The song for this chapter is Lord Huron - The Night We Met

Sorry for the long hiatus yall, I have a lot going on. Can we talk about WALLY FUCKING WEST APPEARING IN 2X09/THE MIDSEASON FINALE?! I actually cried!

BARRY'S POV:

"Earth to Barry." Thea waved her hand in front of my face.

My eyes settled on her. "Sorry."

She gave me an understanding look. "I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to spill the beans like that. I'll talk to Iris for you."

I shook my head. "I appreciate that, but this is my own fault. I should've told her about my training you sooner. I get it, I would be mad at me, too."

My phone rang. "Yeah?"

"Barry, you have to help us!" Linda cried.

I stood to my feet as worry set in. "Linda, what's wrong?"

"It's Iris, she's burning." She sobbed. "Wally's hurt. Toby's dead. Please, get here." She begged. "I don't know what to do. Please…"

Thea rose, concern in her eyes.

"Where are you?"

"Wertland Street, down in the Glades."

What the hell were they doing all the way out there in the crime beacon of Starling City? Was Iris fighting crime? If so, why didn't she just tell me that?

"Is Iris okay? Put her on the phone."

She cried into the phone. "I can't, she's gone. I rolled her into a puddle, but the burn damage was bad. The explosion hit her… I'm sorry. I didn't know what to do."

What Linda said didn't even register because I knew Iris could heal herself, I just didn't know to what parameters. A bullet to the head, no. A stab to the gut, yes. Where did burning fall on that scale? I couldn't even for one second let myself think she couldn't heal from this. I couldn't lose her again.

"Don't call the ambulance, I'm on the way." I hung up as I ran for the Glades.

Finding them wasn't hard, the smoke was thick in the air along with the smell of burnt flesh. My stomach rolled at the sight of Iris laying on the pavement. The heat from the burning car hit my back.

"Barry," Linda's small voice called from behind me. She was hunched over Wally, blood on her forehead. "He's unconscious. I had to pop his hip back into place." Her hand covered her mouth as she looked at Iris. "We shouldn't have come."

It was hard for me to look at Iris, she wasn't unrecognizable, but there was enough of her burnt to a crisp that I didn't think even her healing ability could repair it. Still, I had to hope.

"Barry, what do we do?"

I turned to her. "The fire department might be on their way. I'll call Cisco and get him to track their movement. We have to move the body."

Her eyes widened. "No, don't call him. He can't find out like this that Iris is dead. He's already mad at her for leaving."

I went to her, my hands on her shoulders. "What I'm about to tell you isn't going to make sense, but Iris might be okay."

"What are you talking about? She's burned beyond recognition."

I nodded. "I know,"

Even after seeing it I still felt weird about saying it. What if it was something that my mind made up to make me feel more at ease with her being a vigilante.

"But there's something she didn't tell you and it's going to sound crazy, but she can heal herself."

Fresh tears sprung to her eyes as she shook off my hands. "Barry, she's dead. You're in denial. I'm sorry, but we have to do something. We have to get Wally to a hospital and call the police, whoever did this has to be found. The coroner will take Iris and Toby." She tried to pull Wally to his feet.

My head shook. "Look, I know this sounds silly, but I'm not making this up. She showed me."

With a huff, she said, "When?"

"In another time-" I cut myself off. "Just the other day. I wouldn't lie about this, okay."

She stared me down with glossy eyes. "Fine, say I believe you. We can't just wait around for Iris to magically heal herself. Wally's hurt. Toby's truck is still in flames. What do we do?"

I reached for my phone and dialed one of two people I needed to talk to.

IRIS' POV:

I gasped awake. My head pounded as I fell back onto a hard surface. A cough wracked my body, I rolled onto my side. There was a sensation of falling until arms caught me. A stomach turning smell filled my nostrils, but I couldn't identify it.

"I gotcha."

My eyes found a hazel green pair. My stomach lurched and the remainder of its contents were by our feet as he held my hair back. I groaned as I leaned into Barry's chest with nausea overtaking me.

"What happened to me?"

He sighed. "We should get you some food or a shower. You want a shower?" He helped me stand.

The room spun and my legs gave out.

"Woah, easy." He cautioned.

