A/N: Yes, I know it's been awhile since I updated this story. I just got caught up in some other stories of mine, and I'm not necessarily looking forward to writing this chapter. It's not that I don't like it, I just don't like one of the characters that this chapter will focus on. Still, I will try my best to not let my biases and dislike towards the character cloud my judgement in the way that I write them. Wish me luck with that.

Henry had been living a lie for so long, he had almost forgotten what it was like to live a normal life. Many things got easier the longer you did it, but not this. No matter how long Henry had been doing this for, he just couldn't get used to it. It was always a challenge, and Henry was concerned that it wasn't ever going to change.

Henry had little to no stability in his life. Every few years or so Henry would find a place to live where he actually felt like he was free from his past and Iris was safe, but that never lasted long. Whenever he thought he had found a secure living situation something changed and his life was thrown for a loop all over again. The longest period of time in which Henry had actually felt like they could have a life in their current location was two years. Things just always seemed to go wrong.

Henry sometimes felt like he was fighting a constant battle against the universe. A battle that he just couldn't win, but it wasn't one that he could afford to lose. Henry had too much to live for to let life get the better of him. He still had to find his son, Barry.

And he had a little girl to take care of now, even if she wasn't so little anymore.

Iris meant the world to Henry, and he would do anything for her. And it was for her that they couldn't stay in Central City anymore.

Henry may be trying to run from his past, but he never forgot it. He remembered the day he got Iris like it was yesterday, and he remembered that man she had been staying with. The man he had saved her from. Lewis Snart. Henry didn't know much about him and had only actually had two brief encounters with him in his entire life, but even with that little information Henry knew that Lewis Snart was not a man that he wanted to be anywhere near Iris.

Never again.

It had been quite a shock for Henry to see Lewis Snart again after all these years. At first he hadn't recognized the man for who he was. He had just looked like an untrustworthy looking man who looked vaguely familiar and had been interested in Iris. Henry had only realized who Lewis was when Leo had interfered.

Leo had changed a lot in these past thirteen years. He wasn't that scrawny twelve year old boy he had been before. Still, Henry had recognized him almost immediately. It was almost impossible to meet somebody like Leo and not remember him for the rest of your life. Henry had been relieved to see Leo after so long, over the years he had worried quite about about how that kid had been doing without him. That relief was short lived though as Henry soon realized that even though so much time has passed, some things never changed.

Lewis Snart was still a very dangerous man. He still hurt his own kid and Henry knew that if he was given the chance he would do the same to Iris. Henry couldn't let that happen. That man was never going to lay a finger on Iris, and Henry was going to make sure of that. Henry had seen the angry, greedy look in Snart's eyes. For some reason the man wanted Iris back, even though he shouldn't have ever had guardianship over her in the first place.

Henry knew he had to keep Iris away from Snart, and if the only way to do that was by leaving Central City, then so be it.

Henry didn't want to act too rashly if he didn't have to though. The two of them had moved around a lot over the years, and while Henry wasn't necessarily the most observant person in the world, but even he could tell that Iris was getting tired of all of the moving and secrecy. She wanted a normal life, and Henry wanted that for her too. If it was just Snart that they had to deal with, Henry might try to find another way. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

Somehow, Detective Joe West was in this city as well. Henry didn't know if Joe would recognize him, or if he would still care, but he couldn't risk it. Henry had known Joe West since before he had gone to prison in the first place, and even back then Joe had believed 'once a criminal, always a criminal'. Henry had no way of knowing if his opinion had changed, but he wasn't going to bet on it.

It would be safest for them to leave. Henry just hoped that Iris didn't take it too badly.

"Dad?"

Speaking of Iris.

Henry turned to face the young woman as she entered the room. Her eyes were filled with concern, but also determination. She could tell that something was bothering him, and she wasn't going to rest until she found out what it was.

"Dad, what's going on with you?" Iris asked in a gentle voice. "You've been off since we got back from town."

