Sorry about the wait, I had a major case of writer's block because I couldn't figure out how Iris was going to find out about Oliver. Then I thought, 'Hey, I'll ask the readers what they want and write it!' So PLEASE send me ideas! PLEASE!
ATTENTION!- PLEASE SEND ME IDEAS!
THIS CHAPTER IS A LITTLE BIT GRAPHIC, SO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!
nochance- Thanks, I am an Olicity shipper (and I'm a girl) and I think they are perfect for each other.
I am super proud of my inspirational speeches. I have always had a knack for them, but I stink at fight scenes. Anyway, ignore the fact that Oliver is dead (Oliver? Dead? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAno.) So pretend he never left.
DISCLAIMER- I DO NOT OWN THE FLASH OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS!
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Iris whooped, delighted at the fact that she had just run over water. She was amazed at the feeling of mist in her face, and she beamed brighter that the sun. It had taken her several weeks to gain the speed she needed to do so. Barry, on the other hand, had been steadily increasing his speed, to the point where Cisco had to upgrade the treadmill, something he was happy to do. And he actually made it more useful; now when Iris or Barry ran, it would generate electricity. With so many rooms unoccupied (or destroyed), they cut the power costs in half, which meant that they had more money for Cisco to make his crazy inventions. Plus they now had an infrared satilite and a new suit for her.
Iris really wanted one, mostly because when she ran she got burns all over her body, and even with cellular regeneration, she didn't want unnecessary pain. For a late Christmas present, Cisco and Caitlin had given her a beautiful orangy-red suit, the color of a classic Central City sunset. It was made of the same material Barry's was, and had the same basic design except for the various pockets and attachments, like a small rectangle shaped pocket for a knife, for just in case. Plus he had installed four pouches in the ankles for energy bars. Cisco and Caitlin were working on a liquified version to save space, but right now, it tasted like cat puke, and the two speedsters could down it without gagging. When she and Barry told him how it tasted, Cisco immediately set out to find a flavoring (or lack there of) that wouldn't sacrifice any of the nutrients or space.
She ran to the edge of the city limits, stopping to enjoy the beautiful view of the pink and purple clouds caused by the sunset, and turned to head back to S.T.A.R. Labs when she spotted something peculiar. In the middle of a nearby field, she could see shards of twisted metal and splinters of wood radiating out from a focal point. Iris jogged over, wary of the street lights and steep ditch to her right. She kicked over some rubble with a slender foot, gaping at the destruction. She shuddered to think about exactly what had caused it. Blinking lights caught her attention, and a strange object slightly off center from the center of the crater was glowing. It had several lights on it, and wires poked out here and there.
She untied the mask on her face to see better. Unlike Barry's, Iris' mask consisted of a single piece of cloth with two eyes holes, a lot like Arrow's. She prefered, saying it looked more feminine.
Iris bent down and touched the device, and jumped back in surprise when it beeped. She took another step back when she heard it go beep beep beep BEEEEEP! Almost too late, she recognized the familiar sound of a ticking bomb.
BOOM!
Iris ran as fast as she could the other way, dodging shrapnel every few seconds. Her heart stopped when she tripped over a half buried rock, but got up and kept running. Unfortunately, she failed to remember about the ditch, and fell into it, rolling over and over before finally coming to a stop. Once she overcame her vertigo and the flames ceased to exist, she allowed herself to sit up and relax. As far as she could tell, she had a few cuts and burns, but she would recover.
"Iris, you there?" Cisco called, worry evident in his voice. Iris nodded, though he couldn't see her through the comm attached to her right leg. She slid it out and pressed the button. "Yeah, I think I'm okay." she replied. Muffled voices came through, and Caitlin said nervously, "I wouldn't be too sure. According to the readings on your suit, you are losing a lot of blood near your left leg. Iris felt her thigh gingerly, and her hand came back up warm and sticky, not to mention bright red. She pressed the comm link. "Yeah, I'm bleeding. I'm going to try to run back." Iris shakily stood up and put weight on her bad leg. Immediately stifling a groan, she sank back to her previous position. "On second though, I think I'll stay here." she panted, the pain started to sink in, the adreneline gone.
She took her mask, amazed that she had been clenching it the entire time, and tied it around her upper thigh in an attempt to stop, or at least slow the bleeding. She knew that she would heal faster than she would before the lightning, but the bleeding would need to stop first, and she was pretty sure there was a chunk of metal imbedded in the wound.
Cisco called back, "Hang on. I'll get Barry to come and get you."
Iris leaned back and took a deep breath. Depending on if he was working or not, Barry's arrival could range from five minutes to half an hour. This was going to be a long night.
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Barry was in a meeting with the Captain, along with half a dozen other CCPD members, with Joe not present. He stood listening to the droning voice of Captain Singh when his phone rang. All eyes turned on him, and he fumbled to turn it off until he saw the caller ID. It was Caitlin. He pressed the green power button, holding the phone to his ear.
"Barry, Iris is in trouble." Caitlin said.
"I'm in the middle of a meeting." Barry replied, irritated at the timing and nervous about his best friend.