I looked around the area, nothing was familiar.

"Where am I?"

He pulled me towards the bathroom. "At a friend's, now can you please get in the shower?" He pointed to a pair of fresh clothes.

My eyes went to the mirror as I let out a bloodcurdling scream.

"It's okay." Barry promised.

Horror filled me, my hands went to my face then smoothed down my burnt clothes with shaky hands. "What happened?!"

That familiar pained look returned to his face. "You…uh," He took a deep breath as he met my eyes. "You died, Iris."

My hand muffled my cries. "Oh my God."

Barry held me to him. "I'm sorry. You were already dead by the time I got there. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't go back and change time again, not when I didn't know what would've happened, not until I could see how long it took for you to come back, if you'd come back at all."

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't remember anything leading up to the events. Was that because I died?

"How did I die?"

"Maybe you should clean up first, then we can talk."

My head shook. "How did I die, Barry?"

He sighed. "There was an accident. You were close to it."

Still no recollection of that. Things were hazy.

He sat me down on the toilet, his green eyes sad. "Linda and Wally came to see you with your friend Toby. His truck was the one that exploded."

My heart pounded in my chest. "Are they okay? What happened to them?"

"Linda and Wally were a little banged up. You helped pull them out just in time." His hand grasped mine, his thumb ran circles over my hand.

Blood pumped in my ears. I felt lightheaded. "And Toby?"

"I'm sorry." He shook his head. "There wasn't enough time to save him. He was killed quickly. There wasn't anything you could've done."

"He's dead?" My chin trembled, tears pricked my eyes. "No, he can't be." I rose. "Spencer…" I fell into the sink, my breathing labored.

I let myself cry it all out for a few moments before I turned to Barry. "Did they hit anyone else?"

He wiped my tears away with his hand. "No. Linda said there was someone there, dressed in black. She said they blew up the truck, but by the time she came around they were gone."

Bits and pieces flitted back to my memory; Toby calling me to meet them, seeing the truck smoking, the person in the hoodie. My hands clenched the sink behind me so hard my fingers hurt.

"What is it?" Barry questioned.

If what little I knew about Spencer's issues were true, then this person seemed to be terrorizing her and probably Toby. I had to help her, but I needed to know what I was up against before I involved anyone else.

"Spencer. Did Linda call her?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, she's at the hospital with Wally. Joe's on his way with Cisco. I had to tell him. I couldn't reach Caitlin or Ronnie, no one can, but I'm sure they're alright."

I was going to see my dad? Was I ready for that? It had been months since I last saw him. We've talked over the phone a lot, but seeing him was different. He could tell that I still hadn't found my way. I really didn't want to disappoint him, I only had one parent after all.

"I could use that shower." I muttered.

He nodded. "I'll be in the living room." He shut the door behind him.

With a sigh, I let my gaze slid up to the mirror. It was hard to look at myself, even with my skin healing at the rate it was. I died. Barry said I died before and he went back in time. This time I came back and I couldn't help but wonder what if he didn't go back in time and things between us were better. That wasn't important right now, but it kept popping into my head. What if he had changed time when I died this time? What would have changed?

I questioned why my life had suddenly become so hard and realized that I chose this life. Sure, I could've gone to college and joined a sorority or gone traveling or who knows. But I didn't and I didn't regret that. I'm here because of me, because of Linda, because of Toby, and now those people were hurt because of me. Toby was dead because of me. If he hadn't gone looking for me maybe this wouldn't have happened. All I knew was that I couldn't sit around and do nothing. I had to help, it was my nature now.

My shower was much needed; the stench I had was going strong. If I were Barry, I would've thrown me in the shower.

The hot water washed over me, washing the dead flesh away. I had to compartmentalize everything. Toby was dead. This person in black was responsible. I had to talk to Spencer. My dad was coming to see me. I needed to see Caitlin, just talk to her even. Maybe she could calm me down. At least Cisco was on his way. I could use a good laugh right about now, but I wasn't sure I'd get one from him. I knew he was still a little upset that I left. He wouldn't take my calls, but he'd respond to a few of the many texts I sent.

My hands ran the soap through my hair, it was either body soap or axe body wash. Whose house were we in? I really didn't know all the people Barry had met while he was staying here with Oliver and Felicity. I supposed this was one of those people.

