Her dad sees her the moment she dashes in.
"Why haven't you been picking up your phone-"
"Where is he?" She doesn't have time or mental capacity for anything other than Barry right now. She barely notices that Cisco, Caitlin, and Wally are also there, and can't even wonder how they made it to the station before her or feel offended if they happened to be told about Barry sooner than she was.
"Iris," Joe starts. "Take a breath."
"Where is he?" she demands a second time, feeling tears build in her eyes from the sheer monument of emotion overtaking her, from the magnitude of the occasion. She feels like she's imagined this moment dozens of times and how she might be feeling, but her imagination never came close to the power of her state of mind now. "Did you see him? Is he okay? Is it really him?" More tears well with each inquiry she hurls until they finally spill.
She thinks she doesn't want the hug he engulfs her with, but it's comforting to be able to sob into his shoulder, harder than she has in a while, as hard as she did her first week without Barry. It seems poetic to come full circle, but she's glad she's crying here for entirely different reasons.
"I haven't seen him yet. None of us have. We all agreed not to until you got here." Iris pulls away to see Cisco nod in agreement. Her earlier anger toward him dissipates, and she feels better about her almost-irritation that they all got here before her.
"Cecile is with him now, probably 'interrogating' him so that things don't look suspicious to the other cops. No doubt they're trying to come up with some story they can feed the press about where he was all these months."
Iris feels herself relaxing at these words. Barry is behind those doors. He's a few feet away from her. In just a few moments, she's going to see him again, to touch him again…
She lets out a small laugh through her tears at the realization, and Joe pulls her close to him one more time.
"It's going to be okay, Baby Girl," her father murmurs into her hair. "It's going to be okay."
They're seated in the waiting area for what feels like hours, until Cecile finally appears. Immediately, Iris stands.
"I want to see him," she declares, figuring it's better to be insistent instead of ask and risk getting declined. She doesn't want to give anyone the opportunity to deprive her of seeing Barry. She doesn't even want to ask if he's okay or not or if it's really him anymore like she had before, doesn't want to open that door of possibility. She'll decide that for herself, she's his fiancée after all. She understands police protocols, but it's been enough time. It's been six months.
She doesn't know why she was bracing herself for a possible no, because it doesn't come. What does come is a sympathetic look across Cecile's features and something else completely unexpected, a warning: "You need to prepare yourself."
What to make of that, Iris has no idea. Slight alarm rises in her but the open door that Cecile leads her into vanquishes all of that.
She races in, not caring or tracking if anyone follows her, or of whatever it was she needed to brace herself for.
The lights are off, but the afternoon sun peeks through the tilted blinds. The room's temperature resembles a musty warmth. The air is heavy with dust and something else.
A thin, bearded man sits on a rollaway cot in corner of the room. His back is aligned with the wall he leans against, his legs stretched out in front of him, too long for the mattress he sits atop.
"Barry," she breathes. Her heart races in a familiar way it hasn't done so in six months, and that's how she's certain it's him, her Bear.
It takes all of less than a minute for that certainty to waver.
And it's not because of the facial hair.
It's his eyes. They're devoid of anything, even color it appears. She's never seen Barry's normally vivid green eyes as empty as this. They've always looked legibly animated: ardent, awestruck, angry, afraid, affectionate. Now? It's like they're glass, and they're staring straight ahead, not at her.
Someone managed to get him into a T-shirt and sweatpants. Behind her, she hears Cecile mention offhandedly that he cooperated when they instructed him to dress, as though she felt she needed to explain why he wasn't naked anymore, but Iris doesn't care that Barry is clothed or bare or bearded or whatever.
Iris cares that Barry hasn't reacted to her presence yet, or anyone else's for that matter.
"Barry," Iris repeats, louder this time.
It's as if no one else is in the room with him. Barry doesn't even seem to blink at the sound of his name, only continues his haunted gaze forward.
"What's wrong with him?" Cisco's concern mirrors Iris's and vocalizes what everyone else in the room is likely too afraid to ask.
There's a hesitation before Cecile responds. "We're not sure."
Iris swallows. Nothing is wrong with him, she tells herself. It can't be. He has to just be slightly shaken up after being away for so long. He's alive, she reminds herself. That's what matters.
"Barry," she tries again, certain that this time he'll snap out of his daze once she employs the entreaty that's brought him back before. Her voice nearly breaks at the memory, at the grasp that he'll be okay once he hears it: "Barry, you're home."
