Sorry it has been a bit of a wait, real life got a hold on me. This chapter is really nice in many ways, I really enjoyed writing this one. I hope you enjoy it! I want to be moving forward and getting the next chapter out pretty quick. Hopefully real life will allow that.

Thanks for reading and your wonderful supportive reviews, as always! :)

Shoutout to guests Luna and kalem, your reviews made me happy! KyannaLashae yours made me blush. :)

Seriously though, all the reviews I get from you awesome people who aren't guests make me happy too. Specifically for chapter 3: Aryadna, So We Sang, and welcome sixelaj, glad you have an account now! :)

Thanks for all the support. Enjoy!

(See notes at the bottom if you want to read some fussing, lol.)

Chapter 4

"Okay so some atom smashing smasher thing blew up. You were struck by lightning, in a coma, and woke up able to run fast."

"Pretty much."

"And you came from that timeline to this one."

"Uhhh sort of."

"So how are you still you? There's not a copy of you without super speed wandering around is there?"

Barry laughed. "I hope not."

They were lying side by side on the blanket in the backyard. They were on their backs, looking up at the stars. For some reason both found it helpful to stare at the expanse of space as they discussed such a mind-bending concept.

They had finished dinner hours ago. Barry had explained everything as well as he was able, right down to two different timelines. Iris, to her credit, was picking it up with relative ease and very little dramatics.

Barry continued. "No, I think it's always just one of all of us. Your memories seem to change with whatever timeline is in existence at the moment. Or maybe it's just one big timeline and the memories adapt as it changes so the same one is always in existence but evolving. Does that make sense?"

There was a slight pause as she processed that. "I think so. But your memories don't change so that you forget them."

"No. And I think that's because I'm the one doing the time traveling."

"Interesting."

"You mean nerdy?"

Iris laughed. "Oh so very nerdy."

Barry gave a mock-resigned sigh. "I knew you were going to say that."

She looked over at him, her eyes dancing. "Sorry, super-speed Barry, but I think I'm going to need some kind of proof that you are who you say you are. You could be some kind of imposter and I'm not going to marry a generic copy of my boyfriend. I want you to prove who you are."

Barry's mouth curved into a playful smile. "Fine. What do I have to do?"

"Where were we when I lost my mother's wedding band?"

"On our fifth grade field trip to the zoo. You know, that's true in both timelines you're going to have to try harder."

Iris rose to the challenge. "Okay. How did you propose to me?"

"Easy! First memory I got when I saw your engagement ring. Dinner, the park at night, slow dancing to my melodious voice, a Josh Record song, two rings and a promise to always love you. Next question."

Iris laughed, her competitive spirit rising. "Think you're tough? When did you first get the guts to ask me out?"

Barry paused a split second as the memory filled in. "After you started dating again. About eight months after Joe died. You went on that first date with that guy you met at Jitters."

"Oh yeah him. The pretty one. What was his name? I don't remember."

"His name was Eddie." Barry raised his head. "You don't even remember his name?"

"Nope. I only had one date with him. No questions for me, these are for you. Then what happened?"

Barry put his head back down, grinning. "I was waiting for you to get back. I'd been really bothered that you were dating again. After – after Joe died we were spending more time together than before, if that was possible. It was just you and me. We were helping each other through it. So it was really weird when you said you'd been asked on a date and said yes. I talked with my dad that night and he told me he knew I'd been in love with you since we were kids and if you were ready to date again I'd better get busy and ask you or I only had myself to blame. So I did. I was waiting in the bushes on the side of the house."

"Barry Allen, were you stalking me?"

"Okay is that a test? You said the same thing that night. But no, I was waiting. And really hoping you didn't invite him in."

She giggled. "It was the first date Barry."

"I didn't know what you'd do! I was really worried." She shook her head at him, still giggling. "Anyway, so yes after he dropped you off and left and you went inside I came out and knocked on the door."

"Knocked? Is that what you call the incredible pounding you did?"

"I may have been a bit agitated. And scared."

"Oh, poor Barry. And what did you tell me?"

Barry's memory had already given him that. "I believe I said that if you were ready to date again, wouldn't you prefer to date someone who really cares about you? Someone who maybe even already loves you. Someone who would do his best to never ever hurt you. Someone like your best friend."

"And what did I do?" Her eyes were still dancing.

"You stared at me for long enough that I thought our entire friendship was over, then you said 'It's about time. Pick me up at 8pm tomorrow and don't be late again.' I'm pretty sure I melted into a puddle after you shut the door in my face."

