This was inspired by a list of ot3 friendly prompts on tumblr, and some how my mind combined two of them, that being the "traveling alone and all three end up sitting together on the plane" and the "couple drags asks other person to settle a stupid argument". This was also entirely too fun to write and is a bit nonsensical. Sorry. (Also, yes, there's a lot of meta/parallel in Iris and Barry's argument).

"Okay, but the tragic lost best friend/lover thing is so cliché! And please, the first time Steve laid eyes on Sam the flirting was on. He didn't even know who he was before they started flirting."

"Come on, love at first sight? Really? And you're calling me cliché? Besides, you can't just ignore all of Steve and Bucky's history together- and the looks they give each other, god. You don't look at your best friend or brother like that."

Eddie Thawne was on his way back home to Central City after visiting his grandmother in Munich and honestly, he was dreading the flight home. The airline he was on was notorious for having passenger planes with entirely too many people to a row and he did not want to be squished into a four seater.

Luckily, when he found his seat (on that damned ten person per row plane) he was in an aisle seat for a three person section. The occupants of the other two seats were already seated and having a rather intense discussion about some movie (he thought it might have been a superhero movie but it took him a while to be sure). They paid little attention to him as he took his seat and that's how it was for the beginning of the trip.

He normally would have been annoyed by the (rather loud) arguing, especially considering at some point the conversation became extremely heated but instead he was amused. It was actually rather entertaining to listen to, and the woman could be very insulting when she pleased.

"So there's some unrequited or unfulfilled pining going on, big deal. Bucky was dead," the woman scoffed, rolling her eyes when the man recoiled, "Oh, suck it up. Steve thought he was dead for at least a year or two before he discovered he was actually the Winter Soldier. He was beginning to move on! He needed to move on! (And that scene with Agent 13 confirmed that if nothing else.) Besides, Sam was introduced practically as the love interest from the start. It's implied in the narrative!"

Both members of the couple were obviously in their early to mid-20s (though listening to their argument made Eddie feel like he was in college all over again) and if he was being honest with himself, very attractive. The woman was slim but her eyes (that were barely a shade darker brown than her gorgeous and enticingly smooth skin) radiated a barely concealed strength. Her face crinkled up with every teasing smile that kissed her face and she tended to lash out and smack the man whenever he said something rude.

"The fact that he thought Bucky was dead and came back, that his best friend was lost and went through so much trauma- just like he did- is what makes them so suited for each other," the man replied earnestly, gesturing grandly and nearly smacking Eddie in the face without ever noticing, "He tried to move on but he couldn't! Maybe with Bucky, with someone to face the world they're both so far removed from, he can finally move on. And losing Bucky is what drove Steve into his reckless state that ended with him frozen in the ground. He thought his best friend- possibly the love of his life- was dead and he never even told him about his true feelings."

Even though he was seated, Eddie could tell that the man was tall and lanky, and he looked windswept, as if he had run through the entire airport to catch his flight. Despite his slightly disheveled appearance, he was just as gorgeous as the woman he was arguing with. He had a smile that lit up the room and freckles danced around his dimples and peeked out from beneath the collar of his shirt.

Eddie found himself quite smitten with both of them without just cause, as he had yet to say two words to them the entire trip. It was actually rather embarrassing.

The woman groaned and he had to hold back a smile, amazed that the argument had lasted this long. But the oncoming grin died when she leaned over the other man to look straight at him.

"What do you think?" she asked with a sigh and a raised eyebrow.

"What?" Eddie managed to stutter out and the man looked rather startled as well.

"Iris! He doesn't know us! You can't just ask random people to settle our debates!" he hissed, staring at the women incredulously with red ears.

"Iris West, reporter for the Central City Picture News," Iris introduced with a roll of her eyes and gestured at the man, "This is Barry Allen, conspiracy theorist."

"I'm not a conspiracy theorist!"

"Eddie Thawne," Eddie responded, both ignoring the strangled response from in between them.

"Now, we were debating who Captain America should end up with in the third movie," she said, returning to the previous argument, "Sam Wilson AKA Falcon or Bucky Barnes, the Winter Solider."

"I keep telling her, Bucky Barnes! I mean, it's his best friend! And who doesn't love stories about best friends to lovers?" Barry butted in, crossing his arms with a huff, "Besides, you know they won't actually make him end up with anyone in the end, except maybe Agent 13."

