Happy Friday! :) I hope you enjoy this new chapter, it has some highs and lows. This story promises to be fairly long, so stick with it, I promise it will pay off. :)

Thanks for reading, and thanks for all your wonderful reviews! :) *hugs*

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Chapter 3

Their fingers were laced together, intertwined with one another. It was completely familiar and first-time exhilarating. Barry could barely breathe.

Iris and his parents continued to chat as another memory unfolded.

He had proposed to Iris three months ago. They had gone to dinner and were walking in downtown Central City…

The lights in the park and the beautiful lit fountain provided the perfect background. Barry convinced her to slow dance with him while he softly sang one of her favorite songs. Iris rolled her eyes, slightly embarrassed to be dancing in a park, but went along with it. She was always very indulgent of his goofiness, especially when his bright happy spirit was so infectious.

Barry was almost shuffling his feet, leading Iris in a slow circle. He was determined not to step on her toes before he asked her to marry him. They were holding each other close. Barry's voice sang huskily, soft and intimate. They were close enough that only she could hear as he crooned a song by Josh Record.

I put diamonds on my promises

So you know that they will stay

And on your finger is where my vow will live

So you can see it every day

It's all for love

It's all for love

I will do anything

For your love

By now they were no longer moving in a circle. They were practically swaying together. Barry pulled back just enough to raise her hand and place a light kiss on the backs of her fingers. Iris was used to him doing this and didn't suspect a thing. Holding her gaze with his, he smiled as he slipped a ring on her finger. She had been looking at his face, so she gasped in surprise as it slid into place.

They both stopped dancing at the same time. She had her hand raised and was staring at the ring. It was a beautifully cut diamond. It reflected her style perfectly. Barry being very traditional got down on one knee.

"Iris, will you make me the luckiest man in the world and marry me?"

Iris had to take a moment before she could speak, but it wasn't because she doubted her answer. She couldn't stop the tears as she gasped out, "Oh yes!" He immediately rose to his feet and swept her into a passionate kiss.

They were both breathless with happiness when they parted. Barry was almost giddy. He reached into his pocket.

"Well, now that you've said yes-"

"Was there any doubt?"

Barry laughed slightly; embarrassed to admit that a tiny part of him had been afraid she would suddenly wake from whatever trance she was in and realize she could do so much better. "Ahem, now that you've said yes, you get a bonus." He pulled a gold chain out of his pocket and held it up by both ends so she could see what dangled in the middle. "This one goes around your neck until our wedding day."

Iris was speechless. It was a perfect replica of her mother's wedding band. The one she had lost in the fifth grade. "You remembered."

"Of course. You were devastated when you lost the real one." He carefully secured it in place.

Iris put a hand up to it, amazed. She couldn't decide which ring to look at first. "Barry Allen you are full of surprises."Her eyes twinkled. "So if you decide you don't love me before our wedding day do I get to keep these?" Her teasing smile made his eyes light up. He moved in and held her close again. His voice was fervent and intense as he replied.

"Iris West, I promise I will always love you."

"Right, Barry?"

Barry snapped out of the memory and realized all three were waiting for a response. "What?"

Iris gave him a look. "I said we're free for brunch on Sunday right?"

"Oh, right, yeah." He nodded vigorously. He looked at his parents, then back down at Iris's hand. He actually giggled, wondering if he should pinch himself. There was an awkward silence.

Iris looked at him a moment, obviously questioning his odd mental state, then decided not to push for an explanation. "Are you ready to go?"

Barry nodded. He turned to his parents. "Bye mom, dad." They smiled in return, but Barry just couldn't resist hugging them both again. His father laughed, shaking his head. His mother just squeezed him back. When Barry stepped back Iris moved in to hug them as well.

"Bye Henry. Bye Nora."

It was obvious that Mr. and Mrs. Allen liked Iris very much. They each smiled warmly and hugged her goodbye. Iris reached for Barry's hand again, which he readily allowed while he waved with the other. "Bye." He and Iris headed out the front door and down the steps.

Barry looked out the car window while Iris drove them to wherever they were going. He couldn't stop smiling. She looked his way. "Are you okay? You seem odd today."

Barry tried to tone down his grinning. "I'm fine. Just in a good mood I guess."

Iris shook her head and giggled. "I guess."

Barry pointed out the window. "What's that? I don't remember that." A large structure was obscuring the skyline as they left downtown. It was lit up with lights on one side. The other side was dark.

Iris gave him a disbelieving look. "What is that? Barry you know what that is. It's the new Mercury Labs building. You've been dying to get in there but they aren't giving tours yet, it's not finished."

"What are they building it for?"

