Stunned silence accompanied Cisco's statement. The Legends' gobsmacked and confused expressions would have been hilarious, had the situation not been so dire. Iris dried her eyes and turned back to Cisco, trying to muster a hopeful smile.
"Did you… talk to them?" she asked.
"Barry was out cold," Cisco said, "but alive. Snart told me that we had to find a way to get them out of there." He winced and closed his eyes. "He said that the… waste they were trapped on… didn't seem to like Barry… thought it was hurting him. Like it had a… mind of its own."
Iris noticed that Cisco's speech was becoming increasingly halting and slurred, and that he was doubled over, leaning heavily on the chair's armrest. His eyes were also screwed shut in obvious pain.
"Cisco," she said, "why don't you let Caitlin check your vitals, see if everything's OK?" She motioned to the other woman and the latter immediately went into doctor mode. "We can talk about this when we're sure you're fine."
"But Barry and Snart… need help…" Cisco protested, sitting straight with another wince.
"No, Cisco," said Caitlin, putting a hand on the back of the chair and gently pushing it towards the infirmary. "You need medical attention, now." She grabbed the chair's armrest on her side to better be able to control its course. "Besides," she went on, "you can't help them if you're dead on your feet, which you kind of are at the moment."
"Cait's right, Cisco," Iris said, as she took hold of the chair's other side, helping her friend to steer it out of the cortex. "At least let her do a check up and give you a painkiller. Then get a bit of rest."
With the two women having him cornered, Cisco had no choice but to comply. Leaving him in Caitlin's care once they reached the medical room, Iris returned to the cortex, promising to return if she was needed.
"OK," Iris said to the group of still disbelieving heroes, catching their attention, "Cisco probably won't stay put for more than an hour. We need to figure out what exactly happened to both Barry and Snart first, and then find a way to get them back. So we need to do some more research on that Oculus thing."
"That could be better done on the Waverider," said Sara, in such a hushed voice, that Iris had the impression that the former had just been broken out of a trance. She cleared her throat. "We could ask her to look through her database."
"I'll go tell Dad the good news," Wally said, promptly speeding off to find their father. Iris was grateful for that. She couldn't yet bring herself to hope too much.
"Good, we have a plan," Sara said, nodding at Iris. "You mind if we use the ship as our mission base?"
"Not at all," Iris answered.
Gideon's only reference were a few old entries in the chronicles from before the formation of the Time Council. Apparently, some years after the Oculus Wellspring was built, a Time Master doing maintenance lost his balance and fell into the shaft surrounding the device. The report was very short and vague, but after being thought dead, he was recovered by a colleague. A few other entries recounted several attempts to explore the Oculus Waste, as they called it, which were unsuccessful. The last record from that time was of an effort to retrieve the missing scouts, but that team was lost as well. After that, no further attempts were made at either recovery or reconnaissance. The only truly useful information was that two people survived that place and their names: Time Master Will Rook and engineer Mary Xavier.
To Iris' relief, one of those names was familiar to her friends. Mary Xavier seemed to be someone they knew, so Iris allowed herself to feel a slight glimmer of hope that Barry, and by extension Snart, could be saved. She'd been so devastated in those moments when she'd thought her husband was dead, that she hadn't been able to feel anything except the crushing pain of loss. Even her brother's warm embrace had seemed in vain. Iris shuddered at the thought of Barry being lost forever, had it not been for Cisco and his ability to see beyond their universe.
She now sat in the Waverider's library, listening to Ray and Zari theorise about the nature of the mysterious dimension, with the occasional input from Wally. The door opening distracted her from that conversation and she turned to see Sara entering the room, accompanied by the woman she was told was the Director of the Time Bureau, Ava Sharpe.
"We have a new complication," Sara announced to the room at large, attracting everyone's attention and halting all discussions.
"A pretty big one," Director Sharpe continued.
Iris could see the worry lines on the other women's faces and her stomach sank at the thought of a possible road block that they couldn't overcome.
"Complications seem to be par for the course with this mission," Amaya observed from her seat at one of the desks.
