My breathing was caught at the back of my throat, my expression with a mixture of shock and bewilderment. My eyes slowly trailed from the ring to Barry, who was looking at me with hope threaded in his eyes.

The minute his eyes capture the look on my face, he got up, "Wait a minute-"

My eyes grow wider as he gets up, my mind immediately thinking that he was backing out of this proposal, but I was proven wrong when he runs around the loft, using his speed to get into a black tux, setting candles and flower petals all around the loft, leading up to me, turning down the music slightly, before returning back to his position, staring up at me, holding the opened black velvet box that held the ring in its delicate setting.

"Barry-" I exhale, my eyes looking around the loft, setting my drink down.

Barry speaks up, starting to get up from his position, "Do you want me to add anything else? I could bring you a bouquet of those roses you love so much-"

I quickly set my hands on his shoulders, keeping him held in his position, not allowing him down, "No- no. This is- this is more than enough- I-" I look around, before moving my hands off his shoulders.

Before I could stop him, Barry sped off, and come back, handing me a bouquet of roses, returning back to his position.

"Barry." I stare at him, giving him the impression that he really didn't have to be doing all of this, setting the roses down by my drink.

"Zee-" Barry looks up with me, a small smile on his face, "I've been trying to figure out how to do this for weeks now. I didn't know- how to propose to thee Zee Young, when you never ask for much. There's been so many times where I've come close to proposing- but something horrible happens- and, it continues to be postponed. But tonight, I realized that there wasn't going to be another night for a while- where there was peace, and just the two of us, dancing around our living-room. Throughout our relationship, I have realized so much, and have learned to love you with ever working cell in my body. Every single day, you give me a new reason to love you even more than I already do."

I stared at him, a glossy sheet taking over my eyes, as he continued, "You're the reason I keep up and keep going every day. You're the reason I'm so much more happier. You're the woman who- helps me see the light when I've given up. I love you- so much. More than you could ever know."

Pure excitement ran through my veins, as Barry finally popped the question, "Zee Young, will you marry me?"

"Why did you have to ask me when I'm standing here- looking my worst?" I exhale, a small laugh sounding from my chest, a small tear slipping my eye, as I quickly wipe it away.

Barry starts to get up, but I quickly put my hands on his shoulders, stopping him, leaning some of my weight onto him, "No- no more speeding off. You haven't given me a chance to give you an answer yet."

Barry Allen stays in place, staring at me, awaiting an answer.

I exhale, "Yes- yes of course-"

-

"Zee, hey-" Barry said as we walked back to the crime scene where Julian and Barry examined the dead body, Joe already standing by them, beating me there by a few seconds, "This one is uh-"

"Pretty ghastly, Detective, I warn you." Julian spoke up.

"That's the body?" Joe questioned, pointing at it, confusion washing over his facial expression.

Barry looks at him, "Yeah, why?"

I stood next to Barry, putting my hands in the back packets of my black jeans, my white sweater covering my hands, "Because he died less than eight hours ago."

"Eight hours?" Julian gapes at me.

"He was a chef here- Stuart Holzman- the owner confirmed that he was working last night." Joe explained.

Barry stares at the body, "That's a lot of damage in a short amount of time."

"We thinking he's a meta?" Joe points to the body.

"Possibly, but certain chemicals can cause a similar reaction." Julian answers.

"Yeah, an acid with pH below two." Barry exhales.

"Precisely." Julian spoke, "We could be looking for an aggressive variant of a necrotized fasciitis."

I look at Barry, a innocent smile crossing my lips, "English please?"

"A flesh-eating disease." Barry kisses my head.

"In a restaurant?" Joe gapes at Barry, "I'm never eating out again."

"An autopsy might really help us figure out what really did this." Barry told Julian.

"Yes, I agree. Unfortunately County denied my request for a 3D medical scanner, which would made short work of the process." Julian informs.

"Okay, well we have one at Star Labs." Barry stares at him.

"Allen, this is an active investigation." Julian reasons. "There is a protocol to follow- surely?"

"Not if we're gonna figure this out." I put my hand on Barry's back.

"Very well, I'll bag the body myself and meet you there." Julian starts bagging the body instantly.

-

Joe had invited Iris, Barry, Wally, and I to coffee with Cecile and her daughter, Joanie. I had tried to stay back, this being a family matter but Barry and Joe insisted I had come.