After the shower, I felt like a new person. When I wiped the mirror I looked like a new person. I was completely healed, looking like my old self. The clothes that Barry left for me were too big so I assumed his friend was a dude and now I looked like a stud. My brow rose. No, I could never be a stud…but could I like girls? I shrugged.

I found Barry talking to Oliver, Laurel, Felicity, and a stranger who I assumed this house belonged to.

Felicity ran to me. "I'm so glad you're alive." She squeezed me tight.

I gave a half grin. "Me, too."

"You gave us a scare." Oliver added with a half grin as he came to hug me.

I felt a pair of grey eyes on me. Laurel looked at me warily before averting her gaze.

What was that about?

I slid next to Barry as he introduced me to his friend. "Iris, this is Roy Harper. Roy, Iris West."

Boy was he handsome. Sharp features, built like the gods. Why was everyone around me so attractive? It made it hard to focus at times.

He extended his hand. "Never seen anyone come back from the dead before."

I shook his hand. "Well, I like to make impressive first impressions."

He cracked a grin. "Just as funny as Barry said."

I glanced at Barry. He thought I was funny? A smile formed.

"Actually, he called you snarky and sassy. Stubborn. Sexy."

Laurel cleared her throat. "Can we get to the problem at hand, Roy?" An irritation in her voice that I hadn't heard before. She stepped forward, her blonde hair up in a topknot, making her look delicate. I knew she was anything but.

"Why didn't you tell any of us about your ability?" She demanded.

"I told Barry." My eyes rolled. "Well, he already knew."

She looked to him. "How?"

He cleared his throat before looking at me. "Well, that's kind of personal."

A blush covered my entire skin, I was sure I was aflame again and I'd have to relive this whole stupid scene.

"How is that personal?" Felicity asked. "Did you hurt yourself in front of him or something?"

My hand scratched my wrist. "Well, yes and no." I wasn't sure how much of this I could tell without breaking some science rules of the universe. So I looked to Barry.

He let out a nervous laugh. "You see," He pointed between us. "Iris and I had a conversation. She told me, but she didn't remember."

Laurel rolled her eyes. "Why would any of us believe that?"

"Look, it's not a big deal. To satisfy everyone's curiosity, Barry had to change some things around and I couldn't remember that I told him."

"That's not all you couldn't remember." He muttered under his breath.

I gave him a look.

"Barry changed things, what does that mean?" Roy asked.

I punched his arm. "Yeah, Barry. What does that mean?"

He rubbed his arm. "Ow." He looked around at each of them before saying, "Long story short, Iris died a few months ago and I went back in time and changed things so it wouldn't happen." He let out a relieved sigh.

"What kind of things?" Oliver asked. Felicity nodded in question.

Barry and I looked at each other, then glanced away. "Nothing too big."

My hand flashed out and punched his arm again.

"Ow." He shot me a look.

"Sorry." I didn't mean to do that.

Everything seemed to click for Laurel before the others. "So you guys were together there, is that what you're saying?" She stared at Barry, still not meeting my eyes.

"We've talked about it. We're okay. Now, the more important issue at hand, what happened to Toby's body? Did you guys call the police?"

"No, we had to leave. There was no way we could've stayed. His body wasn't there, I'm sorry." Oliver said.

Felicity nodded. "Wally and Linda are the hospital. Linda's with them."

"Someone tried to kill you guys." Laurel muttered.

My hand pushed my hair back so it wasn't in my face. "Someone did kill one of us, they killed Toby." I headed for the door. "Someone has to pay."

Barry pulled me to him. "What are you going to do?" Distrust clearly in his green eyes.

Before I could wipe the hurt from my eyes he saw it. "I'm going to see my friends." I pulled away, still reeling from how Barry had been looking at me ever since I woke up, almost like he was afraid of me.

RONNIE'S POV:

My pulse pounded in my ears as I yanked the floor boards up with too much force, my mind ran a mile a minute. I grabbed the cash, but I knew it wasn't enough. I figured that Tribianni would want the money in full, all I needed was a little more time. My after school job didn't pay much flipping burgers. Never did I think they'd take Caitlin, especially because we haven't been hanging out lately.