"Then tell them I'm in the hospital, or something." Caitlin retorted. "Just make up something, and hurry, because she's not doing well."
"Okay. Bye."
Captain Singh approached Barry, glaring at him. If there was one thing that ticked him off, it was people interrupting his meetings. "Mr. Allen. Who was that?" he asked pointedly.
Barry dodged the question. "Sir, I've got to go, and-" Captain Singh cut in. "Why is that?" Barry didn't have to fake a worried tone, desperate to get to Iris. "My friend Caitlin's in the hospital."
The feeling in the room turned from curiosity and shaming to pity. Captain Singh sighed, not wanting him to leave. "Go." he simply said. Stammering his thanks, Barry made his way out the door. He reached the outside, and careful to not let anyone see him, he rushed to S.T.A.R Labs. He slowed from nearly a thousand miles an hour to a fairly normal speed, walking. Shouting, "Where is she?" to the team.
Dr. Wells wordlessly pulled up Iris' location on the main monitor and Barry took off running. He didn't see Caitlin's tear streaked face or Cisco fiddling with a rubik's cube, something he only did when he was worried beyond belief. He ran as fast as he could, because if he didn't get there in time, he didn't know what he would do with himself.
Once at the field, Barry zig-zagged across the empty lot, searching. A faint, strangled groan diverted his attention to a nearby ditch. He sld down the slick slope, digging in his heels to keep his balance. He could soon see the limp form of Iris, hunched against the side of the hill with her mask wrapped around her leg and a pained expression on her face. His footsteps alerted her to his presence, and she lifted a shaky hand in greeting. As Barry crouched beside her and gently ran his fingers over the wound she shivered, though not from the cold. Barry gasped at the amount of blood she was losing, and her suit was torn up in several places. "What happened?" he asked, the worst scenarios running through his head. Iris replied softly, feeling light headed, "Boom…" Barry, as carefully as he could, picked up Iris bridal style, and ran as steadily as he could back to S.T.A.R. Labs.
Caitlin glanced at the screen that tracked Barry and Iris' movements and relaxed. Both were on their way. She proceeded to prepare a table for Iris, so she didn't have to wait for her to get the supplies out.
A soft whoosh let Caitlin know that Barry and Iris had made it back, and she quickly gathered the rest of the equipment and rushed to Iris, who was laying on the table. She took shuddering breaths, and Barry was slowly pulling off the makeshift tournequet. Caitlin didn't dare try to get Iris out of the suit, so she had to resort to cutting off the cloth, which she knew Cisco would dislike. But to her surprise, Cisco didn't say a word, showing that he was truly afraid for the female speedster. She began to clean the blood from around the cut, until she got a good view of the injury. It was a large gash, about four inches long, with bits of metal poking out. Caitlin gasped at the severity, but then steeled herself and set to work, grabbing the longest pair of tweezers she own and a shot of 600 proof.
"Here. Drink this." Caitlin commanded. Iris didn't argue, and swallowed the drink, gasping at the strength. Caitlin knew it wouldn't work for long, and started to inch the metal out. There was only one chunk, thankfully, but she feared that it would cause more damage coming out, but she couldn't leave it in. In the last few centimeters, Iris clenched the table and Barry's hand, which turned purple. He didn't complain, just letting her hold his hand. Caitlin pulled the metal out and laid it on the table. It was a good two by three inches, and about a milimeter thick.
Caitlin poured water over the wound to prevent infection. It was a rudimentary way to cleanse the injury, but the fastest one quickly caterized the wound and stitched it while Iris was awake and feeling. It was amazing that she was still concious,considering what she had gone through. Caitlin let out a sigh, convinced that she was out of immediate danger. She glanced at the clock; she had been working for twenty minutes, a long time for the situation. She forced herself to go and talk to Barry to prevent a trip down the rabbit hole. She would become so focused on her work, she would stop eating and sleeping. Cisco and Dr. Wells were the only people to see her do so, except for Ronnie. After the explosion, Cisco had taken his place as the person to drag her out when she went too far.
She shook the thought away, walking to Barry, who was sitting next to a sleeping Iris. She sat down and assured, "She'll make it." Barry just continued to caress Iris' hand, keep watch over her. He looked troubled, and Caitlin frowned at his expression. Noticing her concern, he explained, "I just don't know what I would have done if I didn't get there in time. I wouldn't be able to live with myself." he admitted.
Caitlin responded warmly, "But you did. And she is going to be okay." She paused. "Do you know what happened?"
Barry chuckled humourlessly. "I've seen my fair share of cases, and many of them were bombs. When I got to her, there was debris everywhere. And when I asked her what happened, she said 'boom'."
They sat in silence, neither wanting to talk. Barry stared at Iris' limp form. He hated the steady, shallow beat of her breathing. It reminded him too much of the first time.
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Joe paced, passing by various vials of substances in Barry's lab. "So there was an explosion?" he asked. Barry replied, "Yeah. It seems who ever set the first bomb left an extra in its place, in case anybody found it. Then it would go off…" he trailed. Joe still looked concerned. "And Iris is okay?" Barry nodded, relieved that the stitches had finally come out. "Yeah, it took an extra day, but she's all better now."
