So there was confusion about Linda's pov last chapter I forgot to write flashback I went and added it. Sorry about that. For future reference, if something isn't adding up in the story and there are plot lines that I've written in flashbacks that coincide with the current plot then it's a flashback. I try to remember that I have to put it in there but this time I forgot. Apologies for the confusion.

Also, I love getting support and reviews of any kind, but if you're always negative then I'd rather you try a different approach to reviewing authors works. Plus, I'm always open to suggestions. Thanks.

The song for this chapter is Rhodes - Turning Back Around. The best version is the Mahogany Sessions version.

IRIS' POV:

"I didn't know where else to bring her," A feminine voice whispered as I stirred awake.

The immediate pain in my stomach came to attention. I cried out in pain.

"She's awake," A familiar voice sounded.

I attempted to turn over, but hands pinned me down.

"Not so fast."

Oliver came into view.

"You were stabbed. I stitched you up."

"What's going on?" My eyes roamed around. "Where are am I?"

I saw a blonde girl in a black leather outfit and Felicity. They looked as worried as I felt.

He sat down on the table I was on. His arrow costume on, but the mask off. "You were stabbed, Iris."

The events played played back in my mind. The black girl that kept vanishing. She kicked my ass. The bitch stabbed me, she actually stabbed me.

"Fuck me." I groaned.

Barry's going to kill me if my dad doesn't kill me first.

"What were you thinking?" Oliver demanded. "I told you I would train you. We would go out there together when I thought you were ready. You've only just scratched the surface."

I shook my head. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not fine. You could've died tonight!"

My eyes widened at the sudden outburst. I didn't know Oliver very well, but he seemed like the type to stay stoic. I didn't expect him to yell at me.

"I'm not a child. I don't have to sit around and do nothing."

He nodded. "You're right. Even so, you weren't ready. And if the Black Canary wasn't there to find you, you would've bled out on the street and no one would've known that you were trying to help people. You would've been dead. And Barry would blame me and I would have to live with that."

Felicity stepped forward, her eyes red. "What I think Oliver is trying to say is we all care about you and we understand why you're doing this, but you can't jump in half cocked. You're only going to get hurt." She grabbed my hand and squeezed tight. "The world would be a little less exciting without Iris West."

A sad smile formed on my lips as guilt filled me. "I'll be more careful." I groaned. "How long have I been here?"

"Like two hours. Your phone kept ringing so I called Caitlin and told her to cover for you and sent your dad and Barry texts saying you were spending the night with her. You're welcome and yes, I am awesome." She gave a sad half grin and hugged me.

I blinked back the tears.

Lately, it seemed that all I did was let down my friends. I didn't want to let anyone down, that's why I wanted to do this so badly. Oh, the stupid irony.

"We haven't officially met," The dominatrix behind us voiced with her arms across her chest. "Black Canary. I saved your life."

I gave a nod. "Thanks. I would be dead if it weren't for you."

"No, you'd be dead if it weren't for Oliver. I don't know anything about medicine besides prescription."

Felicity's eyes widened as I felt Oliver stiffen. I sensed a lot of complication in the room. Old and new feelings. Love, lust, hatred, longing. Companionship. Trust.

"Tough crowd." She joked.

They relaxed.

"I just didn't find your previous drug addiction particularly laughable." Felicity turned to her.

Black canary pursed her red lips, walking towards us. "Forgive me, I seem to not have any tact."

Oliver cleared his throat. "The point is, if we're going to move forward we need to all be on the same page. No more kamikaze missions. You wait until I say you're ready or I pull the plug. Okay?"

I nodded. "In my defense, I didn't know she had a knife. And she was a metahuman. She could disappear, but I don't think she was running. More like she vanished and appeared somewhere else."

Felicity's face frowned up. "You mean like teleportation?"

"Sort of, I guess."

Oliver looked at Felicity. "She must've been affected by the explosion." He stood then held his hand out for me. "Let's get you in a bed."

I bit back a groan as I wiggled off the table. My legs buckled, but Oliver caught me before I could hit the floor. "Easy,"

He pulled me along. "Felicity, can you help me take her to the house?"

"Sure,"

We reached the stairs.

"Thanks for helping me." I called out the Black Canary.

"My pleasure."

