Yay, an episode came out and I managed to keep going! That said, I really need to figure out how to judge chapter length. Yet another one got whacked into two. Here is the first, the second will follow shortly. Sorry if these are coming out so fast and furious, I can't seem to relax until the entire story is out.

As always, thanks for all your reviews and support, they are very appreciated!

(Guest Brenda, so glad the chapters made your heart smile, your comment did that for me. And oh yes, Cisco/Iris are supposed to be a little humorous.)

Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 8

When Iris finally made it home that night, her father had already gone to bed. She crept into her bedroom, glad not to have to talk or explain why she looked like such a mess. It had taken everything she had not to drive to Barry's apartment and pound on his door, just to assure herself that he was alive and well. For hours she lay on her bed, in utter darkness, staring at the ceiling.

The trauma of reliving the days during Barry's coma had been terrible. But now that she had gotten through the storm of emotions she felt like she had been given a gift. Somewhere a wall had crumbled. Looking back, Iris could suddenly see the patterns and paths her life had taken since Barry had been struck by lightning.

She was finally honest with herself and realized that she would probably have never become involved with Eddie if Barry hadn't been cut from her life so suddenly and completely.

Iris felt terrible acknowledging it, but there it was. Eddie had been her rebound. She would never consciously use someone to replace someone else. It wasn't fair to anyone. But the massive hole left in her life had left her hurting and in need. Eddie had filled that place, much as she hated to admit it. She felt guilty. Iris truly cared for him, but Eddie deserved better. If Barry had never been struck by lightning, she would have been happy to keep going the way she had been, probably for years.

Iris thought through the horrible months and experiences of Barry's coma and realized that far before he had awakened, she had been shielding herself against further pain. Layer after layer of protection had been put up, because the hurt had been so awful she never wanted to experience it again. She could now completely sympathize with Barry's fear of losing someone he loved after losing his parents. She had been very much the same.

When Barry had suddenly walked into Jitters the day he woke up, Iris had been so happy to see him awake. None of her reaction that day had been a lie. But even then, the shadow of the previous months had lain over all of it. His heart stopping over and over, her fear of losing him forever, all that pain had kept her from truly opening up to him again. Her mind knew he was fine, but her heart still worried that he would leave again.

In addition to her new psychological barriers, there had also been Eddie and The Flash to consider. Iris could now see how everything had suddenly become so tangled and confused. Barry himself had been different since he woke up. She wondered if he had been coming to tell her he loved her, fresh out of his coma and ready to confess finally, only to see her and Eddie kissing and realize she now had a boyfriend.

The lightning had changed everything.

In the quiet darkness, Iris felt another mask dissolve away. It felt scary to be so unprotected. But she also felt that its blinding weight had been lifted.

Even so, as she tried to fall asleep, Iris swore she could still hear the beeping of the heart monitor.

The next morning Barry felt much better after a night's sleep, and Caitlin's latest x-ray had shown his skull to be fully healed.

Joe arrived at S.T.A.R. Labs after a text from Barry. Caitlin, Cisco and Barry were discussing the case when Joe entered, followed shortly by Dr Wells.

"Glad to see you all mended, Barry." Harrison nodded at him.

Joe was leaning against a nearby desk. Arms folded, he was scrutinizing Barry, obviously deep in thought. Barry looked his way and gave him a questioning look. "Yes?"

Joe raised his eyebrows. "Didn't I say call me?"

Barry spread his arms in a helpless gesture. "Sorry, Joe, I didn't have time and I really didn't expect a brick wall to attack me."

Joe gave him his classic fatherly look that said he barely accepted such a lame excuse, but let it go. Barry turned away, giving Caitlin and Cisco a look.

Cisco came to his rescue. "Okay, so Barry's suit gave us some small grains of sand around his shoulder areas where he got tackled by the metahuman. This is no surprise to anyone, I know. But Barry's version of events has provided some new insight."

Caitlin took over. "We think that this metahuman can camouflage to anything he is in contact with. He is not made of sand. He has been around sand. A lot."

Cisco looked slightly sad not to have a sandman metahuman challenge. Barry moved in. "He was backed up against the brick wall, so he was touching it. He was perfectly concealed to look like brick, not sand. He probably would have stayed that way if I hadn't looked at his bag. I'll bet his stolen jewelry was in it."

Joe was busy absorbing the facts. "So, what, he can make himself look like something he touches but he can't do that for anything he carries in his hand?"

Cisco nodded. "Pretty much. Maybe he could have made himself look like a bag if he was holding and touching it, but Barry totally would have noticed a huge bag shaped like a man standing there."

Barry nodded in agreement.

Joe shook his head, laughing slightly. "Okay, so he dropped the bag and made like a wall. Until Barry got too close for comfort."

"Exactly." Cisco sat back and smiled.

Joe looked at Caitlin. "So what about this sand?"

"Well, we know he's not made of it. But it has been at each crime scene in different ways. We think that wherever he's hiding or lives, if you want to think of it that way, is near or around a concrete business that pulls their sand from large piles on site. There is just no other way for him to have that much all over his body and clothes."

Cisco couldn't contain himself. "He's probably pressing up against it to camouflage himself! That's how it gets everywhere! He's hiding in plain sight!" He was grinning like a kid.

Harrison was following the conversation with interest. "He's a chameleon." He murmured, looking fairly impressed by Harrison Wells's standards.

Cisco snapped his fingers. "Yes! I wonder if I could make a name out of that…."

Joe looked at Barry. "So that security guard…"

Barry nodded. "Yup. He had the worst luck in the world. He wandered into a hallway, stopped to chew some gum, and probably leaned against the wall, but ended up right on this guy. Judging by his reaction to me last night, I don't think it's a stretch to think that he strangled the guard just for discovering his secret. Caught him totally by surprise."

Joe shook his head. "Wow."

A few moments of silence followed, the seriousness of the discussion seeping in. A well-kept secret, harmless enough when hidden, had turned deadly the moment it had been discovered. Barry tried hard not to think about his own secrets and how Iris had looked the night before.

Joe stood up. "Okay, so how do we track this guy down?"

Barry pushed his worries away. "We have a couple ideas. Now we can narrow the search to concrete businesses that buy their sand by the truckload and keep it on site, I'll check to see what kind of sand they all purchase, see if we can find a match. Also, we need to go back to the jewelry stores that were robbed and see if anyone knows anything about this guy. There has to be a connection between him and the jewelry. I don't think he's trying to fence them."

Joe's eyebrows rose again. "You don't?"

Barry shook his head. 'His reaction was so extreme; it felt like he was protecting something he loved. I think he's keeping them. For whatever reason."

Joe sighed in frustration. "Well, that's more than we had before."

The group broke up to head their different directions for the day. Joe pulled Barry aside.

"Iris didn't come home until late last night; do you know anything about that?"

Barry debated with himself for only a second. "No, no I don't. Did she seem okay?"

Joe studied him. "Not really sure."

"Well, we're supposed to go to a movie tonight. I'll let you know if she says anything."

Joe watched him as he backed towards the doorway.

"You do that."

Barry tried to look unworried as he headed to work.