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The Prize is Not Everything

Summary:

Nash is free from the evil Speedster Thawne and is making his rounds in saying goodbye. You, however, flee to the rooftop in avoidance, but you aren’t exactly successful.

Notes:

Flash Drabble S06E15

Work Text:

You need some air.

You can honestly say you’ve never been a part of an exorcism before, and seeing as you’d just finished helping with your first one, you knew that you needed a good, long breather.

And you know just the place.

A quick ascending elevator ride and up a fire escape door leads you to your sanctuary - the S.T.A.R. Labs rooftop. It’s a fantastic place to be alone with your thoughts, to sort them, or to have none whatsoever. Right now, you don’t even know what to think.

Nash Wells is alive. Team Flash had successfully exorcised Thawne from his body, and the geological mythbuster is free from the Speedster’s terror. What’s really got your panties in a twist is how quickly Nash started to pack his satchel once his head got sorted. He gave Cecile a goodbye hug, Barry a goodbye handshake, and Cisco a goodbye bro-pat. He was making his rounds. Nash was leaving, and you didn’t want to say goodbye.

Hence, partly why you’ve fled to the uppermost part of the building. No one would find you here. You could avoid him and his goodbye and he could just leave as abruptly as he came into your life.

A cool breeze greets you upon opening the door to the immense oval roof. It’s refreshing. Far more preferable to the damp and dark interior of the place in Nash’s mind. You move to lie down, spreading your arms and legs onto the sun-warmed ground under you.

Why does he have to leave?

They always leave.

And just when I was starting to…

The sound of a throat clearing jolts you to sit up.

“I’ve been looking for you,” Nash says, looking down at you with a smile. You’ll miss that smile.

“Well, you found me. Hi…” Part of you wishes he didn’t find you. Wouldn’t it be easier if he just left already?

“There’s something I wanted to tell you,” he goes on.

“Yeah, I know - You’ve come to say goodbye. So, bye, I guess.” You are dismissive as you turn away from the man, but Nash sits down next to you. His arms drape over his bent knees.

“That’s not what I’m here to say.” Your head whips towards him at his words. “I mean, initially yes, that’s what I was going to tell you, but every time I said my goodbyes to the others, they made me realize something.”

“And what’s that?”

Nash offers an open palm to you, to which you understand to place your own.

“All my life, I’ve always been searching for the prize. ‘The prize is everything.’ This became my mantra.” He explains this while tracing the lines of your palm. “The prize is everything… only it’s not anymore.”

“I don’t understand. What do you mean by that?”

“I’ve been to many Earths. I’ve debunked even more myths and searched for treasures. But it wasn’t until meeting you, and all of this, that I realized these- these prizes, these things aren’t the everything I thought they were. You are. You are everything.”

You hold your breath, or what you believe to be more likely - air simply stops filtering to your lungs at his confession. You don’t fully notice when your hand grips his own. Nash’s eyes appear even more blue and full of light since expelling the evil from him. He seems focused, clear-headed, yet entranced by your own eyes.

“You are the one treasure I want to discover all the secrets to.”

You are so overcome with emotion that you nearly tackle the poor man to the ground in your embrace. Your arms fly around his neck, throwing care to the gentle wind and place a firm and heady kiss to his lips. They are soft (you’d wondered about them many times) and entirely welcoming of your kiss. They greet yours with as much heated built-up anticipation as you’ve been feeling too. You pull back in order to catch your breath, and smile.

“How long?” you ask, dying to know. “How long have you felt this way?”

“Deep down? A while. But only recently did I have a bit of help from some friends to realize it.”

“Team Flash? They’re good eggs.” You feel like giving your friends and teammates all muffin baskets for this.

“Team Flash, yes,” Nash confirms, “And some additional help from a certain Council…”

You inhale a breath of calmness at the news, and press a hand to Nash’s chest, leaning in to kiss him again (you could so get used to this).

“Tell them thank you.”

“They already know.”

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