The drive to the house was quick. Although, I wasn't expecting a ring of security that surrounded it. This place was beyond amazing. Glass floor to ceiling walls. Fireplace. White furniture. I was afraid to touch anything.

"Is this where Barry stayed when he was here?" I asked Oliver.

He nodded. "Felicity will show you to your room."

We walked up some stairs, which was really painful on my end. When we rounded the corner I was glad to see she opened the first door on the right.

"There's a change of clothes in the drawers."

I entered the room, it was nice and comfortable. A few books and lamps. A tv. I went to dresser, pulled the first drawer open and got out a pair of sweatpants and a tshirt. These were much too big for me. Men's clothes. I looked to the top of the dresser, not expecting to see pictures of me and my dad with Barry. My eyes carefully scanned the rest of the room and I found a close up picture of the two of us smiling.

My heart tugged. He kept pieces of us with him. I made a face. The way I phrased that sounded really kind of creepy. But still, this was pretty sweet.

"This is his room?" I turned to look at her.

She grinned. "Yeah. And you thought I was kidding when I said you were all he talked about."

I pulled the clothes to my chest, clothes he's worn.

She patted my shoulder. "I'll give you some privacy. Don't be afraid to holler if you need something."

FELICITY'S POV:

After a shower I rounded the corner to the kitchen. I didn't expect Oliver's hard chest to stop into my way. Naked chest.

"Fuck." I ogled at him.

Rippled abs, tan skin over taunt muscles. He was a vision and I was still staring at him like he was a piece of prime rib.

My eyes awkwardly drifted up to his. "Hey, what brings you to the kitchen?"

Food. Obviously.

Nerves filled me. "I took classes at MIT." I said, needing to remind him that he chose me to help him out with all of this for a reason.

He gave a half smile. More like a quarter of a smile. "I thought you'd be with Iris."

I side stepped him and aimed for the fridge. "I kind of needed a shower. All that sweat and dirt made me feel, well dirty."

"You don't say."

I pulled out a box of pad thai. "Are you trying to be funny?" I grabbed a fork and dug in.

He sat next to me with his water. "I don't know. I'm not very good at it."

I nodded with a grin. "You're not. But who needs to laugh when you look like that?"

He looked down and I swear I could see a faint pink. I made him blush? Score!

"You know, with everything going on, I realized I never really said thank you." He met my eyes. "You took a shot on me and hoped for the best. If you hadn't, I could've either been on the streets or dead." My eyes stung as I fought the tears. "You're a stand up guy, despite what the media tells people to believe. You're a hero, Oliver. I'm grateful this city has you."

"Thank you."

He stared at me for so long that I wasn't sure if he'd gone catatonic.

"What? Do I have something on my face?"

"No. You just look really beautiful without all the makeup."

Oh.

My whole body heated up. "Thanks."

Of course my contacts picked that moment to do something wonky. I blinked my eyes rapidly. I tried to take it out, but it wouldn't work with me.

"Ow."

Oliver's hand grabbed my face. "Here, let me get it." He was in and out in a few seconds. He handed it to me.

"Wow, you're fast."

His brow lifted.

My lips pursed. "Um," I didn't know what to say.

He stared at me, his roamed my body and I was really glad I had on a bra, because headlights. Hello.

Our eyes locked and for a moment I thought he maybe might lean down and sweep me into his strong arms and I'd wrap my legs around his waist and he'd lead us to his bedroom.

"Ollie?"

Fantasy ruined.

Thea came around the corner. "Hey, I need to talk to you."

"Now?" I asked.

They gave me a look.

"Oh, I'll just take my pad thai upstairs while I check on Iris." I scurried up the steps, mortified.

BARRY'S POV:

With a frustrated sigh I sat on the grass. After my dad died, I didn't think I'd be back here ever again. Now here I was with my elbows on my knees, looking at my parents headstones. I didn't know what to say or do. I survived and they hadn't. Why? Was my life so much more important than theirs? There were things that I'm supposed to do, I get that. But doing it without my parents seemed damn near impossible. Half the time I felt fortunate and the other half ungrateful. I had this amazing relationship with Joe and my friends and everyone in Central City and here I was complaining that my parents didn't technically love me anymore. They couldn't love anyone. They were dead.

Their printed names kept staring at me, demanding what I wanted.

