Work Text:
Iris woke up and rolled over expecting to be greeted by the warm presence of her husband. Sadly, she was instead introduced to a cold emptiness. "Really Barry, even today?" Iris said, slightly agitated. She lazily walked downstairs, waiting to see Barry cooking like he usually did.
Iris's smile faded out when instead of seeing her husband she saw an empty kitchen. Hoping Barry was okay, Iris rushed to the TV, turning on the News. She thought everything was okay until she read those four words. Who knew that four little words could change your entire life. Who knew that four words could shatter every dream you have ever dared to dream. Rubbing her eyes, Iris looked back at the T.V. rereading those four words hoping that something was wrong. They were still there, "BREAKING NEWS: FLASH DEAD".
Iris collapsed to the floor, her tears blocked everything from her field of sight, only allowing her to feel, to remember, to break. Iris moved her to support her fallen form when she felt a small soft item, glancing up she saw a section of the floor covered in rose petals, abandoned roses laid down next to them. Iris glanced up to see the painful reminder, "Happy One Year Babe <3" was written in a rose display leaning on the wall. Iris screamed out fists flying to meet with the closest surface they could possibly find.
------------------------------Change in P.O.V: Joe's POV------------------------------
Joe tried to hold back his tears as he stared into the lifeless eyes of his son's deflated body. Everyone in the Cortex was broken. Barry was a constant light, he was someone who could face loss like no other, probably because he had the most experience with it. He could smile through anything. To Joe losing Barry was like losing a limb, he never thought about what it would be like to wake up one day knowing he would never see the goofy smile on his son's cheery face again, and he had no clue how he could last one day at the precinct without having his mind eased by Barry's constant scientific blabber. All Joe knew was that none of it-none of it would ever be the same.
Only after zoning back into reality enough to hear Caitlin's heartbroken cries as Cisco attempted to comfort her. Only then did Joe think about what Iris was going through at that moment. He knew he wasn't allowed to cry, Barry wouldn't want that. Joe slowly meandered out of STAR labs and drove to Iris and- no, he drove to Iris's loft.
Joe was about to knock when he heard a loud crash, the detective imediently took out his key and threw open the door. He froze as he stepped foot inside his daughter's wrecked home.
Looking around Joe saw broken tables, and thrown picture frames he walked towards his daughter and held her as she cried. After all, what more could he do?