"It's nothing, Iris." Henry said easily. "I'm just tired." Iris frowned and narrowed her eyes at him. His tone had sounded sincere enough, and if it weren't for the fact that he always said the same thing whenever he was trying to hide something from her, she probably would have believed him.

"We have to leave again, don't we?" Iris crossed her arms. Henry's guilty and apologetic look was answer enough for her. "Are you at least going to tell me why this time?"

"Iris-" Henry began.

"No, dad, I'm sick of this!" Iris threw her hands to her side in frustration. "What aren't you telling me? Who are we always running from? And who was that man in town?" Henry winced slightly. Of course Iris had noticed the recognition between he and Lewis. And just because she didn't exactly remember Lewis didn't mean that she subconsciously didn't know who he was.

"You don't have to worry about it." Henry said automatically.

"Have you ever stopped to think that maybe I want to worry about it?" Iris asked. "You stress about things all the time, things from your past, and I just don't understand why you insist on hiding stuff from me."

Henry sighed. "You wouldn't understand."

"You don't know that." Iris said exasperatedly. "Maybe I would understand more than you think I would, if you would just talk to me."

"...I can't." Maybe Iris would understand everything, but Henry was far from ready from talking to her about it. Maybe when she was older. Right now though, he didn't think that either of them were ready.

Iris obviously either didn't agree or didn't care. For whatever reason though she wasn't in the mood for fighting. She just stormed outside, and Henry let her. Iris needed time to calm down, he could give her that much.


Iris absolutely loved her dad, he was the most important person in the world to her, but sometimes he could drive her completely insane.

He was always hiding things from her, and she hated it. Iris wasn't a scared, trusting little girl now, she was an adult. She wanted to find things out for herself instead of just blindly believing what others told her. Iris had a yearning to know the truth about everything, which was why it always miffed her when her father kept secrets from her.

Which was practically everyday.

She understand why he did it. She could hear the sincerity in his voice whenever he said that everything he did was for her sake. She wasn't stubborn enough to refuse to see that he was just trying to protect her. The thing was, Iris didn't want protection. She could take care of herself, and she just wished that her dad could see that.

Iris sighed and drew her jacket tighter around herself in an attempt to keep out the chill that the evening brought. Night was beginning to fall, and Iris knew that if she wasn't home before dark her dad would totally freak out. He was overprotective in that way. Sometimes it sucked that Iris had a curfew, but she followed it. It wasn't like she had many friends or people to go out with. They moved around way too often for her to ever do anything. The only times that Iris left the house on her own was when she went out for a walk, like she was doing now.

Iris didn't really consider herself the walking type, especially when she didn't really have anywhere to go, but it was a good way to clear her head and just get away from everything for a bit. It gave both Iris and her dad a little time away from each other, which was probably good because two people being around each other, and only each other, 24/7 was bound to get real old real quick. People get on each others nerves, especially if they were are close but spend too much time together.

So even though it was boring, Iris made a point to go out for a walk at least once a week, to keep her stress levels down. Sometimes though she just went out after a fight, because things were just too tense at home.

She still felt tense and stressed, but not as much as she had when she had left, and it was getting late. It was time she head home, even if she still didn't feel like being there. Iris turned around the corner and began making her way home. The streets and sidewalks were completely bare, like they always were this time of day.

Iris' dad was extremely paranoid. Even though they moved around a lot they always stayed in the same type of neighborhood. A place just outside town with not many people living there. The neighborhood was always rundown and probably because of that nobody who lived there trusted anybody else in the area. Iris supposed that her dad liked things specifically that way for a reason. Because all of the distrust amongst the neighbors, everybody just minded their own business. All of them seemed to be too afraid of angering a crazy ax murderer to stick their noses where they didn't belong.

Sometimes it got lonely to always be living in places where everybody avoided each other, but at least it made moving away easier. She never had to deal with the heartbreak of saying goodbye to friends, because she never had any friends in the first place.

Iris had grown so used to never seeing anybody else around when night started falling, so when she saw two young men walking down the street, she became suspicious. She didn't recognize these two, and maybe it was just her dad's paranoia rubbing off on her, but seeing the two of them made her feel extremely nervous.