"So? And I keep telling him that he should end up with Falcon, I mean come on, Sam was so into him and they clicked instantly," Iris shot back, "What do you think, Eddie?" They were both staring at him, Barry's eyes pleading and Iris with her eyebrows still arched inquisitively. Eddie felt a flush creep up his neck at the intensity of both of their gazes as he sank back into his seat.

"I- I've never seen either of the Captain America movies," he admitted meekly and there was a moment of silence as shock and horror came over the couple's faces.

"Do you not enjoy happiness?" Iris asked in disbelief. Barry was just gaping at him, struggling to find the words to articulate the range of emotions going across his face.

"I'm really not that into superhero movies," the blond shrugged with a rueful smile, still leaning slightly away from them both.

"Alright, pause, we need to fix this ASAP," Iris said, throwing out one hand in a 'stop' motion while leaning down to rifle through her bag. She pulled out her laptop and dumped it carelessly on Barry's lap, causing him to need to scramble madly so it didn't slide off. After zipping up her bag she snatched the laptop back and plucked the airline booklet from the pocket of the seat in front of her.

"You couldn't access the Wi-Fi on the flight from Athens, I really don't think you're going to be able to access it this time," Barry pointed out, "We're not even on a different plane!"

"Oh, it better work," she grumbled back, clicking away irritably.

"What were you guys doing in Athens?" Eddie asked, curious to know more about the couple that suddenly decided that he was in need of a movie marathon. Plus, he felt a bit uncomfortable not knowing anything about them as they decided that they were going to spend the next several hours together instead of awkwardly ignoring each other like what usually happens on long flights.

"Conspiracy theorist Allen over here was chasing 'supernatural phenomena'- which is just a fancy phrase for aliens, let's be real. I was sent there on an actual assignment," Iris explained without taking her eyes off the screen while Barry blanched.

"I'm not a conspiracy theorist!" he protested again, flushing at the disbelieving look that she shot him, "I told you, I look into strange phenomena as a hobby. It's just a hobby!" He huffed when she still obviously didn't believe him and turned back to Eddie. "My actual job is working as a chemist at STAR Labs, don't listen to her."

"Didn't STAR Labs explode?" the cop asked with narrowed eyes, "I was there that night as a first responder and there really wasn't much left there to work with."

"We're trying to rebuild, both the building and our credibility," Barry admitted weakly.

"You're a cop?" Iris asked with sudden interest, finally looking up from her computer to fully engage herself in the conversation.

"I'm a detective for the CCPD," Eddie confirmed and her eyes widened in realization.

"So you're 'Detective Pretty Boy'," she smirked, "That's why your name sounded so familiar."

"Excuse me?" the blond asked in confusion, not sure if he should be offended or not.

"My dad is a cop as well, I think I may have actually seen you before," she informed him, the smirk widening when she saw the look that Barry was giving her, "What? That's how my dad described him when he first transferred."

"You're Joe West's daughter- I think I've seen you around the precinct before," Eddie realized, vaguely recalling seeing the pretty brunette bring her father lunch every once in a while. He only talked to Joe on occasion; they worked in different divisions and he didn't even know much about him.

"Crazy how none of us have ever met before now," she commented, seemingly forgetting about her laptop issues and instead leaning over the arm rest she and Barry shared. The chemist stared at her with wide eyes, his ears turning red with the sudden proximity but she took no notice, "I've gone to STAR Labs to interview Dr. Wells multiple times in the past several months and I've never met Barry before this plane ride."

"Wait, wait, wait," he interrupted before she could go any further; "You and Barry hadn't met before?"

"Nope, we only met this morning when we were seated next to each other in Athens," Iris shrugged, poking the still blushing Barry in the chest.

"You guys sat down, and despite being complete strangers, got into a 30 minute long argument about which superhero fictional couple is better?" Eddie asked in amused disbelief.

"Pretty much," Barry admitted, wrenching his eyes away from the woman almost in his lap and back to the cop.

"We bonded," Iris said with a cheeky smile, though when she prodded him this time it was distinctly fonder.

"Unbelievable," the blond said, shaking his head as a grin crept across his face. He wasn't sure what was stranger; the fact that apparently they had almost met several times before and were only just now meeting or the fact that the pair of them could sit down as complete strangers and within 3 hours start an intense argument about the dating habits of superheroes. It was rather endearing.

"Honestly, I'm still tripping over the fact that none of us have ever actually met each other before when we obviously had the opportunity to," Iris said, as if she had been reading his mind.

"It's obviously a conspiracy," he returned and they both shoot smiles at the chemist in between them.

