Chapter Text
"A man falls in love through his eyes. A woman falls in love through her ears."
“There’s my baby girl.”
Joe hugged his daughter and took the coffee she brought for him gratefully from her hands.
“Hey dad. I was passing by and thought I would say hello to one of Central’s finest.”
“You stopping by is always my favourite part of the day.”
Iris perched herself on the edge of her dad’s desk and started conversation with him and then with his partner Eddie Thawne when he arrived. After half an hour, her dad shooed her off his desk.
“Some of us have work to do now.”
She looked pleadingly at Eddie.
“Don’t look at me Iris, we may be partners but he’s technically my superior.”
Iris stood up and brushed down her dress, a short and fitted yellow dress.
“That dress is stunning,” Eddie said.
“Thanks Eddie,” Iris beamed. “I got it when I went shopping with your girlfriend. She picked it actually.”
“That’s probably why I love it then. She’s got great taste,” he grinned soppily.
“I love how in love you are with her,” Iris smiled. “It’s so sweet. It’s refreshing to see a loyal and loving man.”
“Hey!” Joe objected.
“ ‘A woman’s first love is her father’ you are the exception daddy, always.”
Joe was appeased by this and kissed her forehead. Just then Iris looked up to see a new face walking across the precinct floor. He was heading towards the stairs that she knew led up to the CSI Labs. Dark brown hair was parted slightly at the side, short hair one side and long hair on the other. It was shaved a little shorter around his temple and towards the back*. He was wearing a plain black shirt with a grey bow tie, a grey checked cardigan, black trousers and wingtips. Being a woman of fashion, she appreciated the look. He had reached the stairs now and his lanky legs allowed him to take the stairs two steps at a time. As he looked at the floor below he caught site of Iris looking at him and tripped. She automatically reached out to try and help him, even though from where she was standing she would never have made it on time. He saved himself however by grabbing a hold of the banister and steadying himself, he blushed, smiled at her and then carried on up the stairs, this time taking them only one at a time. He turned to smile at her one more time before disappearing out of view. Iris smiled and turned back around to face the two detectives.
“Who’s that?”
“That’s Barry Allen”, Eddie answered her. “He’s a new transfer from Keystone City.”
“Is he a detective as well?”
“No,” her dad answered. “He’s a CSI. So he’s going to be working closely with our current CSI Patty. With all the craziness in Central City we needed more help in that department.”
“Why have I never seen him?”
“He’s always in the Lab, he’s been here like 4 months,” Joe replied.
“What’s with the bow tie?”
Eddie shrugged.
“Who knows. He’s always wearing them. I kind of like them.”
Me too, she thought to herself.
“Is it like a temporary transfer, or a permanent thing?”
“Permanent I should assume,” Joe said. “What’s with all the questions Iris? I thought you were leaving.”
“I am,” Iris pouted. “I’ll see you at dinner. Eddie are you and Linda coming too?”
“I never miss an opportunity to sample some of that West cuisine, and I think Linda secretly wants to be adopted by Joe just for the food.”
Iris laughed as she gathered her things and hugged both men good bye. She waved as she bounced out of the precinct. She didn’t think about Barry Allen again.
*That night at dinner*
“That Grandma Esther sure knows how to cook,” Linda said as she sat back on the sofa and rubbed her stomach. “I think I am about to burst.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t have eaten that fourth piece of chicken,” Iris laughed.
“I make no apologies.”
She tried to get up to help Iris, Joe and Eddie with the table, looking like a pregnant woman in her second trimester. Eddie laughed.
“Babe just sit down, I’ve got this. You guys as well. You cooked dinner, the least I can do is clear the table.”
A few protests later and Joe and Iris found themselves in the living area with Linda, legs stretched out in front of them. Joe picked up a newspaper to catch up on the day’s news, while Iris watched as Eddie cleared the table. She nudged Linda.
“I should have kept him for myself,” she said jokingly.
Iris and Linda worked together and Iris had introduced Linda to Eddie during a CCPD Fundraiser where Linda was her plus one. The two had hit it off and had started dating after just a month. Linda laughed at Iris’ comment.
“You don’t want a man Iris, you said as much yourself.”
“I would if they were loyal and loving and thoughtful like Eddie is to you.”
“He’s special,” Linda said as she too watched him. “But there’s an Eddie out there for you too.”
Iris was doubtful. She smiled as Eddie came and flopped down next to Linda and put his arm around her.
“Iris met Barry today,” he said with a smile to her.
Iris had to think for a moment to remember who Barry was. Oh yes, the CSI.
“I wouldn’t say met,” she replied. “More like, saw from a distance.”
Linda was excited for some reason.
“Isn’t he beautiful? I met him when he first arrived here. He is such a nice guy, so genuine. Really funny as well, he has me in stitches. Do you know how we met?”
“I have a feeling you are going to tell me.”
“You feel correctly. I was on my way to the Precinct one time to meet up with Eddie, but because I was in such a rush to see my baby, I left the office without my umbrella. I saw Barry in the car park and it must have been his first day, because he was looking really confused standing there looking around not knowing where to go. Anyway, when he saw me without an umbrella or coat, he rushed over to me and gave me his coat. Imagine that? He didn’t know me Iris, and he was ready to get rained on so I could feel just a little bit more comfortable. I mean, how thoughtful is that?”
Iris couldn’t help the warm feeling in her stomach. She had gone on dates with guys who wouldn’t even give her their jacket when it was cold outside after she had made the effort to wear a not so cold-appropriate dress for their benefit. But here was this man, ready to offer his coat to a total stranger almost instinctively. You can’t fake kindness like that. Iris smiled.
“I think Iris, that Linda has a crush on our resident nerd,” Eddie chipped in.
