A Friend In Need
The Flash doesn't belong to me
000
How was she supposed to help him? She asked herself over and over. How was she supposed to help him get through this?
Sure, they had survived the traumatic events surrounding the death of his mother all those years ago, but they had been young and Barry had been so sure… and right as it turned out, that a man in yellow and not his dad had killed his mother, but this somehow seemed far worse Zoom, Jay Garrick or whatever his real name was, had not only taken Barry's speed away from him but he'd kidnapped Caitlin as well and taken her to another earth.
How was she supposed to tell him that it was going to be okay when she was sure that it wasn't, not when he was no longer the person he'd been just a few days ago. How could she tell him to accept it when she knew how important being the Flash was to him?
What use am I as a best friend if I can't find the right words? She asked herself. Barry needed more than words she knew, words would help but they wouldn't be enough, but what could she do? The trick was how to show him that even without his powers he was still a hero. But how?
She listened to him talk about how she'd been the first person he'd saved, and Iris remembered that day so vividly, how could she not? It was the day Barry had come back to her, she had been so afraid that she would never see him, never get to hear his voice again – his heart had stopped beating so many times – but then, he'd appeared at Jitters, and her world had been right again. The fact that some blurry creature had saved her was a pale second, and would always be, to the fact that Barry had come back to her.
She wanted to reach out and draw him into a hug but she couldn't let herself.
She was afraid.
She loved him.
She'd always loved him but now she loved him in a different way and with all those feelings going around she wasn't really sure how to be around him anymore. Sure, he was still her best friend and she was glad that these days he always invited her to join them in their work. It was great. It was more than great, actually. Except that it wasn't.
How could she tell him that she was finally ready to move on from Eddie and that the person she wanted to be with was him? Sure, his reaction to her telling him about her date with Scott a few weeks ago had been a little off, like he didn't like that she was dating Scott, but then that could have just been because he knew that Scott didn't really like the Flash. Or more likely, it was wishful thinking on her part; he had moved on from her and living his life.
Iris couldn't believe she was even thinking about love and dating at a time like this …Barry had lost his powers, he obviously wasn't thinking about those things there were bigger than her having finally figured out that she loved him and that she spent hours imagining them kissing.
There was something really wrong with her.
Barry needed someone, something that would help him become the Flash again and her love for him, however strong, was not it.
He had insisted that she take him back to S.T.A.R. Labs after his meeting with Wally, and while he'd come back to the car with a spring in his step he had soon become despondent again.
"Are you sure you wouldn't rather go home and rest awhile?" she'd asked him.
"No," he'd shaken his head. He wasn't quite ready to hear Wally recount his story about meeting the Flash. He needed to be alone. To think.
Iris had left him and gone home to think.
000
"Iris, hey."
"You're probably wondering why I'm calling," Iris began.
"You just wanted to talk," he joked, "or you can't bear being out of my sight."
"Yeah," she agreed, "it's been like five minutes since I last saw you and I'm missing you already."
"I know the feeling."
"Seriously, Barry," Iris's tone changed.
"What?" he asked quietly.
"We'll figure out something," Iris said, "you know Cisco's super smart, Jesse and Harry are brilliant as well, and then you know there's you, Dad and me. We'll think of something."
"I know," he wished he believed it.
"Bear, I'm serious," Iris told him, "this didn't just happen to you it happened to all of us and we're going to fix it."
"Yeah," he nodded.
"Remember what I told you."
"That I'm a hero," Barry replied, "I remember and I…"
"I love you, Barry," she interrupted him.
"I know that and I love you too, Iris," he replied.
"Good night," Iris told him, "try and get some rest."
"Good night." He hung up and turned to look at the Flash costume.
000
Iris lay in her bed staring at the ceiling. It was late; it'd been a really long day and she was tired, so of course she couldn't sleep. She would read everything that she could find about speedsters tomorrow, not that there was much, everything about metahumans and the particle accelerator. She made a mental note to call Cisco first thing in the morning.
Barry would get his speed back no matter what.
000