Leonard said. Malcolm looked up at Leonard and smiled. “Hello, Leonard. How are you?” “I’m good. I was just wondering if you knew where my husband was,” Leonard said. Malcolm laughed and looked at Len peculiarly. “He called in sick today. How did you not know?” “Oh,” Leonard said. “I was helping my sister with something last night so I just crashed at her place because it was late. I haven’t seen him since yesterday.” “You guys haven’t texted or called yet?” Malcom asked. Leonard shrugged. “I assumed I would have seen him here. Thank you anyways, Malcolm.”             Leonard left the PE wing feeling confused and hurt. What was Mick doing, if it even was him doing it? He got back to his own classroom and went to the homepage on his computer. There was a news article about the forest fire on the outskirts of Central City. Len clicked on it and read the story. Len stopped at the part where it said the only car at the scene was registered to Dr. Harrison Wells.             “Mother F-” he slammed his fist on his desk before quickly panicking at his emotional response, looking around to make sure nobody saw his outburst. The day dragged on begrudgingly; Len was harboring his anger on the inside where it festered and grew for the remainder of his class periods.             When Hartley came into Len’s class, something seemed off about Hartley. It was the cockiness he emitted. Granted, whatever was going on, Hartley wasn’t suddenly on top of the world grade-wise, but it was the power knowing he could. But Len wasn’t sure how.             Len came to his and Mick’s door, slamming the door when he entered. “MICK!” Len stormed into his and Mick’s bedroom to see Mick lying in bed, covered in burns, reeking of ointment. “Jesus fucking Christ, Michael,” Len said, bringing his hands to his face.             “Leonard-”             “Nope. Shut up. Give me a minute. I don’t want to hear your voice right now. I particularly don’t even want to look at you. Just let me cool down. That’s it,” Len ranted. Mick obeyed, not saying another word, looking cautiously at his husband who was pacing back and forth, rubbing his head, all the while avoiding looking at Mick who was dreading his response.             “I literally don’t even know where to fucking begin,” Len stated.             “I was upset about our fight so I went to the forest to blow some steam,” Mick replied.             “That’s my fault for being an idiot and marrying a freaking pyromaniac. How in the hell was ‘When I was a teenager I would light fires and burn myself to feel better about my depression’ not a red light?” Len asked.             “That is not fair,” Mick argued. “That’s a low blow and you know it.”             “Michael, I am sorry, but I am not currently worried about your feelings right now because you clearly haven’t taken any of mine into consideration,” Len argued.             “Fine, let’s,” Mick replied with a sarcastic upbeat enthusiasm.  “How are you feeling today, Leonard?”             “Stabbed in the back by my fucking husband,” Len retorted. “Why the hell did you change Hartley Rathaway’s grades in my class, huh? Answer that.”             Mick’s face flushed white. He was visibly worried and frightened about being caught. “I was hoping you wouldn’t notice.”             “That’s your answer? You changed Hartley’s grades because you thought I wouldn’t notice?” Len asked.             “No, no,” Mick responded. The two of them were both becoming increasingly frustrated with one another. “He was there in the forest the night of the fire,” Mick lied. “He was there to drink. He said he had a video of me there at the scene causing the fire. He said he would give it to the police if I didn’t get his grades up in your class.”             Len took a deep breath. His heart was going crazy. He had rarely ever become this frustrated in his life. He was always cool and passive about conflict. This was out of character for him, and he wasn’t sure if he should punch something, cry, or leave Mick. Len didn’t recognize who he was looking at in his bed right now.             “And what about Harrison?” Len asked calmly.             “He came and rescued me,” Mick replied. “But he has ways out of the suspicion. More than I would have.”             Len just stood there for a while, silently, contemplating everything. Mick just laid there, hoping his husband would buy his lies. Len would never be by his side if he knew the truth about him injecting his student crush with performance enhancing drugs, and how he got a student to cover it up by promising the kid sexual favors.             “So if Hartley doesn’t get at least a B in my class he goes to the police?” Len asked.             “Yes,” Mick said, which wasn’t necessarily a lie. Hartley knows he has something illegal.             “Is there anything else you would like to tell me?” Len asked.             Everything. “Nothing,” Mick said. “That’s all.”             Len took more time to absorb everything that was presented to him right now. “I’m going to stay at Lisa’s,” he said softly.             “For the night?” Mick asked hopefully,             “For a while,” Len replied. Tears were filling in his eyes, and pressure was building up in his face.             “I understand,” Mick said. “But I want you to know that I love you, Leonard.”             “I’m aware,” Len said with a sigh. “That only makes this that much harder.”             Len walked out of their bedroom, and Mick heard Len leave the house altogether, and he suppressed the urge to cry over Leonard. Everything he was doing, he was trying to do for Len and their future, and everything was crumbling because of it.               Barry arrived at STAR Labs that evening after practice for another velocity treatment since Mick was home sick. The front door buzzed and Barry was granted access into the facility. Barry followed the directions Wells had sent him to navigate the many corridors of the institution. He almost bumped into a woman in a lab coat pushing a cart around.             “Oh, sorry ma’am,” Barry said.             “Oh, it’s no problem,” she said. She eyed the teen with a concerned expression. “Are you here to see someone? Are you lost?”             “I’m on my way to meet with Harrison Wells. He’s sort of mentoring me and I’m sort of shadowing in a very loose sense,” Barry lied.             “Oh,” Caitlin said. “Well that’s a great opportunity.”             “Yeah, it is,” Barry said. “Am I heading the right way?”             “Yes,” she said. “It is down this hall right here, a right turn at the end, and a second right turn on the fourth hallway on the right.”             “It’s a maze in here,” Barry joked.             “Yeah, it is overwhelming at first, but we are one of the best institutions around,” Caitlin said.             “Well I’m excited to learn more about it. I’m sorry, but I have to hurry, I’m late enough already,” Barry said, before taking off down the hallway. Caitlin looked at the boy as he quickly jogged down the hallway. The boy was gone in seconds. Caitlin was amazed, yet concerned. Wells was a great man, but he wasn’t a social one. He wouldn’t choose to mentor just some kid. Caitlin went in the direction of Well’s office, she was significantly behind where Barry would have been. Barry would already be in the office at the rate he ran. That wasn’t even a running form. That was the form of a light jog, at best. She finally reached Well’s office, and all the privacy blinds were pulled down, shielding the glass doors of the office. Caitlin continued to go on her way to her own space, looking back suspiciously on the office of Harrison Wells. Please drop_by_the_archive_and_comment to let the author know if you enjoyed their work!