Chapter 29: Day in the Limelight

Iris West sighed as she walked down the hallway to the apartment. It had been a long day at work. She and Detective Dibny were still following up leads on that illegal, secretive arms-dealing ring. It was slow going work, but they finally had a name for the possible mastermind: Amunet Black. Unfortunately, whoever she was, she wasn't in the system. A ghost, one who had covered their tracks very well.

"Iris." A familiar voice said, breaking her out of her thoughts. Iris looked up.

Eddie.

Iris had been consciously avoiding Eddie ever since their kinda-sorta breakup the other day, mainly by focusing on her own case. She could see now why relationships between coworkers weren't encouraged – if they didn't work out, an awkward environment would follow. It was oddly ironic, in a way, how her familial relationship with her father was improving, only for her romantic relationship with his partner to deteriorate thank to his obsession with the Streak.

"Eddie. What are you doing here?" She asked, perplexed and slightly apprehensive.

Eddie inhaled deeply. "I want to talk."

"Hey, Ted." Laurel peeked her head in the office, smiling.

"You know, you've been hanging out here a lot more often than you used to." Ted commented, looking up from the paper he was reading.

Laurel shrugged. "Joanna has been asking for more work and we've just got a new member of the firm: Anastasia. With her around, it's easier for me to get more time off."

Ted snorted. "I can't believe you of all people are asking for more time off. If I remember correctly, your friend complained about how much of a workaholic you were one of the few times you dragged her here."

"Yeah, well…" Laurel bit her lip, smiling awkwardly.

"Laurel…" Ted stated carefully, recognizing the look on her face.

"I want you to train me."

Ted raised an eyebrow. "I already do."

Laurel shook her head and took in a deep breath. "I need you to train me…as a vigilante."

"Hey, Dad." Tommy sat up, wincing slightly. While the pain had dialed down a lot over the last two weeks, he was still far from full health.

"Tommy." Malcolm smiled brightly, setting down his son's lunch on the side table. "How was your day?"

"Great. Netflix has been a godsend. How about you? Where'd you go?"

Malcolm's smile brightened even more. "I spent the day with Oliver. He introduced me to someone I have been wanting to meet for a very long time."

"Oh." Tommy's grin dimmed noticeably, though Malcolm didn't seem to notice. Like always. "Who?"

"Samantha Arias."

"You met Sam?" Tommy blinked, surprised.

Malcolm's smile faded a little. "Yes. You already knew her?"

"She was at Kara's housewarming party. They celebrated Christmas with us."

"Ah. Well, you should have told me, Tommy. Miss Arias has been on my radar for a while." Malcolm stated absentmindedly. Tommy visibly deflated, as his father continued to ramble on.

"Whatthehellwhatthehellwhat. The. HELL!" Cisco paced around, absolutely distressed. Sitting some ways away was Caitlin, who was staring at a picture of her and Ronnie.

"He knew. He knew." She whispered to herself, growing angrier by the minute.

Cisco took in a deep breath, and tried to calm down. "Okay. So, our boss is from the future. He murdered Barry's mom. Then he created the Particle Accelerator and purposely blew it up, so Barry could become a superhero. Oh, and he might not be the real Harrison Wells. And...and…"

"He's been using us." Caitlin finished for him, truly angry for the first time in a long time. She put the picture down and got her bag, fishing out her phone.

"Caitlin…" Cisco asked cautiously.

"I'm calling Ronnie. He and Stein need to be here now." She spoke furiously, punching the numbers onto the touchscreen.

"So…how have you been?" Eddie stated lightly, a slight grin on his face.

Iris stared hard at him, pointedly taking a sip of her hot chocolate. Eddie's grin faded as the moment stretched on. "Iris?"

"You and I both know you're not here for small talk, Eddie. Cut to the chase." Iris said tiredly, setting down her mug.

Eddie sighed. "I want to get back together."

"Eddie…!"

"Iris, I love you."

Iris closed her mouth, then her eyes, and leaned back into the couch, knowing she was going to be emotionally spent when this conversation was over. She exhaled.

"I'm sorry, Eddie, but I don't believe you. You haven't been paying a lot attention to me for the last two months. It's why we broke up, remember?"

"Iris, just because I wasn't paying attention to you didn't mean I didn't care. I did care. I still do. It's just…the Streak was a priority I couldn't ignore."

