Appeal

April 13, 2015:

Felicity comes to Barry with news about how to help his father

Washington Heights - Barry's Apartment

Characters

NPCs: Cisco

Mentions:

Mood Music: None.


Fade In…

It has been a little while since Barry and Felicity had seen each other in person. There were, of course, the friendly text messages and the messages, but face to face time halted basically to a minimum. Felicity is bad with lying and changes in friend's situations, so the somewhat lack of communication in the past few weeks meant very little to her. Or, at least, not a lot that she won't come knocking on his door at whatever hours this is with important information.

However, despite her determination, she paces a few times in front of Barry's door, resolving to knock and then chickening out. Telling him what she knows and what it means brings a new chapter of her life that she has attempted to bury for years. The fact that the cause is good doesn't make the revelation any easier for the former hacktivist.
Resolute, she knocks twice on Barry's apartment door.

And, then, she loses her nerve and starts to run down the corridor away from said door so that he won't see her. Totally a knock and run. That is what that is. Don't look at her!

The walls of the apartment are thin enough for Felicity to hear both Barry and his roommate Cisco Ramon. "I got it," says Barry's voice. "Good," Cisco responds, that pizza made me catatonic."

The door creaks open and Barry is wiping at his eyes. He opens them to find no one. Cisco, however, cannot seem to be able to go to sleep without knowing who it is.
"Who is it?"
"It's …no one," Barry says, his thin arms shaking wildly as he talks with them, mildly frustrated, standing there in his grey Central City University t-shirt.

At the end of the hallway, Felicity, again, has a change of heart. Sighing and turning, she sounds very much like a student caught cheating. "Uh, not…no one," she tells Barry, head hanging just slightly as if in shame. "Just, you know, your normal, average coward."

Slowly, the blonde woman starts to step into the light, smiling sheepishly. "I think I have a way to reopen your father's case." Wait, people normally say hi to people they haven't seen in a few weeks, remember that Felicity. "I mean, Hi Barry. I may have figured out a way to reopen your father's case." Then, she realizes that he doesn't know her past. "It may be in a kind of morally grey area, though?"

She looks around her, realizing that she's saying all this in the middle of his hallway where anyone can listen in on their conversation. Her sheepish expression quickly turns to embarrassed, cheeks flushing. "I, uh, maybe I should have saved this for after the hello? And inside you? That is, inside your place. Sorry. I paused."

She looks down at the carpet. "I am…I am very nervous."

In an instant, Barry's face comes alive as he wakes up completely, peers at her, nods and then says with a hint of exhaust, "Hey, hey, come in, come in." His hand goes back to rubbing at his eyes but he shows her in, guiding with a hand that he taps her on the shoulder.

"Felicity, it's been a while," he says with no malice.

"Who is it?" Cisco says from his room.

"It's Felicity," Barry says quietly, trying not to wake the neighbors.

"Hi Felicity," Cisco says, presumably in bed. He doesn't seem to be getting up.

As Felicity follows the gesture from Barry, she gives a look over her shoulder, just checking to see if anyone is going to poke their head out at the crazy woman in hallway. Once inside, though, her attention is on Barry. "You…you didn't say thing." It's almost a frown. She was expecting a certain reaction. A 'how did you do it' or a 'wait what' or a 'where have you been' but, instead, all she is given is an invitation in.

"Hi," she smiles at Cisco warmly enough, but her attention is then back on Barry.

"It has. You're just. You're just taking this in stride?" She glances at the clock. "Oh. It's, uh, it's late isn't it? I can come back later. I just got a bit excited."

"No, not at all. Now is good, now is good. Sorry, I was just fast asleep." Pun totally not intended. "To be honest, I'm sort of in shock. What do you mean that you can help my dad?" Barry could almost hug the gal, but a few times ago he totally spilled soda all over her new dress. Distance is good.

He rubs his face, "So, I mean, I don't even know what's going on."

"No sorry, I'm the one that's sorry. I'm the one coming into your apartment while you're sleeping without an invitation." As soon as the words are out of her mouth, Felicity turns her head slightly to the side and closes her eyes. It's as if she is attempting to focus herself and to not make verbal faux pas like that again. The dream will forever live, despite actual evidence.

