Barry knew he was in trouble. Big time. Whatever was going on between him and Len, it had quickly gotten out of control. Meeting with him was something he was always looking forward to, whether it was Barry seeking the other man out or wondering if he found him at his place.

He should be concerned that a known supervillain had so easily broken into his loft, but it hadn't even raised a single alarm. Neither Barry Allen the forensic scientist of the CCPD, nor The Flash, felt threatened by Snart.

And he trusted him. Enough to talk about things, about Flash stuff, about Barry stuff, and sometimes about nothing really of importance. Sometimes he just wanted to not be alone, to spend time with someone else, and Len felt good to be with.

He liked it. He was looking forward to it. He hated to miss one of the get-togethers that only Barry penciled down in his head as a fixed date and time.

Barry had never felt more at ease and close to… well, at home… when he hung out with the other man. Snart knew things about him, painfully personal and very private things about him, and he just… listened. No judgment, half the time there wasn't even any attempt to give advice, and it was perfect.

That Len had started to tag along when The Flash was stopping metas or more mundane criminals hadn't alarmed him either. Well, no, he didn't really tag along, Barry reminded himself. Barry shot off a text when he was going into the fray, looking for the threat to stop it, for a bomb to disarm, for a suspect on the run, and just about everything else, too. Len wasn't a voice in his ear, but he was a contact number and a frequent recipient of information. It was terrifying how well they were adjusted to each other by now, how in tune.

Cold was never too obvious. He stayed in the background, casing a scene, making plans, taking out the back-up and, in one case, a sniper set on shooting The Flash in the back.

"Case your scenes, Flash," Len told him in that level, sarcastic voice when he looked at the unconscious shooter. "You're still rushing in."

"Uhm, not so fast learner?" he tried.

His neck hurt from where the bullet had nearly entered his skin. Not to mention his ribs and most of his right side. The sharp stab to his neck had been the moment he knew he had been shot, had been the very second he had sped up himself, slowing down time in turn, which had probably saved his life.

Len's eyes were hidden behind the goggles, but the intensity of his gaze, his very presence, wasn't diminished.

"Turn around," he said, voice low.

"I'm fine!"

"Turn. Around."

And he did. Completely trusting his former enemy not to shoot him in the back. The wound was carefully probed and Barry winced a little.

"Too close, Scarlet," Len murmured. "Way too close."

Barry had no response, was simply glad the radio was off, that he wasn't looking at the other man. He yelped and stepped away when Len's fingers palpated his ribs.

"You should get those wrapped."

"They'll heal."

"Get them wrapped," came the much sharper order.

Barry finally looked at the other man, his partner in this fight. He took in the expression in those intense eyes and nodded.

"See you later?" he asked softly.

"Ribs, Barry. Priorities. And bring your own food. I'm out of almost everything," was the dismissive reply as Len turned and started to walk away.

Barry's smile blossomed unbidden, then he raced off back to S.T.A.R. Labs. Police was already on their way to handle the rest.

"You look happy," Iris remarked over a visit at her home one evening as she tossed a salad.

Eddie had a late shift, so Barry had hopped over to join her after an invitation for an early dinner. Barry was happy to see his foster sister so happy in her marriage. Eddie Thawne was a good guy. He was a man who had been ready to kill himself to save The Flash, to save Barry, from his descendant. It had been a close call to stop him from shooting himself, that last desperate attempt to eradicate a threat from the future. The Flash had stopped him.

There had been a lot of talking afterwards. About timelines, about the future, about just everything, starting with Barry's mother's death and finishing with the defeat of Eobard Thawne.

Eddie had made an appointment with a doctor about a week later, three months before the wedding to Iris. It had been a vasectomy.

Barry had been stunned, even after both Iris and Eddie had assured him that they had talked this through, that both were fine with it, and that this future could never happen.

"What?" he now stuttered.

"You. Barry. You look happy."

"And normally I look…? Sad?"

"No." She chuckled. "A bit absent when you're working on stuff, forensic or…" she waved her hand, "other. Sometimes stressed, too. But sometimes there is also this weight on your shoulders and you look like you want to run out of your own skin." She pushed the bowl aside. "That's been different lately. You're more… you. Relaxed. More free and easy. As if the pressure is off…" She raised an eyebrow.

Barry evaded her knowing look, opting to stare at the kitchen counter island instead.

"Barry? Talk to me?" she offered.

"I… found a way to, uhm, decompress."

"Decompress?"

"Flash stuff. Speed Force stuff."

"Isn't that what S.T.A.R. Labs is for?"

"Normally, yeah, but this is different. It's… complicated."

Iris watched him, curious, the reporter taking notes and preparing questions. He knew that look only too well. But there was also the sister, the one who cared, who wanted to help, who was compassionate and warm.

"Sometimes… things get tough. Really tough. And handling it all, being Barry Allen who is a Sentinel and The Flash who is the meta Sentinel… it gets to me. I want to help, but there are time I can't see the betrayal and then… it happens… and it hurts, Iris. It builds up inside me. There is the Sentinel that wants to protect and can't… and it hurts so damn much!"

"Barry," she whispered and took his hand, squeezing it.

"It's not new," he said quickly. "Being a Sentinel is bothersome sometimes, especially with the protective instinct that comes with it. The senses are cool. Being self-contained is really cool. The whole protector thing? Debatable."

She chuckled. "I know. You are my brother, Barry Allen. I've seen that instinct at work long before you told me what you really are."