Iris turned to look right at him, and then remembered she needed to be looking at the road. "What? Didn't you just keep me up one night for two hours a month ago discussing what they could be doing in there? Nobody knows what they are doing yet, it's some big secret."

A few stray memories filled in as Barry listened to her. "Oh yeah. Right." Barry craned his head for a last look at the structure before they were too far away. "Huh. Have you ever heard of S.T.A.R. Labs?"

Iris shook her head. "No. Mercury is the only lab I know of around here. I think you'd know of another lab before I would. Are you sure you're okay?"

Barry played with his backpack strap. "I'm fine." He shot her a happy glance, which seemed to reassure her for the moment.

They pulled up to Joe's house. Barry wondered if they had dinner plans with him tonight. If so, that was good. Barry could see if Joe had any memories of the other timeline. He slung his backpack over a shoulder and reached for Iris's hand as they approached the front door, but her hands were busy unlocking the front door with her keys. That was odd; Joe usually left the door unlocked when he was home. Barry looked and didn't see Joe's car either.

With the door unlocked, Iris led the way in and began hanging up her jacket and bag. Barry carefully hung up his backpack and wandered in further, taking in the front room.

There were some minor differences here and there, mostly involving some feminine touches. But the major difference was the walls. They were no longer painted the beige color they always had been in the other timeline. They were a deep russet instead. Barry stared at it, wondering why it should bother him so much. Iris moved next to him and looked in the same direction.

"What?"

Barry tried to cover his unease. "Oh, I guess I just never noticed how dark the new color was."

"Well, I wouldn't call it new, it is two years old." She looked at it too. "But maybe it is time for another change. I only repainted it the first time because I needed something to focus on. Martha at work told me that when her son died she renovated her entire kitchen. Something about loss I guess." Iris headed into the kitchen.

Barry didn't move. Another memory came, but this one didn't feel like it unfolded: It expanded more like a punch in the gut. The bottom dropped out of his happiness.

Joe was dead.

He'd been killed two years ago during the commission of a bank robbery. The Mardon brothers, of all people, had been the ones responsible. The worst part was that Joe hadn't even been on duty. He had been at the bank on his day off. When he attempted to stop the brothers from escaping he'd caught a bullet to the chest.

Barry suddenly felt the urge the throw up. He hadn't thought it was possible to go from ultimate happiness to the depths of despair in such a short time. He surveyed the room again and noted the extra pictures of Joe, the lack of any of his personal items. More memories came in, making him lean towards the back of the couch for support.

Joe had been a single dad for most of Iris's life but the one thing he had always done was put extra toward his house payment every month. As a result, when he had died he had owned the house outright and Iris had inherited it. Barry and Iris lived here now, together.

Barry swallowed the lump in his throat, trying to calm himself down before Iris came back out of the kitchen. She called out something to him but he wasn't able to make out the words. He climbed the stairs, using the railing for support and found himself outside the door to Joe's room.

Iris came out of the kitchen and noticed he was gone. "Barry?"

Barry slowly pushed open the door to Joe's room and let the memories fill in.

Even after Barry had moved in, Iris had never felt right about moving Joe's things out of the master bedroom. They shared Iris's old bedroom. That room was fine for one person. It was a bit small for two people but they didn't mind the coziness. They had discussed it and decided that they would only move into the master once they were married. Iris felt that she could handle it that way and they would make a fresh start.

Barry looked around the room. It had been two years, but Iris was still reluctant to get rid of many of her father's belongings. His bed was the same. His shirts hung in the closet. Barry realized neither one of them came in here very much. He slowly moved forward and sat on the bed.

Never in a million years had Barry entertained the notion that saving his mother would change things enough so that Joe died. How was that even possible? All he could think was that somehow his presence in the house as Joe's foster son had changed Joe's errands that day. It was chilling to think that everyone was that close to death all the time, with a simple change deciding his or her ultimate fate. He remembered saying good-bye to Joe before he time traveled the first time. He'd had no idea it would be so final. Even now it was almost unthinkable. Joe had always been there for him. He finally couldn't hold the tears back. They slid down his face as more memories opened.

His parents had always liked Iris. After all, they had grown up best friends. But after Joe had died they had welcomed her into the family as their second child. They had made sure to extend invitations to any and all family functions. When her birthday rolled around, they had a party for her. They had invited Iris over for dinner regularly. When Barry and Iris had started dating, they had been cautiously hopeful. When Barry had proposed, they had been delighted. Barry was pretty sure they already thought of her as their daughter-in-law, even though the actual date was still a few months away.

Oh God. His parents. Is that what he had done? Traded one life for another? He had never thought of that possibility going in. It had all seemed so simple. He had run in blind without thinking things through, just as Oliver had accused him of doing. Guilt pressed in on him. He felt sick.

