See, this chapter is a lot longer than my others. I'm just not consistent with word length. XD

Iris couldn't tell you exactly what happened. At some point, she was in the building with The Flash, and then somehow, it crumbled. When did that happen? How did it happen? Where did it happen?

Flash. Where was he!?

Iris frantically pulled herself up from the ground, and gazed around the hazy room. She gasped for air, cried from panic, and coughed from the overwhelming amounts of dust flooding her lungs.

Debris surrounded her, but she was lucky enough to be stuck in a large enough space to move.

Where is he!?

"Flash!" Her yell sounded like she had a cold, and was attempting a high note with phlegm in the back of her throat.

Iris' eyes scanned the small area, and as the dust settled, she could make out a fuzzy red outline, propped up against the wall a few feet away. Quickly, she scurried over to him.

He was unconscious, slouched awkwardly against the wall. A large slab of concrete pinned one of his legs at an unnatural angle. Drywall covered his suit, just like it most likely turned her hair white. Iris scooted up to his side, and patted his cheek.

"Flash! Flash, wake up!" Iris shook his shoulders, and before long she was screaming. "Open your eyes! Please!" There was no way to check his pulse to see he was alive, because she couldn't feel anything through his suit, and trying to tell if he was breathing was extremely difficult with how blurry her vision was from crying, and irritation because of the dust. Iris was in full-on panic mode.

Barry's ears rang, his lungs burned, his breathing was labored, and a sharp, terrible pain radiated up and down the speedster's right leg. Barry was just barely conscious, and had nowhere near enough strength to open his eyes.

"...ke up!"

Someone was screaming, it sounded distant, fuzzy, almost staticky. Barry's eyelids were like lead weights at the moment, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get them open.

A few thoughts crossed his mind: What happened, where was he, and when did it happen?

Something was touching Barry. Shaking his shoulders, tapping his cheek. Someone?

Iris.

Oh God, Iris. She was with him. Prying his eyes open wasn't a want anymore, it was a need. Iris was going to need him.

"...ease! Open...eyes...ash!"

Iris' voice was clearer now that Barry was really focusing on it. It sounded nearer, less fuzzy.

Iris continued to scream The Flash's name, praying that a miracle would happen, and he would open his eyes.

And it did.

She watched as they just barely cracked open, and he lulled his head to the side. Barry's vision was beyond blurry. His eyes immediately began to burn when he opened them. And then came the coughing fit. Iris was worried that he might actually cough up a lung from how deep they were.

"Flashie? Hey. Hey, hey, hey. You're okay."

"Ir...is, 're hurt?" Barry grabbed her upper arm, worry evident in his tone and his eyes.

Iris gave him a sad smile, and a small sob of relief escaped her lips. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay. A little battered up, but we should be worrying about you, and getting this off your leg." She gestured towards the large chunk of concrete on his leg, and Barry winced. He hadn't noticed that before. He was too busy focusing on his breathing, and Iris' well-being.

"Oh boy." Barry sighed, and clenched his jaw when Iris moved over to the slab, and started pushing on it.

After multiple attempts from both Iris, and Barry, to get the concrete off, they gave up, acknowledging that it was too heavy, and at the moment, they were too weak.

"Sorry." Iris mumbled, crawling over to sit against the wall beside Barry.

He leaned his head back, and took in a shaky breath, making an effort to hold in his tears. He needed to be strong for Iris, which meant no crying.

"S'okay."

Iris rested her head on his shoulder.

"I'm assuming your comms aren't working?" She asked, after noticing his earpiece.

"Yeah."

"So no contacting anyone. My phone's smashed, and your comm system is smashed."

Barry nodded, and let his eyes drift closed. It was just simply too hard to keep them open at the moment.

"Are you in pain?" Iris asked after gazing down at his leg, and how broken it was.

"Hmm?"

"Does it hurt? Because you're doing a good job at not showing it." Iris smiled.

"A little." He slurred, and then coughed slightly, which was followed by a small gasp of air. Barry was definitely worse off than Iris was, although both were not doing great."

"Sorry." She glanced over at him, and her face fell when she saw his eyes closed. "Flash! No, no, no! You need to keep your eyes open for me, alright?"

"Mmhm. I was."

Iris frowned. "No you weren't. Just talk to me about something. What's your favorite hobby? Any girls in your li-"

"Yeah."

"Yeah what?"

"There's a girl."

"Aww. Who?"

"I swore to protect her, and now we're both in this mess, with the rest of a partially collapsed building threatening to come down on us."

Iris' heart fluttered for a second, before she spoke. "This isn't your fault. We couldn't have known this place was structurally unsound."

"M'sorry." Barry mumbled. His head was slowly starting to drift to the side, and Iris was getting extremely worried.

"Me, huh?" Iris started, and then tilted Barry's head back up.

"Yeah. You." He gave her a tired smile, and then gazed down at the concrete. "My leg is going to heal incorrectly if we don't get that off."

Iris scooted over to the slab, and started observing it a little more.

"Pipe." He murmured.