Iris was obviously enjoying the retelling. She was in a fit of laughter. Barry found himself laughing too. Iris shook her head again, this time in amused frustration. "You drove me crazy Barry! So many years of our friendship I wondered if we could have something more. Something even better. And you never did anything! Not even a hint that you loved me. So I didn't do anything either. I didn't want to ruin our friendship. And then...what's his name... Eddie asked me out so I figured I would, since nothing was going to happen with you. I couldn't believe it when you showed up that night, but I was so happy. I still can't believe you took so long."

"It seems that I am very slow about certain things, whether I can run fast or not. Sorry about that." Barry rolled on his side towards her. "Well, how did I do?"

Iris rolled his way and gave him a peck on the cheek. "You pass. I guess I'm going to have to marry you after all."

Barry was sure his face was going to crack, his smile was so big. "Yes you are."

Grinning, they both rolled to their backs once more. There was comfortable silence for a while as each pondered the sudden changes in their lives. Iris reached for Barry's hand. Their fingers intertwined. Finally Iris spoke again.

"Okay so in this other timeline you're fast and you call yourself the Flash. You wear the suit and help the city and people who need it and fight- what again?"

"Metahumans."

"Right. Am I there?"

Barry's head came up instantly. "Of course you are! We're best friends just like in this timeline! You're always there."

Iris smiled, satisfied. "Good thing. We are meant for each other."

Barry had put his head back down but now rolled it so he could see her profile as she stared up at the stars. He studied her beautiful face, pushing away memories of Eddie and Linda. His hand tightened on hers a little. "Yes. Yes we are." She glanced his way and smiled.

They both went back to looking at the night sky. Finally she got around to asking the question he knew would come up.

"Why are there two different timeline memories for you now? You changed something, didn't you? That's the only thing I can think of that would do it."

Barry nodded. "Remember that night I told you about when I was eleven? When I heard noises downstairs and the living room was trashed and there was ice all over but no way for it to be there?"

Iris nodded too. "You said your mother said she was attacked. Or almost attacked." She realized where he must be going with this and sat up. "Wait-"

Barry could see she already had the answer. "Yeah. That night in the other timeline, she was murdered. By a guy in a yellow suit."

She was staring at him, horrified at the idea. He could see her mind working. "And you saved her instead." Barry nodded. "Did you kill him?"

"No, but I hurt him and slowed him down enough for him to leave. I don't know where he is now."

"But why would he do something like that? What does he have against your mother? Who is he really?"

Barry shrugged. "All very good questions. I don't know much about him. He wears a yellow suit. We call him the Reverse Flash. He's like me; he's faster than me. After he killed my mom my dad got blamed for it and went to prison for life. He's still there."

Her face was full of compassion. "Oh Barry that's awful. What happened to you?"

He sat up too so they could face each other. "Your dad took me in. We grew up together. In this house. The room that is the office upstairs was mine." He gestured to the window of his room.

She stared at it in wonder, trying to picture it. "Of course he would. That's my dad."

Barry smiled sadly. "Yeah."

Her face reflected his as she studied him, reading his body language. She knew him so well. She hesitated, and then decided she really did want the answer to her next question. "Why were you so upset in Dad's room earlier?"

He was afraid to meet her gaze. He lay down again to avoid it, staring at the sky. He swallowed as she waited.

"Because…because Joe is still alive in the other timeline. He was with me right before I left to go back and save my mom. I… I didn't know that saving her would change that. I feel like I killed him. It's my fault." He waited, unsure if she would agree or not. "I'm sorry." It sounded so ridiculously inadequate.

There was silence for a moment as she processed that. She stared at the grass near her foot. Tears welled up and fell.

Barry waited for a ring to land in his face. Possibly on a closed fist. He swallowed hard. Well, it had been nice while it lasted.

Her face appeared directly above his, forcing him to meet her eyes. "Barry, are you also secretly a bank robber with the Mardons?"

"What?" He sat back up. She was giving him a direct look, tears still on her face but still expecting him to answer. "No, of course not!"

She nodded. "Then it's not your fault. You didn't kill Dad, the Mardon brothers did." She reached for his hand again. "You didn't do anything wrong."

He put both hands on his head, pushing his hair back. He was aware she'd been reaching for his hand but felt undeserving of it. "But if I hadn't saved my mom he'd be alive now! I should have thought about what could happen. I feel like I traded his life for my mother's. That's not my choice to make! I'm not God!" He could feel the tears starting but didn't bother do anything about them. It was so important she understand that it really was his fault. "I feel like I started messing with things I have no business dealing with. I never thought about possible consequences like this." He stopped to look at her. She was no longer crying. She was watching him with sympathy and sadness. It was unnerving.

He stared at her a moment. She returned his look but said nothing. Finally he could only ask one question.

"Why don't you hate me?"