"Ronnie, what's going on?" Annie asked from my doorway.

I shoved the money in duffel bag and pushed past her. "I can't talk now, Banana. I gotta go."

She followed. "Where's Cait? She stopped by here a few minutes ago."

"Stay here. Don't open the door for anyone."

She tugged on my arm. "Ronnie!"

I turned to her, a thin layer of sweat on my skin. "Cait's in danger. I have to go make sure she's okay. I'll be back in a few. Love you." I kissed her forehead then ran out the door.

ANNIE'S POV:

I started to go after him, but thought better of it. He was clearly worried, scared for Cait. I didn't know what was going on. I rushed to my room and grabbed my coat, my phone at my ear.

Jessie answered on the first ring. "Hey, I was about to call you."

"I need you to meet me." I grabbed the pocketknife Rich kept in his bedside table. "Get your bike and meet me at the CVS on 5th Avenue in ten minutes." I ran down the few flights of steps.

"Uh, okay." He said after a few moments. "Are you going to tell me what this is about?"

"When I see you I will." I hung up.

On my bike, I got to the CVS quickly. Jessie waited, worry creased on his forehead. He had his hair shoved behind his ears. He looked a little relieved when he saw me.

"What's going on, Annie?"

I huffed. "I don't know." I stopped my bike. "Ronnie ran out of the apartment like a crazy person. I think something bad happened to Cait."

His eyes widened. "Did he say what's wrong?"

My head shook. "No," Tears pricked my eyes. "I think he may be in some kind of trouble or something. I heard him and Rich whispering about it in the hall late one night. He borrowed money from some guys." I wiped at my face. "I'm pretty sure he did it to pay for my hospital bills and treatments."

His hand landed on mine. "This isn't your fault, Annie." His brown eyes understanding.

"Isn't it?" I looked away from his gaze. "I got sick and our parents didn't want me. Ronnie dropped out of school for a year to help me. He took money from bad people to help me, Jessie. How is this not my fault?"

He trailed his hand up to my shoulder and squeezed in comfort. "Because you didn't ask for any of this, it happened to you. Ronnie chose to drop out of school to help you get better. If he did borrow money from loan sharks that was his decision, too. And we don't even know if that's what's really wrong right now. You know how him and Cait can get."

My head shook as stupid tears stung my eyes again. "No, he told me that she was in danger before he left." I pulled out my phone and showed him the app. "I'm tracking his phone. I have to go help." I prepared to pull off.

He grabbed my shoulder with a lot of force. "And do what? Be in the way?" He demanded, clearly upset with me.

"I have to try, he's my brother." My eyes pleaded with his. "I don't have a lot of people that I can call my family and both Ronnie and Cait are my family. If they're in this mess because of me then I have to do something."

His brown eyes watched me with guarded eyes, his jaw clenched. "And what about me?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm your family now, too. And I'm asking you not to go chasing after them. You're only going to be in danger."

I huffed. "You can't ask me to do that."

He leaned forward. "Well, I'm asking. Please, let me call the cops." He pulled out his phone.

I grabbed it from him. "And let them arrest him? If they did something to Cait he's going to get back at them." I shook my head. "Every second I'm talking to you there's a chance that Ronnie and Cait are dead." I gave him back his phone, my eyes slid up to his. "I'm not asking you to go, I just wanted you to know that if anything happened to me that I'm really glad we became friends." I breathed out a breathless sigh as I leaned closer to him. "And I'm really thankful for you sticking up for me with the kids at school." A blush fell on my cheeks.

His sad eyes scanned my face carefully.

Before I could talk myself out of it, I reached up to plant a kiss on his mouth, long enough that it meant what I wanted it to mean. When I pulled away he stared at me with shocked eyes. I kind of figured that would be his response.

I gave a tiny grin. "Hopefully, I'll see you around." I got on my bike and rode down the street.

Not before long he ended up beside me on his bike. "I'm not letting you go alone."

CAITLIN'S POV:

A clap of thunder jolted me to attention.

The bald guy grinned at me. "Scared of a little snow storm?"

It was freezing outside. If it rained there would surely be a downpour of snow.

I huffed. "Why don't you just kill me and get it over with. If Ronnie had your money, wouldn't he have given it to you by now?"