He was startled by the sound of a door clicking shut. He hadn't realized that Iris had come in search of him. She was standing in front of the closed door, arms folded. She looked like she meant business. Barry wiped his face as she took a couple steps closer.

"Okay Barry it's time to tell me. What is going on with you? We are engaged. Do you honestly think I don't know when you are happy or sad or depressed or lost?" She gestured at him to make her point. "I am going to ask you one last time Barry Allen, and you'd better be honest with me. What the hell is going on with you?"

He stared at her as she waited for his answer, arms still folded. Her choice of words was amazing, since he could remember it from the other timeline as well. Some things never changed.

Two options warred within him. He had kept his Flash identity secret for so long that it was his natural instinct now. Not to mention the dilemma of how he could even begin to explain something like this.

On the other hand, they were engaged. There was no place for secrets between them. And he realized that living with memories of two timelines and keeping it to himself would make him a very lonely man. There was no one left who would understand this. He needed to talk about it, and Iris was by far the best person to do that with.

Besides, she looked really upset, and he was pretty sure if he refused she would resort to some kind of violence.

He stood up. "Okay." He hugged her, holding her close for a moment to let it help him feel better. Sensing how upset he was, she returned it. He breathed in the smell of her shampoo and felt immensely grateful. It was amazing to him how comfortable he already was with their closeness. The memories of this timeline certainly helped, by now this was normal to them. But at the same time he felt as if he should be more uncomfortable with the newness of it. He wasn't. He and Iris had always been close in the other timeline, but this was even better. They were so in sync. It was as if they had always been so close to this and just needed the extra push.

Finally he pulled away and opened the door, turning to face her. "I need to show you something."

He led her downstairs and retrieved his backpack. She looked like she was doubtful that he was going to tell her anything. He took her to the backyard, where he was pretty sure the high wood fencing would give them the most privacy.

He walked to the grass. She stayed on the porch, arms crossed again. He could tell that she was wondering what he could show her out here. It was dark so that would help. He prepared himself for the worst.

"Okay. Okay. To understand what I'm about to tell you, you need to do something first." Iris raised her eyebrows. Barry took a deep breath. "I need you to believe in the impossible. Can you do that?"

Iris gave him a look of supreme frustration. "Barry-"

"I mean it. I need you to be open to possibilities."

His look was so earnest and open that she couldn't refuse. Her frustration subsided a bit. "Fine. What do you want to show me?"

Barry looked at her one final moment, and then was in the corner of the yard in a blink.

She just stared at where he'd been. Then him. Then back to where he'd been. "What-"

He zipped to each corner of the fence, trailing golden lightning. Then he stopped in front of her again. She was shocked, breathless. He almost felt bad for rocking her world so hard. He changed into his suit right there, in a blur of clothes and flesh. When he was standing in his suit, mask and hood on, he waited for her to say something.

It took a moment for Iris to be able to speak, but when she finally did Barry was not disappointed. "How long have you been hiding this from me?! Barry Allen I am so angry with you right now!"

Barry put up his hands. "Okay wait a minute. There is no way I could have told you before now. I swear. Don't give the ring back."

"How is that possible? Are you telling me you have just been able to do this today? And what's with that suit?"

"Well, that's the really impossible part."

Barry changed back into his clothes and came to sit on the porch. He patted the spot next to him and tried to look as endearing as possible. She rolled her eyes and hid a smile as she sat down.

Barry tried to think of a way to explain it that wouldn't make him sound crazy. Those words didn't seem to exist. He shook his head. Why was he forever doomed to tell stories about impossible things that no one would believe?

"I can…run really fast. You saw that. And if I run fast enough, I can travel in time."

Iris was truly tempted to tell him he was full of it, but the evidence of his super speed was hard to deny.

"How does that work?"

"Well Dr. Stein theorized that space time is a free flowing highway that intersects with the physical world. My speed, if I go fast enough, builds up enough kinetic energy to smash a hole in it, and it's like an entrance onto that highway so then…"

Iris leaned forward and kissed him lightly to stop his talking. If anything convinced her that what he was saying was the truth, it was her fiancé getting full on nerdy. He smiled at her as she drew away, memories of her dealing with his nerdiness in the same way flowing into his mind. He was so grateful she wasn't completely freaked out.

Iris stood up. "We are going to need a blanket to sit on if you're going to explain all this. I get the feeling it will take a while."

Barry nodded. "Fair enough." He left and returned in a few seconds with Chinese food. "We should eat too."

Iris couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, I think I may like this new development."

Note: Song lyrics are from For Your Love by Josh Record. I don't own anything! :)