Archive of Our Own

Barry Allen loses more than his mother and father when his life changes. He loses his identity and everything around him, because Joe West can't deal with his ward defending himself. He sends him to live with Nora's sister in Paris, Isabelle Smythe, married to an American Top Lawyer, Richard, to become their eldest son and heir, Sebastian Smythe. But Paris is hard. Paris is cruel. Paris is unforgiving, and his soft heart won't survive long. He dons a mask, to protect himself, and locks everything behind. And it works, until he's uprooted once again and suddenly back in America. There, the mask doesn't read as socially competent, but as cruel and mean. And old habits die hard. He goes through Dalton, more or less able to stop from falling apart, and music becomes his coping mechanism. And then he realises he's become what he was trying to protect himself from, a bully. He shuts down, and school ends, and university starts and life is running, and also slow as molasses, and he needs to change, do something, anything. The lightning and explosion changes not only his metabolism, but also resets his life. For a fresh start. And it's good, life as Barry, as the Flash. It's great, even, until the past comes knocking at the door.

Complete after 4 parts.

A mask to protect.
Life's an interlude.
Lightning's reset.
Whole, even with the masks.

End pairing: Kurtbastian.
Even if the first few parts aren't that bad, if you like Blaine.... Don't read this.