Chapter Text
You weren’t sure how long you’d been asleep when the sound of breaking glass rang through the Walgreens. A sturdy arm draped around your shoulders restricted you from leaping into the air at the noise. It was only when you rubbed sleep from your eyes did you realize your “pillow” was a shoulder, and the arm wrapped warmly around your upper back and tightly gripping your bicep belonged to Barry. Blush rushed into your face when you realized you were damn near snuggled into his side. The weight of his arm and the steady rise and fall of his breathing caused something to stir deep in your chest.
No. You couldn’t really catch feelings that fast could you? You’d only known him for a few hours and yet here you are...falling hard for this strange quiet man. Fuck.
At this point you had no clue if he was awake or not but you needed to go figure out what the noises in the front of the store were and if you, god forbid, had to call the police. You got you answer when Barry suddenly shifted and the grip on your arm got tighter.
“Don’t make a sound.” His voice was low and he spoke directly into you ear, his hot breath sending shivers down your spine. You tried not to react but you felt your whole body tense at the proximity of his mouth. You turned your head and met his eyes, trying your best to avoid dropping your gaze to his lips.
“Barry.” Your faces were so close together you just knew he could feel the heat coming from your flushed neck and cheeks. The intensity of your current situation was too much; you could feel the beads of sweat forming on the back of your neck. “Did you hear that? The glass?”
“Yeah.” He stood, taking his body heat with him and finally giving you a chance to catch your breath. “Earlier when I came in here and I was all beat up, it was from some guys who really don’t like me. It’s...complicated but they must’ve followed me and waited until things cooled down before sending in some assholes to take me out.” As he spoke he dug through his bag for the gun and froze when he heard footsteps out coming down the hallway. You were oblivious and kept ranting.
“Is that a silencer? Barry what the fuck is going on!” Your voice was cut off by one of Barry’s firm hands covering your mouth and the other wrapping around your torso. He slowly backed up until he was against the wall but he kept you firmly pressed to his front. You’d struggle if this wasn’t the hottest situation you’d ever been in in your entire life.
“I heard footsteps coming down the hallway. You cannot make a sound or they’ll come in here and kill us both.” His voice was hot on your ear but the grip on your mouth loosened so you could breathe properly. He maneuvered so that hand that was covering your mouth now laid across your chest and held onto your shoulder.
“How could you hear them?” You whispered, hands coming up to grab this arm for support.
“I was in the marines, remember? We all have like, crazy good hearing.” He chuckled softly.
All you could do in response was nod, not trusting your voice to give more of your flustered state away. You gave yourself a moment to once again examine the situation you both were in. Your entire body was being held very tightly against his. The way your hips were positioned meant that any slight shift on your end would cause the situation to become incredibly embarrassing for both of you so you used every ounce of self control to stay completely still. After another minute of unbearable shared space you heard the footsteps begin walking away from your hiding spot.
Barry released you and without thinking you spun around and engulfed him in a tight hug. He stiffened briefly before melting and hugging you back. You noticed the way he rested his head on your hair and how he seemed to exhale in brief relief.
“Barry please just tell me what’s going on. Whatever it is I won’t judge! I’m just fucking scared.” You asked as you pulled away from him.
“Look, Y/N, I can’t explain it all right now because it’s really fucking complicated but just please. Stay here, don’t make any noise, and don’t leave this room. These guys will not hesitate to kill you and I can’t...I’d really prefer if that didn’t happen. Okay?”
The look in his eyes was desperate and pleading, but behind it you could see those gears turning again. Like he was almost required to go out there and fuck up whoever was in the store. Yeah there was no way you were just gonna sit back and listen to him maybe die. You hadn’t known him for that long but you stuck a sewing needle in his face! Multiple times! That shit bonds you.
“No.”
“What?”
“You heard me. I want to help, not twiddle my thumbs and listen to you get shot or stabbed or worse. Let me help, distract them, something! I’m tougher than I look. Please.” He exhaled softly and rubbed his face, his eyes much softer now.
