A/N: This one was requested by datonechick13.

...

Prompt #2: "Have you lost your damn mind!?"

Characters: Barry Allen/The Flash & Iris West from The Flash.

...

Barry's first thought when he slowly regained consciousness was, predictably, about Iris West. This time however, it was not a good thought. He knew the second his eyes opened and he caught sight of her standing by his bedside that he was screwed. For awhile she just stood there, arms folded over her chest, staring down at him. For once, as he looked up to meet her dark coffee brown eyes he did not feel warm inside like he had in the past.

After a minute or two of being on the receiving end of Iris' silent icy stare, Barry decided that he couldn't take the silence any more. "Hi." He said groggily, squinting his eyes against both the blinding light and her glare.

"How do you feel?" She asked, her voice just as cold and unwelcoming as her stare. "Are you okay?"

"I feel tired." He answered, reaching up with his hands to further shield his green eyes from the light hanging above him. "And yea, I'm okay."

"Good. In that case," she began as she unfolded her arms. Reaching down Iris knocked his hands down away from his face before hitting his arm, and she hit hard. "What the hell were you thinking Barry Allen? Have you lost your damn mind? You could have died!"

She was yelling at him now, and he found himself wondering which was worse—the silent icy glare or the furious burning rage.

"Actually, I'll tell you exactly what you were thinking. You weren't thinking, were you?" He opened his mouth to respond to her questions, but before he could even inhale a breath she had cut him off again. "No, Barry. No. You weren't thinking, okay? You weren't."

He watched her in silence, and as the tears began to build in her eyes Barry decided that he missed the harsh icy glare from earlier. At least she hadn't been crying while she was giving him the silent treatment. He would take her silence over seeing her cry any day.

"And do you want to know why you weren't thinking?" Iris continued, a few tears escaping her eyes and flowing down her cheekbones. "You weren't thinking because you weren't thinking about how much it would hurt me if I lost you again. You almost died."

Her words were sharp, and the pain and anger behind them stung him even worse than the bullets had. He hated seeing her hurting, especially when he was the cause.

"I almost lost you, Barry!" His best friend yelled as she hit his arm again, causing him to wince. "I almost lost you again!"

Her tears continued to fall steadily down her cheekbones, her shoulders slumping as all of her tension seemed to leave her body. Whether it was from exhaustion from the day or relief that he was okay, Barry couldn't tell. Either way, he just wanted to make her stop crying.

She was silent for a moment, and she stood there watching him as she cried. When she spoke again her voice broke and grew shaky as she began crying even harder, as if each word that she spoke caused her pain. "I—I can't—I can't loose you again, Bear. I can't, okay?"

Iris made a weakly raised fist as if she was going to hit him again, but this time her entire being seemed to deflate and her knees appeared to give out as she fell to a sitting position on the edge of his bed. Her fist relaxed and her hand to rest on his chest over the place where his heart was, which was beside his bandages. She slumped forward, bending at the waist, and allowing her head to fall to his abdomen. Her breaths were rapid and harsh and her shoulders shook as she sobbed against him. He felt a wetness on his bare skin where her tears fell, and instinctively, Barry wrapped his arms around her as best as he could with there current position in an attempt to comfort her. His right arm came to rest just below her shoulder blades, and his left found its way to the nape of her neck, his fingers tangling themselves in her think and wavy dark hair.

"I didn't die, Iris." He whispered softly, finally breaking the long silence that had come over them as he let her cry. "I'm still here."

His best friend moved to sit up straight again, her eyes now red and puffy from shedding so many tears. "Your heart stopped, Barry." she informed him.

He hadn't know that. "It actually stopped?" He asked, suddenly understanding why she was so angry at him. He hadn't know he had come that close to actually dieing.

"Twice. You didn't have a pulse, you weren't breathing. You died, twice, and even Caitlin wasn't sure you would make it." Iris said, her voice breaking.

"Iris—" he began, but she had already cut in again.

"Why? Why did you do that? You took three bullets to the chest Barry. Your lungs collapsed. One of the bullets just barley missed your heart and vital arteries. Why would you do that? It's a miracle you're even alive right now."

She reached out a hand and ran her fingers through his tousled brown hair, eyes fixated on him as she waited for a response. He waited a moment, to be sure that she would let him answer this time, before speaking.

"That's exactly why I did it Iris." Barry began. "I have a fast metabolism. I heal fast, and that's probably the only reason why I am still alive. Iris, if I heal fast and it's a miracle that I'm still alive, then what are the chances that you would survive it? I couldn't lose you, and that was all I could think about—saving you."

The three bullets that he had taken in the chest were originally aimed at her. The gunman had already fired three shots by the time Barry arrived, and there was no time for him to make it to Iris to pull her out of the way—he was closer to the gunman than her. Knowing that he had a better chance of surviving the shot than she did, he jumped in front to take the bullets. He had had just enough time to disarm the man after that and knock him to the ground before he himself fell to the concrete and blacked out. Barry guessed that Iris had brought him to S.T.A.R. Labs after that, because the next thing that he remembered he was waking up in the Med. Bay with a glaring Iris standing beside his bed.

Iris leaned over and pressed for forehead against his, and with her this close Barry could see just how red-rimmed and puffy her eyes really were from her crying. Even now as she leaned over him, she was still crying, and it broke his heart to see her hurting so much.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again Bear." She whispered to him.

"I make no promises." He whispered back, giving her a soft lopsided grin hoping to lighten the mood. It worked.

"Shut up you big idiot." She laugh softly, leaning over and hugging him as bed she could with him recovering him in a hospital bed. Watching his heart stop twice today had brought back all of her fears from when he was in his coma last year, and she knew that she would always be terrified of losing him. But for now, he was awake and alive, and for right now, that was enough for her.

…...

A/N: I feel like this turned out to have way more angst than you were expecting when you requested this prompt, but I really like how this turned out. I hope you like it too. :) Leave me a review and let me know what you all think. I'd love to hear from you guys.

Also, season 3 is getting so close guys! Who else is excited for Flashpoint? I've got my S.T.A.R. Labs sweatshirt all ready to go for the premier! :D