She wasn't going to let her nerves get the better of her though. Whoever these strangers were, Iris was going to find out.

"Hey, who are you guys?" Iris called out. She had been told many times that she could be pretty intimidating when she was defensive, and she was going to use that to her advantage. She saw one of the two flinch slightly, which just made her more suspicious. Why would he flinch unless he had something to hide? And even though the other man seemed relaxed and not the least bit nervous about being called out by a total stranger, there was just something about his stance that told Iris that this man had secrets.

The two men turned to face her. The nervous man's cheeks turned slightly red when he saw her. "I-Iris." He stammered slightly. Iris narrowed her eyes at him, and his companion looked like he was about to hit himself.

"How do you-" Iris took a cautious step back.

"Excuse him," The other man stepped forward. One of his hands was towards her in a nonthreatening manner, and the other was back towards the nervous man, keeping him back. "He has a tendency to run his mouth."

"What?" The nervous look in the first man's eyes went away slightly as he stared at his friend. "Me? You're the one who talks all the time."

"Yes, but I think before I say anything." The calm, collected man said easily. The first man smiled slightly and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, but who are you guys?" Iris asked. She wasn't exactly feeling concerned by them anymore, but she was still incredibly curious.

"Leonard Snart." The calm man said, and somehow the name struck bells in Iris' head. It sounded familiar, but in a strange way. It was as if his name seemed one part dangerous, and one part safe. Leonard tilted his head back towards the other man. "My friend over there is Barry."

"Hi." Barry said somewhat timidly. He looked somewhat embarrassed about earlier. Iris allowed herself to smile slightly at him, because he did look kind of adorable.

"Hi." Iris said in return. She was almost ready to give these two the benefit of the doubt, except for one small thing. "How did you know who I was."

"That was my fault." Leonard spoke up. Iris turned her focus from Barry to him. Now that she was actually looking at Leonard she realized something.

"Wait, I know you." Iris said. Leonard raised an eyebrow at her and he actually looked surprised. "You were in town today."

Leonard sighed to himself. "Yes, I was."

"Do you always jump in and stop creepy men from grabbing young women?" Iris crossed her arms. She wasn't very happy that she had been 'saved' by anybody, she wasn't just some damsel in distress, but Iris was secretly relieved that Leonard had stepped in. She didn't know what it was, but there was something about that man back in town that had reminded Iris of her old childhood nightmares.

Barry snorted to himself and Leonard smirked slightly. "Not exactly."

"He doesn't involve himself with a life that's not already involved in his." Barry said.

"Well, he did today." Iris insisted.

"No, I did not." Leonard said after a moment's hesitation. He almost sounded unsure of himself. "I don't know if you remember, but we used to know each other years ago?"

Iris frowned. "How long ago?"

"About thirteen years." Leonard said. Iris shook her head slightly, because she still wasn't really remembering him. Even if Leonard was telling the truth, she had been only six at the time. She could barely remember anything from back then, and she was just about to tell him so when she got sudden flashes of memory. The flashes were barely anything, but some things stuck out to her.

A frightening man. A boy who acted more grown up than he really was. And then there was that name, Snart. That name just sounded so familiar to her. A name that didn't really bring out a sense of familiarity with Iris though was Leonard. That just sounded wrong to her. A different name came to her head.

"Lenny?" Iris said quietly in disbelief.

"You remember?" Leonard stared at her.

"Not really." Iris admitted. "Just bits and pieces. I remember you, and, uh, your dad?" She wasn't quite so sure about that last part.

"Wait, you know Lewis Snart?" Barry actually sounded somewhat disgusted.

"Of course she knew him." Leonard looked at Barry as if he was an idiot. "I told you she lived with us."

"Right." Barry was looking embarrassed once again.

Lewis Snart. That name set off even more alarm bells in Iris' head than Leonard's had. "Is Lewis Snart that man in town?"

"The one that grabbed you?" Leonard asked. "Unfortunately, yes."