"Sounds like your kind of mystery, Bear," she teased and Barry huffed.

"That's not funny!" he protested, poking her in her stomach causing her to yelp loudly. He grinned smugly at her but soon found himself at the mercy of her slim fingers. Eddie scooted back against his armrest, trying to stay out of the line of fire as they started a poke war of all things, though that didn't stop him from getting an elbow to the chest. His shocked breath caused a momentary stand still in their battle, but instead of apologizing they shared a predatory glance.

"No, no!" Eddie said holding up his hands as the two leaned towards him.

It was then that a nearby flight attendant turned and glared at them. The trio froze and gave her identical dear-in-headlights expressions, causing her to huff and turn away. As she stomped into the next cabin Iris nearly knocked her head on Barry's shoulder trying to smother her laughter. This sent Barry into a fit of giggles and Eddie couldn't help but join in. He found it odd how comfortable he felt with Barry and Iris already, like they'd known each other for years rather than the hour-ish they'd been sitting together.

Once they had calmed Eddie leaned back in his seat and closer to Barry. "So what exactly is it that you were investigating in Athens?" he asked him, in a sudden need to know more about him, about both of them. Everything seemed to be rather sudden that day but he found he rather liked it.

"Aliens?" Iris jumped in, leaning back over the armrest with a coy smile, having finally regained her dignity. The chemist huffed again, but instead of giving a put out response, he launched into a long explanation about the science behind the strange happenings he'd investigated. Eddie didn't really understand any of it and when he locked eyes with Iris, he could tell by her fond eye roll that she didn't either. Still, he let Barry continue on his rant as he seemed to enjoy having someone listen to his explanations (Eddie got the feeling people didn't listen to him very often), and his gestures grew more excited as he continued. He really shouldn't find a grown man this adorable but he looked like puppy who had been given a new chew toy- too cute for words.

Well, up until he gestured too hard and smacked Iris in the face. Luckily, the pair had learned their lesson about disturbing the peace previously and didn't start a smack war, but they did get into a heated discussion on the probability of the existence of aliens that Eddie ended up getting dragged into as well (luckily he'd seen more alien movies than superhero movies).

Eddie wasn't sure where the conversation went from there as it got increasingly ridiculous and he supposed at some point they drifted off. He woke up to find Iris half curled up on Barry's lap and his own head nestled in the crook of the chemist's neck. He had a split second of feeling embarrassed before he decided that he was too comfortable to care.

However, his moving woke Barry up, causing a chain reaction of the other man jolting in surprise when he realized that both Eddie and Iris had curled up around him. This nearly sent Iris onto the floor and did actually cause her laptop to finally fall from its precarious perch on the edge of her seat. Eddie couldn't help but laugh at the confused and mortified expressions on Iris and Barry's faces.

"Your laptop fell on the ground," he pointed out as the pair came back to themselves. Barry's face was still red but Iris just seemed a little sluggish from the impromptu nap as she reached down to retrieve her laptop.

"Did you ever end up connecting to the internet?" Barry asked squirming in his seat as the blush finally began to fade.

"Ugh, no," she groaned, snapping her laptop shut and placing it back on the ground. She folded her legs under her and leaned against Barry again who seemed to have given up being uncomfortable for the moment.

"Guess I won't be getting a superhero education then?" Eddie asked the pair who both traded horrified expressions.

"Oh no, this is still happening," Iris assured him firmly, "Especially considering we never finished our argument." She directed the second statement at Barry who shrugged.

"Why can't Steve just date both?" the blond asked with a sigh, stretching his arms above his head. As he settled back in the seat, one curled around Barry's shoulders.

"What?" he asked in confusion, adjusting so that the arm sat comfortable on his shoulders without really noticing.

"Ever heard of polyarmory?" Eddie responded with a raised eyebrow. Barry went from confused to dumbstruck, the thought obviously having never crossed his mind, while Iris hummed thoughtfully.

"I have to say, I do love my movies to be love triangle free," she admitted, "I like it. Truce?" She tilted her head at Barry and after a moment of thought he shrugged.

"Truce."

"Hey, Pretty Boy," Iris said, demanding the detective's attention, "Don't think that means you're free from that movie marathon. When we're back in Central City we're still doing it, all three of us." She waved her finger in a circle and after a beat of silence- Iris with a determined expression, Barry looking unsure once more, and Eddie with surprise in his eyes- he grinned happily.

"It's a date then."