A/N: Idk if I have ever cried out of frustration so fiercely as I have with the writing in 4x17. Not only was Ralph as intolerable as ever, but the writers actually wrote Barry & Iris OOC in order to prop Ralph up and make him seem way more justified and awesome than he is or ever will be. Well, it didn't work on me. I wanted to throw things and scream to high heaven and I was venting for days. I'm getting riled up now just recalling it. SO, this is my attempt to have WA explain how in the world they managed to act/speak/think so OOC-like, but in-character now. It's given me some peace of mind. I hope it can do the same for you.

*Many thanks to sendtherain for beta'ing. :)

*I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

...

The door to the loft opened with a hush, preceding a sigh from the two individuals behind it. Amazingly not collapsing as soon as they got into the loft, Barry managed to shut the door behind them and Iris kicked off her shoes before promptly landing on the couch.

"Oh my God, yes," she moaned, sinking her head back into the couch and soft pillow surrounding her.

Barry smirked to himself as he rid himself of his own shoes and coat.

"Don't you say it, Barry Allen. Don't you dare say it."

He held up his hands in surrender even though her eyes were shut.

"I say nothing," he said, taking a seat beside her and swinging her legs around so they laid across his lap.

She quietly gasped, her eyes flinging open. When she recovered, her eyebrows narrowed, and she pouted.

"But you were thinking it."

He laughed. "Can you blame me? I'm used to hearing those words under…" His fingers started to crawl up her thigh until she stopped their ascent.

"Don't-"

"Different circumstances," he finished, grinning but flattening his hand against her leg and moving it smoothly down to her calf instead.

"It was a long day today," she said, softer now, watching him.

He nodded. "Yes, it was."

"I thought I lost you out there," she said, playing with her hands in her lap.

"But you didn't," he reminded her.

She smiled. "I know." She bit her lip. "Was it scary?"

"What? Flying up into the atmosphere to the point it was hard to breathe and then falling to my almost death if Ralph hadn't blown himself up into a smelly whoopie cushion?"

She laughed a little nervously. "Yeah. That."

He shrugged. "I'm still here, aren't I?"

She nodded and scooted herself a little closer to him.

"You know…maybe I was too hard on you earlier."

"Iris-"

"No, I'm serious. I really came down hard on you about Ralph-"

"Ralph saved my life."

"I know that."

"He showed me it was okay to not be serious all the time. That was a valuable lesson that I probably needed to learn. Now I understand why he resorts to humor so much. It's still annoying, but I get it. I can only hope he improves with time."

Iris waited a beat. One, two, three.

"And if he doesn't?"

She saw right through him. She always did. He didn't know why he expected this time to be any different, but he should've known better. He could say all the right words with just the right tone. He could even mean what he was saying. But that didn't mean everything he was thinking was being said.

He sighed.

"I know I defended Ralph pretty hard today…"

"And that's fine. You should have. It's your job to treat everyone as equals and call me out when I'm wrong. Which I was. I was impatient, and I was stuck in my own way, and you showed me how wrong that was, and-"

"Barry."

He lifted his eyes to her and knew his tone had given him away.

He sighed. "It doesn't negate what he did earlier, Iris. Or how he's been acting this whole time."

She nodded, understanding. Maybe for the first time in the last twenty-four hours.

"You weren't wrong about there being more than one way to do things and that I should be more open to that. And I'm so glad – really – that Ralph stepped up when I was gone. The city wouldn't be safe without him. I'm glad he was there for you guys." He paused.

Iris made a half-hearted attempt to smile at the recognition he was trying to give.

"But there's a difference," he continued, "between solving a problem a different way and not taking the problem seriously. You said Ralph cares about saving his life, and I know that. Eventually he told me why he jokes around. It's a coping mechanism." He looked away, contemplating.

"But, Iris, during training or a crisis, that's no time to joke around." He met her eyes. "I have more experience than him. I'm his mentor. So I'm teaching him the best way I know how. Sometimes he listens and sometimes he just doesn't, and I don't know until the moment it happens. I watch as he takes the situation and goes in a whole different direction that we planned. It frustrates me, but not just because I think my way is better."

"I don't need things to always go my way, but I do need to know that everyone's on the same page working towards the same goal. Ralph wasn't doing that. He was acting like it was all a joke. Had there been any hint he took it seriously, I wouldn't have benched him. If he had told me the reason why he was acting that way sooner, I would have understood. I'm not a guy who is too stubborn to allow for change. Doing things my way allows me to have control. It gives me some security in trying to defeat the bad guy, but I don't think I was out of line when I got frustrated with Ralph. No one spoke up against me, so I can't have been the only person who felt that way."

Iris reached for his hand and squeezed it.

"You're not, Barry." She took a breath and smiled softly. "I know you're not. And you're right about everything you just said. I guess…I guess I was just feeling a little protective of Ralph because after everything that went down between us when I had your speed…at the end of the day, he respected me. So, I wanted to show him I respected him by making him look good in your eyes."

"Not that he didn't rise to the occasion like I said he did when you were gone, because he most definitely did. But…" She licked her lips. "I think a lot of the time it was pure luck on his side. And honestly, we were lucky that he got so lucky, because if he hadn't, he probably would've quit the team more times than he already had."

Barry blinked, his eyebrows furrowing. "Ralph quit the team?"

She nodded. "Yep. Several times. He got scared, he backed out, he needed constant encouragement. I mean, he's a hero-in-training, so we all went the extra mile, but it was no easy task." She paused to squeeze his hand again and lock her eyes on his. "What I said to you today, I did mean it; but what I didn't mean to do was put you down or make you doubt how much I support you and your decisions."

"Iris-"

"I know you mean well. I just want us all working together. In order to do that we have to understand each other. Your feelings of frustration over Ralph's behavior were valid. I get why you benched him. It's why I didn't say anything to you right away. But…the reason I did eventually say something is because I think in benching him you decided to not even try to understand him and that stunted the whole team. When we refuse to understand each other anymore…we're not unified, and we have to be if we're going to get anything done."

Barry squeezed her hand back, then lifted it to his lips and kissed her knuckles.

"You're an amazing team leader, Iris West-Allen."

She laughed, the tension seeping out of her.

"You're an amazing Flash, Flash."

He scrunched up his nose, then leaned forward and kissed her on the lips.

"Are we okay now?" she asked, burying her face in his neck when they parted.

He intertwined their fingers together.

"We're always okay, Iris West-Allen."

She sighed tremulously and fell back onto the couch, wrapping her limbs around him as he snuggled close.

"Did you apologize to him?" she asked, her fingers lazily twisting in his hair.

"I did."

"Right away?"

"Yep."

She groaned. "Oh, God, Barry, I-"

"Hush." He placed two fingers over her lips. "We're okay now. And with any luck, Ralph won't put us in a difficult place again."

She murmured a nervous laugh, and it honestly relieved Barry. It was good to be on the same page again, to feel validated in saying what he felt and being supported.

"I love you," she sighed, and he smiled, lifting his head.

"I love you more."

He leaned down and kissed her, and they forgot all about their problematic man-child, Ralph Dibny.