Second Chances: Flash

Chapter 17

"Well, don't you look handsome." Iris said to fiance with a smile as he came downstairs wearing a suit.

"Thank you Iris. God, I don't know how Tina put up with having to dress like this everyday." Barry said as he struggled to tie his tie, since today was his first day as the new acting CEO of Mercury Labs since Tina had moved to Blue Valley with his dad and sister and she'd stepped down as the CEO of Mercury Labs, appointing Barry in her place.

"Wow, I never thought I'd see the day. The Flash, the hero who has fought some of the worst metahuman threats the world has ever seen, the man who's traveled across time and the multiverse and who actually helped ignite a second big bang is nervous about taking over a company and can't even tie a tie." Iris said with a chuckle as she helped Barry tie his tie.

"Very funny. Seriously Iris, Tina spent her whole life building this company from the ground up. It's her legacy. I don't want to do anything to ruin it, since I don't exactly have a ton of experience in the corporate sector. I'm honestly not sure how Tina handled it." Barry said.

"And you're forgetting that in this reality, Tina has been grooming you to take over the company for years, it's just a bit sooner than expected. Especially since she forced you to go to business school while you were in college." Iris said, since Barry had attended Hudson University in this reality where he'd not only gone for his phd since he wasn't a forensic scientist, but a regular one, especially since he was going to work at Mercury Labs with his stepmom, he'd also done a triple major in physics, chemistry and engineering, all of which he'd gotten his doctorate in, but Tina had also insisted that Barry enroll in business school at Hudson University too so that he could learn how to run a company. And Barry was very grateful that Iris had reminded him of that.

"I swear, my speedster brain is the only reason I didn't have a nervous breakdown from how many classes I was taking." Barry said and Iris chuckled.

"I'm still trying to figure out how you found time to take all those classes." Iris said.

"Talent. But anyways, I just hope that I can make a good first impression on the board before I implement a more casual dress code, since one perk of being a CSI, I never had to wear these monkey suits." Barry said.

"Have you given any thought about how you're going to balance being the CEO of Mercury Labs and being the Flash?" Iris asked.

"Not sure yet." Barry admitted.

"Well, Oliver has some experience in balancing running a fortune 500 company with the vigilante life. Maybe you could ask him for tips." Iris suggested.

"Are you forgetting how well he managed that? I know Slade tricked him, but he still ran the company into the ground and then lost it to a cold hearted monster." Barry said.

"Fair point. Which reminds me, I need to start doing a deep dive into Stellmoor so I can expose Isabel Rochev for what she really is." Iris said and Barry nodded.

"Anyways, I should probably get going. After all, the boss can't be late on his first day." Barry said and Iris nodded.

"Even though you're a speedster, I know that if you don't leave now, you'll find some way to be late. So go." Iris said as she kissed Barry goodbye before he sped out of the loft while Iris looked down at her files and decided that she'd give the Stellmoor angle to her new intern to see if she could handle it.