Conclusion: Iris & Barry

"Bartholomew Allen…what the hell?" Iris stormed into Barry's temporary sleeping quarters. "You were seriously going to go off into space as some sacrifice and all we were going to get from you was a piece of paper saying goodbye."

Standing near the cot he'd been lying on moments before, Barry shrugged and gave her an apologetic look. "I know it seems like the coward's way out, but if I'd come to see you in person, I wouldn't have wanted to leave. And at the time, I thought it was the right decision."

"That's what you said in here." Iris waved the letter in front of her as she walked over to where he stood, a million thoughts running through her mind at the sight of him safe and sound. She'd spent the last few hours trying to work on her article, and had only managed to get half of it done. For the majority of the time she should have been writing, she'd stared more at her phone and the picture of her and Barry on her desk than her computer screen. By the time she'd arrived at the newspaper, after the phone call with her dad, she'd already checked her phone at least twenty times wondering why her boyfriend had yet to text her. She had debated calling or texting him, but then dismissed it immediately, after all, she wasn't the one who planned on being selfless. Plus, she figured he was probably busy meeting the President.

Then she had berated herself, because, after all, Barry was a hero. He had always been the one to put others before himself. She thought of the sixteen years Henry had sat in a cell, and the fact that Barry had spent his entire adult life with one goal in mind, to get his dad out of prison. He always stood up for those who couldn't stand up for themselves. How many times had he come to her rescue, even before he'd become the Flash.

She then tried to get more of her article written, but every time she wrote something about the Flash, she'd check her phone one more time to see if she'd received any word from him. When nothing appeared, the whole cycle of emotions would start again. First came frustration, then anger, then guilt at herself for being angry, then frustration, and then anger all over again. After the tenth time, she had finally decided that she'd had enough, and went in search of the man keeping her from her deadline.

Having gone through the range of emotions once more as she moved closer to her boyfriend, Iris realized, in that moment that none of it mattered because he was here, in front of her, whole and unharmed. She took one final step and pulled him in for a bone-crushing hug. For a brief instant, she was afraid to let go, for fear that he'd run off at five-hundred miles per hour, or try and turn himself over to aliens again.

"I'm sorry." Barry wrapped his arms around her. Being this close to her now, he was glad that he hadn't surrendered. No matter what his reasons had been, he was glad Oliver and his little 'army' had kept him from leaving his family and heart behind.

Iris gave him one more squeeze then stepped out of the embrace and smacked his arm, hard. "What were you thinking? Did you forget about Dr. Alchemy and Savitar? Or all the metahumans cropping up every day because of speed gods and particle accelerator explosions…you can't just leave us like that." She smacked his arm again. "You're an idiot, you know that right?"

Barry grimaced and then he gave her a sheepish grin. "Yeah, I do. In the end we were better off fighting as a group and showing them what we were made of rather than me surrendering. Turns out, that despite my attempt to do what I thought was the right thing, Oliver wasn't going to let me get away with it anyway. When he couldn't talk me out of turning myself over to the Dominators, he got the whole team to stand behind him, even Cisco. I don't know why Ollie insisted I was the best one to be in charge, we all know he was the true leader."

"If I thought he was hotter after finding out that he was the Green Arrow, I think knowing that he kept you from doing something truly asinine just put him even higher on my list. He was number three, but I think he's moved up to number one."

Barry rolled his eyes but sighed. "I guess I deserve that." He then raised his eyebrows and looked at her with a determined gaze. "You're not seriously keeping him on that list are you? I mean it just seems wrong somehow, considering the fact that you've actually met him and he's not a rich billionaire anymore."

Iris smirked and shrugged her shoulders before sitting down on the cot and placing the letter beside her on the thin mattress. "Barry, promise me you won't do something like that again. Don't just run off and leave us. I love you, my life isn't complete without you in it. We're just starting to build a future together. I know you feel guilty about the time travelling mess but giving yourself up to a race of aliens, is not the answer. Cisco will come around. We'll help Caitlyn with her powers. You got me and dad talking again. The West family is back on track. The rest of the team will be okay. But we won't be without you. Just remember that." She looked him in the eye, hoping to convey the seriousness behind her words. "You can't take responsibility for every bad thing that happens around here. I know you're a hero, but you can't fix everything."

"I know, and I'm working on it, and actually Cisco and I, we're going to be okay. He's forgiven me." Barry sat down on the makeshift bed next to his girlfriend. "I know it's going to take time, but at least he sees me as a friend again."

