Chin Check

It didn't take long for the other prisoners to catch wind of who Barry was and what he did for a living. To say Barry was disliked by the other inmates would be somewhat of an understatement. They all hated him. Even Dex gave him the cold shoulder now. Barry was just thankful that his cellmate wasn't more aggressive. A lot of these other guys would have beat the shit out of him by now if they had known he had something to do with their conviction.

Barry was relieved when he was approached by a guard who told him he had a visitor. It was what he had been waiting for. He was somewhat hurt that it had taken any of them this long to come see him, but he figured it had to be because they were all busy working on a way to free him.

Barry felt that the handcuffs were a bit unnecessary. They had never kept handcuffs on his dad when he was visiting with him. He figured it was just the guards' way of trying to get to him. He was hated by most of the officers here just as much as the inmates.

Joe waited anxiously for them to lead Barry into the visitation area. He had tried to set up a private meeting at a table in one of the interrogation rooms, but he had been denied. If he wanted to see Barry, it would be through a pane of glass, with telephones being the only way they could hear each other. The whole thing just felt so wrong. Had it always felt this hard for Barry every time he went to see his dad?

When Barry finally came into view and smiled widely at him, Joe tried to smile back, but all he could manage was a slight twitch of his lips as he took in Barry's handcuffs and gray prison uniform. It was a sight that would take some getting used to.

He picked up the phone next to him as Barry picked up his.

"How are you doing, Bar?" Joe asked, pressing the phone to his ear. Barry smiled at him and shrugged.

"Fine," he said, "Prison isn't all that bad actually."

Joe sighed. He knew Barry was going to do this. He was going to act like everything was fine and downplay everything that was going on for Joe's sake.

"Really, Bar," Joe said sternly, "How are you?"

"I'm fine, Joe. Really," Barry insisted, "It's not that bad in here."

To Joe's surprise, Barry suddenly grinned then. It didn't look forced either. Barry was actually smiling.

"And I get to spend time with my dad," he said happily.

"Barry…"

"I know the circumstances are shitty," Barry added quickly, "but at least there's a bright side to all this."

Joe nodded slowly, giving Barry a small smile. Of course Barry would stay positive and optimistic through everything. That's how he always was.

"So what's going on out there?" Barry asked, suddenly serious, "Are you guys any closer to finding Bates? Has anything new happened?"

Joe sighed.

"We've been trying to track him down. We've also been arguing your case with the DA. It…it doesn't look good, Bar," Joe said quietly.

Barry nodded thoughtfully and then sighed.

"How is Iris taking all of this?" he asked.

"She's a mess," Joe answered, "She's worried about you being in here. I wasn't going to tell her that they ended up putting you in gen pop, but Eddie accidentally let it slip somehow. She's been hysterical ever since."

"She doesn't have to worry," Barry said, frowning, "I can take care of myself."

"I know you can, Bar," Joe said, "But Iris doesn't know that. She thinks you're going to be eaten alive in here."

A small, humorless smile appeared on Barry's face at that.

"Does she really think I'm that hopeless?" he said with a small laugh.

"No offense, but you're not exactly the prison type, Barry," Joe said, "And Iris doesn't know about your powers. She's really worried about you being in here."

"Well, tell her not to worry," Barry insisted, "Tell her she's got nothing to worry about and that I've been getting along really well with everyone here."

"Is that true?" Joe asked Barry with a surveying look. Barry shifted awkwardly in his seat.

"Well, not exactly," he said honestly, "I'm not the most popular person in gen pop right now."

"Try to keep your head down, Bar," Joe told him in a worried voice, "Try not to make too many enemies."

Barry cleared his throat awkwardly, and Joe could tell there was something he wasn't telling him.

"What is it, Bar?" Joe asked, "You haven't been making enemies in here, have you?"

"I may have gotten into a small fight," Barry admitted.

Joe stared at him for a moment.

"Define small."

"It was hardly even a fight," Barry assured him quickly, "Officer Gracie broke it up before it could really turn into anything."

"Remind me to thank him," Joe muttered absently before asking, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Joe," Barry said, refraining from rolling his eyes at his foster dad's unnecessary concern, "I can handle a couple prison thugs."

