[hr] [hr] [center] [color=f7976a][h3]T H E F L A S H[/h3] [b]Revelations:[/b] [sup][i]NOT FAST ENOUGH[/i][/sup][/color] [/center] [hr] [hr] Iris placed her money on the counter before picking up her coffee and taking a sip. The caffeine no longer did anything for her, other than a momentary rush. Her metabolism burnt through it far too fast for it to have any lasting effect. She couldn’t argue with the taste, especially as going for coffee was a central part of life in Central City. While people in Star or New York tended to head out to bars or clubs Central City revolved around it’s coffee places. There was something about the rush that the denizens of the city loved. Iris sat down across from Barry, she sat down right in his line of sight but he seemed to be staring through him. [color=f7976a]“Barry.”[/color] She reached over and snapped her fingers. [color=f7976a]“Earth to Barry, you in there Barry?”[/color] She chuckled slightly as he seemed to regain focus. [color=f7976a]“You okay there?” [/color] He shook his head. [color=fff79a]“Yeah… yeah I’m okay. Just thinking about City Hall.” [/color]She reached over and put her hand on top of his, squeezing it slightly. [color=f7976a]“It can’t have been easy, is everyone okay?” [/color] [color=fff79a]“Yeah, Pattys still in the hospital but they say she’ll make a full recovery. She took on a lot of water but they’ve managed to drain it out of her lungs. She’ll still be in pain for a while though.”[/color] A look crossed his face and just then she noticed how much Patty being injured had wounded him, and how distraught he was. She felt a slight pang in her chest, was she jealous? What was she jealous about if Barry was dating Patty he would have told her by now, not that it mattered if they were dating. She didn’t care… did she? He must have noticed the look on her face, as he raised an eyebrow as he looked at her. [color=fff79a]“What’re you thinking about?”[/color] She shrugged as she pulled her hand back to take a sip of coffee, wanting to break the contact as really she had no idea what was going on with her feelings right now. [color=f7976a]“Just thinking about this [i]Hydro-man[/i] guy. I know I’ve faced a couple of super criminals, but none of them have had… abilities like me. I can’t just disarm him like I could Weather Wizard and Heatwave, or punch him in the face like I did Trickster. This is a different kind of threat, you saw him. Whenever I hit him he just turned back to water. I couldn’t make any ground.”[/color] She sighed. [color=f7976a]“It’s not been a good week for me.”[/color] Barry gave her a look and she could have practically melted right then and there. [color=fff79a]“You’ll get there Iris, I mean you have to remember we’re learning this as it goes. It’s not like the lightning bolt came with an instruction manual for you, I mean look at all you’ve learned already. You can run up the side of buildings, create vortexes and run on water. There’s no telling what’s next, we’ll figure it out. You’ll get faster, stronger and these threats-”[/color] He snapped his fingers [color=fff79a]“-will be over before they even begin. Because you, Iris West are the most amazing person that I know.”[/color] She smiled a meek smile back at him. [color=f7976a]“We still need to figure out what this guy wants, and how to stop him.”[/color] He arched an eyebrow. [color=fff79a]“Off the record?”[/color] She took her pen out of her pocket and slid it over to him. [color=f7976a]“On my word as a Superhero, none of this will be quoted for the news.”[/color] Iris smirked as Barry let out a short chuckle. Sometimes she forgot what her normal life had been like a couple of months ago, where Barry was the one that solved crime and all she did was dig up the story to tell people about it. Now, she did both. It took some serious getting used too. [color=fff79a]“So we were investigating the murder-” [/color] [color=f7976a]“Of Alex Raymond.”[/color] She nodded. [color=fff79a]“-Do you want my help or do you want to keep interrupting me?”