He pursed his thin lips. "You might be onto something, but I got a feeling he'll get the money tonight. We get the money, bang him up a little, and go about our night. No harm no foul." He shrugged.

I leaned forward. "You kidnapped me!"

There was a noise from outside that drew our attention.

Baldy turned to the black guy. "Go check it out. Might be-" He was cut off by the sight of Ronnie standing in the doorway.

He held his hands in the air.

The sight of him knocked the breath out of me. Why did he show up here? He could've just called the cops.

"There's my boy." Baldy grinned.

The black guy grabbed him and shoved him in the middle of the room, then patted him down for any weapons. "He's clean."

Ronnie's blue eyes flitted to mine, they begged me for forgiveness as he handed the duffel over. "This is most of it, short a few hundred bucks. I can give the rest to you after my next pay check, I promise." His jaw clenched.

Baldy took the bag from him and handed it to the other guy. He turned back to Ronnie with a swift hook.

"Ronnie!" I tried to go to him, but the stupid handcuff prevented me from making any progress.

They were beating the crap out of him. One guy produced a knife and stabbed him in the side. He screamed in pain.

"Stop it, you're killing him!" I struggled to get free from the handcuff, the radiator heating me up as panic filled me.

Baldy looked back at me, his eyes angry. "Shut the hell up or you'll be next."

Fear ebbed in me as the thought crossed my mind that they were going to kill us either way. They were gangsters. Ronnie got involved with gangsters. What an idiot! Now we'd be paying for his mistake with our lives. God, I was going to die loving an idiot.

His face was bloody and bruised. "It's going to be okay, Cait." He groaned.

Baldy pulled a gun from the back of his pants.

My heart stopped and my eyes widened. My body felt like it was on fire.

"Sometimes you gotta teach a lesson the hard way, kid."

"Get away from him!" I warned. Ronnie met my eyes.

Baldy turned to me with a raised brow. "Or what? You gonna beat me up?" He seemed amused before he raised his gun at Ronnie.

"No!" I screeched.

My hand shot out as the lights went out. Sirens sounded in the distance, but there was something off about it.

"Go check it out!" Baldy demanded.

The police were here. We would be okay. Ronnie wouldn't die. Not tonight.

The white guy pushed two people inside after a few moments. "Look what I've found." He bragged. "They played a siren app on their phones."

My eyes adjusted to the dark, recognizing the two kids.

"I assume they belong to you?" Baldy asked Ronnie.

He sat up to see his sister and Jessie being man handled by the gangster. "What are you doing here?" He demanded. "I told you to stay home!"

"You're here because of me." She cried. "Both of you."

What was she talking about?

"No, I'm here because of me." He turned to Baldy. "Please, let them go. All of them." The lights flickered back on.

I yanked on the handcuff, I didn't care how much it cut into my wrist, I had to get free.

"Perfect how everyone that knows where you are is here. Now I can just kill all of you." He pointed the gun at me.

I froze in place.

"You leave her out of this!" Ronnie aimed his fire at Baldy.

He screamed in agony as he flailed about.

The black guy dragged Ronnie back by his neck. Gun shots came out of nowhere. I looked to my right to see that there had been a few guys high in the balcony all along, ready for a fight.

"Get down!" I warned the kids.

Annie ran for her brother, but Jessie dragged her to the side, kicking and screaming.

I prayed no bullets hit me or anyone I cared about. Now I really had to get my arm free. I put my feet against the radiator and pulled as hard as I could, in pure pain.

The gun men ascended upon us, bullets flew.

"Please, let us go!" Annie yelled. She pushed Jessie aside and ran for Ronnie who was being strangled.

One of the men aimed his gun at her, she let out a scream. Before I could understand she was about to die Jessie had her in his arms across the room in a flash. The three guys looked around in confusion until they spotted them.

"What the hell?" One of the guys said.

Ronnie managed to fend off the black guy with an uppercut, powered by the fear of his sister's life. When he charged the three guys it was his ass. This was bad. We were all going to die. Tonight.

"Get away from my brother!" Annie yelled, she swiped her arms out and the four baddies were instantly shoved against the wall, unable to move. She had a horrified look on her face.

