Barry's Choice

Author's notes:

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the Particle Accelerator in the Arrowverse, so I thought I'd release a Flash story, even if it's a crossover with Spider-Man. This is a midquel of sorts to "What If Universe's" story, "Flash and Spider-Man: Book 2 of the Spiderverse" and takes place between chapter 114 and 115. Check out his story first.

Warning: this will be quite anti West-Allen.

I spoil Scream 1 and 2 midway in this story, so be careful.


Barry Allen had a conundrum. Before the Crisis on Infinite Earths, he was married to his childhood crush, Iris West, the love of his life, his lightning rod…right? But after the Crisis, he woke up to find himself married to his ex-girlfriend, Patty Spivot. And even though he loved her up until she moved away and he had to break up with her to protect her from Zoom, he had moved on when he finally got together with Iris…right? He needed advice on who to choose, so he asked his partner in crime fighting, the Amazing Spider-Man, aka Dr. Peter Parker, to meet him at Jitters.

"Glad you could come," Barry said as he stood up to give Peter a bro-hug. "I know you and Cait are probably busy planning the wedding. Congrats again by the way. Hope you don't mind, I already ordered us coffees. Got you your Spider savior, of course."

"No problem at all and thanks for the coffee and the congratulations. But I kinda suspected you'd reach out to somebody on team SpiderFlash or the Justice League after the crisis." Peter replied.

"Geez, is that what Cisco is calling us?"

"Barry. It's about Patty and Iris, right?" Peter replied in a more serious tone, knowing Barry was trying to avoid the subject of the meeting for as long as possible.

"Yeah. I would have talked to Joe, but I think he'd be biased. He's made it clear to me, even when Iris and Eddie dated pre-crisis, that he wanted me to be with Iris."

"He was just being a good father. He knew you had a crush on her for nearly two decades."

"Yeah, he once told me that she'd only marry Eddie because she'd be swept up in the romance, but had feelings for me and would only stay with Eddie to be a good wife. You don't suppose that's what's happening with Iris now? I mean, I loved Patty when we were dating, but I moved on with Iris."

"Barry, are you asking for my permission to win back Iris?"

"Kinda," Barry said as he took out of his pocket, a small device, glowing red. "J'onn agreed to give me this if I wanted to give Iris or Patty their pre-crisis memories back. I told him to let me do it, in case either of them want to live blissfully ignorant."

Soon after their coffee arrived. Peter took a big sip, ready to unload.

"Ok, well first of all, pick Patty. I'm team Patty on this argument."

Barry was shocked to hear this. "What?!"

"Sorry, dude, I'm biased too and I think Oliver did you a solid and undid one of your biggest mistakes in your social life. And No offense to Joe, he's a good man, but he can be really dumb. Like a lot of ignorance of how the multiverse works a few years ago. Even May knew because she watched a lot of Sci-fi."

"I'll grant you on Joe, but what do you mean about the biggest mistake of my social life?"

"You never should have sent Patty away."

"But-but Zoom-" Barry stammered at this.

"Zoom already knew you dated Linda when he sent Dr. Light and he already infiltrated the team by the time you two started dating. Sending her away would have left her unguarded and more prone to her getting kidnapped or killed. And breaking up with her wouldn't have guaranteed he'd still go after her or not. Trust me, I have experience pushing away girlfriends because I thought my enemies would come after Spider-Man's girlfriend. Zoom even kidnapped Caitlin because he knew that would upset me and it did. I was too depressed to help Central City when he took your speed as well."

"But he didn't go after Patty, she was safe because I sent her away."

"You can't guarantee that. Neither of us followed up with her after she left. She could have been killed pre-crisis and we never found out and was resurrected afterwards like we both were. Granted, if Zoom did kill Patty pre-crisis, he would have certainly bragged about it to mess with you. But, I don't think you broke up with her only because of the threat of Zoom. I think you wanted to do it because of Thawne's future newspaper. You wanted what you've wanted since you were a child, for Iris to be your wife. It was comforting that the newspaper showed that you would finally achieve that dream."

"Is that such a bad thing?" Barry asked.

"It is when you delude yourself about what you want. You made it up in your head that Iris is this perfect angel. But I'm sorry, Barry, but I'm going to give you the hard, honest truth and if you're smart, you'll go back to Patty. Iris is not a good person. In the past 5 years, she's been pretty selfish. Like trying to be leader of Team SpiderFlash while you were in the Speed Force and I was working solo due to Caitlin and Frost's sabbatical. She was a terrible leader. She didn't have the experience we have and her logic for taking the position over Cisco was because she was your fiancé. By that logic, so should Caitlin. But at least Caitlin was on the team long before her."

"Oliver took direction from Felicity." Barry pointed out.

"True, and I disagree with him. But like my Caitlin example, she was helping him on his team for years, long before they started dating. Iris even tried to take initiative when you lost your memory and said we should retrain you. It'd be ok to offer suggestions and ideas, but that isn't always the job of the leader."

"Ok, I'll grant you, she shouldn't be leader, but she's a good person."

