March 18th, 2000... Barry Allen... an 11 year old boy... saw his mother's body... his mother's dead body. His father was accused of her murder. He knew it was some strange yellow blur that did it. But he couldn't understand what it was or how it happened. All Barry knew for sure was... he had no family. Barry was sitting in the back of a police car that was being driven by Joe West. Joe was a friend of his parents' and the father of his best friend at school: Iris. Barry didn't say a word to Joe the entire time he rode in his car. Barry could barely process what was going on. He had no living grandparents or uncles or aunts. Who was going to take care of him? Barry realized suddenly he had no family now. But why did his only family have to be destroyed like it did? To Barry, the world went from being a place he understood to a world that was now impossible to understand.
Joe West didn't say a word as he drove Barry in his police car. He knew Barry was in bigger shock than him, but he was still shocked too. Joe knew Barry's father: Henry for several years. Henry was the kindest doctor he ever met, and provided the police department sometimes with a small degree of forensic help. He never thought of Henry as a killer. But the evidence was already clear. Joe felt terrible Barry had to experience what just happened to him. As a cop he knew kids from parents who were criminals almost never turned out well, and didn't want that kind of life to happen to Barry. By-passing usual protocols for this situation, Joe decided to take Barry to his home. His plan was to take care of Barry until any next-of-kin could be found (even though Joe knew that wasn't going to happen). When they got to the house, Joe helped Barry inside and immediately saw Iris inside on the stair well silently watching what was going on. Joe then looked at Iris and said, "Why aren't you asleep?" With a simple response Iris said, "I was waiting for you to bring Barry home." Joe then got calmer and said, "Well it looks like he's going to be staying with us for a while. You mind showing him the guest room sweet heart?" Iris nodded and held out her hand to Barry offering to hold it.
Second later, Iris was walking beside Barry as they slowly walked up the stairs and towards the guest room. As they walked, Iris wasn't sure what to say to Barry. Yes, her mother had died too but that was so long ago, she could barely remember. Plus, her mother hadn't been killed by a family member. Iris always had her dad and an extended family to lean back on. Barry had no one. Iris wanted to say something inspirational that would help Barry feel better. She wanted to say that great speech that made all of the pain go away. But she had nothing to say. She especially didn't want to tell Barry she was sorry for his loss, because she always believed that reminding people they lost something only made it worst. So she said nothing as she helped Barry into the guest room, and then walked away.
Iris went to bed and began to fall asleep. However two hours later she heard a sound come from downstairs. It was the sound of crying. Iris got up and slowly went downstairs into the living room, only to see Barry on the couch crying. Seeing that Barry had brought his belongings downstairs with him, Iris could tell Barry had been thinking about leaving but couldn't bring himself to do it. Iris wished she could do something to help Barry feel better. She wished she could do something because Barry had once helped her a great deal. Iris remembered how she used to wear her mother's wedding ring on a necklace for years. However during a zoo trip in fifth grade, she lost it. The impact of losing that ring hurt greatly since for Iris: this was the only thing of her mom's that she owned. She cried throughout lunch, throughout the rest of the field trip, and on the bus ride back. However Barry sat next to Iris the whole time she cried. He didn't say anything. He just sat with her and held her hand. For Iris: Barry just being there for her somehow just made her feel better. Suddenly Iris knew what she had to do.
Iris walked slowly over to the couch. Soon Barry turned his head to look at her. On Barry's face was a look of shame. Iris at first thought the look of shame was from Barry feeling bad about what his father had done, but soon realized that Barry looked ashamed to be caught crying. Without a look of dis-content or disgust on her face, Iris simply sat next to Barry on the couch with only love in her eyes as she looked at Barry's face. As soon as she sat down, Barry immediately leaned over and put his head on Iris' lap. Barry continued to cry even more as Iris put one hand on Barry's back and the other hand on Barry's head. Tears continued to come out of Barry's eyes as he began to sob while Iris simply sat still, only moving her left hand as she began to use it to stroke Barry's hair. Iris had no words to say to make Barry feel better. She had no action she could take right now to improve Barry's life. All she could do now right was simply sit with Barry and be with him as he cried. And for Barry... that was all it took... to help him feel a little bit better.
TO BE CONTINUED...
*Author's Note - So what do you all think so far? The goal of this series is to tell all about the early years of when Barry and Iris lived together and were raised by Joe. What parts of this back story do you want to see? Any tales of when they were young that were referenced on the show that you want to make sure I expand on? Be sure to leave your request and feedback in the comments or via private message. Hope you all enjoy what's to come.