Author's Note: Hey guys! Once again, sorry I didn't get this up sooner! College is kicking my ass right now XD. I had a lot of important writing assignments that I had to work on before finishing up my pleasure writing unfortunately. So this was sitting mostly-finished for the better part of a week, but I couldn't wrap it up. But it's done now! And I hope you enjoy!

Important: On a side note, I do intend for the next chapter to be the last. So I genuinely hope that you all have liked this story, and do know that I am seriously considering working on a sequel for this at some point. So if some things seem not quite completely resolved, or like there could be more to it, you know why ;)

"So you really think an interview's the best thing to do?" Barry asked Caitlin. The speedster was currently sitting at the edge of his temporary bed in the med bay, looking up at his friend and doctor. She had finished taking his vitals a few minutes ago and, deeming him okay, they had picked up the ongoing quest to figure out what to do about Barry's exposure. Iris, Joe and Cisco stood on either side of the bed, watching his reactions intently. Caitlin let out a sigh.

"It's the only thing I've come up with that makes any sense. We could set it up like a press conference. You know, let people get some of their questions and comments and concerns out, and then maybe they'll be more apt to leave you alone. But if you don't like the idea, I get it - no one's exactly fond of it," she admitted. "But we wanted to include you in the conversation, at least - see what you thought." Barry was quiet for several moments as he thought, though he smiled softly as he felt Iris place a comforting hand on his shoulder. Finally, he took a deep breath and spoke.

"I'll do it," he said.

Caitlin's eyebrows shot up, as if she hadn't exactly been expecting that answer.

"Seriously?" she asked, and Barry nodded.

"Bar, you realize people are going to have a lot of questions, right? And that the entire city will probably show up. Are you prepared to deal with that?" Joe asked skeptically, clearly worried about how the whole thing would go; Barry nodded again.

"I can handle it, Joe," he said. "If it means a chance that people will get off my back, maybe finally stop camping out in front of STAR - it's worth a shot. Joe sighed but didn't protest further; Barry had a point, and he had clearly made up his mind. Once Barry made up his mind, stopping him was practically an impossibility.

"I can work on getting that set up," Cisco announced. "Shouldn't be too hard to get the message out."

"Hell, you could just shout it out the front door and everyone in the city would know within the hour," Iris said, and Cisco couldn't help but smile at that.

"You know, that's not a bad idea," he said.

"So we're actually doing this?" Caitlin asked, eyebrows still raised. "This is really happening?" There were nods all around.

"It's happening," Barry confirmed with a sigh. "And it should happen today. I'd like for us all to eventually be able to leave the premises without being swallowed up in a sea of reporters and stray fans."

"I should call Singh," Joe spoke up again after a moment. "The police force should probably be there to monitor it, just in case things get out of hand. Or a rogue meta shows up."

Barry seemed to pale slightly at that. Of course, he knew Joe was talking in terms of taking a meta down - Barry still wasn't completely back to normal. But the speedster couldn't help but think of an alternative meaning; it hadn't slipped his mind that with his secret out, it wasn't just the good guys that knew who he was, who his friends and family were - it was the bad guys, too. He had tried his best not to think too much about that, not wanting to work himself into a panic, but it was sort of inevitable. Iris, observant as ever, did not fail to notice.

"Hey," she said softly, squeezing his shoulder gently. "It's gonna be alright, Bar," she said. Barry closed his eyes momentarily, a series of emotions flashing across his face.

"None of this is alright, Iris," he said finally, his voice slightly choked up. "None of it. The reporters, the curious people, the fans - they're just part of it. Everyone knows, criminals and rogue metas included. They know who I associate with - they'll know who to target when they want me."

"As if they haven't come after us before?" Caitlin interjected. "Barry, it's not a new thing. It happened even before everyone knew. Grodd got me and Joe at one point. Mardon and Nimbus got Joe, Tony got Iris, and Snart got Cisco," she said. "And we handled it, every single time. We have each others' backs - we look out for each other. And none of us are going to go down easily. Plus, now that the secret's out, I'm sure we're also going to have the full police force behind us," she added, attempting a reassuring smile.