He gave her a rueful look. "Feeling protective compares in no way to the dangers of a zone. It's a different kind of spike, more like an emotion, a need, and it can be bad. I know I should be happy that I'm in no danger of zoning or getting sudden sensory spikes. It sounds great not to rely on another person to help balance hyper senses. And it is. It's totally good. But I'm a metahuman now. The Speed Force never figured into the equation of being a Sentinel. It's this vast, eternal power and it feeds directly into me. It's always there and it makes things… hard, close to unbearable sometimes. It's not physical. It doesn't influence my health. Doesn't hurt. It's just… this jitter, this tremor in the back of my mind that I can't… channel… Not even by running." Barry sighed. "It's hard to describe."

"So you need to decompress."

He nodded. "The thing is, I've managed myself so far, because that's what I've always done. It's the loops. The Speed Force isn't part of the loop and it's demanding. I tap into something endless, something as old as time itself, and it's so vast and powerful. No one understands it. It's an interdimensional space filled with dark matter and I'm… linked into it on a permanent basis. It can't be shut off. It's always there, the speed is… at the tip of my fingers, in every cell of my body, and it's… kinda pushy?" Barry's smile was more of a grimace as he thought about his own words.

Iris studied him, then her eyes widened. "You found someone. Someone who can help with destresssing?"

Barry winced a little. "Kinda?" he hedged.

Her smile was brilliant, happy. "Someone who can help you? Someone… compatible?"

"Kinda?" he repeated. "But not a Guide!" he added quickly.

She slapped his upper arm. "Bartholomew Henry Allen! Talk to me! Who?"

"I… can't give you a name. It's complicated."

"How long has this been going on?" Iris demanded. "Why haven't I heard of all of that before?"

"I didn't really know, Iris. Not really. We've known each other since I became The Flash. I didn't know about the whole destressing thing. We didn't really get along?"

His foster sister frowned, motioning for him to go on.

"All of that… well, we met again a while ago. Months."

"Months," she murmured, shaking her head.

Barry folded his hands, fingers twisting a little. "Whenever we hang out together, it's easier. It's calmer. I'm not doing anything and it's still… good."

The Speed Force, as someone had once told him, was eternity. An endless void of time and energy. That was what he channeled, what had been loaded on top of his Sentinel self. Anyone else with his genetic predisposition to have five hypersenses would have been screaming himself raw, trying to silence the input, but all Barry had needed was someone to help channel the latest addition to his abilities.

"You like that person?" Iris wanted to know, looking serious.

"W-what?"

"So you like them."

"It's not like that, Iris!" he protested. "We're not…" Barry almost said 'dating' and it had him freeze.

Did he like Leonard Snart? Did he trust him? Would he trust him to have his back, to protect his back? Barry knew the answers and they didn't even scare him. Everything seemed to slide into place. Whenever he was around Len, the tension drained from his body, from his mind, and the raw feeling made way for calmness.

"You do," she declared.

"Uhm."

"Barry, I've known you for a very long time. I've seen you go through a lot of ups and downs, before the accelerator accident and later, when you became The Flash. I've met your friends and I've met some of your dates."

"Iris… it's not like that!"

"Whoever that person is, they mean something to you."

"We're friends…"

"Barry."

"We are!" he insisted.

Iris smiled warmly. "But they make you happy."

Barry froze. Did Len? He was always looking forward to chasing down the other man, almost as if it was a game to see if his senses could pick him up. He had never failed in locating Leonard Snart and he knew Len was making it a challenge. It was fun, it was different, and he always left feeling… at peace.

"Please don't tell Joe," he implored. "Not yet. Or Eddie!"

She frowned.

"I kept your secret, too, Iris," Barry begged. "I need to keep this to myself."

"Alright," she answered slowly. "I owe you because of Eddie. You also remember how spectacularly bad it was when dad found out."

"It's not like I'm dating his partner!" Barry blurted. "Or his captain. Or anyone at the CCPD! I'm not dating at all!"

Okay, and now things were getting a little out of control.

"We're friends. Nothing more! He's helping me and it's… there are no strings attached."

Iris studied him, probably filing the little blurb about this person being a man away already.

"He's a safe person?" she wanted to know.

Barry nodded, no hesitation at all. A few years ago he might have answered differently, but he trusted Len. He had trusted him with a lot already. Actually, there was little left for the other man to find out. It was a realization that hit him only now.

Leonard Snart knew his whole life. All his ups and downs, from his mother's death to the bullying at school, to college, the police force and finally, The Flash. He knew. Barry felt hot, then cold, followed by a burst of something he couldn't identify.

"Okay. I won't tell anyone. As long as you're sure, Barry…"

"I am. Very." He was. It wasn't a lie. He was completely sure.

She reached over and squeezed his hands again. "Good."

"You really think so, not knowing just whom I'm involved with?"

Her smile grew even more. "I think, for once in your life, Barry Allen, you should stop thinking about other people. I think you should do what's in your heart, do what you need to do for yourself. This is only about you, what you feel good about. And you feel good about this one person."

He opened his mouth, then snapped it shut again. That… sounded like a blessing.

"He is someone who understands you," Iris added with a warm smile. "Someone who is, as you said, compatible. And hopefully someone who appreciates you for the amazing person I've always been telling you that you are."

"Iris…"

"You secret is safe with me. Hopefully I can get to meet him one day."

Barry didn't really want to answer that, so he didn't, and thankfully she accepted it.