"That's great. I knew he'd eventually come around. Was it because you were an idiot?" She shoulder bumped her boyfriend, and grinned at him.

Barry shook his head. "No, turns out that Cisco's own adventure through time put what I did into a new perspective for him. He and Felicity joined some of the Legends on a trip to the past to try and get answers out of one of the Dominators back when they first came to Earth. And apparently a choice they made back then is what made the alien leader decide that metahumans were too much of a threat to their world now. I have to wonder if I had turned myself over, would it have made a difference in the end anyway."

Iris shuddered involuntarily as she turned to look at him. "I don't want to think about." Having had enough talk of aliens and almost losing Barry, she decided a change of topic was in order. "So, do I get an exclusive interview with the Flash? You know, an actual behind-the-scenes exclusive for this investigative reporter. Especially since you're the reason I'm going to have to get up at the crack of dawn to make my deadline."

"Of course. There's no other reporter I'd want to write this story." Barry put his arm around Iris, and felt warmth flow through him as she rested her head on his shoulder. And then his thoughts turned to ones of confusion. "What do you mean you haven't met your deadline? I thought for sure you'd have had a five page article done by now. It can't be that you don't have enough material. You were at the hangar for most of the time leading up to everything. Is it because you're here, now, instead of working on your article."

Shaking her head, Iris elbowed him in the side. "No dork. It's because I spent the last two hours being mad at you and frustrated with you and relieved that you were here, and then mad that you were going to sacrifice yourself and leave your family behind. And then mad at myself for being mad at you for being who you are." She raised her head from his shoulder to glare at him. "And then mad at you again for not even thinking to call me to tell me, your girlfriend, the love of your life, that you were okay."

"Sorry, again." Barry placed a gentle kiss on the side of her head. "Between meeting the President, and then wrapping things up, I kept losing track of time. I almost did call you once or twice when there was a lull in activities, but I didn't want to interrupt you. I know how focused you get when you're writing. Then by the time I got back here, I figured you would be fast asleep."

Iris sighed. "There you go again, making my anger fizzle because you were thinking of what was best for me." Wrapping her arm around Barry's waist, she pulled him a little closer and laid her head back on his shoulder. "So, what was it like meeting the President?"

"It was so cool to be up there on that stage with everyone, having the President of the United States thank all of us for saving the world." He chuckled. "If she realized that amongst those she called heroes was a vigilante who moonlights as a mayor, an ex-assassin raised from the dead, and a criminal with an unhealthy love of fire, she might have rethought her speech."

"Well criminals or not you all were heroes today." She traced lazy circles on her boyfriend's leg. "You realize that even if you think Oliver might have been the true leader, you were the reason all those heroes came together. You inspire people."

"Funny, that's what Oliver told me when I first started out." He put his hand over Iris' and entwined their fingers together. "But really all I did was recruit Oliver and Dig, and then with Cisco's help brought in Supergirl. Ollie was the one who knew how to contact the Legends. But it was kind of thrilling working as a team like that. And it was both cool and strange to meet Mari's grandmother. I'm just glad that Oliver finally warmed up to Kara."

Raising her head, Iris glanced questioningly at her boyfriend. "Who's Mari?"

"You've heard of the woman in Detroit with the strange necklace, saving people and goes by the name Vixen? A name given to her by Cisco, by the way." He watched his girlfriend nod. "Amaya is her grandmother, at least that's what Cisco and I deduced. We believe they're related in some way since Amaya is really from the 1940s and wears the same exact necklace as the one Vixen has around her neck."

"Time travel is so weird." Iris squeezed Barry's hand, hoping the simple gesture would keep him from thinking dark thoughts. "Speaking of Kara, how come you never told us about her before now?"

Barry shrugged. "Honestly, when I returned from testing the tachyon device, everyone was talking about how fast I'd run, and I realized I'd returned to the exact moment I'd left, no one even knew I'd been gone an entire day. Then we all got wrapped up in defeating Zoom, I never found the right time. Before I knew it, everything just happened so fast. Wally got kidnapped, Zoom took my speed, I got my speed back, the race with Zoom… I just never got around to it, and then it completely slipped my mind."

"Well, she's very nice. I'm glad she was here to help." Iris tried to stifle a yawn with her free hand.

"It's late, you should get home." Barry rose from the cot and pulled her up with him.