“Why? Why do you want to help me, I mean. We just met. What do you care if I die?”
“I stitched up your wounds, dude. That means we’re friends for life.” You paused.
Fuck it. If we die he’s gonna know how I feel about him.
“Plus I’m not gonna let the hottest person I’ve ever met in my life die in a fucking Walgreens. That’s just not something I can stand by and let happen.” You’d never seen anyone’s mouth drop open in real life, but the moment you confessed Barry’s did. If his face was pink earlier it was deep red now, thoroughly taken aback by your words.
Fuck.
“What uh, what did you say?”
“We’re friends for life?” You laughed, unable to resist a little teasing. He took a step towards you, clearly trying his best to keep his cool.
“No the uh, other part. You uh, really think I’m the hottest person you’ve ever met in your life?”
“I uh,” Now it was your turn to be embarrassed. “Y-yeah. I’m sorry if-”
“BERKMAN. I KNOW YOU’RE IN HERE YOU FUCKING PUSSY. COME OUT BEFORE I FUCK THIS WHOLE PLACE UP.” A very loud and very angry male voice echoed through the store, cutting through whatever tension was building between the two of you.
Berkman?
“Shit.” He cocked his gun and turned back to you. “Y/N please stay here. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He gave another weak smile before gently opening the door and ducking out. You quickly shut it behind him and locked it, not wanting to risk it slamming.
And now it was just you. You placed your ear against the door and tried to hear something, anything, but it was dead quiet.
“Fuck it. Sorry Barry, I gotta do something.” Very softly you opened the door to the office and peaked your head out. It was quiet down the hallway but you could hear the shuffling of boots walking on broken glass in the front of the store. As stealthily as you could you slunk down and crawled out the door and down the hallway. Luckily for you the hallway leads to the back section of the store so you’d have some coverage via the coolers and toiletry aisles.
“Look man, you don’t have to do this. I mean really, a fucking Walgreens? Shit’ll be all over the news tomorrow and your faces are all over the security cameras. If you leave now I can erase the tapes and we’ll be good! C’mon guys, don’t do this.” You heard Barry’s voice as you made your way along a bottom shelf of diapers and paper towels. From your angle you couldn’t see anyone directly but you could see them reflected in the shoplifting mirror. There were two men, one bald and one on the short side, standing near the checkout counter. Barry was standing roughly ten feet away. Everyone had their guns drawn.
“Berkman you know we can’t do that. Either you come with us or we blow your brains out here. It’s your choice.”
“Trying to reason with you guys is like talking to a fucking wall.” Barry sounded exhausted, you had to figure out your plan of attack before things escalated more than they already had.
“We can say the same about you, Mr. Barry.” The second man finally spoke and you couldn’t quite place his accent. Russian? Eastern European?
Suddenly you got an idea, and in a moment of brilliant stupidity you grabbed a bottle of shampoo off the shelf and threw it as hard as you could. It hit the ground with a loud splat and sent lavender-scented liquid in all directions. One of the men, you weren’t sure which but you knew it wasn’t Barry, fired 3 quick rounds in the direction of the bottle. This was exactly what you hoped for.
“What the fuck!?” While the short one was shouting, you made a move. You leapt up and ran quietly down another aisle before rounding the chip display and diving behind another endcap. Just as quickly as you had crouched down however, you were grabbed and yanked roughly into the bald one’s arms. He had a solid grip on the back of your head and had his gun pressed firmly to your side. The adrenaline pumping through your veins was quickly wearing off and being replaced by pure fear.
Barry. Barry do something. Barry I don’t want to be a fucking damsel in distress but fucking do something!
“HEY! Hey, let her go!” Barry aimed his gun.
“And who is this? You’ve got random cashiers doing your work now, Berkman?”
“Leave her out of this, man. She’s got nothing to do with any of it.” He was pleading.