Some of the color seemed to slowly start to return to Barry's face, and he took a deep breath. He still wasn't happy with the way things had gone at all, how things would run in the future. But he couldn't change anything now, and Caitlin was right: they did all look out for each other, and they had always prevailed in the end. And having the police to fall back on didn't hurt either. If anyone was going to go after the ones he loved, they weren't going to do it without one hell of a fight.

"You're right," he breathed, and gave her a small smile in return. Cisco grinned and clapped him on the shoulder Iris's hand wasn't occupying, careful of the nearly-healed stab wound, and Joe very gently ruffled his hair.

"We've got this, son," the detective said, and Barry nodded, looking fondly at everyone in the room.

"Let's get this damn thing going."

As it turned out, Iris had been completely right: all it took was Cisco shouting out the front door to get things kicked into gear, and in record time, nearly all of the people of Central City were gathered in a makeshift, cordoned-off area in the middle of Central City Park Plaza. Barry and the Team were all in one of the STAR Labs vans, parked out of the way and out of view of the public - and the speedster was nervous.

"Bar, listen to me - you're gonna do great," Iris was telling him, both hands on either of his shoulders. "I believe in you. And we're all gonna be up there with you, okay? So if there's something you feel you can't answer, we've got it. Just breathe."

Barry took a deep breath and nodded, offering Iris a slightly anxious smile.

"Okay," he said. "Okay, let's do this."

With the words said, the team jumped into action, filing out of the van and sticking close to each others' sides as they walked to where everyone was waiting. With such short notice, there hadn't been much time for the city to prepare anything, but someone had managed to scrounge up a microphone and microphone stand on a small platform for the event. And as soon as Team Flash stepped onto said platform, the huge crowd erupted into a mixture of shouts, cheers, and excited chatter. Video cameras started rolling, cameras flashing. Barry nearly shrank back from the noise, utterly unused to such a big fuss being made over him. Seeing Singh and several other familiar police officers lining the front of the platform eased his anxiety somewhat, knowing that they separated him and his friends and family from the frenzy. Normally, that would be a kind of ridiculous thing to be soothed by - he could be out of here in seconds if he truly wanted to. But he still wasn't technically supposed to be running, and there was absolutely no way he could currently handle flashing his team away as well if anything were to happen.

Taking a deep breath, he gave Singh a small, thankful smile and nod before walking slowly over to the microphone stand. If he thought the noise was overwhelming, it almost seemed more so when it all nearly immediately died down at the sight of him there, ready. He stood awkwardly for several seconds, staring out at the crowd as they stared intently back, Iris, Caitlin, Cisco and Joe's presence giving a little comfort as they stood behind him. Finally, he spoke.

"Hey, everyone," he said, rubbing the back of his neck and then dropping his hand back to his side. "Thanks, uh - for coming, on such short notice. My name is Barry Allen, but I guess you knew that." He paused again, swallowing a lump in his throat, and felt Iris reach out to grab his hand briefly, giving it a quick squeeze. It gave him the courage to take another deep breath and press on.

"So, as you all know, there was recently some rather…shocking news released to the public," he said, finding himself still unwilling to speak what had once been a close-kept secret aloud to so many people; it didn't feel right. "And I know that - that you're all kind of, well, shocked, and surprised and - you get the gist. So the point of this, I guess, is to let you guys ask some questions, and, ah, clear some things up. So - does anyone have any questions?"

It was a stupid thing to ask; of course everyone had questions. That was exactly why they were there. The words had barely left his mouth when every single hand in the crowd shot up. Barry found himself staring at them all again for several seconds, his heart pounding, that overwhelming feeling still encasing him. The only thing that got him going again was Iris once more, gently nudging his shoulder blade, a prodding to continue but also a reminder of his loved ones standing behind him.

