Prompt from Guest. Alternate version of the "I never want to see you again" Iris-Barry scene. Maybe Barry felt so guilty he had to tell her the truth (in the most dramatic way possible).

Barry couldn't feel worse than he did right now. Just today he had yelled at Captain Singh, yelled at Joe, told Caitlyn he wasn't Ronnie and to stop acting like he was, attacked Oliver, and had tried to kill Eddie.

Now he was on his way to apologize to Iris. He wasn't naïve enough to believe she would forgive him, no matter how much he wished that was the case. This situation just wasn't that simple, he wasn't going to get out of it that easily.

He waited of the roof, knowing she would come.

"I wanted you to know, tonight, that, that wasn't me." At least not all me. Barry mentally added.

"Sure looked like you." Iris looked as if she was trying to block herself off from all emotion, but he knew her well enough to know she was on the verge of tears.

"Y-yeah, I-I was affected by one of the metahumans. He messed up my head. I'm okay now I promise." Barry was desperate for her to believe him. He was prepared to do anything.

"I defended you. Everyone told me that you would bring me nothing but danger; my father, Barry, Eddie. I didn't listen to them, I never listened to them, and now it's time I did. Don't contact me anymore, okay?" Barry's heart broke at every word. It was true he was dangerous, but he himself was not supposed to be the threat, and he wasn't anymore. How could he get that through to her?

"Iris, I'm sorry." He knew it was a weak plea and it would have absolutely no effect on the intelligent girl in front of him that knew him better than anyone else in the world ever had, the same girl that didn't know who he was.

"Me too." Iris turned to leave walking slowly, hoping that he would stop her, but knowing that there was nothing he could say to make this ok. But, maybe? He had saved her so many times. Maybe he was telling the truth about being affected by another metahuman.

"Iris, wait." She stopped but didn't even turn to look at him. Iris knew that her will would break if she looked at him.

Her heart was breaking just as much as it did when Barry said they shouldn't see each other for a while. But this was Iris's choice. The man she was speaking to had just ripped her boyfriend out of a moving car and beat him repeatedly. Iris didn't know what would have happened if the Arrow hadn't shown up to stop him. She allowed, more like forced, the images of earlier that night to run through her head and remind her why she was pushing the Flash away. She tried to convince herself that it wasn't because she was worried she was getting to close to him, and that it wasn't because she didn't want to feel the way she did for someone whose name she didn't know. The Flash could only be a nameless dream, and it was easier, safer, if that dream was a nightmare.

"One, give me one reason why I should believe you? Why should I forgive you?" Iris demanded a tear finally making its way down her face. Barry hung his head. He never wanted her to cry.

"I don't expect you to ever forgive me. What I did was inexcusable, but I do want you to know that I wasn't in control of myself. I would never willfully hurt you or anyone you care about." Iris turned just her head to look at him. He met her gaze. "I just want you to know you're safe. I have always wanted to protect you. It was not me on that road."

"How can I know that? I don't know who you are. All I really know about you is that you hide behind a mask and a false voice. How could I possibly know that what I saw earlier today wasn't the real you, and the hero I've been following, defending, wasn't just a show you put on."

"Because, you do know me." Iris turned to look at the Flash as he slowly and deliberately pulled off his mask.

Iris didn't know how she avoided fainting in shock or screaming in anger. Why couldn't her life be simple? She just stood there in silence for several minutes, staring at her best friend. The man she had called her guardian angel, but had just tried to kill her boyfriend, was her best friend.

"So, how did a metahuman get you to-" She was about say 'try to kill' but she couldn't. "Attack Eddie?"

Barry let go of a breath he didn't know he was holding. "The metahuman's eyes would turn red and anyone who looked him in the eye would suddenly be crazy angry. The color of his eyes kind of threw off the neurons in people's brains. For normal people the affect was temporary, but my speed and cellular regeneration fought off the metahuman's affects for a while. Fighting it off didn't work it just increased the duration of the affects. Arrow had to fight me and get me into a chokehold to stare at different colors of light to reverse the effects, but it worked. I'm back to normal." Barry said it all in one breath.

"I might have understood three words of that." Iris replied.

"Please tell me there's a but."

"But I do know you." Iris looked up at him. "I'm still mad at you. For a lot of reasons-"

"Understood."

"But I believe you."

"Thank you."

"What are we going to do? Eddie's task force will be approved after what happened tonight."

Barry sighed outwardly, but smiled inwardly. She was concerned about him. Even after he just told her about a big secret that he'd been lying about right to her face after trying to kill her boyfriend, and she was concerned about him.

"We let him get a task force. The station doesn't have the resources to get anything that could actually stop me." Barry shrugged.

"Except guns. You're not immortal Barry."

"No, I'm not immortal, but I'm faster than bullets and cars. Even if the task force could get to me, I heal fast. I'll be okay, Iris."

"Maybe I could talk to him. Explain things." Iris suggested. "The task force would still be a threat, Barry. What if you were distracted?"

Barry smiled at her. He had a choice; he could let her do something that had the potential to wreck her relationship, or he could deal with people hunting him while he tried to protect people.

"It would be suspicious if you saw me attack your boyfriend and still defended me against him."

"But I want you to be safe, Barry."

"I will be. I promise."