“Unashamedly so,” Linda laughed. “Have you seen him? Iris his eyes, such a beautiful green. And they sparkle so much when he talks, he’s just so passionate about everything.”
“I’m sitting right here,” Eddie protested.
Linda laughed again and kissed him.
“You know there is no other man for me except you,” she said tenderly. “But if there was, his name would be Barry Allen,” she added jokingly.
Eddie laughed. He knew Linda well enough to know that she wasn’t the slightest bit interested in Barry Allen. From the day they had met he knew there was no one else for him, and no one for her. That’s why he felt no animosity towards Barry and only had good things to say about him.
“Well I couldn't have chosen a better fake boyfriend for you."
"Why do you say that Eddie?" Iris wondered.
"From my conversations with him, I know that he comes from a single parent household. I think his dad left them when he was eleven or something. But anyway, the reason he's here in Central City is because his mum got sick. He was head of the CSI Department back in Keystone, but he requested this transfer to a lower level just so that he could be closer to his mum, have the time to see her and personally vet the nurse he had hired to look after her. 'I'm all she has'', he told me. She's getting better now and he told me he regrets nothing. In fact, he jokes that it’s his presence that’s curing her. That kind of selfless love towards family gets an A in my book any day."
Iris nodded and thought about past boyfriends whom she had had to almost beg to come to her family get-togethers, or to help her dad out with a DIY project or pick her nephew up from school when she was unable to. This had happened so often she had begun to think that there wasn't a man out there who valued the importance of family as much as she did. But here was a man, willing to leave behind a promising career, ready to start from the bottom in a job that he was already well established in, just so that his mum wouldn't have to be alone during her illness. He could have called, he could have sent flowers, he could have hired a live-in carer, all from the comfort of his top job in Keystone. But no, he had moved himself here because he knew that’s what his mum would have appreciated the most. Iris absent-mindedly played with a necklace around her neck as she thought about this man she hadn’t even met yet. If he was that caring and loving towards his mother, how would he treat his girlfriend, his wife? Iris smiled to herself, she really wanted to find out. Was that crazy? She wanted to hear more and looked at her dad. He was still reading, but she knew he was hearing all of their conversation.
“Don’t you have a Barry story dad?”
Joe folded his newspaper and put it down.
“Why this new curiosity in the CSI?”
“I’m trying to get to know your co-workers dad. Besides, Linda brought him up.”
“Actually no,” Linda responded. “Eddie did.”
“Wow,” Eddie whispered.
“It’s not important why dad. I just want to hear more about him. He sounds interesting.”
“Well from what Patty has told me, her and Barry have become quite good friends.”
Was that a pang of jealousy she just felt? No, because that would be ridiculous.
“They went out for drinks one night after work with a few others and some creep must have tried to make a pass at Patty, grabbing her up and all that. Now don’t let that bow tie fool you, because apparently he’s got one hell of a right hook, knocked the guy right out and ended up being kicked out of the bar. Patty tells me that’s just how he is, very defensive of anyone close to him. She says there's nothing he wouldn’t do for his friends. You don’t find loyalty like that every day.”
Indeed you did not. There was something very attractive about a man who was ready to jump to your defense like that. Iris thought of one particular scum bag she had dated. They had been walking down the street when a car had backfired, sounding very much like a gunshot. The guy had jumped behind her, grabbed hold of her and was ready to use her as a human shield. She laughed about it later but at the time, the action had disgusted her to her core. She thought of another guy who had allowed his friend to squeeze her bum while he stood and laughed, like she was a prize to be shared. She shuddered at the memory. But Barry sounded like the kind of man that would use his own body to shield her from harm, like the kind of man that would see her as a prize, but a prize that belonged only to him. She was fiddling absent-mindedly with her necklace again.
“Thoughtful, loving and loyal,” Linda said, breaking into her reverie and looking pointedly at Iris. “Who would have thunk it?”
Who would have indeed. Iris had begun to think that no such men existed within her vicinity and wondered whether it was possible to have feelings for someone she had not met or spoken to. Someone she didn’t even know. But the fact that these beautiful qualities that Barry had were told to her by the three people whose opinion she valued most in the world, just testified to how true to his character they must be, for her dad, Linda and Eddie were not ones to exaggerate or twist the truth. And was it coincidental that they had chosen stories that had highlighted the things she looked for the most in a man, the things that had been lacking in every other suitor that had come her way. Iris didn’t believe in coincidence. At that moment, the bell rang. Her dad didn’t even look up from the newspaper he had picked up again.
“Can you see who that is baby?”
Iris got up to answer the door. As she pulled it open and saw who stood on the porch, her heart quickened and she smiled involuntarily. He was still wearing the same clothes from when she had first seen him earlier that day. Now that he was closer to her, she could appreciate the eyes that Linda had praised. And they deserved such praise, in fact she had forgotten to add that they were shaded by the longest lashes she had ever seen. Barry Allen was very pleasing to look at. He was smiling at her, a lopsided smile that made him look even more handsome than he already was, if it were possible.
“Iris,” he said softly.
“Barry,” she whispered.
“You know my name,” they both said in unison.
“I’ve seen you around,” he shrugged.
“I’ve heard about you,” she stated.
They both smiled.
“What are you doing here,” she asked with a smile.
“Your dad, Detective West," he corrected himself, "wanted me to drop off some reports for him for a case he’s working on.”
Iris looked behind her at her dad, who quickly lifted the paper up to hide his face. She knew that he never worked from home if he could help it, it was his solace from the office. Linda and Eddie had conveniently disappeared into the kitchen to start preparing the dessert. Iris smiled and shook her head. She had never believed in coincidences. She turned back to face Barry, her smile getting brighter.
“Do you want to come in?”