"Appears so," Director Sharpe said. "Some of those anachronisms," she continued, "have gone from a level one, and below, to level two. If this keeps up, they're going to reach level four within a week. Past level five, the changes will start solidifying and the timeline, from today onward, will be completely altered."
"Director Sharpe is correct," Gideon said. "The longer Mr. Allen is absent from the timeline, the more the future changes. And as a result, the possibility of those alterations becoming permanent increases, even if he is recovered."
"So we need to get moving," said Sara. "The sooner we talk to Mary Xavier, the faster we can find a solution."
"This time," Iris said, "I'm coming along." Even if she could be nothing more than moral support, she was determined to help save her husband.
"Alright," said Sara, "then go tell your team. But if you don't mind, I'd like to have Cisco with us too. He's the expert on inter-dimensional travel."
"I probably couldn't keep him away if I wanted to," Iris said, getting up and heading for the door. She was glad that Sara didn't object in the slightest, because Iris didn't think she had the emotional strength to argue.
Once she reached the entrance to STAR Labs, a whoosh behind her alerted Iris to Wally's presence.
"You know Dad's gonna hate this, right?" he said. "You coming with us."
"He can hate it all he wants," said Iris. "Barry's my husband and, this time around, I'd like to be in the loop."
"And I'm totally on your side," Wally said, raising his hands placatingly in a peace-offering gesture. "It's just… you know Dad. I just want you to be mentally prepared for his pushback."
And Wally was right. Her father was none too happy about her decision. But, unlike the Joe West from a few years ago, he didn't try to stop her or change her mind. He knew how much she loved Barry and had somewhat grown out of that overprotective phase.
"Just be careful, Babygirl," Joe said. "Come back home to us."
"We will, Dad," said Iris, kissing him on the cheek. "All three of us."
"Four," Cisco piped up from the entrance to the cortex. "I'm going with you."
"Only if Caitlin says so," Iris teased.
"He's good and rested," said Caitlin, who had followed him from the infirmary. "Although, he is prohibited from trying to open any more breaches to that place anytime soon."
"Say what, now?" Wally asked, looking confusedly between the two.
"I tried opening a breach," Cisco mumbled, "to where Barry's trapped. Didn't work." He avoided eye contact with the West siblings.
"Almost gave yourself an aneurism is more like it," Caitlin said, scowling at him.
"Cisco!" Iris and Wally exclaimed in unison.
"Hey!" Cisco defended himself in an indignant tone. "I had to try! At least now we know it doesn't work."
"Guys!" Wally interrupted, "We gotta go. We can argue about this later."
"You can count on that…" Iris mumbled. "Cisco, if there's anything you need to take with you, now's the time. We have a lead and we're leaving as soon as possible."
"Yeah, there are a few things," said Cisco. "I won't take long." He hurried to his workshop to get whatever it was he needed.
"I'm gonna go grab some stuff too," Iris said. "A change of clothes, for starters."
"I'll help with that," said Caitlin, following her out of the cortex.
The two women walked in silence into one of the storage rooms, where Iris picked out a few items she thought she'd need for the trip on the Waverider. Opting to keep what she was wearing – a grey shirt, a pair of jeans and sneakers – she dug out her purple jacket, the one Cisco had modified for her when she'd temporarily been a speedster, and put it on. She knew that there was a fabricator on the ship, but she wanted something familiar to wear, so she packed some STAR Labs t-shirts and sweatpants, as well as some of her own toiletries. She had a stash in the building, for the times when Barry was too injured to go home and she'd chosen to spend the night with him in the infirmary.
They also got some spare clothes from Cisco's personal supply, just in case he wanted his own instead of using the fabricator. Caitlin brought her a duffel bag and they filled it up.
"It's going to be alright, you know," Caitlin said as they sifted through the clothes one more time, making sure they were all the right size. "You'll get him back. You two seem to have a knack for finding your way back to each other."
"Thanks, Cait," Iris smiled at her friend. "I really appreciate the encouragement."