Joe looked like he was going to press the issue further, but Barry stopped him by changing the subject.

"So, what did you and Cisco find in Starling?" he asked, "Did you find anything else out about Wells?"

Joe felt his stomach clench. How could he tell Barry? How could he tell him that they had discovered the body of the real Dr. Wells in Starling? That the Wells that they had known this entire time had now disappeared, and that they had no idea where he was, who he was, or what he was planning.

"Nope," Joe said, "Didn't find a thing."

Joe's fist tightened under the table. He felt terrible for lying to Barry, for not telling him what was really going on, but he was convinced it was for the best. Barry had enough on his plate right now without worrying about his mother's potential killer being out there on the loose.

"Really?" Barry said, "Because when I first called you to let you know I was in trouble, you sounded like you had found something."

Joe sighed.

"It was just another dead end."

Barry looked disappointed, but at least he seemed to believe him.

"Okay, well, keep looking then," he said determinedly, "I'm sure there's something for us to dig up, something that we've missed. In the meantime, be careful. I don't want Wells to catch onto us, and I really don't like the idea that I'm locked up in here, and he's out there with you guys."

Joe swallowed back the lump of guilt in his throat and nodded.

"Okay," he said, "We'll be careful, and we'll let you know if we find anything. Right now, we're more focused on finding Bates though."

Barry sighed.

"Thanks," he said, "I wish I wasn't in this mess. Really, I'd much rather we be focusing on the man in yellow right now and on getting my dad out of here, not myself. I'll be fine spending some more time in here, but my dad's been here for fourteen years. I don't want him to spend a second longer in here than he has to."

Joe nodded.

"Don't worry, Bar," he assured him, "In no time at all, we'll have you both out of there. In the meantime, just try to stay out of trouble, alright?"

"Sure," Barry said, "I'll keep my head down. I promise."

Joe looked like he wanted to say something else, but they were interrupted then by one of the guards.

"Times up," he said stiffly.

"Already?!" Joe asked incredulously, "We barely got ten minutes!"

"It's because there are other visitors here," Barry said knowingly as he stood up, phone still in hand, "You have to come during a visitation time that's not too busy. I have the times written down somewhere on a post it on my desk from when I visit my dad."

"Okay, I'll look at it," Joe said, "You take care, okay? Be careful, Barry."

"I will be," Barry said, "I promise."

That promise didn't last very long though. Later that week, Barry was finally cornered in the yard by Tito and his crew. Really, it was only a matter of time before they faced off, and Barry wasn't at all surprised when they approached him. They strutted right up to where Barry and his dad were standing and surrounded the pair.

"Get out of here," Barry whispered to his dad.

"No," Henry said firmly, but after a serious look from Barry and a slight push from him, Henry reluctantly moved away, passing by the men who were circling around them. They didn't try to stop him. They didn't care about the old man, only the little shit who had had the nerve to hit Tito back the other day.

"What do you want?" Barry asked them angrily. Tito sneered at Barry.

"I want those pretty lips of your wrapped around my—"

"Finish that sentence, and I'll be swinging my pretty fists in you damn face," Barry growled.

The men all laughed, Tito right along with them.

"You're not exactly in any position to be making threats, Allen," Tito smirked, "It's four against one, and you're no MMA fighter, kid."

"Yeah, well your face says otherwise," Barry replied, a smug smile on his lips as he looked at the large bruise he had left on Tito's face. It was almost a week old, but it was still visible, the bruise yellowing with age.

"How's the jaw feeling?" Barry asked smugly.

Tito growled and cracked his knuckles.

"About as well as you're entire body's going to be feeling when we're through with you," he said angrily.

With that, one of the men suddenly lunged at Barry. It was true that Barry wasn't all that strong, but who needed strength when you had speed? Barry ducked and dodged the first guy easily, kicking his knee out from behind him once he had passed him. The man yelled out in pain and crumpled onto the ground, clutching his leg desperately.

As Tito, himself, then came at him, Barry was able to quickly hook his arm around the Tito's head and used the man's own momentum to drive his face down to meet Barry's knee. Barry heard the crunching sound of the Tito's nose breaking with satisfaction, and it was clear that he was out for the count as he sank to the ground, blood flowing through his fingers where his hands were pressed over his face.

