Welcome to my first Flash story! This is my first fanfic so please be nice. Constructive criticism only please. So this takes place right where I think season 4 will start, everything that has happened in the show so far, has happened in my story.

Please review/like/favourite. It would mean the world to me :) Thank you for even clicking on this story.

Wally West yawned sleepily, propping up his feet as he sat in the cortex and waited for some kind of stress call to come in. He'd barely gotten a wink of sleep the past few nights and he could feel it starting to affect him in negative ways.

It had been a rough few months since the showdown with Savitar and Wally was finally beginning to regain his footing after everything that happened in the speedforce and that fateful night.

He was finally coming into his own, being dubbed the new Flash. Barry had quite the legacy here and his shoes were rather large ones to fill. Central City loved the Flash and knew immediately that Wally wasn't the old Flash they knew. Barry had a totally different style and the way this city idolized Barry, Wally wasn't surprised they'd noticed right away.

The citizens of Central City had accepted him and welcomed him with open arms but he knew they would always favour Barry. It was a tough pill to swallow but he was starting to gain their allegiance.

Which was why he stopped wearing Barry's suit and just went back to his old one. It didn't fit him that well and he felt weird in it. Especially when he wore it in front of Iris. She got weird around him when he wore it, and he knew it was because she missed Barry. His absence had been hardest on her, of course. They were about to be married for gods sake.

She'd been wreck the first month after Barry went into the speedforce, not that he would ever say that to her face. And he couldn't blame her. She deserved to be upset and sad. They'd put everything they had into saving her life and when they finally succeeded (thanks to H.R.), she was happy. That happiness then got ripped right away from her not even a few days later.

Since then though, she'd been stronger than he'd ever seen her. She was flourishing ar CCPN, and had even started sleeping at her and Barry's apartment again. He admired her strength and will to heed Barry's final words to her. She was living life like he wanted her to.

He and Iris were defintely pulling through and were stronger because of the tragedies.

The same couldn't be said for Team Flash as a whole, which was all but disbanded. Caitlin was long gone and no one had any leads on her whereabouts.

Joe and Julian had gone back to CCPD and rarely came by to help them anymore. Wally figured that with Caitlin and Barry both gone, Julian had no real reason to stay. And he knew it hurt Joe too much to be so involved anymore. He helped Wally out whenever he could, but pretty much remained away from Team Flash. Wally was glad that Joe had Cecile though.

Harry helped out a lot with the tech-side of things. He made Barry a promise so he was staying here on Earth-1 for a while, choosing to bunk at Cisco's place.

As for Cisco, he was the only member of Team Flash who was here as much as Wally. Cisco was now the unofficial leader of the team given he was the only original member left. When he wasn't out helping Wally, he and Gypsy trained together (which Wally suspected had become more than just "training sessions").

Barry's absence was defintely felt and Wally sometimes felt that twinge of jealousy when he thought about how much Barry impacted the lives of all his friends. Wally didn't think he was ever going to be capable of bringing the team back together.

He knew he was being irrational though. He wasn't Barry and he shouldn't try to be. He was trying to make it his mission to ensure Barry's legacy lived on.

"Wally?" A voice wafted in from behind him, making him quickly turn around. "What are you doing here so late? I thought dad told you to take a break for a while." Iris walked up behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders.

He sighed, pulling his legs off the table. "There's too much to do, Iris. Too many people to save. Cisco can't handle it all by himself." Wally stood up, walking over to the coffee machine and pouring himself a cup.

It was honestly a pretty crappy coffee machine, but it was the best they could do right now. With Star Labs all but destroyed by the philosophers stone and no money to repair it, they had to find somewhere else to set up their base of operations.

Which is why they were stuck in an old abandoned building on the outskirts of the city. It was the furthest from ideal, but Joe wouldn't let him use his speed to steal the supplies they needed. Deep down he knew his dad was right, but that didn't stop those thoughts from popping up into his head. He reasoned that it would end up benefitting the city because they would have better resources.

They were stuck with Cisco's computer, some salvaged medical supplies from CCPD and a police radio Joe "borrowed" from the station.

"Wally, I know you feel like you have to take on the world now that Barry is gone, but you're doing exactly what he does. You throw yourself into crimefighting and then are way too hard on yourself when you fail."

Wally glared at her. "What makes you think I'm going to fail?"

"That's what happens when you try to put too much on your plate, Wally. You can't save everybody. That's something Barry had to learn the hard way." Iris explained.

She really needed to stop mentioning Barry. Hearing her say he was going to fail was already igniting a fire inside of him. She was inadvertently saying everything he feared would happen.

