Chapter 33

Barry now sat on the couch with Y/N, his suit jacket off as she looked at the injury he sustained from the building fire earlier. "Ow," Barry winced as Y/N bandaged the injury on his side.


"Please," Y/N said as she finished her work, "That didn't hurt," she said rolling her eyes at him.


"Take it from the injured person, it hurt," Barry said back.


Y/N shook her head and kissed him quickly on the lips, "Still hurting?" she asked against his lips.


Barry shrugged, "Maybe a little," he said kissing her again, his hands finding their way to her hips as he pulled her down with him.


"Barr," she squealed as Barry pulled her close to him, his legs now entangled in hers.


"I love you," he cooed as Y/N rolled over in his arms so that they were chest to chest, almost no space between them.


"I love you too," she said kissing his jaw, his stubble tickling her face. "I'm gonna take a lucky guess and say that you are no longer in pain," Y/N joked.


Barry smiled, "Then you'd be right," he said kissing her forehead. "I just wish that we could stay like this forever," Barry added resting his forehead against her own.


"I do too," she hummed. "But we have that ceremony tomorrow."


Barry groaned and rolled his head back, "Do we have to?" he asked.


"Hey, you're the one who let me agree to it," Y/N defended.


"Really regretting that decision now," Barry chuckled. "I'd do anything to stay like this forever."


"Either way, we still have a few hours to ourselves right now," Y/N said snuggling into Barry's warmth.


"Yeah, for the next few hours you are my teddy bear," Barry joked.


Y/N couldn't stifle her laughter, "Teddy Barr...get it?"


"Y/N stop, that was so cheesy," Barry replied.


Y/N continued to laugh, "Cheesy? Or maybe it was better than cheddar?"


Barry gave in at this point, "Okay, that one was pretty gouda."


--


Barry woke to the ringing of his alarm the next morning, Y/N was still fast asleep in his arms, Barry then realized that a 'few hours' had turned into an entire night. He immediately sat up when he realized that the ceremony was in less than an hour.


"Babe, stop moving," Y/N groaned as she rolled over.


"Y/N," Barry said gently shaking her awake. "The ceremony is in less than an hour."


"What?" she asked groggily.


Barry gently pulled her into a sitting position, "We gotta go. Our few hours turned into an entire night."


"Guess we were more tired than we thought," she chuckled, now realizing just how much time that they had spent sleeping.


Barry laughed, "Yeah, I guess so."


--


"Hello Central City!" the Mayor happily cheered as the crowd waved and cheered. Barry and Y/N stood a fair distance away, watching and waiting for their moment.


"A few years ago, our city changed and was exposed to something never seen before, we became ground zero for some pretty weird stuff. Something that changed people in ways that we couldn't even begin to imagine. We got a new breed of criminal, men and women who defied not only our laws but physics and reason. Criminals were given unimaginable abilities, the impossible became possible. Luckily for us, we got something else too, we also got the impossible, two people with extraordinary abilities...and now I'd like to welcome the Captain of the Central City Police Department to the stage...Captain Singh."


The crowd applauded once more as Singh made his way over to the podium, from which a banner with The Flash emblem hung brightly.


"Never in my life have I seen such heroism, such bravery, such moral capability. These two incredible people had denied these awards initially. They said that they don't do this for the glory, or to get their names in the paper, they do what they do because it's the right thing to do."


The crowd continued to cheer in between the pauses of his speech.


"They not only think about you, they think about the first responders and officers on the front lines. Never have I seen anyone with more bravery."


Y/N leaned her head against Barry's shoulder as they continued to listen to Singh's speech. Barry put an arm around her, "This is nice," he said.


"Yeah...it is," she replied.


"These two have run into burning buildings, under collapsing bridges, faced the impossible for us...to protect us. We've seen them injured, we've seen them beat up...but we have never once heard them complain, we have never heard them say that they don't like what they do. Their jobs never cease, they work 24 hours a day every day, no breaks, no vacations, only justice. Our wounds run deep, and I know many of you are afraid of what threats tomorrow may bring. But the Flashes don't just protect us, they have restored hope where it was lost. That's why I'm honored to not only present the keys of the city, but also CCPD's medals of valor to the two people who have saved Central City. The Flashes!"


"That's our cue," Barry said.


"Here we go, is my mask straight?" Y/N asked frantically turning to Barry.


Barry chuckled, "Yes, you're fine, let's go get some awards," he smiled.


The crowd erupted as Barry and Y/N arrived on the stage, both the Mayor and Singh were grinning from ear to ear.


"You came," the Mayor said as he shook their hands.


"We said we would," Y/N said with a smile.


Barry and Y/N both bowed their head as Singh put on their medals, cameras flashed and people chattered as he did so.


"Central City thanks you for your service," Singh smiled as he waved to the crowd.


"Oh please...get on with the sappy crap," someone said from behind them.


"Is that?" Barry asked in disbelief.


"My doppelganger," Y/N answered...

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