Joe pondered for a moment, wondering what to do about the situation. "Do you have any clues about who did this?" he questioned. Barry shook his head again, just as clueless about the bomber as he was. "I'll get a sample from the site, try to get an idea of where the supplies had come from." He rubbed his hands together, eager to get to the bottom of it. "It might take a while, though." Barry admitted. Joe nodded. His years of being a detective made him become used to waiting on evidence.
A few hours later at S.T.A.R. Lab, Barry was watching Caitlin put the shards of metal from the explosion in the analyzing machine. He sighed, impatient for the results to come in. He was used to everything being fast. Cisco was in the corner, testing out whatever invention he was making, much to Caitlin's worry. Barry didn't see Dr. Wells anywhere, but that had become the usual. Iris was working at Jitters, trying to make enough money for some new headphones.
"Knock-ity knock-ity!" Barry whirled around to see a smiling Felicity at the door. He jumped up, happy to see a friend. "Hey Felicity! It's great to see you!" They hugged, and Caitlin and Cisco were just as excited as he was. "What are you doing here?" Cisco asked, grinning from ear to ear.
"One, to get the sample," She glanced appreciatively at Caitlin. "and two, we, meaning the team, need your help." she said. "With what?" Barry questioned curiously. "Recently, a bomb went off in Starling City. There was a second bomb in its place and it exploded on contact." she explained. Barry's eyes widened and he heard Caitlin gasp. That was exactly what happened to Iris. "We tracked the person here." Felicity finished.
Barry quickly said, "We had the same thing happen a few days ago." Felicity replied, "Then he's definitely here. Oliver and Roy stayed back to take care of some stuff, but now that we know he's here, they can come and take care of it with you."
He brightened up at the prospect of teaming up, but then his face fell. Now that Iris was a meta and a part of the team, Oliver would have to reveal his identity to her, something which he would not be happy with. Barry stammered, "Uh, there might be a slight problem with that." Felicity frowned, clearly confused. "Why?"
"Iris is a meta-human." he revealed.
"What?"
"Iris is a meta." he repeated. "She's like me now, and a part of the team, so he's going to have to tell her."
Silence met his words. Felicity gaped, more shocked at the prospect of Oliver revealing his identity than Iris' power. She couldn't wrap her head around the idea. And judging his reaction to Barry saving his life by trying to choke him, this was not going to go down well.
She shook her head, stammering, "But Oliver, he won't, isn't there a way, Iris not knowing, I mean if…" she trailed off, coming to the same conclusion as Barry. "He has to tell her." she admitted, hanging her head in defeat. He nodded, saying, "This is not going to be pretty."
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"You want me to what?" Oliver yelled, slamming his fist on the desk. Iris was apparently a meta-human and Felicity was demanding him to reveal his identity. He was already to team up again, but now… there was no way he was going to Central City.
It was necessary for his identity to remain a secret. Not only did it give Arrow more power and leeway with the citizens, if the world found out who he was, then everyone would be in danger. His family, friends, even the city would be under constant attack from his enemies, old and new. He couldn't risk that.
Felicity was getting frustrated. "We don't like it any more than you do, but even Dr. Wells thinks that it will protect her." she reasoned.
"So let's just tell everyone in Central City who I am, huh?" he thundered. He was also reaching his tipping point, steadfast in his decision.
There was one other reason for him to hide his identity. In his mind, the Arrow had always been the other guy. Lately, he had been having a hard time distinguishing between the two. He needed to keep them separate. He was afraid. That was right, Oliver Queen was afraid. Afraid of becoming him, afraid to let his emotions take over, afraid to hurt the ones he loved and cared about. And the more people who knew who he was, the closer they became to being one and the same, not Oliver, not Arrow, but Oliver the Arrow. And he couldn't do that, make him do that to himself.
Felicity, though miles away and talking on a phone, seemed to sense what he was thinking. "Oliver, I know you don't want to, but people are going to get hurt if you don't stop him. We know he is in Central City, because the exact same thing happened. And the reason we know that is that Iris was the one who almost got killed by the remaining bomb!" Her voice cracked, dropping to a low whisper, desperate to get her point across. "We owe that to her. If she didn't have her powers, she would be dead right now." Her voice grew in strength, gaining confidence as she pounded what she believed was right into his brain.
"And the next person to die? His or her blood will be on your hands, even if you never even knew them, even if you didn't kill them directly, because you had the power to stop the bomber because you were too scared to face your fears." She gave weak chuckle. "I'm not calling you a coward yet, because you still have the time to make a decision, but if you don't, then you will be the weakest person I know." Oliver stared at the ground, no longer wanting to change her mind. Felicity smiled and prompted softly, "So? What's your choice?"
Oliver sighed, convinced. Okay, I'll go. I'll tell her, but it doesn't mean I have to like it." Felicity jumped up excitedly. "Oh, I could hug you right now!" She stopped, blushing at her own words. "I mean, just as a happy hug, not like, romantic or anything, cause that would be weird…" Oliver laughed, happy to have his friend back to her normal, awkward adorkable self.