Chapter Text
“Listen, we got off on the wrong foot.”
Yes, true, but Julian isn’t interested in another rehash of the facts. He wants remorse. Regret. He wants a sign that, maybe, just maybe, Barry Allen can change.
Another commendation from Singh goes to Allen. Julian claps tersely as the rest of the precinct applauds Allen on a job well stolen.
“I’m not a bad guy, Jul! You gotta trust me.”
Burn him once, shame on you. Burn him twice, he’ll show you what a living hell looks like, Allen.
So they squabble and they bicker. They yell and they shout. They never agree to disagree, preferring to slam doors and dig their heels in like children.
Julian hates this man with every fiber of his being.
But then Barry Allen becomes the Flash. Barry Allen changes the timeline.
“Can we be friends?”
Julian doesn’t know what to do with this. He hasn’t a clue how to handle the fact that the Barry he knew is gone, that that man no longer exists and has been supplanted by the real Barry Allen.
In a way, Julian misses his Allen, the predictable one who he knows exactly how much and how loudly to bellow at.
“Julian, what did I do to you?”
It’s been so long that the grudge has loosened and dislodged itself. He can’t remember how many times Allen spilled coffee on his reports. Julian stares at this new Barry Allen and shrugs, helplessly lost.
“I don’t know how to help you, Julian.”
See, neither did the other one. That one never helped, only ruined.
Julian closes his eyes and tries to remember the Allen he knew—
“Can we start over?”
Julian has no other choice. He has to relearn who Barry Allen is, even if it means letting go.
(So he lets go, saying good-bye to his anger and his hatred.)
“I forgive you, too.”