Iris was nervous. Her hand kept shaking and there was sweat gathering above her lips, which she kept wiping away. She checked under her arms to see if she was sweating as much as she thought she was. There were patches but it wasn't that bad. She let out a shaky sight and let out a nervous chuckle.

"Oh wow, I am…a nervous wreck," she said quietly as she slowly made her way up the stairs. She heard voices, she couldn't back out now. This was a story, an important story that would mean a lot to many people.

Suddenly she wished Barry was with her. She shook the thought out of her mind. No. A girl had to be her own hero once in a while. Anyway, she kind of hoped that the story would land her on the front page of the paper. Wishful thinking, but a girl could dream.

The voices continued. They were laughing about a major scam they had just pulled off. Iris got out her pen and notebook from her black satchel bag and started jotting down what she was hearing. "$800,000!? Can you imagine Mac? More money than those real estate agents make," said a voice. She stood silently jotting down information about locations; they sure liked to brag a lot, these criminals. Finally she caught some names. "Yes. Bingo!" she whispered to herself, grinning proudly.

The voices got quieter, she strained to hear more. She couldn't. She bit her lip. Should she get closer? No. It would be dangerous. But she needed more information. She sighed, maybe just a little closer. She tiptoed up the stairs, and stood behind a wall. She poked her head out from behind the wall and saw the men standing there. More sweat gathered above her lip. She wiped it off, her heartbeat quickening.

She lifted up her notepad to her face, it was getting harder to see with the dim lighting. She wrote in a hurry, making sure not to miss anything they said. It was getting really good, they were basically confessing everything. She felt like she was in heaven. It felt good, busting people. She couldn't be the Flash, but she could save people in her own way.

She smiled, she couldn't wait until she told Eddie. She paused at that, her eyes suddenly stinging. Eddie. Sometimes she forgot that he was gone. She missed him so much it hurt. She bit her lip, her hands shaking.

"Stop it Iris. This is no time to get emotional. Wrong place, wrong time," she reprimanded herself. She brought her elbow up to wipe away some tears that had gathered in the corner of her eyes. Then to her horror, she felt her notepad fall out of her hand. The notepad dropped, making a sound that seemed to echo throughout the room.

Suddenly the men stopped talking. "What was that?" one of them said. Everyone was quiet for what seemed like an eternity. "Probably some rats," said one of the men. Iris breathed out a sigh of relief. She needed to start going. Then the other man said, "Actually. No. Go scope up the place. I don't want any unpleasant surprises."

Iris's blood chilled. She needed to move. She hastily turned back towards the stairs. She had just started making her way down, when she realized in her panic she had forgotten to pick up her notepad. She turned back, she couldn't go back to get it, it was too dangerous. But it contained an amazing story. She panicked not sure what to do. The men were quickly approaching.

She turned around, maybe she could grab the notepad, then crouch and hide between the sheets that were draped around the room. She shook her head, her mouth dry. She was going to die. She almost started laughing. Then she remembered that she had a best friend who could save her. But first she needed to find a spot among the sheets and walls to hide. Suddenly she bolted into a run, picked up her notepad and crouched behind a wall.

"Hey! There is somebody over there!"

she heard the men suddenly begin to load their guns. She crouched against the wall of the far side of the building.

"Shoot whoever it is," proclaimed one of the men matter of fact.

She scrambled for her phone as the men made their way towards her. Shit. They were close. Her phone was off. Shit. It took a century to turn on, in horror she forgot that it would make noise. And it did. The men heard it, "over there!"

Then she heard gunshots in her direction. She got up from the floor, phone in her hand and scurried behind a pillar. Gunshots whizzing dangerously close to her. Finally, her phone was on. Thank goodness, Barry's number was on speed dial.

She closed her eyes as the phone began to ring. Please Barry, please. Barry picked up the phone on the second ring. "Yeah Iris, what's up." More gunshots whizzed past her. She continued to scurry around, looking for walls to hide behind. Breathlessly she said, "Barry, I need your help. Now!"

She heard something crash on the floor, she wasn't sure if it came from Barry or from the men behind her. She didn't care. She just wanted to get out of this alive. She couldn't begin to think what her death would do to her father. Or Barry.

"Were those gunshots?" Barry asked disbelief obvious in his voice.

"Yeah," she said crouching down, breathless, "I am at Goldman Tower, I can't find a way out."

There was a heavy pause.

"Umh window…is there a window?" She could hear the panic in his voice. She tried to remain calm, not to panic as well.

"Over here!" said one of the men behind her. More gunshots whirling around her like excited dancers; one stray bullet hitting a window.

