72

My lips were formed in a circular motion as I sipped the iced coffee that I had picked up from Jitters earlier that morning, coming to star labs right after I had left ccpd, the caramel flavor making my mouth water with delight.

I was sitting in one of the office chairs, my feet propped up on a empty space on the white desk of computer monitors.

I put a strand of my medium length hair behind my ear, as Barry walked in, "What kind of idiot still thinks I can outrun bullets?"

"A real big one." I mutter, looking up at him as he took long strides, a smile on his face as he pressed a kiss to my cheek, before doing a handshake with Wally.

Iris shot me a look, as I gave her the same look back; confusion.

"That guy should be the poster boy of what not to do against The Flash." Wally says, a smile on his face.

"So what're we gonna call him?" Barry asks.

Wally comes and stands where I was seated, "You mean like a nickname?"

"Yeah- Cisco does it for all of them, he's like the master of it. Can't just call him suspect on a motorcycle, right, what do ya think?" Barry says, taking off his gloves.

"I don't know." Cisco replies blankly.

"I'll take this one." Barry says, "Uh- Crook? Lame? A- Five Finger-"

I shut my eyes, feeling the second hand embarrassment, as Cisco spoke up, "How about Thief? He robs stuff. Lets just call him Thief."

"Gotta get to the gym. Excuse me." Cisco excuses himself, leaving the labs.

"The gym? Is he like working out now or-?" Barry questions.

Caitlin stood up, "You know, Barry sometimes your jokes aren't very funny."

Iris stood up, ready to leave also, "I should get back to the paper."

"It's okay- I was just leaving." Joe stood up, catching his keys, starting to walk out also.

"Hey- guys- hey Joe-" Barry stops them both, "Look, I'm sorry guys. I know you guys aren't speaking with each other right now- but I was just thinking maybe we could talk about why that is for a minute?"

Iris and Joe already start to decline, as Wally gives Barry a look.

"Hey- one conversation doesn't hurt anyone, guys." I defended Barry's attempt to start the conversation up.

Iris sighs, putting the blame on her father, "You both know that us not talking isn't because of me. It's because of something he did."

"Iris." Joe starts.

"What?" She snaps, "What could you possibly have to say?"

Joe goes quiet, before walking over to Barry, looking at the two of us, "I'll just see you two- at the station- all right? Nice job with the Thief." With that he starts to leave.

"Can you give me a lift to CCU?" Wally asks, Joe agreeing.

"So- you're still taking engineering classes?" Barry questions for confirmation.

"Uh, yeah." Wally answers.

"Yeah- cool." Barry nods as Wally follows Joe out.

"Yeah- I'm gonna head back to Picture News." Iris says, looking at me, "I'll see you at home." And with that, she leaves, leaving Barry and I the only ones in the cortex.

I see the confused look on Barry's face, causing me to get up, setting my coffee down, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah- I'm fine." He clears his throat.

"Are you sure?" I question, standing directly in front of him.

"What did she mean by see you at home?" He questions, as if he already didn't know.

My eyebrows furrow, "Because we live together? After the whole thing with her and Joe- she moved in with me. So it's you- Wally and Joe at the house- and her and I at my apartment."

"What did Joe mean when he said he'd see you at the station too?" Barry asks again.

"I work there? I'm his partner?" I stare at him as if he had lost his mind.

His eyes go wide, not sure if he was hearing me right, "You're a detective?"

". Barry, you know this." I state, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm just- so confused." Barry admits, running a hand through his hair.

"Barry-" I start, "You can talk to me. Just because we aren't together doesn't change how close we are. I'll always be there for you."

"We're not together?" He chokes out.

I stare at him, my eyes slightly squinted, my eyebrows remaining furrowed, my voice quiet, completely concerned, "We haven't been together since Reign broke us up, Barry."

"What?" He whispers, the look in his eyes looking as if his heart had broken into millions of pieces.

"Are you sure- that you're okay?" I stare at him, "Did you get amnesia or something?"

"I don't have- amnesia." Barry spoke, running his hands through his hair.

"Then why have you suddenly forgotten all of this?" I ask him, putting a hand on my hip.

He goes silent, as I stare at him for a second, before nodding, nudging him lightly, "Hey- I'm gonna head to the station. By the way- you might get somewhere with Iris with the way you've been pinning over her. You might just have a shot." I give him my best smile, grabbing my coffee, before leaving star labs, heading back to the station.

-

[ ]

"So you altered the timeline, Joe and Iris don't talk anymore, there's a new guy at work, and you and Zee haven't been together since the whole Reign situation- and thinks that you're head over heels for Iris again. She is a Detective- Joe's partner- Iris now lives with Zee when before you altered the timeline you lived with her- and Cisco's brother is dead." Felicity lists off everything I had just told her, counting with her fingers. "Admittedly, that is an issue."

"And what if there's more?" I question.

"Well, has anything here changed?" Felicity asks.

I sigh, "No- I don't know- everything seems the same to me, I think."

"Good." She simply says.

"Can I use- hold on." I move, seating in her seat in front of her computer, before she can protest, "I'll be real careful."

I type away, rechecking if everything was the same in Star City, "Yeah- I don't know- I mean everything looks okay-" I pause, stopping at a photo of John with a young boy, my sentence coming out as a question, "Wait. Who's that young boy with Dig?"

"Wait no way, He didn't have a kid before?" Felicity asks, her eyes wide.

I turn my head, my words coming out in stutters, "No- he had a kid- he has a kid. It was- Baby Sara."

"Baby- John." Felicity corrected, pointing at the screen.

"No- are you-" I could feel the regret and guilt coming over me, as I held my head in my hands.