I stared at her in bewilderment before I noticed the spot of ice a few feet from me. All I could was stare at it in question, in fear.

After a few moments, Ronnie kneeled before me, his hand on my face while the other heated up the handcuff. The hot metal against my skin didn't even burn.

"Cait, I'm sorry."

I met his blue eyes, speechless.

He yanked my arm free then dragged me along as fast as we could move. Jessie and Annie by the door.

"I already called the police on our way over here." Jessie notified us as they got on their bikes.

Ronnie sat me down on his motorcycle and got on behind me. "We have to get out of town for a few days." He told us all. "Annie, we're going to talk about this later." Brotherly contempt in his voice. "You should've listened to me."

"We saved your asses!" She challenged.

He reeved the engine and lead the way. "We'll talk about that, too."

BARRY'S POV:

With everything that happened today, everyone's emotions hung in the air. I couldn't close my eyes and pretend like everything was okay for a few hours no matter how hard I tried. Besides, there had been a nagging bead of panic in me for half the night, something I couldn't shake. Something about Iris.

Now I stood in front of her door. I knocked on it lightly. After a few moments there was no answer, so I cracked the door open just to check on her, but her bed was empty. I closed the door.

I made my way down to the kitchen for a sandwich. A lot happened today to her and her friends. She finally saw Joe after four months, saw Cisco. Funnily enough, Cisco had more issues with her than her dad. He was just angry with her for leaving, which I could understand. I called her phone but got the voicemail after a few rings. A few months ago I wouldn't have hesitated to call her until she answered, to race to find her and protect her because she needed protecting. Not anymore. Now I held confidence that she was perfectly capable of protecting herself without my help. I didn't think she was in any kind of trouble out there anyway. She probably just went for a walk to clear her head.

With my sandwich, I plopped down on the couch in the living room and waited for her to get back. My eyes became heavy after a while and I drifted off to sleep.

I rolled over to lay on my back and ended up on my ass with a thud. My eyes shot open. Where was I? I quickly recognized Oliver's hideaway house. Everything was so bright, I covered my eyes.

The voices from the kitchen drew my attention.

"Morning." I scratched the back of my head as I dragged myself to Oliver and Felicity.

They intensely watched the news on the TV sitting on the counter.

The reporter talked, but all I could focus on was the news line at the bottom of the screen: Another body mutilated in Starling City.

Unease filled me as my mind immediately went to Snart's story, and in turn went to Iris. Of course I didn't want to believe she was being controlled by anyone and there was no proof of my worry, but I was still absolutely worried about her. A lot of shady stuff had been happening with her lately, a lot of which was not her fault.

A scream ripped through the house from upstairs. I ran for her room to find her thrashing about in her bed. My heart raced as I grabbed hold of her shoulders.

"Iris!" I shook her.

She screamed again, her eyes shut tightly.

"Iris, wake up!"

Felicity and Oliver ran up the stairs.

She kicked and punched and refused to wake up.

"Flower!"

Her eyes flew open as she gasped awake.

"You're okay." I immediately reassured her. "You had a bad dream.

She panted as she hunched over, her hands covered her face.

Felicity sat beside her, she grabbed her hand in support.

I looked to Oliver, lost of what to do.

"I'm fine." Iris said, her personal mantra as of late. She met my eyes. "Really, thanks for waking me up."

Oliver nodded outside.

I followed him back to the kitchen. "I don't know what to do. Our friendship is hanging on by a thread thanks to my helping Thea – sorry- and all of this crazy shit keeps happening. I don't want to smother her, Oliver, but I don't want to lose her."

He stood with his arms folded across his shoulder, a thoughtful look on his face. "You love her, we all get that, Barry. It can be difficult to accept when someone doesn't need you as much as they used to, especially when you love them." He nodded, as if from experience. "But Iris is a strong woman, she can fight her own battles, quite literally." He paused for a moment. "You have to step back from your feelings for her, because her life isn't about you. It's about her and she needs the room to grow and figure things out on her own. You can only be there as much as she lets you."

I nodded, taking that all in. "And Thea?" I challenged him.

He stared into the distance for a few moments before gave a small grin. "That's a little different, Barry."

I patted him on the back. "No, it's not."