an: takes place throughout 1x22, "Rogue Air"
guide: Plain text is Iris. Italics are Flash. Bold italics mean Barry.
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Part Seven
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Today (10:13a)
That was rude
(10:14)
It was honest at least
(10:16)
It was still rude. Unnecessarily blunt and crass and you're acting like you have it all figured out, but you don't, Barry. You don't know any more than I do about what to do in this situation so let me tell you right now that going off on me does not help anything. If anything, it actually makes this more difficult. More complicated and frustrating because it's bullshit.
(10:16)
Bullshit?
(10:18)
Yes! You don't like the way I'm handling all of this so you're just trying to reinforce everything you know. Repeating over and over how I supposedly feel about you, but here's the thing — I get to say that. Not you.
(10:20)
I don't want to hear you, or my dad, or anyone else tell me that I love you, Barry. My feelings, my (current) experience, my words. [[MORE]]
(10:21)
Fine
(10:21)
Good
(10:22)
Do you want to hear my words?
(10:23)
Not right now, no
(10:24)
Fine. I've got spaces to search
(10:26)
Come by the house later?
(10:26)
Just tell me when
(10:28)
And Barry?
(10:29)
Yeah?
(10:30)
I'm sorry for putting all that on you. If Wells does something else, it's not your fault. None of what he does is on you.
(10:32)
Thanks.
(10:32)
And I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have gone off like that.
(10:33)
Or told me how I felt?
(10:34)
That too. You're the only one who knows, and it's your moment — shouldn't try to take that from you or force it when it's not there. I just… this isn't any easier for me, Iris.
(10:35)
Tell me about it tonight?
(10:36)
Maybe
(10:37)
Okay. I'll let you know when to head over
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(6:00p)
Can you meet me at Jitters tonight? Just for a little bit?
(6:02)
Time?
(6:04)
I'm here now, so whenever you can get over here
(6:05)
[I just want to send lightning bolt emojis right now but they're not red. Be there in a flash~]
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(6:15)
I kind of had hoped to be able to talk longer
(6:16)
I know Cisco has some theory about Wells and his wheelchair. I'll be back
(6:20)
It's fine, just, um, I'm walking around with labels that have my name next to my missing boyfriend's and I'm not even sure why I have them with me. Like, what sort of self-torturing, masochistic bullshit is it to just stare at them in different spaces? I want to throw some out because there's really no point in having that many labels, you know? 2000 is ridiculous. But throwing them out feels like I'm saying there's not a future, like we couldn't have all these things to send out. I mean, who knows?
(6:23)
We could get married one day and need to send hundreds of thank you cards and invitations. That could use labels. Or we could send everyone a copy of the paper from the first time I get a story that has absolutely nothing to do with the Flash. Or…
(6:26)
I dunno, send out a bunch of letters just giving other people labels because we don't need 'em anymore because he's still missing. I keep asking myself, at what point should I tell his family? When do I contact his old college friends and make sure they know that he isn't just ignoring their event invites but that I don't know his laptop password so I can't respond with a No?
(6:28)
Should I have Cisco hack into his computer? Just to keep people from worrying too much?
(6:30)
Cisco's gonna be a little busy. We kind of had a breakthrough over here.
(6:31)
Wells is charging up the particle accelerator. Get over here asap
(6:32)
Holy shit, I'm on my way.
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(6:45)
He's here! Barry, Eddie's here too.
(6:45)
We found him :'D
(6:45)
but um that's not all I found
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(10:05p)
I'm watching him sleep, Barr. And he's right next to me, but it's like….
(10:08)
I expected him to be beaten or bruised, but he's just quiet. All clipped responses and no hint of that light that used to be there when he looked at me.
(10:10)
But it's not like when Everyman was pretending to be you, that was just like I wasn't there, but this is… a different sort of hollow, like he sees me but it's not completely me that he sees, like there's something else right in between us.(10:12)
It's understandable of course. People change. After stuff like this, after bad stuff happens with impossible villains who act like scientists for fifteen years. People change. But at least I have him home. Right?
(10:13)
Right.
(10:15)
Right. It's just the first night. It'll be better tomorrow. We'll talk, and he'll see that I'm still here for him, just like I was before.
(10:17)
…you said something about finding something else, with him, what was it?
(10:19)
I shouldn't have said that. It's kind of a thing that Eddie and I should talk about first.
(10:20)
Of course
(10:22)
What happened after we left? With Wells?
(10:24)
He reactivated the accelerator! He's fully charging it up and turning it on for who knows why, and now we have to find a way to save all the metas down there. I think we have to move them
(10:26)
Where would you take them? How would you take them?
(10:27)
If Joe can get a police escort, we can get them to Lian Yu — private island that they would never be able to get off of
(10:29)
Lifetime imprisonment?