"Did you just come here to put me down? Or is there an actual reason that you're randomly showing up when you're rarely here anyways?" Wally snapped.

Iris crossed her arms, glaring back at her brother. "Why are you acting like this? I just came here to check up on you. Dad says you haven't been home for three days. Have you been sleeping here?" She asked.

"Yeah, so what? It's my duty to save as many people as I can. Cisco may be getting better with his powers but I still need to be on alert at all times."

Iris sighed, "Wally, you can't take on the world like this and not take care of yourself. Speaking from experience, you'll crash and burn if you don't give yourself a break."

"You don't think I can do this?" Wally asked.

She looked at him incredulously. "Are you serious?"

He ignored her and continued on, "Everyone has been acting like Barry leaving is the end of the world. No one is the same. I miss him too, but I can move on. Dad is barely even home, Cisco isn't the same, you're not the same, Julian isn't even here anymore. I just feel like there is no one left that believes in me. HR was the last one who believed I could be better than Barry." He ranted, pacing back and forth while Iris stood and watched him.

"We've all known him a lot longer than you, Wally. We're allowed to feel sad. And like it or not, things have definitely changed. This city isn't the same. And neither are you. So stop acting like we're all out to get you and start being responsible. Take care of yourself because if you don't, you will fail. That much I can promise you." Iris took a step forward, not afraid to get right in Wally's face.

"Why are you so sure I'll fail? Is it because I'm not your precious, saint-like Barry? Well guess what Iris, he wasn't perfect! He's gone because of his own selfish choices. So please, stop comparing me to Barry, I'm not him!" He shouted, letting his anger and jealously get the better of him.

He immediately regretted his words as he watched sadness flicker across her face and her eyes immediately fill with unshed tears.

"Iris, I-" He started weakly, his shoulders slumping as he reached out to her.

"No, you're right Wally. You're not Barry and you never will be. Thank you for reminding me of that fact." Iris still had tears in her eyes, but now there was also a great deal of anger in them.

Before he could speak again, she turned on her heels, picking up the jacket she'd laid down on the back of the chair. "I won't bother coming to check up on you again, I promise." She muttered, slamming the door behind her for good measure.

Wally winced as the structurally weak walls shook a little with the force with which Iris had slammed the door.

He hadn't meant to say that outloud. He may have been thinking it, but saying it was just a slap in her face. He shouldn't be taking out his frustrations on her, she was just trying to help him.

He groaned. He'd go by her apartment tomorrow morning with breakfast and apologize.

Iris slammed her car door shut with more force than she meant to use.

She knew Wally hadn't meant to blow up at her like that. He was under a lot of stress trying to fill Barry's shoes and become the new Flash that Central City needed. And he looked really tired, she could see it in his eyes.

But he still had no right to treat her in that way, or talk about Barry like that.

Yeah, Barry made the decision to create Flashpoint, which started the whole mess with Savitar and the speedforce. But if she were being honest with herself, had she gone through what Barry did with the Reverse Flash and Zoom, she would've done the same thing.

He'd just lost his dad, not too long after he'd finally come to grips with his mothers' death. And they didn't die peacefully in their sleep. No, they died violently. Stabbed to death by speedsters that had something against Barry just because he was Barry.

All Barry had done since Flashpoint was try to make things right. He was the good-hearted, brave man she'd always known he was. Right until the very end.

She gulped, her left hand shaking a little as she opened the door to CC Jitters. She needed caffeine and she needed it now.

"What can I get ya?" The man at the counter asked, leaning forward with a bright, flirty smile on his face.

She ignored his attempt at flirting with her, pulling her wallet out of her purse. "I'll take a grande Flash. For here please."

He looked a little dishearted over the way she ignored him, but got to work on her coffee.

She plopped a dollar on the counter as he passed her the coffee. Sending him a quiet thank you, she turned around to find a spot to sit.

Her breath halted for a moment when she looked over at the spot she and Barry sat all those months ago when he'd lost his memory. The mental picture of his blinding smile made her heart constrict painfully in her chest.

So she headed upstairs and sat down by the window, looking out at the night sky and the twinkling lights from the city.

Nursing the cup of coffee in her hands, she reminisced about the last couple of months. They'd been some of the hardest of her entire life. She kept willing Barry to just speed into the apartment, dinner on his arm, flowers in his hands, and an apology for being so late.

To think that she would never see him again... it made her feel physically nauseous. Sometimes she didn't know why she even bothered to help what was left of Team Flash. Without Barry there, she felt like she had no purpose on the team.

But then she remembered Barry's final words to her: You need to keep living your life. Keep growing. Keep loving. Keep running. For me.