Iris clicked her teeth. "Eddie, the Streak is a lot more than a priority to you. He's all there's been to your life lately. You haven't just been neglecting me, you've been neglecting everything. You haven't gone out with the guys and you and my dad won't take a case that doesn't involve the Streak in some way – I should know, he told me. The fact of the matter is, as long as the Streak is here, there's no room in your life for me."

Eddie set down his mug, and looked at her determinedly. "Then I'll make room."

"Eddie…"

"I love you, Iris. Do you love me?"

She paused.

Did she love Eddie?

She cared for him, certainly. Eddie was the first major relationship, the first serious boyfriend, she had ever had. Eddie had opened her up, the first person to really do so since Henry and her mom and brother, ever since Barry supposedly died at sea. So yes, Iris cared for him deeply. He brought out a warmth in her, a warmth she had only felt a few times, though with who she could not quite remember. And if this warmth was so rare, then…yes, perhaps she did love Eddie.

Iris nodded slowly. "I do, Eddie."

Eddie smiled thankfully, and then buried his hand into his pocket, taking out a small box. He opened it, revealing a key.

"I was planning on asking you to move in with me at Christmas, but I couldn't get around to it. And that was my fault, I admit. But I love you, Iris, and I can't think of a future without you. So, please – will you give me another chance?"

Iris took the key into her hand, and found it heavier than she thought it would be as it rested on her palm. She sighed.

"Give me some time to think about it."

Amanda Waller leaned back into her chair, smirking.

Slade Wilson stood across from her, visibly frowning, before setting down the flash drive on her desk.

"All the information I could find after scraping over every inch of Fort Rozz, including a possible location of the escapees."

Amanda raised an eyebrow. "Oh? That's interesting. Though it may be outdated soon."

Slade tilted his head. "How come?"

"Your surrogate daughter just murdered the husband of the likely leader, in front of the cameras from which they were watching the fight."

Slade hummed, betraying nothing.

"Oh, and apparently he was her uncle."

He looked at her, shocked, and her smile dimmed, ever so slightly. "I have had cells especially commissioned to hold Kryptonian prisoners, and they're finally finished. Please inform your little trio of them. Capture or death is still their prerogative."

Slade narrowed his eye. "Fine. And our deal?"

Amanda's smile widened slightly. "Ah, yes. Your two wayward children. When all the prisoners of Fort Rozz are accounted for, I'll give you all the information we have on their current whereabouts. Don't worry – as far we know, they're alive."

"And that's the only reason you're still alive." Slade finished for her, glaring.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that, Slade." Amanda angled her face ever so slightly, grinning.

"Slade!"

Slade turned around, and smiled. "Maseo."

"Slade." Maseo walked up to him and clasped his hand. "How are things?"

The Australian shrugged. "We're making decent progress, but we've still got a lot of heads to chop off. How about you? How's the Suicide Squad?"

Maseo groaned. "I know this is in poor taste, but I miss having you on the squad. It's nice having someone I can trust out there. Someone that won't give me lip with every order."

"Chien na Wei?" Slade guessed.

"God, why did she have to remember me?" Maseo moaned.

"Well, your wife kicks major ass, Maseo. I doubt Chien na Wei would ever forgot an opponent like her. Or the husband she kidnapped her for." Slade mused.

Maseo shook his head. "I dread the day she shakes her leash loose."

"You and Tatsu can take care of yourselves, Maseo." Slade pointed out, then smirked. "And if she goes after Akio, she'll be in for a nasty surprise. How is he, by the way?"

"He'll be a freshman at Tōdai next term. Top percentile of the class, no strings needed to be pulled. I'm so proud." Maseo smiled.

Slade nodded. "I'm glad. After everything your family has been through, your son deserves nothing but the brightest future possible."

"A future that was only possible because of you, Slade." Maseo reminded him, gratitude permeating from him. "You saved my family. When you get the word, let me help you save yours." With that final word, he walked away.

Slade watched him go, and sighed.

Something tells me that wherever I need to go, I can't let you follow, Maseo.

Short again, I know. In fact I already had this chapter mostly done but I got sucked into watching NCIS episodes on Netflix. Even without Tony and Ziva the show is still one of the best on TV, at least in my opinion.

We'll be getting back into long chapters again, but the update schedule might slow down. The semester starts again soon, and I will be busy with college work.