"I need something from you," I started. "I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know what's going to happen and I need someone to tell me how everything ends up. If I get a happily ever after. If I get Iris."

Of course no one answered because I was sitting in grave site.

"Things are okay right now. They could be worse. Iris could hate me. Instead, she's too worried about me." I scratched the back of my head. "Funny how a few months ago that would've been laughable." My eyes focused on my dad's name. Tears clouded my eyes, I coughed the tickle from my throat. "I need your advice. You knew perfectly how complicated our situation was. Now I'm living there and it's different somehow. I don't know if I want to be with her the way I used to." I shook my head. "I mean, I do. I just, want everything to be perfect. But it's never going to be perfect. There's always going to be something wrong, something dangerous. It's never going to be the right time. She's special. She's extraordinary and I can't believe she's stuck by me this long, especially when I was awful to her. I don't deserve her. She's waiting around for me to be ready. I'm never going to be ready. Yet, I can't let her go." I scoffed. "It's selfish and I'm a pig. I don't want to be with her, but I don't want her to be with anyone else."

I looked to my mom's grave. "I think I need a woman's opinion, mom."

Silence surrounded me and I let my mind wander to the memories I had of her. The times she tucked me into bed, gave me a pep talk about bullies, made food for my play dates with Iris. She was a good mom and I took her for granted, like I did my dad.

Her screaming flashed in my mind. My eyes shot open. The night she died. I closed my eyes again and tried to conjure up the images again and freeze them in my memory. A zip of yellow kept coming to mind. I didn't know what it meant. It didn't really mean anything. At least, not yet.

Barry stops by to see Cisco, him and Linda are in the middle of doing activities. Awkward.

After saying goodbye to my parents, I made my way to Cisco's. Perhaps some brotherIy advice would give me the jumpstart to do whatever it is I needed to do. I knocked on the back door, knowing that he was down here geeking out. With no answer I knocked again.

"Cisco, open up."

I heard a giggle, instantly recognizing it. I turned and headed for my truck.

The door opened and Cisco peeked out. "Barry,"

"Hey, I just wanted to talk. I can come back tomorrow." I waved goodbye.

"Barry, it's okay. You can come in."

I neared him. "Are you sure? You seemed a little busy."

He flushed. "Give us a minute." He held up his finger, then closed the door.

I couldn't help but chuckle at the two of them. Who would've thought my best friend and my ex girlfriend would be dating. I think that's what they were doing anyway.

Cisco opened the door again and I didn't realize how awkward it would be that I was in this situation. Sure, I was happy for them. I didn't want it to be weird, but it was. Linda sat on the couch with a nonchalant grin and I laughed.

"Hey," I sat beside her.

Cisco sat on the other side of me. "What's up, man?"

"I just wanted to come by. If I had known I was interrupting something I would've called."

Not going to lie, it did feel weird to say that.

"No, you're fine." Linda waved off.

Cisco gave her a look. "Speak for yourself."

She chuckled.

"So, how are things?" I looked between them.

"Good." They said simultaneously with nods.

I nodded. "Good."

I stared forward. This was definitely more awkward than I would've imagined.

Reaching for something to talk about, I asked, "How's the gym doing?"

She shrugged. "Okay, I guess." She met my eyes. "Iris seems to like it. She's there enough."

My forehead creased. "She's a member there?"

She nodded. "Have been for about a month. She's pretty strong, hanging around with Toby and Spencer a lot. She seems to like it."

I wondered why she wouldn't tell me, but I had to remind myself that we lived together and we were entitled to a few secrets.

"I'm glad she's learning how to protect herself. That's important."

IRIS' POV:

The incessant buzzing of my phone woke me up.

My hand searched for it under the pillow and under the sheets until I found it. "Hello?"

"Iris, where are you?" Caitlin asked, worry in her voice. "You need to get to the hospital."

I shot up in the bed. "What? Why? What happened? Is everyone okay?" I jumped out of bed. "How's Barry?"

Please, don't be Barry. Don't be Barry.

"Iris, it's your dad. He's been in an accident."

I rushed for the door, only to notice that when I got to the top of the steps that my stomach didn't send any pain triggers to my brain. Nothing hurt. My hands went to lift my shirt with no sign of a single stitch. What's happening to me?