[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 sat at the table. Fiddling with the old flip phone in her hands, she flinched as she heard a noise behind her and realised it was just Henry with a cup of coffee for her. She smiled kindly at him as he placed the mug in front of her. "Barry should be here any second now-" She chuckled. "He's just running late." She interrupted. She knew the feeling, she was starting to turn into him with the amount of times she was late to things these days, not by any plan or design. Just no matter how fast she ran to solve problems there were always plenty of them to solve, even now she had to resist sending a text to the number that Superman had given her. Iris was confident in her resolve, she was the fastest woman alive. She had [i]proven[/i] that. She had raced across the world and punched a cosmic being so hard that he had turned from an almost omnipotent being that had comfortably faced both her and Superman. Arguably two of the most powerful beings on the planet, hell she doubted that Wonder Woman would have made the fight any easier. "How has he been recently? He's seemed... distant." She broke her reverie, she had other things to worry about. With the attack on City Hall, at the crime scene he had been investigating and the revelation that the Man in Yellow, Zoom. Actually existed. Her mind raced through thousands of variations, who could he be? "Yeah well, you know Barry. Carries the weight of the world on his shoulders, he needs to learn that not even Superman could do that." Henry chuckled. "You've seen the news, written the articles. Not even he can do everything by himself, hell him and the Flash worked together to defeat that... what's the news calling him?" "The Silver Surfer." "Yeah that guy. I reckon the Flash ended it, apparently it's been released that a streak similar to the Flash was seen in Egypt, Spain and several states before an explosion resounded through the badlands. I have to admit,the idea that she can run that fast is pretty impressive." He sat down and sighed. "It makes me wonder what would have happened if she had been alive when Nora was killed, would she have helped?" Iris placed a reassuring hand on Henrys. "I'm sure she would have done everything possible to stop the man in yellow." Henry looked wistfully through to the sitting room, the same room in which she had been killed years ago. Iris had asked Barry before why Henry hadn't moved house, why he insisted on coming back to the house that had effectively ended his life. He had told her that Henry didn't want to let that moment define him, or the home or the good memories that the house held for him. Such as when he and Nora first got married, when Barry was born and his first steps. Iris had to respect that if nothing else. "Yeah. I'm sure she would have, you any closer to figuring out who she is?" Her heart skipped a beat. Why did Henry think that she'd be trying to figure out who the [i]Flash[/i] was? "I uh, what? Why would I be doing that?" "It'd be the scoop of the century, at least for Central City. The secret identity of the Flash. I'm sure it's somebody nobody would expect." "Well that's probably the point, besides she does a lot for the city. I don't think it's right for us to try and take her identity and force it out there. She's probably trying to protect people close to her." Just before she got into even more awkward territory she heard the door open. “Dad!” Iris couldn’t help but feel her heart lift as she heard her best friends voice, she wished she could have just sped over to him and started talking to him about what had happened however she needed to keep up with appearances. Henry had been throwing side glances at her when he thought she wasn’t looking, so he knew something was up. Likely just noticing that her movements were jerky and fluid, though she was still in some deal of pain. He could put that down to whatever he wanted to though, Iris wasn’t about to go revealing her secret to her best friends [i]Dad[/i]. Her own dad didn’t even know, and he wasn’t going to know if she could ever help it. She turned to look at her friend, and while it had taken less than a second for her spirits and hopes to lift from hearing his voice. Seeing him in the doorway holding the hand of the blonde she had saved, Patty Spivot. Taller than her, blue eyes in contrast to Iris’ own green. Where were these feelings coming from? It scared her. Iris had never regarded Barry as more than a friend but now, she was faced with all these conflictions. Inner turmoil, as a voice in the back of her head screamed that it should be her holding his hand and in some way it all made perfect sense. While he had been committed to helping her stop crime, to working with her as the Flash he had seemed distant lately. Why hadn’t he told her that something was going on with him and Patty? If the awkward moment seemed long to everyone else in the room, for Iris it was tenfold. Eventually she stood up and offered her hand to the woman, albeit reluctantly. “Hi, it’s nice to finally meet you. Iris West.” The blonde smiled back. “Patty Spivot, I’ve heard lots about you.” Well, Iris kind of wished she could say the same. “We were just stopping by to say Henry, I’m sorry to interrupt.” Basically a nice way of saying [i]’This is a little awkward, we didn’t know you would be here.’[/i] “No, no. It’s okay I’m just leaving anyway.” She turned and smiled at Henry, a thoughtful look stuck on his face. “Thanks for having me Henry.” The look shifted to the kind old smile she knew and loved, he was like an Uncle to her really, and yet she was having these feelings for Barry apparently. What did that make her? Patty shifted uncomfortably as Iris started to walk out, on her way past she didn’t look either of them in the eye until she heard Barry. “I’ll see you out.” Iris saw him give Patty a kiss on the cheek in a mirror, her stomach churning as she continued to walk forcing Barry to power walk to meet her at the door. “Iris…” She raised her hand. “Don’t-” she offered a smile. Fake. “-You don’t need to explain yourself to me I just, I just wish you told me sooner is all. It explains why you’ve missed a lot of our secret superhero meetings.” She chuckled, again fake. Barry sighed. He knew he wasn’t going to get through to her on this. It’s not that she had made up her mind, which he probably thought she had on the issue. She was playing that she had, she didn’t want to talk about it as she wasn’t entirely sure what there was to talk about. “How are you, after, you know?” “After nearly getting beaten to death by a being from another planet wanting to test me? Yeah I’m fine.” Her voice harsh, course. He recoiled as she snapped at him, but it wasn't him she was mad at. Was it? She was so focused on her speed and the rush it gave her, the struggles she had being normal and most recently the prophecy of whether or not she was supposed to be the Flash that she may have missed something that had been right in front of her nose all along. She sighed. “Where were you in all of this? I didn’t get a chance to try and contact you, but you could have pushed through to me.” She didn’t want to let the hurt show. It was easier said than done. “Iris I-” A tear was forming in the corner of his eye and she merely blew out a waft of air. She raised her hand to stop him. “Barry. I think it’s best if you focus on your life for a while. I need people I can count on, what I’m doing is dangerous and you’re distracted, and becoming a distraction. I will catch Zoom and find out if he’s the one who killed your mother, but I can’t do it with you by my side. I’m sorry Barry.” Before he could utter a syllable she was gone, tears streaming in the wind.