For the first time since Iris entered the room, Barry's head turns to acknowledge her. It worked-
He stands so abruptly and moves with such quick force that he's towering over her before she can process what happened.
"Woah!" Wally moves just as instantaneously to stand protectively at her side.
Once her cognizance is up-to-speed on what's ensued, Iris exchanges an incredulous look with her brother, as though they both can't believe he's reacted to protect Iris from Barry of all people.
Wally shifts his gaze from hers and she sees his eyes widen in shock the moment they settle on Barry.
"What the-"
She follows his gaze to find Barry's eyes animated at last, only they shine with a red glimmer. He looks menacing, like he's staring at his greatest enemy, not at the people who love him.
"That…didn't happen when we tried to interrogate him," Cecile notes cautiously. "Does this have to do with-the Speed Force?" she questions.
No one has an answer for her. No one knows what to do but watch Barry as his eyes gleam. Suddenly, Barry shakes his head eccentrically and rubs his eyes. When his hands fall, his pupils are lifeless again. He turns back to the cot mutely and sits down, his legs dangling off the edge, as if nothing had just happened.
Finally, Cecile breaks the silence that follows.
"Joe, Iris." She gestures for them to follow her outside into her office, closing the door behind them.
She pauses, as though she's thinking of what to say, before taking a deep breath, bringing her palms together.
"I think we should keep him at the precinct for a while," she states simply.
Iris steps forward to object before her father can agree.
"Barry is coming home with me," she announces.
"Iris-"
"Look, I know he's not acting like himself," she continues. "But he's been trapped for six months in what had to be hell for him to be so disconnected from all of us. Taking him somewhere familiar could help."
"I don't disagree with you," Joe replies, to her surprise, as well as Cecile's.
"But," he adds. "I don't think you should be alone with him, Iris. We can take him back to STAR Labs, or even our house-"
"Or we can keep him in police custody and have physicians and metal health professionals evaluate him before we release him to the public," Cecile interrupts.
Rage swells inside Iris at this. "Excuse me," she objects. "Are you suggesting Barry is some kind of threat? Like he's a criminal?"
"I wasn't suggesting that at all-" Cecile tries to defend herself.
"I'll remind you that the man sitting on that bed is The Flash," Iris carries on. "He's a hero. He saved all of us, including you."
"Iris," Joe warns.
Cecile tries again: "I get how you must be feeling-"
"No you don't!" Iris exclaims, and Cecile actually jolts.
"You don't get it, Cecile. Hours ago, I thought my fiancé was as good as dead and now he's back, clearly confused or traumatized. I don't want to subject him to more stress or to scrutiny from people who don't know who he really is or where he was. What's going to happen if he has an episode like he just did now in front of an examiner? How will it change Barry's life if word gets out that he's a speedster? If the public suspects he could be The Flash?"
Truth be told, Iris wasn't even considering those latter points. Her primary concern had been protecting Barry from further burden while he was in such a delicate, and potentially volatile mental state.
She feels guilty at having blown up at Cecile however, who she knows has good intentions.
Iris softens. "I know you just want to help," she consoles. "But I think keeping him here under constant supervision and inspection will do more harm, not to mention put him at risk of discovery and then possible surveillance for the rest of his life. Please. Let me take him home."
Cecile exhales, glancing at Joe purposefully. "You'll be careful? And let us know if there's any trouble?"
"Promise," Iris swears.
"Alright then," Cecile concedes. "I can't keep him here legally if he's done nothing wrong. I'll just need you to sign some papers that he's going back with you, Iris."
"Ah," Joe protests. "Going back with us." But Iris holds up a hand.
"No, Dad," she asserts. "I'm taking him to our loft."
Joe sighs. "Baby-"
"I am going to try to get through to him by myself," she affirms. "I've done it before, and I can do it again. We'll take him to STAR Labs so that Caitlin and Cisco can run some tests on him just to be safe, but he's sleeping at our place tonight, and every night after that."
She can tell her father is still dubious. He fixes her with a look that's a combination of sorrow and admiration.
"If anything happens-"
"I'll call you," Iris finishes.
"Iris, I'm serious," Joe urges. "He may look like him, but I don't think the Barry who came out of the Speed Force is the same as the one who went in it six months ago. Just…keep an eye out. Trust your gut, Baby Girl."
At that, Iris can't suppress a smile, despite the gravity of the situation. "You taught me how."