"The same woman who never told Nora the truth about you and put a chip in her, in secret, to dampen her powers? And from what you've told me about the Speed Force, I doubt they would like that she did that to Nora."

"She had a good reason for hiding Nora's powers."

"Barry, I'm about to be a father before you and I don't plan to do even half the things Iris did to Nora that I'll do to Tommy or Tina. I'll dampen their powers by having them wear dampeners as accessories, but I actually plan to reveal it to them when they're ready. They're going to have powers. I let Frankie have the choice to use her powers and I plan to do the same for the twins."

"But that future is never going to happen now."

"But shouldn't it scare you that Iris has that potential? Plus, Thawne controlled you for well over a decade. You're really okay with Iris doing the same to your own daughter. But back to the whole leadership thing. It shows that she doesn't see you as an equal and doesn't respect you, just a boy toy to boss around. The signs were there that she wasn't good for you. She would make fun of you."

"She would tease me, that's common in relationships."

"You guys once told us that when hearing you talk about the science of the Particle Accelerator, that meant you needed a girlfriend, even though we both have known women who also love science. She also said that seeing the particle accelerator was your sad little nerdy dream."

"So, we're different, you have heard of opposites attract, right?"

"She doesn't have that much in common with Eddie either, yet they were a couple before and now. She even stated she would've chosen Eddie everytime. She only chose you because she wanted that comfort that she'd be married in the future. But I think there's another reason. She's not in love with Barry Allen, she's in love with the Flash.

"Peter, that is my wife you are-" Barry began to say, a little pissed.

"She's not your wife anymore. Oliver changed that." Peter replied, calmly.

"If Oilver knew all this, then why didn't he tell me when he was alive. Hell, he was the best man at my wedding and got married to Felicity when Dig later double married us!"

"Maybe he saw more of your relationship when he became the Spectre, he may have become omnipotent. Maybe saw things like how she was so selfish and bitter, she was willing to let you stay in the Speedforce and was angry you left"

"But I abandoned her!"

"Barry, you did the right thing. If Jay or Wally went back in instead, you would have blamed yourself, seeing it as a product of Flashpoint. But by going into the Speedforce, you saved the lives of thousands, maybe millions. Because that's what we do, we're heroes. I'm Spider-Man and you're The Flash, not her. You two are not the Flash together, just like neither Caitlin or Frost are Spider-Man along with me. She should have kept your social life and Superhero life separate. But the biggest and last point I'm going to make is how both she and Patty reacted to discovering your identities."

"Iris was my best friend for the longest time and she was right to be angry!"

"I knew Aunt May all my life and hid that I was Spider-Man a lot longer than you had hid your Identity from Iris. But Aunt May not only figured it out a long time ago, she let me continue to lie, knowing I was trying to protect her. She was more proud I was helping, than anything. Patty was the same, She wasn't angry that you lied, she was understanding. It tells a lot about her character. Iris also tried to ruin your relationships with Linda and Patty and she was dating people during those times as well." He sighs out a big exhale. He had kept a lot of it inside himself and was glad to finally clear the air.

"Look, you can ignore me or you can go back to your home and at the very least, take Patty on a date." Peter continued. "If you're still unsure afterwards, give Iris her memories back. But that may not be a guarantee she'll leave Eddie if she does. If you don't want to be my friend after this, I'm sorry about that. But, I'll always be your partner in crime fighting."

Peter took another long sip and finished his coffee and left a generous tip before leaving the cafe. Barry pondered Peter's words. Was he right about Patty and Iris? Barry decided to walk back to his apartment. Something that he used to take for granted before he got his speed. There was something relaxing about going slow for a change. Something about Peter's examples of Iris' bad behavior brought out a memory only he and Iris knew.

After coming out of the Speedforce to get his Speed back after Zoom stole it and kidnapped Caitlin, Barry went to visit his mother's grave for the first time since her funeral. He brought Iris with him. There, she said that both her mom and Barry's were not perfect mothers and were not there for their children. Barry must've ignored the comment at the time and blocked it due to his crush. But how could Iris say that?! Iris' mom abandoned her, Barry's mom was murdered. It reminded Barry of "Scream," when Billy Lommis made the same comparison. But like Barry, Sidney's was murdered (By Billy and his friend, Stu Macher), while Billy's abandoned him, like Iris' (though unlike Iris, she didn't return to get revenge for her child's death, like Mrs. Loomis in the sequel).

Barry was starting to see what Peter was talking about, he didn't love Iris, he was just obsessed with her and believed Iris was too, but not in a healthy way. Their relationship was toxic. Barry then runs to Hub city, to the roof of an apartment building where he can see into Iris and Eddie's apartment window, the two were having dinner.