That's where we were now. We sat at a booth in Jitters, Barry seated next to me, with his arm around me.

I lean into Barry's ear, folding my hands on my lap, keeping my ring covered, quietly whispering, "Hey, can we keep our engagement on the low for right now? With everything going on- I don't really think we should celebrate about it- just at this moment."

"Alright, that's fine by me." Barry nods lightly, whispering back, "Whatever you want."

I smile, kissing his cheek, before looking back at everyone else.

"Uh, Joanie, Cecile says you're at Coast U?" Barry asks, starting up a conversation due to the awkward silence.

She simply gives him a nod, causing him to follow up with another, "What are you studying?"

"I'm undecided." She shrugs lightly.

"Are you leaning towards anything?" I ask.

"Not really." She shakes her head.

"Uh, Coast U is pretty far. Do you ever miss Central City?" Wally questions.

"Actually, I like it better there." Joanie simply answers once more. "Well, there's one thing I miss about Central City."

"What's that?" Joe asks.

Cecile spoke up, a smile on her face, "You're gonna regret you asked."

"Kid Flash." Joanie answered with a smile on her face.

"She's a little-" Cecile tries to find the right word, "A little obsessed."

"Kid Flash is the one thing you miss about Central City?" Barry repeats.

"Slow down, Barry, no need to be so skeptical about it." Wally smiles, "What do you like best about him, specifically?"

"Well, he's fearless. And brave." Joanie tells him, Wally nodding along, "He's a hero. And he's probably really cute under the mask."

"Yeah, I think so too." Iris holds back a laugh.

"Oh-" I quietly trail, whispering to Barry, leaning back into him a little more, "He is just eating this up."

"You got that right." Barry quietly laughs into my ear.

"Come on, Joanie, Kid Flash?" Cecile spoke, "He's just a showboat. He's snapping selfies and he's leaving graffiti bolts on buildings."

"That's his signature move." Wally and Joanie say in almost unison.

"Yeah, from what I hear, The Flash is actually the one who's saving people." Cecile picks her side, smiling.

"Sounds like Cecile's Team Flash." Barry spoke up, a small grin on his face.

"Can you blame her? The Flash is pretty cute under the mask, ya know?" I whisper in his ear.

"Oh yeah?" Barry whispers back quietly, everyone else continued to have their conversation, as he pulls me a little closer into his side, his grin widening.

I hum in response, looking back at everyone else.

"Who's the real hero? The Flash or Kid Flash?" Joanie was asking Joe.

"They both are." Joe spoke, "I mean they both do great things for Central City."

Joanie continues, wanting to get an answer out of him, "But, if you had to choose?"

"I don't think I could choose." Joe musters out.

"Yeah, but if you- had to." Wally also pressed, obviously wanting him to choose Kid Flash.

I sat up, "Oh come on guys- don't pressure him into choosing one hero. They're both heroes that do really great things for Central City. That's all that matters."

"But if he-" Wally starts.

Joe cuts him up, "Wally, could you go get me some more cream, please?"

"Yeah." Wally slowly says, taking the small cup and leaving the table.

Barry's phone buzzes, him picking it up, "It's work, sorry- I'll be right back." He kisses my cheek and steps away from everyone.

"Detective Joe West." We heard a shout from downstairs, causing Joe and I to get up instantly, looking down and at the man that stood below us.

"Do I know you?" Joe asks quickly. My hand touches my gun as I slowly pull it out of my holster, Barry coming right behind me immediately.

"You don't remember me?" The man spoke, "You and your cronies had a very fun time ruining my life. Not gonna let you do it this time around."

"You got the wrong guy." I spoke loud and clear, cocking my gun.

"No no, he's the Joe West I remember. Look a lot more full of life now, though. But, don't worry," The man touches a table, the entire thing turning into ash, "I can change that."

"Everyone get back-" Joe immediately says, pulling out his gun, both him and I aiming right at the man.

"Everybody get out of here- everybody go-" Barry shouts, everyone leaving, leaving Cecile, Iris, Joe, Joanie, Barry and I, Barry signaling Wally to go off and become Kid Flash.

"Yes, everybody leave." The man spoke, "I only want him. You can't hide from me, Detective. Nobody can anymore." He reaches for the one bar that held us all up where we were standing.