It wasn't over though. Even with their leader on the ground, Tito's two remaining buddies continued to come at Barry. When Barry felt someone wrap their arm around his neck from behind to put him in a chokehold, he reached up and grabbed the guy's arm, but his grip was too strong and Barry couldn't break free. The other remaining man came forward then and started driving his fists into Barry's face. Barry saw stars as the man hit him repeatedly. He had to fight just to remain conscious, and his stomach churned when blood started spewing from his nose down his face and into his mouth.

The man then switched to hitting Barry in the stomach instead. Barry felt a few of his ribs crack with some of the blows, but he tried to block out the pain as he thought of a way out of this. He could faintly hear his father's voice calling out to the guards for help in the background. Even though his body's instincts were telling him to curl into himself from the pain, Barry did the opposite. Instead, he leaned backwards, arching his back so that he was pressing up against the guy behind him, allowing him to swing his legs up at the guy in front of him.

With a desperate, wild kick of his leg, Barry felt his foot make contact with his attacker's jaw. The man howled in pain, and stumbled backwards, reaching up to touch his face. Barry's vision was just starting to blur from being choked, but he was still able to see the blood spewing from the man's mouth. Barry had kicked the man's jaw so forcefully that he had bit his tongue, and it was now bleeding profusely, having been partially severed. Barry was only able to bask in the small triumph for a moment though because he was now starting to feel dizzy from the lack of oxygen he was getting with the other man's arm around his neck.

His speed would only be useful for escaping the man's hold if he could vibrate loose from it, but Barry didn't think he'd be able to do that without also giving away his identity. He couldn't use his speed for this. Thankfully though, Barry didn't need any physical advantages to get out of it. All he needed was his brain and his extensive knowledge of the human body.

Barry threw a sharp elbow behind him into the man's gut to catch him off guard before reaching up for the guy's wrist. Barry knew exactly where to press on the man's wrist to suppress the nerves in his hand and maybe (hopefully) even cause a little bit of permanent nerve damage. Sure enough, the guy's grip loosened, although his arm still remained around Barry's neck. Remembering the little bit of self-defense that Joe had taught him, Barry angled the guy's wrist forward until he heard the man gasp in pain. It was a very simple maneuver often used by police officer's. It was highly effective and required very little force.

Once the man's hold had loosened enough, Barry stepped to the side and ducked down, tilting his head to slip free from the man's grasp, while also maintaining his hold of the man's arm. As Barry straightened up, gasping for air to catch his breath, he twisted the guy's arm behind his back, applying probably a little more pressure than what was really necessary to subdue him, but hey, Barry was pissed. His face was probably swollen all to hell now, and judging from the sharp pain in his side every time he took a breath, he had more than a few broken ribs. He didn't feel too bad about applying a little extra force to the asshole's arm.

The guy in Barry's grasp went down to the ground with very little resistance, probably due to the fact that Barry was on the verge of breaking his wrist. Barry knelt down with him forcing the guy to lay on his stomach as he pressed his knee into his back, maintaining the painful pressure on the thug's wrist to keep him subdued. Of course, that was when the guards finally decided to show up and intervene. Barry wouldn't have even been surprised if they had purposely waited this long to finally come help him.

"I've got him," Barry assured one of the approaching guards, "It's okay. I've got him under control."

Barry was completely taken off guard when one of the officers suddenly tackled him off the guy and onto the ground.

"The fuck?!" Barry yelled out when he suddenly found himself in a similar position to the one he had just been holding his attacker in. The guard ignored him though as he twisted Barry's arm painfully and held him down. The pressure from the guard's knee on his back caused Barry to gasp in pain when his broken ribs were compressed on the ground.

"They attacked me!" Barry gritted out through all the pain he was in, "What are you doing?!"

"He didn't do anything wrong!" Barry could hear his father shouting, "It was self-defense! They started it!"

"We don't care who started it," he heard a familiar voice say. It was CO Golding, the correctional officer who had had it out for Barry since he had first gotten there.

"Fighting in the yard is prohibited. It doesn't matter who threw the first punch, and by the looks of it, Mr. Allen has thrown his fair share of punches," he said, looking at the other four men scattered on the ground. One was clutching his leg, another, his wrist, and the other two both had serious facial injuries that were bleeding profusely.