Iris shrugged. "If you want me to be mad at you I'm sure I can find a reason. But Barry, you were trying to save your mother. I would have done the same thing. And you remember two timelines but this one is all I have ever known. I've had two years to accept his death. I will always miss him, and losing him will always hurt." She grabbed his hand, refusing to let go when he tried to pull away. She laced their fingers together and put her other hand on top, holding them together.

"But you didn't do it."

She looked directly into his eyes. He could see she wasn't hiding any anger at him. But there was a great deal of pain. He knew his face was a mirror of hers. Guilt still ate at him. She missed her father, and she hurt for Barry. They were both hurting inside.

She squeezed his hand, still staring into his eyes, as if she could make him believe her words. He realized she had more to say and waited for her to continue.

"I think what hurts most now is that those bastards are still running around robbing banks after what they did. They never had to face justice for killing my father or all the others they've killed. I want them to be caught."

Barry stared at her, his mind racing. He looked down at their hands, then back up to her face. Gratitude and sorrow mixed with anger and determination. He wasn't sure which to tackle first.

Gratitude won out. His hand squeezed hers, and he leaned forward to kiss her tenderly. She was smiling softly in spite of her sadness as he whispered, "thank you." against her lips. They scooted forward. Legs going in opposite directions, they were able to wrap their arms around each other.

They held each other in silence for a while. Sorrow for Joe's loss washed over both of them. Barry was reminded of doing the same thing many times after Joe had died. He and Iris had held each other and shared their pain and loss. Joe had not raised Barry in this timeline, but he had still been an integral part of his life. Barry and Iris had been in and out of each other's homes most of their lives. Joe and his parents had gotten along great.

Facing each other, their heads were on each other's shoulder. They fit together like two halves of a greater whole. Without realizing it they were rocking ever so slightly. Each allowed the warmth of the other to console and comfort. Barry wondered how they had never realized growing up that they were so much more than best friends. Though he had been in love with her since they were young, even he hadn't been able to label it correctly.

They were soul mates.

It was only much later after they were lying back down, closer together, hands still clasped, and back to looking at the stars that Barry tackled the other topic.

"Iris, the police can prove the Mardons killed Joe but they've never been able to track them down to arrest them right?"

She looked at him. "Right."

"What if I told you that I found their hiding place in the other timeline? There's no guarantee that they'll be there now but it's worth a try."

A slow smile curved her lips. "This is what you do as the Flash?" He nodded. "Let's do it." Her hand squeezed his. "We'll do it together."

"Awesome." He felt good about this idea. Getting justice for Joe would really help. It dawned on him that he'd be doing it solo this time except for Iris. No S.T.A.R. Labs equipment or backup. "But I also need to do something else too." She gave him a questioning look. "In the other timeline I had a team that helped me be the Flash. We worked out of S.T.A.R. Labs after the particle accelerator exploded. I know that lab isn't there but maybe if we can find my friends they can help somehow?"

Iris gave him a dubious look. "They won't remember anything about you."

"I know. But I still want to check on them."

She nodded. "I'll put my journalism skills to good use."

He smiled. "Thanks. I'll put my—what am I?" The memory popped into his head. "I'm an out of work teacher?!"

Iris giggled. "Chemistry and physics. My sweet nerd. It's not that bad, one of the community colleges has you in their sights for next fall, but they have to wait for the end of the school year for their current chemistry professor to retire. We figured it would make it easier for us to plan the wedding and take our honeymoon and then you'll have a full time job come fall." She peeked at his face, which was still disturbed. "You are not a lazy good for nothing, Bear. Sometimes we just have to wait for things."

His face was brooding. "I don't like waiting."

She giggled and kissed his cheek. "I knew you were going to say that."

I am going to deviate a bit here to say that the new promos for the next several eps have been wreaking havoc on me and my self-esteem. (Ah, the life of an oversensitive self-doubting artist.) I'm almost positive that certain story elements in the upcoming ep or eps will be similar to mine. But there is no way I'll be able to get those particular chapters out before the eps air, so it will just look like I'm working off them. It shouldn't really matter, but I hate the idea of appearing to be someone who can only recycle ideas. Might as well stick to canon if that's the case! I spent one day in a quandry trying to convince myself to keep going and not just stop and chuck the rest of the story, which I really don't want want to do. Man I sound whiny. Sorry.

So I am just going to state here that I plot my stories out before I write them, and the storyline for this story was wrangled out of my own brain before these promos or eps surfaced. If there are similarities I'm okay with it since I feel like I came up with mine on my own independently. If you don't believe me, that's okay. At least I said it. :)

But I am also sure that my story will deviate in many ways and end up different altogether by the end. There is no way they'll be mirrors. I guess when you deal with time travel certain things emerge no matter who writes them.

Okay enough fussing. Sorry. Please keep reading, I am really excited about this story. :)