She hadn't forgotten her promise to him and she had no intention of not keeping that promise. She owed to him, and to them. And herself.

She didn't even notice that an hour had passed and it was almost time for Jitters to close. Nor did she notice that someone had walked up the stairs and was coming right for her.

At least not until the person placed their hand over hers, making her jump. She probably would have spilled the hot coffee all over herself had she not finished it twenty minutes ago.

She whipped her head to the side to see Cisco blinking up at her. He was kneeling beside her chair, an uncharacteristically sad look on his face. Usually he was so happy and lighthearted. She supposed everything that happened had put on damper on his mood too.

"Hey." He said softly. That was all he needed to convey for Iris to know he'd talked to Wally already.

She cleared her throat, reaching over to place her cup on the table. "Hi."

"Are you okay? Wally told me what happened between you two. You know he didn't mean it, he's just stressed and-"

Iris put a hand up to stop him. "I know, Cisco. I'm not really mad at him, just... I don't know. I feel like a ticking time-bomb and everytime someone mentions Barry I go off. I never know if I'm going to feel happy, sad, or completely hollow." She whispered, angrily whiping away a tear.

"Me too, Iris. Trust me." Cisco squeezed her hand again, still looking up at her as his eyebrows scrunched together a little.

She believed him. Sometimes she forgot that Cisco was the only other one who loved Barry almost as much as she and Joe did. Cisco had been with him since he first became The Flash and the two had been best friends since then, had been through so much together. She had a feeling Cisco had never had a friendship like that. Most people never did.

"I just- I miss him so much, sometimes I feel like I'm suffocating." Iris gulped down a lump in her throat, already feeling the tears well up.

"Me too." Cisco whispered brokenly, pushing himself up to wrap his arms around Iris and hug her tightly.

She sniffled and rested her face against his shoulder. He rubbed her back.

"I didn't want to tell you, in case I fail, but I've been trying to figure out how to bring Barry back." He revealed.

Iris pulled away, looking him right in the eyes and her stomach swooped and her breathing sped up. "You are? How?"

He took a deep breath. "Right now I'm just going through the calculations. Trying to figure out if it's possible for me to open a breach that will lead to the speedforce." Cisco explained.

"And does anyone else know about this?" She asked. He shook his head. "I want to help, in any way I can." She said quickly, swiping a hand underneath her eyes to catch the leftover tears.

"Yeah, you can help. But I don't want anyone else to know yet." He said, moving to stand up straight.

She looked at him curiously, already feeling her spirits lift. What if they were actually able to get him out. She was suddenly filled with undeniable hope that she hadn't felt since Barry was around.

"Why don't you want anyone else to know?" She asked.

"I don't want to get anyone's hopes up. And everyone else seems to be holding together okay. Even Joe has just thrown himself into his work." Cisco told her. "We'll tell them if we find anything solid." He added. "Now c'mon. They're closing up shop." Cisco led her back downstairs and they waved to the two employees who were left cleaning up.

"So did you vibe here? Do you need a ride home?" Iris asked him as he walked her to his car.

Cisco waited for her to get safely into her car. "Yeah I did. And no, it's okay. I'll just vibe back home. I like scaring the crap out of Harry, he gets really pissed at me." Cisco finally broke out into a grin.

Iris even let out a little laugh. "Okay then. I'll see you tomorrow then. Text me if anything comes up." She placed her hand on his arm seriously, and they both she was talking about the Barry situation.

"I will, promise." He smiled and shut her door, turning his back on her and looking around the area quickly before he easily created a breach in front of him when the coast was clear.

The breach glowed a bright blue that disappeared when Cisco lept through it, leaving the area feeling barren and empty.

Iris took a deep breath and started the car, swifting pulling out of the parking lot. She drove all the way through the light traffic to her and Barry's apartment. She couldn't bring herself to call it her apartment. It still had her and Barry on the lease and she couldn't take his name off.

When she finally made her up the stairs and to the loft, she was reminded of how exhausted she was.

She quickly changed her clothes and snuggled into bed with a good book, hoping it would help lull her to sleep.

Just as she'd settled against her pillows, she heard it.

"Iris."

Her heart nearly came out of her chest at the sound. It was someone saying her name. And it wasn't just anyone, she knew that voice almost as well as she knew her own. That was Barry's voice.

Iris shut her book and listened again, trying to hear his voice again. The room was silent now. She wasn't crazy, she wasn't. She heard Barry's voice, she'd know his voice anywhere.

With shaking hands, she reached for her phone on the sidetable and dialed Cisco's number. When he picked up, she whispered into the reciever, hoping maybe Barry would speak to her again.

"Yeah, Cisco. You need to come over here, now. It's about Barry."