"Take these men to the infirmary to get looked at," he ordered a few of the other guards, "Mr. Allen can come with me."

"My son is hurt too," Henry said angrily from a few feet away. He hadn't gone to the guards for help just so they could tackle his son to the ground and then fail to give him proper medical attention.

"I'm good, dad," Barry choked out from where he was on the ground, "I don't need to get looked at."

The last thing Barry needed was some prison doctor examining him. His superhealing would take care of it anyways. Thankfully, his father seemed to catch on fast because he didn't further press the issue as he watched them lift Barry to his feet and lead him out of the yard.

It was a full hour and a half before Henry saw Barry again. He had decided to wait for him back in his own cell, figuring that's where Barry would probably look for him first. When his son finally returned back to the cell block, Henry's stomach churned when he saw Barry's face. He looked like hell.

"Are you alright?" he asked Barry, leading him over to sit on his bed. Thankfully Henry's cell mate wasn't in there right now, so they had the space to themselves for the time being.

"I'm fine," Barry assured him, sitting on the bed, "Since it was my first offense, the warden let me off with a warning. I convinced them to not look me over. I had to sign a few waivers, but I was able to avoid having a doctor poking and prodding at me."

"Not quite," Henry said, gently placing a hand on Barry face to angle it towards him for a better look, "You still have to deal with me."

"It's fine, dad," Barry insisted, turning his head away from his overly concerned father.

"Just let me see," Henry said sternly, and Barry reluctantly turned back to face his father so he could get a better look. Henry's stomach clenched in anger and disgust when he saw how marked up his son's face was. His lip was split, and his left eye was swollen shut. The bruising was just starting to show, and Henry could see dark circles forming under Barry's eyes. A large cut above his eyebrow was still bleeding sluggishly.

"Jesus, Barry."

"It'll heal within an hour," Barry said dismissively.

"You're lucky they didn't break your nose," Henry said, gently wiping some of the dried blood from Barry's face with a dampened tissue.

"Do you think I broke Tito's?" Barry asked, a slightly smug smile on his face. His father huffed at him.

"I heard that you did break it," he told Barry, "I also heard that two of the other guys had to go to the hospital. One of them nearly bled out from his severed tongue, and the other might need surgery on his knee."

Barry raised his eyebrows, somewhat surprised. He didn't think he had caused that much damage, but he couldn't exactly say that he was sorry that he had. He didn't consider himself a violent person, but he also wasn't going to feel all that guilty for beating up a bunch of thugs who had been trying to attack him.

"Do you want me to say I'm sorry?" Barry asked his dad defensively, "Because I'm not."

"I'm not either," Henry said to him, "I'm just surprised."

Barry looked down then, feeling slightly ashamed. He wasn't sorry for hurting Tito and his asshole friends, but he was sorry that his father had had to see it. It was a side of him that his father had never seen before.

He was surprised though when his dad suddenly let out a light laugh. Barry looked up in surprise.

"You're really living up to your nickname now, Slugger," his dad said with a hint of pride in his voice.

He smiled at his son, and then Barry couldn't help it. He smiled right back.

…..

"Are you sure we can trust her, dad?" Iris asked, "I've looked her up. She's really young and doesn't have that much experience. I'm sure we could find a better lawyer, one that lives a little closer to Central too."

"Ms. Lance is a friend of Barry's," Joe told her.

"Oh?" Iris said, raising her eyebrows, "I've never heard of her before."

"Barry supposedly met her the last time he was visiting his friends in Starling," Joe said, "I just met her during my last trip there, and she seemed like a really nice girl. She seemed trustworthy."

"I just want to make sure we get the best lawyer possible for Barry," Iris said determinedly, "We can't let this happen to him, especially after everything with his dad. Barry doesn't deserve this."

"I know, baby," Joe said sadly, "We're going to get him out."

"How was he when you saw him on Monday?" she asked, "Did he look like he was doing okay?"

"Barry's doing fine," Joe assured her for what must have been the hundredth time, "He's keeping a surprisingly positive attitude about the whole thing. I think he's actually kind of happy to be spending some time with his dad."

