Short on Time

Chapter 145

"You ready?" I asked Hope as we stood in front of the door. Barry has been working endlessly on making his own Speed Force. I was put on bed rest due to my swollen feet, headaches, light-headedness, and high protein count. However, I was not going to do nothing while on bedrest. 

I fought tooth and nail to get our daughter home for a month.

A month in which Barry's speed was slowly vanishing, and he was constantly in pain. A month where my kids were asking about Auntie Iris, and why we didn't see her anymore. But at the end of that month, I was able to bring my daughter home. 

With Cecile's help of course. 

Cecile unlocked the door, but then we were met with quite a lot of resistance. I frowned, and Cecile tried to slam into it, but it still didn't move. "Barr?" I called through, and I heard a grunt in response. "There's something blocking the door." 

"Yeah, um," Barry said awkwardly. 

"I thought you were still at the Speed Lab," I told him. "Um honey, why can't I get inside my own house?"

"Sorry. Hold on," Barry said as he let us in. "One second."

"Holy-" I said as Hope stood next to me with a shocked expression. 

"I can explain," Barry said and then saw Hope. "That was today?" 

"Esther was supposed to be here to help you set up," I said as we walked in and saw boxes everywhere with a boards up with pictures. 

"What the hell is this?" Cecile asked. 

"Iris isn't Iris," Barry said darkly as Hope looked at the boards. "Okay, so then I thought well obviously, this can't be an Iris doppelganger from another Earth because doppelgangers don't exist anymore. Because the Multiverse doesn't exist anymore. Because Crisis blew it all up, right?"

"Uh-huh," Cecile nodded.

"What's Dad talking about?" Hope asked curiously as I looked at the boards closely. 

"He's talking about why our closest friend betrayed us," I told her gently as Barry continued to ramble.

"Because he's the Flash?" Hope asked, and I looked at her in surprise, Barry and Cecile didn't notice Hope's epiphany. 

"How long have you known?" I asked her as we sat down on the sofa. 

"A few months," Hope said as we watched Barry unravel slightly. 

"I know how it sounds, but look.We've seen crazier. And look at all the clues," Barry said speaking quickly. "Okay, I mean, she speaks Italian all of a sudden. She smashed a bottle over some guy's head. She made incredible pancakes."

"Cecile, trust me. Iris can't make pancakes," I told her. 

"All right? But the biggest clue was her blowing up at me," Barry said. "The real Iris would never fight like that with us. Not with her closest friends." 

"Okay, okay, um, Sweetie. Do you think that maybe, just maybe, you're feeling a little scared, you know. Because your friendship is going through a rough patch, and maybe, what you need to do is just go see Iris."

"Yeah, no," I said flatly, and Cecile gave me a look. 

"That's not Ir- Cecile, look. Do you know why my Speed Gauge is still glowing red?" Barry asked.

"Because you're hyped up on caffeine?" I asked flatly. 

"It is because the moment that Iris stepped out of this house, I realized Iris, the real Iris, our best friend, she is somewhere else. Probably in danger. And if that's true, I need my speed back. My-my lightning, all my powers if I'm gonna save her," Barry finished and then just realized he dropped the biggest bombshell in front of our newly adopted daughter.