Chapter Text
The day Nora Allen is murdered, Singh is one of the first people to arrive on the scene. Detective West gets there before anyone else, living in the area and hearing the Allens' only kid frantically screaming. It's a gruesome site, furniture tipped and broken, blood splatters on the wall, pictures of a young boy knocked over in the fight. Worst of all though is Nora's body, lying on her back in the clutter with still damp blood soaking her abdomen.
When West had arrived, Henry, Nora's husband, had his hands on her chest, attempting CPR and calling his wife's name. The detective hadn't hesitated to pull Henry off the body (swallowing against the smell of blood and the sight of his daughter's best friend's mother lying still, no longer breathing, swallowing against the fact that she was murdered by her husband , sweet little Barry's dad ).
Barry comes running back to the house as the cops are leading a handcuffed Henry out. He cries out at the sight of his dad, yelling and screaming, and Singh is quick to grab hold of the boy. He won't let his memory of his mother be tainted by this night, doesn't want him to see his father taken away in a cop car.
David holds onto sweet little Barry Allen as he cries and vows to help make things better.
~
Barry stays in foster care for a week before David can pull enough strings to get him placed in the Singh household.
The night of the murder had been a long and tortuous one, Singh staying late at the precinct to console the young boy as they got his statement. He listened to Barry's frantic crying, his steadfast belief that his father wasn't guilty, his claims of the yellow man in the lightning. Singh kept Barry in close proximity the whole time, never being more than an arm's length away. He made sure he was able to quickly comfort the crying boy after anyone tried to get him to tell the truth ( It's true! I'm not lying! There was a man in the lightning! He killed my mom! He killed her! He did it! IT WASN'T MY DAD! ), tried to convince him that his dad was guilty.
When the questioning ended, a woman from CPS came to escort Barry to a home for the time being and David's heart clenched in his chest. He didn't want to let Barry go, even though he knew he had to. Despite the deep desire to do so, he couldn't take Barry home with him ( not yet , his mind whispered).
There was paperwork to sign, Nora's funeral to plan, psychologists to call in to talk to Barry. With all the chaos David hadn't even been able to call Rob and tell him what's going on, to ask about fostering Barry.
As soon as Barry leaves the precinct, David rushes home, eager to collapse into the arms of his husband. Rob's curled up at the bench window seat in their kitchen, bare feet tucked under himself to keep them from the cold and a book being loosely held in his hands. He'd been waiting for David to get home, his eyes dropping with sleepiness and his face painted with warmth. One look at David's face and Rob can tell the case he was called in for was bad, can tell David was in a desperate need for comfort.
Rob unfurled from his reading spot, pressing a soft kiss to David's mouth and proceeding to pull him towards their bedroom. He helped David change into pajamas and pushed him into bed, tucking the soft covers over their entwined bodies. Rob was the big spoon that night, pressing light kisses to the back of David's neck.
"What happened?" Rob whispered, knowing his husband needed to talk about it but wouldn't without a little pushing.
"Murder case. At the Allen's house." David replied, pulling Rob's arms tighter around him. Captain Singh was a strong man but some cases he couldn't keep from getting to him. It wasn't always easy to distance his emotions from his work, especially in situations where children got hurt or, God forbid, killed.
"The Allens whose kid is best friends with Joe's daughter?"
"Yeah. Nora, uh... Nora was killed. Her husband, Henry. He did it." David's voice caught in his throat. The next words out of his mouth tore him up, scratching against his insides like shards of glass. "Their son, Barry. He saw it.. But he doesn't believe it.. Keeps going on about some man inside lightning..."
"What.. What's gonna happen to him?"
"He's in foster care right now. Joe would've taken him in but his wife recently came back, dying and with a son Joe didn't even know about. It'd be too much strain on them.." David paused, turning in Rob's arms to face him. "I know we haven't talked about it much but I was thinking and I can't just let Barry stay in the system. God, Rob, you should've seen him. He was so broken up about this whole situation-"
Rob gently shushed his husband before he could start to ramble, a nervous tick not many people knew he had. "David, of course we can foster him."
"I just, I can't leave him-" David went to continue, pausing when his husband's words finally registered in his mind. "Really?"
"Yes, really." Rob replied, loving the way David's face immediately lit up.
David slept a little easier that night, pleased at the idea of welcoming Barry into their home. He was eager to get into work tomorrow to start filling out the necessary paperwork to get Barry placed with them.
The day the Singhs took Barry home, both men were full of nerves. They did their best to make the boy feel more comfortable but knew they'd have to learn as they went, like most parents did. The first few months were rocky, with Barry closing himself off to try and cope with his mother's death. It was full of near heart attacks and the adults running off to find Barry at Iron Heights, desperate to visit his dad (which after the first few times resulted in a stern discussion and a reassurance that Barry could visit his dad but, please, just ask first). After that Barry began to warm up to David and Rob, although they still did their fair share of running after him and attempting to keep him out of David's classified case files.
They did their best to keep up with their only son until one day lightning struck and they realized they couldn't anymore.