"Uhm, blue shirt and glasses," he said, quickly choosing the first person his eyes locked on in the sea of people. The man who was chosen beamed, clearly excited to be the first person to get to talk.

"Mr. Allen, thank you, this is an honor." Barry shifted awkwardly. "My question is: how exactly did you become the Flash? Of course, we all know it had to do with the Particle Accelerator - but what other variable specifically caused your unique set of powers?" A murmur spread through the crowd in anticipation before quieting down; clearly everyone else had been wondering the same thing.

"It was lightning - and chemicals," Barry answered after a brief pause. "The, uh - the night the Particle Accelerator exploded, I was in my lab at CCPD. When I went to go close the skylight, a lightning bolt came through and hit me. The blast knocked me into a rack of chemicals, and I ended up in a coma for 9 months. And when I woke up…" Barry trailed off; everyone was smart enough to figure out the rest without him having to physically say it. He still didn't know if he could, really. It was one thing to know that everybody knew he was the Flash; it was another to admit it, to say it outright to everyone. He didn't want to, nor did he need to. It was enough information to satisfy, anyways. The man who had asked it appeared awed.

"Wow," he said. "Thank you."

Barry gave an awkward nod. "Next?" the speedster asked, and once again every hand shot straight up into the air. He scanned the crowd and picked out a somewhat professional-looking woman with a notepad, most likely from a news station.

"Uh, yeah, blonde hair in the sweater dress," Barry said, pointing in the general direction of the woman. Her face seemed to light up as well at being called upon, and she gripped her pen tighter, ready to write.

"Hi, Flash. Penny here from Channel 8 News. I was just wondering - how fast are you, exactly?" Barry relaxed slightly at the question, even managing a miniscule smile. This one was less personal than the last and, just as the man prior to her, she seemed so excited.

"I can get to a little over Mach 3 at the moment," he said, looking a bit sheepish at the looks of shock many of the faces in the crowd displayed. "And still working on improving." The woman who had asked the question beamed at him and then ducked her head down to look at her notepad, quickly starting to scribble down his answer. Before Barry could even open his mouth to ask for more questions again, hands immediately shot back up. There was no way he would have time to get to everyone, he thought, but hopefully the ones he did get to answer would serve the intended purpose of the whole event.

"Man with the purple shirt and sunglasses," Barry called out next, and watched him carefully; he didn't seem to get excited as the previous two had, and instead seemed rather serious.

"My question," the man said loudly, "Is how did the city savior manage to get himself kidnapped and beaten silly by the very metahumans your friends from STAR created and you're supposed to protect us from?"

Barry was unprepared for the accusation, the hint of anger and arrogance in the man's voice. He froze, his heart once again hammering in his chest, feeling the utter embarrassment and agony of the situation flowing back to him. He couldn't speak, didn't even know what to say - but someone, thankfully, seemed to know exactly how to respond. Everyone else had barely reacted when Iris charged forward, moving in a blink to stand in front of Barry and shoot daggers at the man who had spoken. If looks could kill, the speedster thought idly, he'd fall dead on the spot.

"You've got a lot of nerve," she seethed. "This man has worked his ass off every day to keep this city safe. Every. Single. Day. Every once in a damn while, there's going to be a bump in the road. And this particular bump, by the way, was caused when he tried to protect everyone from five angry metahumans. What do you have to say about that?"

Apparently, he had nothing else to say. He shrank back from Iris's words, quickly working on blending back in with the crowd.

"This press conference is over. Thank you for your time," Iris announce sternly after that. Noises of disappointment filtered through the people, many shouting out more questions in a last-ditch attempt.

Iris grabbed ahold of a still somewhat-stunned Barry and started to pull him gently away.

Author's Note: Wow, this is like the last time I'll get to say "until next time" for this story if all goes according to plan. I'll miss working on this! But like I said, a sequel is a large possibility, and I have plans in the work for a new story after this is done that I am super excited about! And of course, more one-shots will be on the way too. So anyways, until next time, guys!