"Not in a stalker sort of way. I promise," she says softly. "It's, um, okay, so you don't know me." Then she puts up her hands as if anticipating his answer. "I mean, you don't actually know me. I, uh, this is the sort of thing - and by this I mean looking into public records for corruption - that I used to do in college. But, I stopped. Because it was not exactly legal. And by not exactly I mean not. And by not I mean very. Very not legal."

She pauses, glancing up at Barry again, worried, but curious. "I was making a point. What was that again?"

Barry's eyebrows pop up like tarts in a toaster. Technically speaking he's broken the law quite a bit on account of putting on a mask, involving himself in matters more preferable to be taken by police, and using information in an investigation in the apprehension of a perp. It's still surprising and getting this all at once is a bit overwhelming, but Barry always puts on a good face. "Sounds like you've been busy. What does this have to do with my dad?"

Of course, Felicity doesn't know that Barry breaks the law on a normal basis. All she knows is her own promise to not do so unless it was for an incredibly worthy cause. Perhaps luckily for Barry, he qualifies as such a cause. Even if she's still incredibly nervous to talk about it.

"Uh, so, okay. I used to be a part of a group of hacktivists. We were about making the world a better place and delved into the more illegal side of things to expose corruption. But, then, something really bad happened and I stopped."

Felicity takes a deep breath. "Okay, that has nothing to do with you, sorry. That's just a bit of backstory. But, I started using what I learned and I started also studying some law. And it seems to me that your father is ripe for a case for appeal - especially with his current condition. The problem being that no one in the judicial system will do so because of the circumstances of the case. But, what I can do is, flag the file for a public defender. They will reopen the case and then we can - in the meantime - properly remand your father to the custody of a non-prison hospital."

Barry does his best to process the information and goes quiet for a short time. "You know, getting him out on a technicality wasn't what I'd hoped for, but it's better than nothing." With no income for years, and much of his original wealth spent on defense attorneys, Henry Allen did not have a lot of funds for medical treatment. Yet, at the end of the day, it's probably better than what he'd get at the prison.

To the business about being a hacktivist, he's not really sure what to make of that. Lots of people dabble in hackery, he guesses, but he's not going to make any fast opinions here in the middle of the night and judge her based on her past.

"This is not getting him out on a technicality." Felicity raises a finger. "This is putting his case at the top of the pile to ensure that it is heard within the next few months. You know how bogged down the New York case system is." Maybe he doesn't, but she'll assume. "It will be merely transferring him to a better facility while he heals to await a secondary hearing. As you know, double jeopardy is a thing. But, if we can present enough evidence at the grand jury hearing beforehand to convince them that Henry Allen is an innocent man, to indict someone else, then we're home free. That's a few months of trial, deliberation and everything else."

As he doesn't actually mention the hacktivism, she'll pretend like he didn't actually hear it. Easier all around that way. "And while that is happening, we can raise funds to make sure your dad gets the treatment that he needs." The lecturing, the plans, the tone all softens as she says this finally. "No matter what happens, your dad will get the treatment he needs now."

With a weary sigh, Barry slaps his hands down upon his knees and smiles softly at her, "I owe you so much, Felicity. I really have no idea how to even begin to thank you."

"Yeah, that's totally cool, Felicity," calls out Cisco from behind the door of his bedroom.

"How about you?" Barry says, noting that they've been talking about this the whole time. "The last time I talked to you face to face, you were out of a job. Are you doin' alright?"

"Nah, you don't owe me anything. Seriously. Maybe a drink or two. And some ice cream. Plus, there's a lot of work to do to make this whole thing work. So, I'll always take the thanks, but don't do it yet."

At Cisco's call, she rolls her eyes, blushing. She should have realized that Cisco was here, but she didn't. "That's! Not!" Okay, fine, she'll let it all be cool.

"Oh, you know me. I'm fine. I'm just working IT at that old corporate collar. This is a nice break from the 'please fix my email Ms. Smoak it won't send!"

Barry smiles his normal 1000 watt-er and shakes his head, "A drink, or two, and ice cream I can definitely do. Name the time and the place, and I'm there."

"Don't hate," Cisco yells.

"If it's two in the morning, you know that the zombie shows are on the local channels." Barry gives her a look and then reaches for the remote. "Now, this I wouldn't miss."

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