The Line Between Living and Dying

Quarter-life Crisis

Cheyanne stood amongst the S.T.A.R. Labs crew, helping Cisco manage the drones.

They were at the same airstrip where Barry first showed off his speed. Now, they were training to make him faster with armed drones.

"That was too close." Caitlin scolded Cisco and Cheyanne.

"Hey, don't look at me, he's the one controlling them." Cheyanne pointed to Cisco in defense of herself.

"He told me to make it hard." Cisco countered, sending a side-glare to Cheyanne.

"Pretty sure he didn't tell you to make him dead." Caitlin sassed.

"Remember, this is just supposed to be a training exercise to improve Barry's speed." Dr. Wells added.

"Cisco, you gonna bring it or what?" Barry shouted through his comms.

Cisco looked over to Dr. Wells for approval. Wells nodded, agreeing to humor Barry's arrogance. "Bring it."

Cisco smiled, taping on his tablet.

The drone chasing Barry released a small missile, one that wouldn't cause much damage to the airstrip

The missile whistled through the air, chasing Barry. 

The longer it soared, the closer to the ground it got. Barry zigged in just enough time that the missile crashed to the ground behind him, also sending him forwards.

Barry grunted in pain, pushing himself back up just as the drone came straight for him."

"Why isn't he running away?" Cheyanne asked with concern.

"Barry, run away," Caitlin whispered.

But Barry stayed put. He stared at the drone with determination in his eyes.

The drone released a second missile and Barry took off towards it. He met the missile in the middle, jumping and swinging it around so that it now flew back toward the drone.

The drone blew up in a ball of flames, it's piece falling to the ground and scattering.

Caitlin glanced at Cisco and Cheyanne, knowing they'd be mad. Cisco sighed in contempt while Cheyanne crossed her arms and sent Barry a death glare.

* * *

Barry wiped his face with a napkin, adding it to the pile of napkins and burger containers beside him.

"Very impressive, Mr. Allen. Your reaction to stimuli at super-speed continues to improve." Dr. Wells complimented.

"It's still not enough." Barry sighed.

"It will be," Wells assured. "You keep working like you are, you stay focused like you are, and you will be ready next time your man in the yellow suit comes around."

"I think you mean the Reverse-Flash," Cisco smirked, earning a few questioning looks. "What? He said it, not me. And he's right. Yellow suit, red lightning, and evil-- The reverse of Barry."

"Meh." Caitlin made a face.

Cheyanne shrugged. "Well, it's not your worst."

"Actually, I kind of like it." Wells smiled.

"Speaking of the 'Reverse-Flash'" Caitlin sent Cisco a look. "Where's Dani? I haven't seen her since before the plan failed."

"Dani is having a mid-life crisis," Cheyanne answered.

"She's twenty-five," Caitlin said.

"Then she's having a quarter-life crisis." Cheyanne shrugged. "Either way, she's lost it. She called me at, like, one in the morning to talk about her love life."

Barry tripped over his own feet. "H-her love life?"

"Yeah, she was all worried about if she should tell Eric that a coworker said he had feelings for her because she hates feeling like she's lying and I literally fell asleep on the phone with her," Cheyanne explained.

"Well, if honesty's such a big thing for her then she should just tell Eric," Caitlin said.

"That's what I told her." Cheyanne groaned. "I love Dani, I really do. But, sometimes, she makes it very hard."

Barry cleared his throat, wanting desperately for the subject to be changed. "All right, I'm still ready for another round. How many more drones do you have left?"

"Two," Cisco answered. "And they've got lasers."

"No." Dr. Wells, Caitlin, and Cheyanne responded in unison.

* * *

Dani jogged up to the front door of the West house, knocking on the door. She silently prayed for Iris to be home while she waited for the door to open.

Luckily, her prayers were answered.

"Dani, hey." Iris smiled as she opened the door.

"Hey." Dani greeted with much less enthusiasm.

"Is everything okay?" Iris furrowed her eyebrows.

"Um, not really," Dani admitted. "Can we talk?"

"Of course." Iris opened the door wider. "Come on in.

Iris led Dani to the couch, sitting at an angle against the armrest. "What's up?"

"A lot, actually." Dani chuckled dryly. "Uh, I tried talking about this with Cheyanne but I realized she probably wasn't the best to bring this to. I-I haven't known her as long as I've known you and she barely knows Barry--"

"Did something happen between you and Barry?" Iris asked, getting her hopes up. She'd always known about Dani's high school crush and Barry and Barry's ever-present crush on Dani. She had tried to get them together many times but failed.

"Over Christmas, Barry came to my apartment and told me that he was in love with me," Dani informed. "And I haven't really been able to be around him since."

"He finally told you?" Iris raised her eyebrows.

"Wh-- you knew?"

"Dani, come on, it was so obvious. I mean, why else would I have tried to get you two together so many times?"

Dani sighed. "Iris... I don't like Barry anymore."

"Then why are you avoiding him?" Iris asked.

"Because it's weird! He's one of my best friends and now I know that he's been secretly in love with me for pretty much his whole life and I didn't even say anything!"

"So, you're guilty."

"Why would I be guilty?"

"Maybe because Barry confessed a lot to you and you didn't say anything? Have you even talked to him since then?"

"Later that same night when I dropped off my mom's cookies," Dani replied. She groaned. "Why couldn't he have stayed quiet?"

"Because he stayed quiet for years. Barry has watched you go on countless dates and date guys for years and never piped up. He probably just couldn't take it anymore." Iris reasoned.

Dani flopped back into the couch. "Maybe you're right."

Iris smiled. "When it comes to other people's love lives, I usually am."

"Oh, hey, my museum is reopening next week. You and Eddie can come if you want."

"Well, I don't know about Eddie, but I'll certainly come," Iris said. "I know how hard you've been working and I want to support you in any way I can."

"What would I do without you?" Dani asked playfully.

"Drown in your love life woes," Iris replied dramatically, laughing alongside her friend.

A/N: I've realized that I really haven't had any scenes with Iris so I'm trying to include her more but the only way to do that before she knows everyone's secrets is to have Dani be around her more since I pretty much just right scenes that I can put her in.

Thank y'all so much for reading and please leave votes/comments if you enjoyed!