[/color] She mouthed her apology. [color=fff79a]“Okay, so last night Alex Raymond was killed. When we checked out his body on the scene it appeared to be blunt force trauma, there was water all over his office and yet the sprinkler system hadn’t been triggered. At the time we wondered where it came from, though I guess we know that now. We tried to get the mayor to use some other offices for today but he refused. Me and Patty were in the midst of talking to him about the fact that Raymonds laptop was missing when Hydro burst into the room and took us hostage. The strange thing is, after you saved us I went back into Alex Raymonds office and all the water was gone. It’s as if Hydros body had been scattered across the room, and he had reconstructed himself.”[/color] She nodded along to his story. [color=f7976a]“Maybe he found a way to damage Hydro.”[/color] It was just a theory, but it still left massive holes to be filled. Barry merely shook his head. [color=fff79a]“There was nothing in that office that could have possibly done that to him. If it was someone else, why would they go to all the effort of breaking Hydro apart and then just leaving the pieces of him there?”[/color] [color=f7976a]“Maybe it was a vigilante like that [i]Punisher[/i] guy in New York-”[/color] A look of confusion crossed Barry's face. [color=f7976a]“-Guess you haven’t had time to catch up with the news, huh? Cop gone rogue, murders entire rooms of gangsters. Very Rambo.”[/color] [color=fff79a]“That doesn’t make sense either, to do that he would have had to known that Hydro was going to be there, if he had known that why try and kill Hydro [i]after[/i] Raymond was already killed?”[/color] Barry ran his hands over his face, he was tired. Exhausted, and Iris could easily tell that he hadn’t slept. [color=fff79a]“None of this makes any sense.”[/color] That’s when something clicked for Iris, like puzzle pieces connecting. [color=f7976a]“Wait a second, you said that Raymond was killed by extreme blunt force trauma?”[/color] [color=fff79a]“Yeah?”[/color] The confusion on his face was obvious, god he needed sleep. Usually he either pieced these things together first, or at best at the same time as she did. [color=f7976a]“What if it wasn’t a hero, or a vigilante? What if it was a [i]competitor?[/i]” [/color]Barry scratched his chin slightly, Iris could see the hairs starting to peak out to form a shadow. [color=fff79a]“That’s possible, Raymonds clothes were decidedly dry. After your fight with Hydro there was water [i]everywhere[/i].”[/color] [color=f7976a]“I know, I had to go dry off before I could change out of the suit.”[/color] [color=fff79a]“You do realise the problem with this though? If you're right, you’re not hunting one metahuman but-”[/color] [color=f7976a]“I’m hunting two.”[/color] Just brilliant Iris, double your workload why not. It was bad enough that you had one to catch, that you couldn’t stop now you have a second and you don’t even know who it is. Barry stood up. [color=fff79a]“I better get going to the lab, if we need to find out who this other guy is, I need to do my research. You on the other hand-”[/color] He looked like the next words were going to cause him physical pain [color=fff79a]“-should go see Doctor Wells at S.T.A.R labs. I can’t think of any ideas on how to deal with Hydro right now I just…”[/color] He sighed. [color=fff79a]“I need to get back to my lab, where I know what I’m doing. It’ll help me focus.”[/color] She stood up and before he knew it, or she had really thought about it, Iris embraced him in a hug. Realising she held it for maybe a [i]little[/i] too long, as he had already removed his arms she pulled back awkwardly. [color=f7976a]“Everything's going to be okay Barry. We’ll get these guys, and then we’ll get Zoom.”[/color] [color=fff79a]“I’m not worried about Zoom.”[/color] The lie was obvious, his voice quaked and his eyes stayed cold. Barry Allens eyes were never cold, they always had such warmth in them. [color=f7976a]“Barry-”[/color] He just raised his hand to her. [color=fff79a]“Not now Iris, I need to go.”[/color] She hung her head, not looking at him. Her voice low, and weak. [color=f7976a]“Okay then.”[/color] A weak smile crossed her face as she saw him walk away. Iris wouldn’t admit it, but she was worried for him. First Zoom appeared, and now whatever was going on with Patty. Maybe it was time to visit the Allen household, it had been a while since she had checked in with Henry. He’d know if there was something bothering Barry, turning to go towards the suburbs where their house was she sighed as a police car went passed sirens blaring. Her chat with Henry would have to wait, the Flash had a job to do.