WestAllen Love Story (Book 1)

Chapter 5: The Explosion

Today was an ordinary day for most people.  But for the Star labs team, it was an exciting day.  They had finally gotten the particle accelerator set up to reveal and turn it on this evening.  Caitlin Snow, who was a member of the team, had made her way down the hall to make sure everything was set for the night for them to turn it on.  "Alright.  Everything is looking set."  She said coming back into the lab room. 

It had been a busy couple of weeks for Barry.  He felt bad not having been able to spend as much time with Iris as he would like.  But the work seemed to be piling up at the office.  Even with Joe helping it seemed they couldn't get the last task done before a new task came in.  But this weekend he would be completely free.  He and Iris had planned on spending the whole weekend together with no interruptions.

"You should take a break.." Joe said looking over at Barry.  Barry glances up at the clock, it was noon exactly.  "What about you?"  Barry asked.  They both had been working twice as hard.  It was due to the shortage of officers.  For some reason, they all were deciding to get sick all at once, and so the two of them had been helping take some of the others cases.  "I will be fine Bar.  Plus, I brought lunch.  And.  I think you should go see how Iris is doing."  He said giving him a small grin.  Barry gave a slight shake of his head.  "Call me if you need anything?"  "I will Barry.  Promise."  Barry grabbed his jacket and started to head over to the cafe where Iris was working.

Once Barry has entered into Jitters, Iris gave  him a small smile.  "Well hello stranger."  He smiled back a little shyly.  "I know it seems like we haven't gotten to spend too much time...  I'm sorry.  But we do still have Friday night.  Joe is insisting.."  He laughed a little.  Iris gave a small grin.  "We will have plenty of time to hang out more once the work slows down I am sure."  "You're right."  Barry smiled a little.  "I'm always right."  Iris teased.  "What would you like for a drink?  The usual?"  Barry laughed a little.  "Yes please."  He stands waiting at the counter while Iris started to get the coffee made.

"Here you go sir."  She smirked a little as she turned to hand him his cup of coffee.  "You're a lifesaver Iris."  He winked a little.  "I'll see you at home."  He pays for the cup of coffee and makes his way back towards the office.

Just as Barry and Joe were ready to exit the lab for the evening, some documents came in that needed to be looked at.  "I'm really sorry.  I know you were looking forward to getting home.."  The chief said.  Barry glances over at Joe.  "You know what?  I've got this covered.  You've been working a lot longer than me..."  Joe sighed a little.  "Bar..  You don't..."  But before Joe could finish his sentence, Barry interrupted him.  "You need a break more than I do..."  Joe sighed a little then nodded.  Usually Joe would try and put up a fight, but Barry could see he was too tired.  He narrowed his eye looking at Joe with concern.  "Get some rest Joe.  I'll be home soon okay?"  Joe smiled a little.  "Thank you Barry."  He grabbed his jacket and made his way out of the office to head home.

Barry had been working much later than he thought, seeing some of the clues for the murder case.  He glances over at the time.  It was almost time for the accelerator to be turned on at Star Labs.  He sighed a little.  He was going to miss it.  Barry then remembered if he was on the second floor in the one lab room, he would be able to see it.  Plus he had to check on some lab results anyways.  He quickly rushed upstairs right on time for him to see the light that sparked up in the direction of Star labs. 

He glanced down for a split second to see some of the lab results when something caught his attention.  He could see something was wrong right away with the beam of light he just saw coming off of the lab.  He was about to rush downstairs to call it in, when he heard the sound of something that sounded like an explosion.  The lightning strike grew bigger, and before Barry knew it, he felt himself being blasted backwards into one of the shelves behind him.  He landed hard onto the floor then suddenly everything around him went black.