"And he's your dad?" Iris looked at Leonard, who met her gaze easily. "Does he hurt you often?" It was a really blunt question, and possibly not an appropriate one, but Iris wanted answers, which meant that now was not the time to be beating around the bush.

"All the time." Barry was the one who answered for him. Leonard glared at him, but Barry didn't even flinch at the cold, hard look.

"And you still live with him?" Leonard turned his glare toward her, but he didn't deny it, which lead Iris to believe that her assumption was right. For whatever reason, Leonard was still living with his abusive father, which just didn't sound right to her. "Why would you stay?"

"Iris, don't bother asking." Barry said quickly. "Trust me, I've bugged him about this before, and so has Mick," Iris had no idea who Mick was. "Nothing we say works. It just pisses Len off."

"I don't care." Iris snapped at Barry, which made him shut up. She turned back to Leonard. "Why would you want to be around somebody who hurts you?"

"You think this is what I want?" Leonard's eyes flashed dangerously.

"Obviously it has to be, or you would have already left." Iris said logically. Leonard seethed at her words and Barry sighed.

"Don't try to talk about things that you don't understand." Leonard said in a low voice.

"Maybe I would understand if you explained it to me." Iris said.

"I don't have to explain myself to anybody, least of all to you." Leonard turned towards Barry. "I did what you wanted, so unless you have something else that you want from me, I have other things to do." Without even saying a proper goodbye Leonard started leaving.

"Len, wait!" Barry called out, but it did nothing to stop him. Leonard was gone. Barry sighed again. "I hate it when he does that."

"Does he get pouty like this often?" Iris wondered if all men who forced themselves to grow up quickly were this immature.

"That's not fair." Barry frowned at her. "Len has a lot to deal with. He has a hard life."

"Everybody in the world has a hard life." Iris really believed that to be true. In one way or another, everybody had problems. "What's the point of spending all your time moping about it? I say if your life sucks, do something to change it."

Barry shook his head. "You're a strange girl, Iris. Just don't let Len hear you say that. Old friends or not, he will kick your ass if you even imply that his crappy life is his own fault."

"I would like to see him try." Iris said. She wasn't even a little worried about Leonard, a man who let himself get beat up by his own father, threatening her. She was pretty sure she could handle him.

Barry looked at her as if she was crazy. "...No, you don't, but I can tell that I won't be able to convince you of that, so I'm not even going to bother trying." Oh, so Barry was cute and observant. That was good to know.

"I have to be heading home soon." Iris smiled sweetly at Barry. "Walk me home?"

That cute, embarrassed blush returned to Barry's face. "S-sure." He stammered. Barry held out his arm to her, and Iris took it without hesitation. They walked slowly and even though they weren't far from where she lived Iris could tell that she wouldn't make it back before it got dark. Her dad was going to be so mad, but she could live with that. It wasn't very often that Iris got to interact with somebody who wasn't her father, and she wanted to make it last as long as possible.

They talked casually as they went, and Iris found herself liking this Barry more and more with every word he said. He was a sweet guy. It was such a shame that Iris might not be able to see him again after tonight.

Maybe she would try to convince her father to let them stay in Central City for just a little longer. She didn't want to leave unless it was absolutely necessary. She never liked it when they moved somewhere else, but this time was different than the others.

This time around, Iris believed that she actually had a friend or two to lose.


A/N: Not bad, considering half the chapter is about a character from The Flash that I absolutely despise. Yeah, I'm going to say this right now, I really don't like the shows version of Iris West. There actually aren't many girls from the Arrowverse that I actually like. I tolerate a few of them, but only like two. And people wonder why I lean towards the guys in these shows being gay. Maybe if they gave us good females I would pair the guys with some of the girls.

But I digress, I just had to get that off of my chest.

It's weird, but it was only while I was writing this chapter did I realize just how much Leonard is going to take over this story. I mean, yes, he is one of my favorite characters, but I wasn't expecting him to sneak himself in to the story quite this much. Oh well.