(10:30)
Don't say it like that. We can still figure out how to take their powers eventually, then they can go to Iron Heights or something. But for now, we just need them to be safe
(10:32)
You can't just knock them out, or strip them of their powers long enough for them to be out of the way of a blast?
(10:34)
We have, at most, 33 hours until the accelerator is back online. We can't reverse engineer something for each of them in that time.
(10:36)
But haven't you come up with something for each of them before? You brought each of them down, so you've got something.
(10:37)
Nothing that can last as long as we need it to. We don't know how long Wells is gonna terrorize us, and having them here won't make it any easier.
(10:39)
Okay, so they've got be moved.
(10:40)
But a police escort is gonna be impossible. No way Cecile lets it happen if she knows what it's for.
(10:41)
What if you take them? Like you knock them out with whatever Caitlin can kick up, then you flash them over, one at a time to whatever you're transporting them in?
(10:42)
That sounds kind of… risky, I don't know
(10:45)
It doesn't take you long to run between cities, Barr. You could make a drop on your own and be back in so much less time than a vehicle would take, and that's even with the added weight slowing you down or needing to take stops. Just think about it.
(10:46)
I could think about it. Hey, you okay over there?
(10:47)
I have to be
(10:48)
You don't have to be anything more than you are. And they say that being honest with yourself when you're helping someone is one of the best ways to help the both of you. Don't push aside your feelings because he's going through something too
(10:50)
Thanks, Barr. I just miss him, and I thought that when he got back, I wouldn't feel like this. Like
(10:53)
Like?
(10:56)
Sorry, he woke up and saw me. He doesn't seem happy about the texting. I'll talk to you tomorrow.
(10:57)
Night, Iris
(10:58)
Night, Barr
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(9:23a)
He left without even waking me up. I mean, he woke me up while getting ready, but he just kept going, didn't even try to talk to me.
(9:25)
Maybe he can't?
(9:28)
But I can help him. If we have this great relationship and this amazing love or whatever else he was saying on that bridge two weeks ago, then why the fuck can't he look at me? What happened to him, Barry?
(9:29)
Only he can answer that
(9:31)
Well he needs to.
(9:32)
Iris, you can't force him to talk to you if he's not ready. You know that.
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(9:40a)
Iris, tell me you won't push him.
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(9:45a)
Iris?
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(10:00a)
He probably knows something about what Wells is up to. Eddie has answers that could help us, and helping us — helping save Central City and take down the person who kidnapped him? Yeah, that'll make up for anything that happened.
(10:02)
…I can't talk you out of this, can I?
(10:03)
Nope!
(10:04)
Don't worry, I'll be subtle. Totally supportive and approachable.
(10:05)
Any chance you know where he is?
(10:06)
Joe saw him at CCPD.
(10:07)
Seriously?
(10:07)
Workaholics, I swear.
(10:08)
You know that's not it
(10:10)
I know, I just thought making a joke would go over better than mentioning how he's instantly distancing himself from me and whatever he just went through.
(10:11)
Guess it didn't
(10:12)
:)
My unsolicited advice? Remind him that you're there and then let him take the space he needs for whatever he needs to work through. He loves you, Iris. He'll open up eventually
(10:14)
Remember when we were kids and we played hide and seek?
(10:14)
At your house?
(10:15)
Yeah, Joe flipped out when he found out about it. Grounded us both, took off work for a few days.
(10:18)
I didn't wait until you were ready to talk then, Barry. I just followed you into it. I stuck it out and went where you needed to take it. And this is definitely not the same situation, but I think that strategy worked for me then, so why not now?
(10:19)
Can't really argue with that logic. One request though?
(10:20)
Don't play hide and seek in the accelerator.
(10:21)
~ no promises ~
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(11:13a)
What else do you know about the future?
(11:14)
Not much
(11:15)
So you don't know anything about me? Or… us?
(11:16)
What did Eddie say? What did Wells say to him?
(11:18)
So you do know?
(11:19)
I don't know what I know, Iris. What do you know?
(11:21)
You're a shitty liar, Barry, even over texts. Did you know about the ring too?
(11:22)
Iris, please don't do this. Please don't push at me because of what someone else said.
(11:23)
Answer my questions, and there's no push
(11:25)
Eddie told me about the ring. It's what he wanted at the waterfront, and he was going to propose and keep you safe from Wells while we tried to take down the Reverse Flash.
(11:27)
But the Reverse Flash kidnapped Eddie instead and told him all about the future where apparently Eddie and I don't get married.
(11:28)
We do.
(11:29)
We do.
(11:30)
How long have you known?
(11:31)
gosh, uh… months?