"Iris," Barry says to himself, knowing he can't to her. "We don't belong together. Peter gave me some advice and he was right. We're not good together. The night my mom died, you held me as I cried and I will always love you for that. But you're not that girl anymore. You've become selfish and disrespectful. Oliver did a good thing breaking us up. We can have a new chance at life. You with Eddie…and me with Patty. My biggest regret is that this will mean Nora will never exist. But I can't be with you for a potential child. Also, I'm pretty sure being with Eddie means, he didn't end up with the woman who would also be Eobard's descendant. Your marriage to Eddie may be what finally defeated the Reverse Flash. But that's also not a reason to not be together, even if it is a benefit. I need to follow my heart."

In Iris and Eddie's apartment, Iris takes a look out the window, thinking she saw something out of the corner of her eye. But finds no one out her window.

"You okay, Iris?" Eddie asked?

"Yeah, I'm good. " She replied, going back to eating.


"Are you ok? It's been hours since you left for your coffee date with Peter. I tried calling, but you ignored me." Patty Spivot asked Barry as he returned to their apartment.

Barry, didn't say anything for a few seconds, just lost in her beauty for the first time in years. "I'm sorry, I just needed to think."

"Barry, are you ok? You haven't seemed like yourself around me since your battle with the Anti-Monitor."

"You haven't done anything wrong. It's just…a lot of things have changed recently that I'm still getting used to. But I want to rectify that. Will you go on a date with me tomorrow?" He asked, a little shyly.

Patty chucked, not expecting that. "Of course, we can."

"Great, how about the restaurant we went to on our first date."

"You mean when you were blinded by Doctor Light and you had to have Cisco help you from the van with a camera in a pair of sunglasses?" She teased.

It then dawned on Barry that their relationship would be different than before. This Patty knew he was the Flash and his exploits. But unlike Iris, he was confident that Patty loved all of him.


A Month Later

The date with Patty was great. He told her about Crisis and his prior marriage to Iris. The honesty helped them and their relationship only continued to thrive anew. Unfortunately, Barry being a paragon, he didn't have the years of memories of their domestic bliss. Which is why, a few days ago, he asked Patty to renew their vows. They agreed to make it small and personal, especially since Peter and Caitlin were still planning their wedding and had just sent out the RSVP's. So Barry and Patty asked most of Team SpiderFlash (Peter, Caitlin (and technically Frost), Cisco, Kamilla, Ralph, Miles, and Frankie) to join them in dress clothes one Saturday afternoon.

"Thank you all for coming," Barry greeted them in the Cortex.

"And I thank you, man. Are we waiting for Joe and Cecile?" Cisco asked.

"I thought of that and as much as I'd want him here, Joe would want Iris and Wally here and it would be just awkward."

"Yeah, it would be very awkward to have the technical ex-wife here." Frost said, after transforming and said before turning back, "Also, thank you Caity for not wearing a pink dress!"

"We just wanted our close friends here," Patty said.

"Even us?" Miles and Frankie said in unison.

"Yeah, I know you two are more on the "Spider" side of Team SpiderFlash, but we've fought alongside each other for a few years. You're part of this family." Barry told them.

"Well, are you guys getting an officiant to come or did someone here become a reverend online?" Ralph asked.

"I actually asked Peter to do it, he's part of the reason we're doing this."

"Thanks, man," Peter thanked before the two men shared a bro hug. He was glad that the blunt honesty from the other day didn't ruin their friendship.

Peter then stood in front of the mannequins that stored His and Barry's suits. With Batty and Patty standing in front of him and looking at each other and holding hands and the rest looking at the couple and officiate.

"Well, most of this I got from TV and what not, but we are gathered here today to renew the marriage vows of Barry Allen and Patty Spivot. I understand you both have written your vows. Barry?"

"Patty, I thought I knew love. But for the few months I remember dating you and the help of Peter and Oliver, I found what I was missing. You don't take advantage of my love for your own needs. I have found in you, someone who sees me as an equal respects me and who I view and do the same. I promise to love you and not obsess over you, to be a good husband, and to never push you away again." Barry tells Patty.

"And Patty?" Peter asked, a little misty eyed.

"Barry, even before I found out you were a hero, I liked you. When I did find out, it made sense. You're one of kindest, most earnest men I've ever known. It only makes sense that once you'd get superpowers, you'd use them to help people. I promise to love you and help you when it comes to helping others. To respect you as a hero and person, as you would do for me." Patty replied to Barry.

"Well then, with the power vested in me by the Internet, I now re-pronounce you husband and wife. Barry, you can kiss the bride." Peter told the couple before they complied and kissed as Team SpiderFlash applauded.

"So what now? Team lunch at some fancy French restaurant?" Ralph asked. Everyone looked at him for his rudeness.

"Honestly, I'm craving Big Belly Burger." Patty said to everyone's amusement. As they laughed at her levity of the situation, she leans in to Barry's ear and whispers, "But maybe Paris for our second honeymoon."

She faces him again and smiles as he's smiling back and blushing.


Author's notes: Don't know yet if I'll include another chapter. So for now, this will be a one-shot. At the very least, I'll do a spinoff. This could be considered cannon with "Flash and Spider-Man: Book 2 of the Spiderverse." But it certainly is cannon with my other story, "Four Peters Vs. the Sinister Six."