"That's the most twisted father-son time I've ever heard of," Iris said, frowning, "But I'm sure you're right. I'm sure Barry's loving that part of it. At least there's one bright side to all of this."

Iris sighed heavily.

"I'm just so worried about him," she said, "I'm sure he's scared. He knows that we're doing everything we can to get him out though, right?"

"I told him," Joe assured her, "Barry knows that we're trying. Eddie and I have been trying to track down Bates. We have Barry's friends at STAR Labs helping us too."

"That's good," Iris said, feeling slightly relieved, "I've been trying to keep the CCPN from running all of those stories about Barry, but they're not really listening to me since I'm only an intern. I hope Barry hasn't seen any of it. It would only make him feel worse."

"This will blow over," Joe assured her, "We'll prove that he's innocent and clear Barry's name. You'll see."

"Yeah, but even if he's proven innocent, it's all still out there," Iris said sadly, "It's probably going to follow him for the rest of his life."

Joe nodded sadly.

"For now, let's just focus on getting Barry out," he said quietly.

"Can we go see him?" Iris asked him, "I know you said he was doing okay, but I want to see him for myself. When can we go visit him?"

Joe sighed.

"I suppose we can go today," he said, "I'm meeting with Ms. Lance at four, but we have time before that to stop in and see him. I suppose you've been waiting long enough."

"No kidding," Iris muttered.

She hadn't gotten to see Barry yet because he had only been permitted one visitor during his first week in Iron Heights due to the pending investigation. They had finally just told Joe this morning that Barry would be allowed more visitors now.

Checking into the visitation area at Iron Heights took a while. Iris had never visited anyone in prison before. Barry had been doing it for over half of his life, but she had never done it before. As she went through the process of getting her visitation badge and walked through the gloomy halls with her father towards the visiting area, Iris wondered how Barry always did this every week. This place was downright depressing.

She and her dad both sat down in two chairs that were placed side by side in front of the glass window. There was only one telephone, so they were going to have to share it if they both wanted to talk to Barry when he came out. They waited there for a good ten minutes or so before the guard who had went to get Barry finally returned. They were confused to see that Barry wasn't with him.

"Sorry," the guard said, coming up to them, "Mr. Allen declined your visitation session."

"What?" Iris asked, not understanding what the guard meant. Barry didn't want to see them?

"Why would Barry do that?" Joe asked, a hint of worry in his voice, "Did he give a reason?"

"He said now wasn't a good time," the officer said vaguely, "He didn't really give any other reason though."

Joe frowned, and he and Iris looked at each other, both sharing the same concerned look. Joe turned back to the guard.

"Tell him it's important," Joe said, "Tell him it's regarding his case."

The guard nodded and walked away again, looking somewhat annoyed.

"Why would Barry refuse to see us?" Iris asked her dad, her voice punctuated with worry and a little hurt.

"I don't know," Joe said, just as confused as she was, "He must have a reason though."

Joe and Iris saw that reason pretty quickly when Barry was led out to the visitation area a few minutes later. Iris gasped when she saw his face. He looked like someone had taken a sledgehammer to it. Well, maybe not that grotesque, but his face still looked awful. He had a deep gash over his left eyebrow and his bottom lip was split open. The bruises forming along his jaw and under his eyes looked extremely painful, and the swelling made him almost unrecognizable. At a first glance, she wouldn't have thought it was Barry.

When Barry sat down across from them and picked up the phone his side of the glass, Iris quickly grabbed the phone on her side and pressed it to her ear.

"Oh my God! Your face!" she cried into the phone, "Barry, your face!"

"This was why I wasn't going to see you guys," Barry said calmly, "I knew you'd overreact."

"Overreact?!" Iris said incredulously, "Barry, you look like you got mugged!"

"I'm fine," Barry sighed, "I just got in a little spiff with some guys this morning. It wasn't a big deal."

"A little spiff!?" Iris said. She knew this was going to happen. Barry was too gentle for prison life. She knew he was going to get targeted by other inmates. She just knew it.

"You got in another fight, Barry?" Joe asked him, leaning awkwardly in his chair to share the phone with Iris.