“But it seems like she wants to be a part of it. Judging by her shitty stealth skills, she was trying to be like you. Got yourself an apprentice, hmm?”
“I was-” You struggled against the grip on your hair. “I was trying to escape.” You threw Barry a look that basically said Play along.
“Escape?” Bald Assassin questioned.
“Now why would you wanna do that? And leave your friend here to die? That’s pretty fucking rude.” The Short Assassin laughed.
“I d-don’t even know this guy. I was hiding in the bathroom and heard the c-commotion.” A look crossed Barry’s face while you spoke.
Bingo.
“No no no. See, I don’t believe you. Why would you throw things and sneak around if you just wanted to escape? Couldn’t you have just gone out the back?” He was in your face now, breathing heavily down your neck. “I think you’re lying. Trying to help out your new pal. So I don’t buy any of this.” He gestured to you. “Not everyone in LA can be a fucking actor, sweetheart.”
Out of the corner of your eye you saw Barry shuffling low along the wall. You just needed to buy him a little more time.
“Please just...let me go. I won’t tell anyone I swear. I’ll go straight home I’ll never tell a soul.”
“Drop the fucking act, bitch! I don’t have time for this.” He cocked his gun and pressed it to your stomach.
“Okay, fine! You’re right, I wasn’t trying to escape. I was trying to be something else.” Short Assassin was getting thoroughly fed up with your bullshit.
“Something else, huh? And what would that be?”
“A distraction.”
“A distra-” Bald Assassin didn’t have time to finish his statement before Barry sent two bullets through his head. As you fell, but before your head cracked against the hard linoleum floor and your vision went black, you saw blood spray across a display of nail polish.
Four faint rounds being fired cut through the fog in your head. You managed to stand up halfway before getting woozy and stumbling. Just as you were about to fall back down a pair of arms caught you; they gripped under your thighs and around your chest and hoisted you up against their accompanying torso.
“Hey hey Y/N it’s gonna be okay. You’re gonna be fine just...just hold on okay? You’re fine you’re not shot, you just hit your head pretty hard.” He walked another foot before gently sitting you down on the counter and positioning his body between your legs.
Oh how the turn tables...er...tables have turned.
You laughed quietly as he lifted your face gently with his fingers. Your eyes had finally readjusted and you could see his face was full of concern and worry. And also spattered with blood.
“Whoa.”
Barry frowned. “What? Is it your head?”
“No. You just look really hot right now.” His eyes widened.
“I...uh what? Y-You don’t mean. Not with all the blood and s-stuff. I think you have a concussion.”
“Okay, yes, I definitely have a concussion but the blood really enhances your whole look. Honestly it’s kinda sexy.” You reached up and wiped some of the blood off his cheek, causing him to blush probably as red as your own face felt. You thought for a moment before wiping the blood on his shirt. “Sorry Barry, you’re shirt’s black and mine’s blue. Blood won’t show up on yours.” He laughed again, softer this time.
“You know you’re an idiot right? Like a total fucking idiot.” He spoke gently as he soaked up some of the blood on the back of your head with a tissue, still cradling your chin in his other hand. You reached under his arm to grab a package of gummi worms from under the counter; popping them open you offered him one which he accepted happily.
“Maybe so. But...I couldn’t let you die. Even if you are this secret hitman killer who keeps very large handguns in his backpack. I like you, Barry. Probably more than I should considering the situation but, you know, what can you do.” You laughed and ate another gummi worm, letting your statement hang in the air. He didn’t say anything, just gave you that same look you’d seen at least five other times tonight: the one of gears turning. “Look I get if that was a little forward, clearly my head-”
You didn’t get to finish your sentence before Barry had his lips pressed to yours. The kiss was almost chaste, you hardly reacted out of shock that he even made a move in the first place. When you didn’t try to kiss back he pulled away.
