"Hey, Joe. I got those test results you wanted from the crime scene. The report is complete if you want to stop by and pick them up."
"Great. I'll be there in about 15."
Barry hung up his cell and placed it down on his desk that was stacked full of papers. He decided now was a good day to catch up on work since Team Flash hadn't had to deal with any metas for over a week now. 'Taking the Holidays off' Cisco would joke.
Exhausted from the amount of paperwork he managed to finish in
such short time, Barry decided it was okay to treat himself to a nice plop in his comfy chair, and close his eyes to rest.
"Barry! Hey Barry! Wake up!" A woman's voice firmly whispered, tapping on Barry's shoulder.
Groggily, Barry rubbed his forehead and then fluttered his eyes open. "Oh. Hey, Iris. What's up?"
"Okay! Eeeh I'm so excited!" Iris clapped her hands and then continued. "CCPN put my article on the front page of the newspaper! My article! It's so hard to believe!"
"No. No it isn't hard to believe. You are an incredible writer, and you know what? I'd say in your face, Mason Bridge. So, have you told Eddie yet?" Barry asked leaning in to give her a hug.
"Thanks, Barry, that means a lot, and no. I wanted to tell you first. You've been the one who's supported me on this."
A large smile stretched across Barry's face.
"What have you been working on?" Iris sarcastically asked, staring at the stacks of papers overflowing his desk.
"What does it look like, Smartypants?" Barry replied chuckling.
"You must be extremely tired, and don't say I'm wrong considering I just caught you drooling." Iris rubbed Barry's back empathetically. "Why don't I take you to Jitters for some coffee? Get your energy level back up?"
Barry stared at her and smiled, "Thanks, that sounds great."
"Come on." Iris pulled Barry's arm up "assisting" him out of the chair.
"Is that really necessary, I'm tired, not elderly." He laughed.
"Come on humor m…" Iris was startled by a loud yell from outside Barry's lab. "Did you hear that?"
"Yeah. Be quiet for a second." Barry said, slowly approaching the closed door and pressing his ear to it.
"I said everyone get down!" A man screamed.
"Barry? Who's that? What's going on?" Iris choked, worry etched on her face.
"Just a second. Stay here." Barry slowly opened the squeaky metal door and tiptoed down the hall.
"Barry! No wait!" Iris quietly caught up to him and grabbed his arm. "What are you doing?"
"I SAID DOWN!" The voice boomed throughout the building. He was wearing a long black trench coat and a wide black hat masking most of his face. "Drake, round these stupid cops up into that corner. Everyone is going to give your guns to Drake, and if any of you try to pull anything, you're getting a bullet to the chest."
Iris gasped and Barry covered her mouth.
The burly man continued, "Austin, check upstairs for anyone, and bring them down."
"On it." Austin replied and started his way up.
"Barry! What do we do? Barry!?" Iris squeaked, tears already starting to streak down her face.
"Come on." Barry grabbed Iris' arm and made their way back to his lab, locking the door.
"How can you be so calm?" Iris asked as he pushed her down behind one of his shelves and then pulled her into his embrace.
"It's okay, we're going to be okay." Barry comforted. Iris rested her head on his chest and hugged him tight.
Suddenly a loud THUD emanated from behind the door and Barry knew he was trying to get in, and he eventually would if he didn't act fast. And fast was his specialty..