"Umh yeah," she replied staring at the shattered window ahead, not sure what this had to do with anything and why he wasn't here already. "Up ahead," she added, getting up and running behind another wall.

"Okay I am at the window, why?" she questioned suspiciously.

"Okay great, you are going to need to jump." There was a pause. She frowned. He couldn't be serious. "What?" she asked again, hoping it was some sort of joke. Silence.

"Are you crazy Barry, no way!" she hissed, checking behind the wall to see if the men were close by.

"Iris! Do you trust me?" Barry asked voiced raised in worry.

Iris almost rolled her eyes. Of course she did. She trusted Barry with her life. He was her best friend. Despite all the lies, she couldn't help but trust Barry completely. It was probably something she needed to stop doing.

"Yes." She said matter of fact, almost adding, duh. "I trust you," she added instead.

"okay… then, jump!" She knew this was where his trust question was heading. She sighed, put her phone in the back pocket of her pants, hands trembling slightly.

"I can do this, I can do this," she whispered to herself, eyes closed.

She shook her head incredulously. She was about to jump out of a skyscraper. Well, it was better than staying in this room. She ran and leapt out the shattered window screaming in fear and exhilaration. The fall seemed to last for hours. But she didn't, at any moment, think that Barry wouldn't come for her, which surprised her. Yeah, she really needed to work on this trust Barry completely habit.

Suddenly he was there. She was in his arm and in the next instant they were on the ground. Her shirt flew up and she felt his hand on her stomach. She felt a jolt of electricity and for some reason it made her grin.

Barry looked at her incredulously, "Alright, you good?"

Iris nodded wiping hair out of face, "yeah," reassured catching her breath.

He started to leave, then remembered something.

"Wait, uh, uh, how many were up there?" He asked giving her a quick look-over to double check if she was alright. "Umh, two. Oh and they both have guns," she added hurriedly.

"Okay!" He exclaimed happily. Two was easy. Two wouldn't disrupt his entire night. Suddenly he was gone.

Iris would never find out, but when the Flash got there, after disarming the men. He glared at them. "If any of your men ever come for that woman. I will become your worst nightmare," he growled angrily. He doubted that they had actually seen Iris but he wanted to make sure. Also, he had been dying to say something cool and dangerous, at the moment felt like…like…like…Oliver Queen. Oh yea.

The men stared at the Flash, shocked.

"I thought you were one of the good guys," one asked desperately.

The Flash smiled and shrugged, "I am. But I have been told I am creepy protective of those I care about," he added with a wink before hitting them over the head with the butt of their guns.

For Barry it took like a minute, but for Iris, when he came back down, it felt like 2 seconds had passed.

"Now they are taking a little nap until the CCPD wakes them up," he said feeling proud of himself. His grin disappeared and was replaced by a confused smile when he looked at Iris.

"Sooo, whaat exactly were you thinking?" he asked lightly, in his head wanting to shake her, she had no idea how traumatizing it had been hearing those gunshots.

"I got a hot lead on a real estate scam, I mean these guys have been illegally evicting people, breaking up families," replied a passionate Iris, oblivious to how shaken Barry was.

Barry reached over and placed hand on his best friend's shoulder torn between pride and concern.

"okay, but look, no story is worth your life." Iris nodded, they could agree on that. A feeling of accomplishment and joy washed over her, the thrill of being alive, having her best friend there and catching a good story overwhelmed her. She grinned happily and drew Barry into a tight hug.

She smiled, grabs his face, "thank you for coming Barry."

"I can't wait to write about this.'

Barry smiled fondly. Iris, she was turning into a strong woman. As he streaked away from her at lightning speed, a thought suddenly appeared to him. He turned around and found Iris jogging happily to her car.

"What were you doing here?" Iris asked key in hand. Barry scratched his head nervously.

"Well, I just realized that after the ordeal you have just been through. You PROBABLY shouldn't be driving." He looked at her with a worried smile and added hastily. "I know you are strong and all, but you know…just in case…"he flattered.

Iris smiled sweetly, these were the moments that she loved him, completely.

"I am okay dork. But, yeah my hands are trembling and I can't pass up the opportunity to get home in a flash," she said winking at her pun. Barry rolled his eyes laughing.

"Okay bad pun lady. Let's go. I feel tired by the way. Emotionally drained." At that Iris just laughed wrapping her arms around his neck.

-End-

Authors note: We miss a lot I think, because Flash episodes are not like 1 hour long. Haha. Which is good sometimes because it lets you fill in the blanks. And this is what I would like to think happened that led to Iris getting shot at and how she got home. Adding some layers to Iris's character which we don't get to see a lot.