“Shit! I’m-I’m sorry. I shouldn’t of, that was stupid you were still talking and I just leaned in and…” He trailed off.
“Barry.”
“Yeah?”
“Shut up.”
You kissed him this time. Harder, and with more urgency. He reacted almost immediately, bringing one hand up to cup your face and the other wound itself around your torso. Your mouths fit together almost perfectly and neither of you noticed or cared when your teeth would gently click. He tasted like candy and mint and something else that was uniquely Barry . At some point his tongue had slipped past your lips but you weren’t complaining, he was very very good with it. Your mind began producing images of what his tongue could do in other places and you gasped into his mouth, making him jump.
“You okay? Should I stop?”
You muttered a short “No.” before bringing him back in for another kiss. This time one of his hands went to the back of your neck and the other rested high on your thigh. Every so often he would gently squeeze and run his fingers along the inside of your leg; it made you squirm every time. The hand in your hair tugged gently on the strands, earning him a soft moan.
You pulled him closer and, very slowly, lifted the hem of his shirt. The soft groan that left his mouth as your fingers danced along skin above his jeans registered as a sign of approval so you continued. Your hands went around his middle and gently scratched up and down his spine. This time he sighed loudly, making heat coil low in your belly. How had this awkwardly handsome killer turned you on so fast?
The kissing continued with both of you working harder and harder to pull soft moans and noises from the other, almost like a game. A very dangerous game considering you were in full view of any random passerby who could peek in a see two people heavily making out next to not one, but two dead bodies.
Dead bodies. Blood. Shit.
“Barry. Barry wa-” He kissed down the side of your neck and began gently biting and sucking on a pressure point near your collarbone. “Ooh-kay Barry that feels...amazing but there’s...we’ve gotta do something about...the bodies.” Suddenly he stiffened and pulled away.
“Shit. Oh shit, fuck me.” He leaned forward so his head pressed into your shoulder and his hands rested on your hips. “You’re right. Look, uh I can deal with this if you just want to uh head out. That way you don’t get dragged...into...everything.”
The look on your face was his answer.
“I’m not gonna leave you alone in this. Friends for life, remember?” You both laughed. “And I’m probably out of a job so I guess that means I am your accomplice now.”
“You won’t be out of a job if we delete the security tapes.”
“Barry Block you are much more mischievous than you look.”
“Berkman.”
“What?”
“My last name. It’s not Block. It’s Berkman.”
“Barry Berkman. I like that, it’s cute. Sounds like an actors name.” His eyes widened.
“What! Really?”
“Totally. I can see it now! ACADEMY AWARD WINNER BARRY BERKMAN.” You waved your arms in a big fanfare, making him laugh again. You could listen to him laugh for hours.
Thirty minutes later you and Barry had erased the footage from the security tapes and deleted the extras from the main hard drive just in case. It would’ve taken fifteen minutes but you both got distracted by the fact that you were now in an enclosed room and away from exposing store windows. Naturally it did not take long for his hands to make their way under your shirt and down the front of your jeans. Not that you were complaining of course. And neither was he.
---
“Hey are you uh hungry at all?” He asked as you were locking up the back door. You both had decided to forego leaving through the front and opted instead to sneak out the back. Your watch read 3:18am.
“Starving, actually. I haven’t eaten in hours.”
“Uh well, I was wondering if you’d maybe wanna grab some breakfast? I realize it’s like three am but I know this great place that has uh, really good potatoes.” You shot him a puzzled look.
“Potatoes?”
“Yeah! Like uh hashbrown style? They’re pretty rad.”
“I like hashbrowns. And I’m always down for three am breakfast.”
“Sweet! Er, awesome. My car’s parked around the corner.” His face was only half lit by one of the parking lot lights but you could tell he was blushing. Again.
“It’s a date, Berkman.”
You grabbed his hand and entwined your fingers with his. He smiled softly down at you and began leading the way to what you knew would be the best breakfast you’ve ever had in your life.