Iris wrapped her arms around his neck. "It is late, but I'm not going home alone. The thought that I might have lost you, forever…" She glanced down briefly before looking back up into his eyes. "You're coming home with me, Flash." After the events of the past few days she had no intention of letting him out of her sight. She knew, without a doubt, she'd have to reassure herself several times throughout the night that he was indeed safe and sound and by her side. "Besides, after the last few days, you won't get a good night's sleep on this old thing," she gestured with her head, "and I bet you haven't rested peacefully in a while."

Barry put his hands on her waist. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely." Iris gently tugged his head down and brought his lips to hers. She relaxed into him when he returned the kiss. The embrace lasted only a few moments, and when they pulled back, she leaned her forehead against his. "But if you ever try and say goodbye to me in a letter again, Barry Allen, no matter how good your intentions are, I promise, if you make it back you won't like me when you see me again. In fact, I think I'll have Caitlyn use her powers and turn you into Frozen Flash…are we clear?"

Barry nodded with a grin before pulling her into a comforting hug. "I promise to talk to you in person before I do something stupid again."

"Good." Iris stepped out from the security of his arms and took his hand in hers ready to lead him out of the room and towards home.

Before they took a step in the direction of the hallway, Barry's eyes fell on the letter on the cot and while Iris may have read hers, maybe the others hadn't yet seen theirs and he would have time to collect them. He gently tugged on her hand, causing her to pause. "Let me just gather up a few things and I can meet you at your place."

Iris caught the direction of his gaze and had a feeling she knew what was going on in in that brain of his. She tightened her hold on his hand. "Let's get one thing straight right now, Bare. I'm not letting you out of my sight, so, as long as you're only planning on gathering the essentials for staying with me tonight, that's fine. I'll just wait right here while you get your stuff together. After all it's a simple task that isn't going to take you half an hour, Flash." With her free hand, she gently turned his face towards her. "But if you're thinking of running off and collecting whatever other letters you left behind, like the one to Dad and Wally, you can just forget about it." The speedster opened his mouth to protest, but she quickly moved her finger from his chin and placed it over his lips. Shaking her head slightly, she continued, "Chances are they've already read them, and if they haven't, they deserve to read them. You didn't put anything in the letters they shouldn't read just because you're still with us, did you?"

Barry shook his head and let out a resigned sigh. "Other than telling Wally he was going to be the guardian speedster of the city, no." Then, with his free hand, he gently removed her finger, and then brought their entwined hands up and placed a gentle kiss on the back of her hand. "But you're right, as usual. I've said it before, I can't be who I am without you, Iris. You're my reason for being, my anchor."

Leaning down slightly Iris picked up her letter, and then, letting go of his hand moved to the doorway. "Now gather up your stuff, and let's go before the universe decides some crisis needs your attention. Then, in the morning, the Flash will give this reporter a one-on-one interview so I can make my deadline." She leaned against the entryway, effectively blocking his exit.

Knowing when he was beaten, Barry sped around the room and within seconds had a duffle bag filled with what he would need for the night and tomorrow. He then stopped in front of her, smiling at her now disheveled hair from the wind his speed had caused. He gently smoothed the soft tendrils back in place, before taking her hand in his once again. They moved into the hallway, walking side by side. Barry gently squeezed Iris's hand, feeling lighter than he had in a long time. Cisco had forgiven him, he wasn't a prisoner aboard an alien spaceship, and he was going home with the woman he loved. He didn't want to think about speedster gods and doctors with the ability to give powers to metas tonight. For the rest of the evening, he was going to take comfort in being with Iris, and deal with what came next after a good night's sleep.

The End

Author's End Notes:

In the Prologue, I changed the events of Arrow, Season 3, episode 21 "Al Sah-Him" to coincide with the effects of Flashpoint. In the original episode, when Ollie kidnaps Lyla, it's baby Sara who is left behind unattended. However, because of Flashpoint, and Dig now having Baby John instead of Sara, I adjusted Oliver's telling of the events accordingly.

With regards to the mention of Amaya from Legends being the present day, Mari's (aka Vixen's) grandmother, when the list of the new characters for Season 2 of Legends were posted, it was mentioned in the write-up that Amaya was in fact, Mari's grandmother. I took the liberty of mentioning it here, and adjusted to account for the fact that Amaya most likely has no ideas she has a granddaughter who is the vigilante of Detroit.