"What do you mean 'another fight'?" Iris asked her father, "You never mentioned that he got in a fight."

"Guys, calm down," Barry said in an exasperated voice, "You don't have to make a big deal out of it."

"Barry, you told me you were going to be careful," Joe said reproachfully, internally cringing as he observed the nasty-looking bruises covering Barry's face. He knew that the only reason they hadn't healed yet was because it had happened only this morning. Normally, Barry would be healed within a couple hours, but something must have been inhibiting his healing ability. Something about prison life wasn't agreeing with him, and Joe couldn't exactly pinpoint what that something was as he looked at his foster son with worry.

"I didn't ask for this, Joe," Barry said defensively, gesturing towards his beaten face, "I've been trying to keep my head down, but almost everyone here knows by now that I worked for the CCPD, and that doesn't make me the most popular kid on the playground. The guy chin checked me. I wasn't going to just let that slide."

Iris raised an eyebrow.

"He 'chin checked' you?" she asked, "What does that mean?"

"It's when you punch an inmate to see if they'll fight back," Joe answered, shaking his head at Barry. One week in prison, and he was already using the prison slang.

"Can't they transfer you?" Iris asked Barry seriously, "Can't they take you out of gen pop?"

"I've already tried that," Joe said to her, "I was turned down. I'll put in another request order though. We'll make sure he gets transferred to a segregation unit."

"No," Barry said suddenly. The other two looked at him in surprise.

"No, don't do that, Joe," Barry said, "I'm fine where I am."

"Barry," Joe said, "I'm not going to let you stay in a place where you're being targeted and beat up by other inmates. I won't stand for it."

"I want to be in gen pop," Barry told him.

"Why?!" Iris asked incredulously, "Why would you want to stay in a place where you're getting your ass kicked every day?"

"Hey, you should see the other guys," Barry said defensively, letting out a small laugh.

"This isn't funny, Barry," Iris said reproachfully, "You could get seriously hurt in here. Why on earth would you want to stay in gen pop?!"

"Because of your dad," Joe said quietly, staring at Barry, understanding now, "You don't want to transfer out of gen pop because you want to stay with your dad."

Barry looked at Joe with sad eyes and gave a slight nod of his head.

"Please don't request to have me transferred," Barry begged him.

"Barry…" Joe said.

"Joe, please. I'd rather put up with a few assholes than move to some safety wing where I'll be all alone. I want to stay in gen pop."

Joe sighed.

"Okay," he said, "I won't ask them to transfer you."

"Are you sure about that, Barry?" Iris asked, looking at the horrible bruises covering his face.

"I'm sure," Barry said, nodding. Iris eyed him carefully. He had one arm wrapped around his ribs, no doubt unaware that he was doing it. She wondered how hurt he really was. He was clearly downplaying it and trying to hide how much he was hurting.

"I really don't like this, Barry," Iris said tearfully.

"I'll be fine," Barry assured her, despite the fact that his face looked less than fine, "So what's going on with my case?"

Iris wasn't happy with Barry's not-so-settle change of subject, but she let it go. They were still limited on time, despite the fact that she and her dad had come at a time that, according to Barry, was a good time to visit.

"We have a meeting with Laurel later today," Joe told him.

"You hired Laurel?" Barry asked.

"She volunteered," Joe said, "And she seems like a trustworthy person so…"

"Yeah, she is," Barry said, "She's a great lawyer too."

"I'm glad you think so," Joe said, "I'm meeting with her at four, so I can explain the case to her. She'll meet with you too of course, but they haven't been very lenient about you getting visitors, so I thought it'd be smart to have her all caught up before she meets with you."

"Good idea," Barry agreed.

Unfortunately their conversation was cut short soon after that when the guard approached them and told their time was up. Iris thought she might cry when she realized that she couldn't even hug Barry goodbye. It broke her heart. It looked like he really needed one. She tried not to let Barry see her cry as they parted ways, knowing that her tears would only make things harder for him, but by the time she got out to the car with her dad, she was practically bawling.

…..

Sorry, I know it's been a while. All my updates for all of my stories are going to be sporadic now. I'll try to post whenever I can. In the meantime, let me know what you thought of the chapter! I promise, it makes me update that much sooner.