"One more step and we'll shoot." Joe warned.

"Didn't work then." He snickers, "Won't work now either."

He takes a step, as Joe and I start shooting, every bullet that hit him turning into ash, falling to the ground.

I shove my gun in the holster, knowing I was only wasting bullets.

Wally ran in, Barry secretly instructing him from behind me. Wally did exactly that, knocking the meta through the back doors, the glass shattering. Wally runs back as himself, as everyone ran downstairs, the meta gone.

"I knew it. Kid Flash is a hero." Joanie said with a bubbly smile.

"Thank god for Kid Flash, huh?" Wally exhales.

-

"This guy's got the touch of death." Cisco mutters, as we all stood in the cortex, discussing how we were going to catch this meta.

"Yeah, no kidding." I sigh, keeping my arms crossed, making sure my rings covered, "It's not just people that turn into legitimate ash when he touches them- it's everything."

"Joe, I really think you should just stay here until we find Yorkin." Barry spoke.

"No- I'm gonna go check on Cecile and Joanie. They were pretty shook up." Joe starts to walk around the desks.

"Joe-" I call out, "You almost got killed at Jitters. It's not the best idea for you to be out and about when you're being targeted by a meta that can kill you by a single touch."

"That's exactly right- dad, are you crazy?" Iris stopped him. "If it wasn't for Wally and Barry, he could've killed you- he could've killed any one of us."

"We have been through much worse metas than Yorkin." Joe stammered, "Iris, I'm fine. We're all fine. We're not losing anybody today."

"Maybe not today, but soon." Iris' voice came out quiet, tears glossing over her eyes.

"Soon? What are you saying?" Joe asked I'm confused.

Wally trails off in a warning tone, for her to rethink what she was about to do, "Iris-"

"Wally, he needs to know." Iris stood strong on telling Joe about her fate.

"Needs to know what?" Joe questions.

Iris looks at me, exhaling quietly, signaling for me to start talking for her, causing me to sigh and step up, "When Barry threw the Philosopher's Stone, there was an explosion, which lead to him propelling into the future."

"The future?" He repeats my words.

Barry nods, "It was a few months from now."

"What he saw was himself, Savitar and me." Iris lets a tear fall, "Right before Savitar killed me."

"So you're telling me, in a few months, you die?" Joe said after a long silence.

"Unless, we change the future, Dad." Wally spoke up.

"Which we're gonna do, Joe." Barry assures him. "We're not gonna let this happen."

"How log have you known about this?" Joe looks at us, raising his voice, noticing our silence, "How long?"

"A couple weeks now, Joe." Cisco quietly answers.

"And- we've been working on changing it ever since." I spoke up, but his shouting cuts me off.

"That's my daughter." He points at Iris, shouting.

"Dad, I didn't want them saying anything because I knew how you'd react." Iris took the blame.

"This is not something you keep from your father, Iris!" Joe shouts, "You should known that. And you should too." Joe points at Barry.

"I know, Joe." Barry weakly says.

"Listen, I'd understand why they wouldn't want to tell me, because they didn't grow up in the same roof as you did," Joe stepped closer, pointing at both Barry and I, "They don't understand what my baby girl means to me- but you two do."

"Joe-" I whisper weakly, at a loss of words.

Joe stammers, before leaving the cortex, leaving us all in silence, Iris speaking up first, "I'll go talk to him."

Iris leaves the room, Barry speaking up, clearing his throat, rubbing the back of his neck, "I'm gonna go to CCPD, see if I can find anything that'll lead us to Yorkin."

"I'll come." I quietly say, leaving with him.

-

Wally and Barry had done it. They had saved Joe and even Laura Stone, the third person Yorkin was going after. Yorkin had went after Iris in the process, which caused her to get touched by him. Caitlin had tried to her best to freeze the affect that was spreading through Iris' body, and had done it, until we had found a way to construct a cure, which we did.

We all stood at Star Labs, where Iris laid, all around her bed, as she started to wake up, looking at her father first, "Dad?"

"The last time I was this happy looking into your eyes, you'd just been born." Joe smiles softly.

"Hey," Barry caught Iris' attention, wrapping his arm around me loosely, "You're okay. It's okay- Yorkin's done."