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(12:00p)
You said be honest
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(1:43p)
Captain Cold? That's your back up plan?
(1:44)
Joe told you?
(1:46)
You should've told me! God, Barry, what the fuck? Transporting them yourself isn't a good idea but working with a villain is? He kidnapped Cisco!
(1:48)
But he has a code of honor that can help us out here. He and his sister are going to get the metas to the air field, and everything is going to be great. They'll be safe, and that's five more lives that aren't completely ruined by Wells and his evil doing
(1:50)
OR that's five metas released into the world because Snart comes up with something a little more profitable than sending them away.
(1:51)
Like what?
(1:53)
Like releasing them and having them in his debt. It'd be perfect, and he'd get what he wanted from you and what he can get from them in the future.
(1:54)
He won't do that
(1:55)
And what if he does?
(1:56)
I don't know
(1:56)
You don't know?
(1:57)
Nobody knows, Iris. We'll find out when we get there.
(1:58)
Cisco's got a truck that can dampen their powers, and then we just need to get it there.
(2:00p)
You don't need them, and the more they know about your plan and how this works, the more they can sabotage it without you even knowing it's coming
(2:01)
I'm smart too, okay? I know to be on my lookout
(2:02)
But you don't have a contingency plan. You can't stop a cold gun, Barry.
(2:03)
Not everyone works with contingency plans. Oliver doesn't, Cold doesn't, so why can't I just do what needs to be done and be done with it?
(2:05)
Because that's not who you are, Barry, and the more you try to act like it is? You're gonna make mistakes, and it's gonna cost a lot more than a grounding
(2:07)
You don't think I know that?
(2:09)
I think you're ignoring it. Just come up with a plan with me, please.
(2:11)
I guess… I could really only see a problem with the truck. So, if we make sure that there's nothing that can happen to the truck, then we shouldn't have a problem. If maybe, we can get Cold's gun to be with Joe or Caitlin, and if Cisco builds some kind of fail safe for the dampener?
(2:13)
Then nothing they try can release the metas.
(2:14)
And we can have our back up protection with the cold gun and just drop them all off.
(2:16)
Good, and maybe by the end of this day, we'll all solve our problems
(2:17)
Let me go tell Cisco the new plan
(2:18)
Fingers crossed
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(4:30)
Snart tried double crossing us, but we had the truck reinforced. Had to knock out him and his sister to keep them from trying something worse, but the metas are on the plane. We got something right.
(4:32)
And Dad didn't have to say, I told you so
(4:33)
He said it with his eyes, esp. when Snart tried to free the metas.
(4:34)
What's up on your end?
(4:38)
I want to talk to Eddie again but I don't even know what to say. He… basically broke up with me this morning because of this idea of the future, but it's not like that future is guaranteed. Nothing is. I mean, you've changed time multiple times before, changed the whole of the world, and who's to say that it can't happen again?
(4:40)
I'm not saying that I don't like the idea of maybe being married to you one day, Barry, but I want to find it on my own, you know? I want to craft my own future rather than listening to the rantings of a guy who tried to kill my best friend's mom.
(4:42)
For all we know, he could've said that for this specific reason — to break up me and Eddie, to spin everything into this distracting mess so that he could get away with whatever it is that he's trying to do. I'm not letting him win. I'm not letting someone else's opinions of the future, or my relationship, or me matter anymore.
(4:43)
My heart, my words.
(4:43)
I decide who I love and when I love them.
(4:45)
You're really something, Iris
(4:47)
Tell that to Eddie
(4:48)
I'm sure you'll tell him yourself :)
(4:49)
I'm actually on my way up to CCPD right now, so… update you later?
(4:50)
Just tell me when
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(5:01p)
And Barry?
(5:02)
?
(5:02)
That's not a bad future. Just, not the right present. If that makes sense
(5:03)
Yeah, unfortunately for me, it does
(5:05)
I gotta go
(5:06)
I know
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(9:14p)
We got him, Iris. Oliver and Ronnie and Stein, they helped me take him down once and for all!
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(9:30p)
Eddie and I broke up. Officially.
(9:30)
Guess I really don't need those labels, huh?
(9:32)
I'm so sorry. Do you need me to come over or?
(9:34)
I think I'm gonna turn in early. Celebrate for me? Take another shot with my name on it :)
(9:35)
I don't know if this a shot kind of celebration
(9:36)
Well, I've got a whole bottle of wine in my fridge that's definitely what I need tonight.
(9:38)
Drink water too?
(9:39)
I'll put a bottle by my bed for the morning
(9:40)
Text me if you need anything
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(11:03p)
Company. I don't really want to be alone anymore
(11:04)
Be right there
(11:05)
Should I knock or?
(11:05)
Just get in here, Barry.
(11:06)
Okay. okay
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