"What?"

"Try the pipe, Iris. Wedge it under the concrete."

Iris nodded, and grabbed one of the nearby pieces of pipe that had broken off of the ceiling.

Even if he was doing a good job at hiding his pain, Iris could still detect the slight waver in his voice, and how tense he was.

"This is going to hurt. I am so, so sorry."

"It's okay, just do it." Barry groaned, and then bit down on his lip.

Iris glanced over at him, before pushing down on the pipe. The concrete lifted about an inch, just enough for Barry to get his leg out from under it.

The searing pain in Barry's leg only worsened the second the chunk of building was off of it. There was no way to restrain the scream that was most definitely bubbling up inside of him, so he let it out. Cried and heaved and buried his face in his hands.

Iris let a few tears of her own fall. She crawled over next to Barry, and hugged him tight. Never in her right mind did she think she would ever be comforting The Flash.

"Hey. It's okay. It's okay. We're going to get out of here. Just stay with me a littl-" It was Iris' turn to cough from all the filthy air she was breathing in.

Barry linked his hand in hers, and they rode it out together.

"My team is going to find us, and I'm sure your dad has the entire squad out searching." Barry whispered. Now that they were right next to each other, practically breathing the same air, there was no need to waste energy, and speak any louder than a murmur.

Iris nodded. "Yeah. Of course."

"What about you? Any guys in your life?"

"If I didn't say you, would you be offended?" Iris teased.

Barry shook his head. "Why wouldn't you like a guy whose face you've never seen, and whose voice you've never heard?" He joked. Iris chuckled.

"Well, first of all, let me make it known that I already ended it with Eddie, so the cheating department is all clear."

"Good." Barry felt a slight twinge in his gut. Why hadn't Iris told him about this? The Barry side of him. It was weird, but sometimes he felt like he was competing with himself. Competing with his alter ego, if you will.

"So are you ever going to show me your face, or should I move on?" Iris continued.

Flash sighed, and then looked her straight in the eyes. He still kept his face blurred, but with his energy level slowly dropping from hypoglycemia, and his injuries, it only slightly distorted his features.

He avoided her question, because he was only going to give her the same answer, and there was no need to waste anymore strength on the same argument. "You've been spending a lot of time with me lately. How's Barry and your dad?"

Iris' eyes widened, and a look of guilt washed over her face.

"Oh God. I haven't talked to them, or checked in on them in forever!"

"Well, I'm sure they're doubly worried about you, now."

"Yeah."

Barry fell silent when he glanced back over at his leg, and then he frowned.

"You're going to have to set that. I don't think anyone is going to be finding us any time soon, and I would rather not have Cai-my team rebreak it."

"You and your team need to get in the habit of not saying each other's names." Iris smiled, an attempt at lightening the mood. Her face fell quickly when she glanced over to the broken, bloodied limb. "I'm not too sure what I'm supposed to do here."

"Okay, uh-" Barry gasped in pain suddenly, and clenched his jaw. "Ow! Let me know the next time you're going to touch it!"

"Sorry." Iris squeaked.

Luckily, Barry was a CSI, and knew basic anatomy, and first aid.

"Just start with the simple steps. Rip open the leg of the suit, and get my skin exposed."

"Okay." That was a pretty easy step, considering there was already a large tear in the cloth, and all Iris had to do was make it larger. Now came the more difficult steps.

"Now, is it a compound fracture, or a simple fracture?"

"Uh, which one is which again?"

Barry sighed. He wasn't irritated with her, but they needed to get it set. "If it was compound you would see bone? Do you see any bone protruding?"

"No. Nada."

He took in a deep breath. "Okay, any signs of ecchymosis?"

"Excuse me?"

"Deep purplish areas?"

"Yeah. Is that bad?"

"It will be." Barry took in another deep breath. "Okay, Iris you need to listen to me very carefully, alright?"

"Okay, Flashie you're scaring me."

"I'm bleeding internally from the break. Blood is pooling under my skin, and unless we relieve the pressure that is going to start building, I might develop compartment syndrome. That'll lead to circulation loss and all sorts of issues."

Iris started to hyperventilate. "Oh God. Are you going to lose your leg?"

"Iris." Barry's voice was gentle. "Listen to me. Focus on my voice. This is going to get gross. Look around, find something with a sharp edge. A shard of glass would work."

Iris nodded. Her stomach was doing somersaults right now at the idea of what she was about to do. A glass shard wasn't hard to find considering they were surrounded by crumbled building.

"Good, now this is the hard part, Iris. You said there was a patch of discoloration?"

"Mmhm." Just glancing down at his leg made her want to vomit, but Barry's steady voice kept her above water.

"I need you to take that piece of glass, and make an incision, that will relieve the pressure, and give the blood somewhere to go."

"I can't. I can't do that."

"Yes you can. You are an extremely strong woman, it's either this, or I lose my leg, and considering running is what I do best…"

"Oh God." She took in multiple shaky breaths, and then placed the glass on his skin.

Barry gave her a smile, and a nod.

And then she cut.