"Happy to help," said Caitlin, returning the smile. "I've come to understand that talking to someone in times like these, even if it's just something as simple as a bit of support, goes a long way." She closed the zipper on the bag and squeezed Iris' hand gently. "You and Barry have done it for me, and now, I'm trying to return the favour."
"Thank you," Iris said, feeling her eyes well up. "It means a lot."
"OK, got everything you need?" Caitlin asked, looking around and surreptitiously drying her own eyes.
"Yep, all set," answered Iris, grabbing her bag.
In silent companionship, they went back to the cortex. Cisco and Wally were waiting for her, the former with his own backpack full – probably with some sort of equipment – and slung over one shoulder. In his left hand, he held his Vibe goggles and the fingers of his left were closed around the strap of Harry's pulse gun.
"Thought you should be prepared," he said, handing Iris the weapon. "Just in case."
"Whose idea was this?" Iris asked as she took it. She fully expected it to have been either her father's or Wally's.
"Mine, actually," said Ralph, to her surprise. "In this line of work, it seems that it doesn't hurt to be prepared."
"Thanks," Iris said, dropping her bag on the ground and slinging the gun over her shoulder and positioning it to rest across her back. "I hope I won't need it, but you do have a point."
She turned to her father and hugged him again and he, in turn, kissed the top of her head.
"Be safe, baby," he said.
"Don't worry," Iris told him. "We'll be back before you know it."
"You better," her father grumbled, but he had a smile on his face nevertheless.
"I'm putting you in charge of this bunch," Iris continued as they parted. "Ralph, you're on crime-fighting duty, with Cait at the comms. If there's anything you guys can't deal with, call Jesse or Jay to help out."
"Sure thing, Boss," said Ralph. "We'll hold the fort here. You just be careful out there."
"Yeah, we got this covered," said Caitlin.
"Great," Iris said, picking up her duffle again. "Give my love to Cecile and Jenna," she told her father, who nodded. "See you in a bit."
"Good luck!" said Caitlin. "Oh, and Cisco," she added, turning to her friend and fixing him with her best doctor scowl. "No breaching whatsoever!"
"Yes ma'am," Cisco said, shooting her an impish smile, and turned towards the exit.
Reassured that the city was in good hands, she led the way out of the room and down the corridor, her two companions close behind her. However, with every step she took on her path through the building, Iris struggled to calm her erratic heartbeat. She was relieved that Wally hadn't offered to speed them to the Waverider, because, despite the need for haste, this whole ordeal had left her with a sense of apprehension, in spite of the good news, that she was trying to fight her way through. And, in that moment, walking and thinking were the best solutions to conquering her demons.
In the elevator, Wally demanded, more than offered, to take her bag and she reluctantly relinquished it. When Cisco nudged her, she turned to look at him questioningly. His expression was a mix between thoughtful and determined as he peered at her.
"What?" she asked him, when he didn't immediately respond to her implied inquiry.
"This can't have been easy for you," he said, "considering something similar happened quite a few times before."
"It doesn't get easier," said Iris, her mind jumping back to all the times she'd almost lost Barry. "I guess it comes with the territory of loving and being married to a superhero. I'm just thankful that now, like then, he's not really gone."
"Yeah, me too," said Cisco. "Whet I'm trying to say, though, is that if, or when, you need someone to lean on during this whole debacle, I just want you to know that I'm here for you."
"I know," she said, her grip on the strap of the pulse rifle tightening. "Thank you, Cisco."
"We'll get him back," he said, now looking away. "I know you're scared. So am I. But I promise you, we'll get him back. We always do."
Iris swallowed thickly, yet declined to point out that he shouldn't make promises he may not be able to keep. She hoped, with all her might, that this time, things wouldn't go sideways. That they would succeed without any hiccups. That, for once, the plan would run smoothly.
As they stepped out of the confined space and then, into the crisp Central City night, she was reminded of Leonard Snart's words what seemed like eons ago: 'make the plan, execute the plan, expect the plan to go off the rails, throw away the plan'. The Legends had gone through those stages with their own plan. She just hoped that they wouldn't have to repeat them throughout their recovery mission.