Short on Time

Chapter 117

"Iris," I warned gently as she continued to shout at Barry.

"You took our daughter back to the future?" I asked Barry again to try to wrap my mind around it.

"I didn't have any other choice," Barry said.

"I? It's we, Barry," Iris said angrily.

"She's our daughter, not just yours," I reminded Barry with a sigh.

"I know that," Barry snapped, and I gave him a look.

"But you left her there anyway?!" Iris shouted.

"I can't trust her, Iris! That puts all of us in danger!" Barry shouted back.

"And you're just gonna shout around me," I muttered as I sat down tiredly.

"That's how you feel, Barry," Iris said. "What about asking how I feel?"

"I didn't think I had to!" Barry shouted.

"Of course you didn't," Iris said. "Of course you didn't, Barry! Didn't even ask your wife! You always see one way through a problem and damn what I think."

"Wait, wait, what the hell does that mean?" Barry demanded.

"You know, we have been through so much crap, we have been through so much therapy and you are still making decisions based on your emotions!" Iris said.

"Alright," I said holding up my hands. "That's enough, I'm really done with this."

"'Cause I'm right this time!" Barry shouted back.

"Excuse me," I said glaring at Barry who gulped nervously. "Flashpoint? Going to the Speed Force and leaving me? Were you right those times too?"

"You think I wanted to do this? That this was easy?" Barry asked both of us. "Seeing Nora looking at me, asking for forgiveness knowing it might be the last time I ever see her?"

"What about the last time that I get to see her, Barry?" I asked him. "Iris will see her again, but I won't. I didn't even get a chance to say good-bye!"

"Damn it, Ginger, she lied to us for months!" Barry said angrily.

"And she explained why!" Iris snapped.

"That she was working with Thawne?" Barry asked and I gave him a look. "That doesn't bother you, either of you."

"No, it doesn't," Iris said.

"I literally worked with the man for years, Barry," I said exasperated. "You and I both know that I can't hate him, no matter how hard I try."

"Maybe if he killed your mother in front of you, you'd feel differently," Barry said, and that was what really made me angry.

"I was there, Barry," I reminded him. "Do you remember that, or are you going to pretend that I can't possibly understand because I haven't been traumatized enough?"

"I just," Barry began.

"Yeah, I didn't think so," I muttered. "Maybe you feeling differently, Barry, is why we should have made this decision together."

"She just wanted to meet you, Barry," Iris said. "The father that she never knew and there was one person who could teach her how to do that. Is it really so hard to understand why she would go to him?"

"Doesn't matter if I understand it," Barry said. "Thawne is manipulating her."

"He has a valid point," I sighed.

"He's on death row, Barry," Iris said.

"Please don't remind me," I said.

"And this is exactly why I didn't want to tell you about this," Barry said. "I didn't want you to have to deal with this. I didn't want him to manipulate her more."