I love writing all these follow ups. I'm glad you guys like the stories enough to want more.
Prompt from Marubang043. Follow up to chapter 29 where Oliver tells Iris he's the Arrow.
"I need to get back to the lab, guys. Arrow's going to kill me. Actually, he stopped killing, he'll just beat me near death and let Caitlyn finish me off." Barry turned toward Felicity and the door.
"You do know that Arrow likes you. He just likes teasing you more." Felicity laughed.
"Yeah, that explains why I got two arrows in my back this morning." Barry spoke sarcastically, and Iris eyes widened comically.
"He did what? You are not going to see him without me and that's final." Iris ran over and looped her arm in his. "Let's go." She turned her head to say goodbye to Eddie.
"I'll play catch up with you later." Eddie said with, Barry detected, resignation, but it didn't seem to be about staying in the hospital while the rest of them left.
"So how should we do this, so Barry doesn't set either of us on fire?" Felicity asked.
Barry chuckled. "I'm sorry."
"I'm going to need to hear this story." Iris said looking between them.
"Please no." Barry shook his head at the two women who he just knew were going to start telling rather embarrassing stories.
"Barry, why don't you run and get my car? Then you could pick us up." Iris suggested.
"'Cause I kind of . . . broke the window." Barry reminded her.
"I took the motorcycle to get here. You can ride with me and Barry can run." Felicity saw Iris's worried look. "Arrow won't really hurt him. Besides he heals fast. Which is really good considering his low pain tolerance."
"I don't have a low pain tolerance. Ol-Arrow just has a really high pain tolerance, and that's what you've gotten used to." Barry retaliated.
"Yeah, and Canary, Arsenal, and Dig." Felicity teased as Iris watched them with amusement, and Felicity noticed a bit of jealousy.
"Assassin, former mirakuru warrior/Glades citizen, who by the way is afraid of needles, and an army man. These are the people you're comparing me to."
Iris looked at Felicity. "I would never have guessed that you were friends with someone who had killed as many people as the Arrow, but another assassin, and . . . and I'm not really sure what a mirkiruh warrior is . . ."
"Mirakuru. It's a serum developed by the Japanese during World War I to create super soldiers. Basically it made people incredibly strong, they healed fast, and warped their minds. No one who survived the initial injection and was not given the cure has died."
Iris turned a wide eyed gaze on the blonde. "Is anyone who I thought they were?"
"Don't worry you get used to it . . . mostly." Felicity climbed onto the motorcycle, and Iris sat behind her.
"See ya, Barry." Iris said as they rode off. Barry ran only as fast as the motorcycle for a minute before Felicity reminded him he should probably check in as soon as possible.
Iris and Felicity arrived only ten minutes after Barry.
Barry was sitting on the examination table, and Caitlyn was yelling at him for being careless.
Iris grabbed Felicity's arm before she could be seen by anyone in the main room.
"Hold on I want to listen to this." Iris whispered, and Felicity smiled in response.
"Seriously, Barry, how could you be so stupid? Now Iris and Eddie both know your so called secret. You know how dangerous that is to them and to you! We told you that needed to be careful. We said take the Arrow with you, but no what did you do? You went alone, and then the meta affected you, and you spilled your secret. How could you be so stupid?!" Caitlyn yelled, and Iris winced on Barry's behalf.
"Help." Came Barry's pleading voice.
"Alright, Caitlyn." The voice was slightly familiar, but not someone she could place. "Let me take it from here."
"I'm not sure that qualifies as help." Barry squeaked.
"C'mon kid." It was that same voice, and two sets of footsteps came toward the doorway where Iris and Felicity were hiding.
Felicity pulled Iris back a few feet and started walking back toward the door right as Barry and-and Oliver-freaking-Queen came out.
"You're guys aren't that sneaky." Oliver told them. "I know you better than that Felicity. C'mon let's give Caitlyn sometime to breathe."
"Wait, you're not mad at me? You with the 'case your surroundings'?" Barry asked hesitantly.
"Oh, no, I mad at you for being an idiot, but you're still pretty new at this, and well, you have Caitlyn to do the yelling for me." Oliver noticed Iris's wide eyed gaze.
"I'm not sure who I was expecting the Arrow to be, but I wasn't expecting you, and yet it makes all the sense in the world." Barry laughed as his best friend continued to babble almost as much as Felicity.
The small group wondered around the lab.
"Are you okay, Iris?" Barry placed his hand on the small of her back to guide and support her after he noticed that she couldn't walk straight.
"Yeah. It's just a lot to process." Iris seemed dizzy.
"Do you want to sit down for a little while?" Felicity and Oliver stopped just slightly ahead of them.
"I can find you a chair." Oliver offered.
"No, I'll be okay." Barry gave her a skeptical look. "If you'd prefer, you could carry me." Iris worked to make her voice sarcastic, but she had realized how fantastic it felt to be in the Flash's, no Barry's arms, and she wanted to feel it again.
"Ok." Barry said scooping her off the ground. She couldn't stop the small happy laugh as soon as she was back in his arms.
The group continued walking.
"So, Barry's 'the Arrow wears green so he must have trained in a forested environment' theory was true." Iris asked after a few minutes of silence.
Oliver hung his head and laughed. "Goodness Barry. I did train in a forested environment, for about two years, but the hood belonged to my trainer, Yao Fei, and then to his daughter."
"Only two years? You were on the island for five." Iris's journalistic curiosity was coming out.
"You're lucky have gotten that much." Barry whispered in her ear.
"He's right." Oliver replied.
"How? How did you hear that? I spoke as quietly as I possibly can." Barry questioned. Oliver smirked with his head turned so only Felicity could just barely see.
Iris sighed and sank deeper into Barry's arms with her head buried in his neck. It had been a long day. She didn't want to react any more than she already had before she could think things through on a fresh day, so she fell asleep in her best friend's strong arms.