"What happened?" Iris quietly asks.

HR speaks up, "I'll tell you what happened. Wallace was a total badass, that's what happened." He points at Cisco, "Translate."

"Yeah, he phased his speedster blood into Yorkin and neutralized his powers." Cisco explained.

HR nods, "That's the science behind it."

"Well, I had a great teacher." Wally looks at Barry.

Barry gives me a weak smile, before Iris speaks up, "And me?"

"Once Yorkin's blood was stabilized, we actually managed get an antidote that cured you." Julian informed her.

"You're gonna need to keep the bandage on for a few days, but other than that, you're fully recovered." Caitlin smiles.

Iris nods slowly, "Thank you. I know how much you risked for me."

"I had some help." Caitlin looks at Julian.

"We all were working together." Joe spoke up, "The point is, if we're gonna save Iris from Savitar, we're gonna have to up our game. No more lies- even well-intentioned ones. We have to be completely real with each other."

"I agree." Barry says quietly.

HR speaks up, "I agree with Joe."

"From here on out, complete honesty." I say, my tone quiet, as I uncrossed my arms.

"Honesty." Everyone else says in unison, this being a huge agreement between all of us.

Iris nods slowly, smiling up at me weakly, as I threw my hair into a quick messy bun due to it not cooperating with me together, pressing my palms together after I'm done, leaning into Barry's side a little more, pressing my pressed hands against my pursed lips.

"Wait-" Iris spoke up, her eyes glued to my left hand, excitement and shock threaded in her voice, "What the hell is that?"

Everyone pauses from leaving, looking back at Iris, who reaches up with her none bandaged arm, snatching my hand from my face, staring at the ring that I wore, as it rested on my finger perfectly.

"Oh my god-" Caitlin gasps loudly, immediately walks back over, grabbing onto my hand also, her eyes glued to the ring.

"No- You proposed?" Cisco walks over to Barry, doing some sort of handshake with him, "My man-"

"You're marrying the best man I know." Joe smiles at me, "I'm happy for you two."

"We were going to tell you guys at a better time when everything wasn't all happening at once-" I start, but everyone was too joyous to care about the timing.

The rest of the time spent at Star Labs was left in them all congratulating us, everyone giving us their little comments, causing huge sparks of happiness to erupt in me, due to how excited and supportive everyone was being. The night had ended well.

-

I sat on the couch, in our Barry and I's loft, flipping through one of the many photo albums.

I was dressed in a pair of pajama shorts, along with one of Barry's sweatshirts, a blanket on my lower half, my hair messy and down. Barry came and sat next to me, a smile forming on his lips once he saw what I was looking at.

I point at a picture, "That was the night we went our for dinner with everyone- the day you got back from college- and I didn't have a good day. And- I needed a drink- but I was underage- by like- two years. I made a joke about the drink I wanted, and you were the only one who knew I was serious. You ordered the drink I wanted and the minute Joe looked away, you sneaked me a few sips."

"Yeah-" Barry laughs quietly, "You reeked vodka that night. I'm surprised- Joe didn't notice."

Barry was the one to point at a picture next, "That was the day, you and I stayed up all night to help you study for your chemistry exam because you always took naps on my arm in that class. Iris took this picture of us- god- we look dead."

I giggle quietly, "The bags under your eyes are ginormous."

"Do you see all those empty cans of energy drinks?" Barry's finger scanned through the small part of the picture where there was a pile of empty energy drink cans.

I point to the picture just below it, "The day- we all had a picnic at the park nearby. I shoved you into the lake, and you pulled me right in with you."

Barry laughs quietly, "I smelt like lake water for days after that. And so did you."

"Gosh-" I laugh quietly, "I'm so mean to you."

"You're so amazing to me." Barry corrects me, wrapping an arm around me. I set the photo album on the coffee table, looking at him, a pout falling onto my lips.

"I shoved you into a lake." I stare at him.

He stares right back, "And I pulled you right in with me."

"Barry." I shot him a look.

"Zee," Barry pulls me closer, "I'm going to marry one of the best people I know. That's all that matters."

"Fine." I say in defeat, kissing his cheek, a wider smile forming on his lips when I do.

"I love you." Barry smiles at me, his voice soft and filled with admiration.

I smile, "And I love you."