Chapter 8

"What?" Iris exclaimed, her hand shaking.

She heard Savitar take a big breath from the other side of the phone. He didn't like this as much as anyone else. 

"Look, you know I wouldn't say anything without being a hundred percent sure. Come to Star Labs, I don't think this should be a conversation over the phone."

"Wait, I-" before she could say anything, Savitar cut the call which was maybe a good thing since Iris had no idea what she would have said. 

She turned to Barry, who stood up in a protective stance as soon as he heard a change of tone in his wife's voice. 

"What happened? What's wrong?" 

"We need to go to Star Labs. Right now." 

Within seconds, the couple arrived to find Savitar waiting for them in the hallway. 

"Great, you're here," he said as Barry and Iris walked toward him. 

"What's going on?" Barry asked. 

"Ron, Caitlin, and I were coming to Star Labs when this kid, couldn't be no more than 20, was just standing the middle of the cortex. Before he could say anything though, he fell backward. Cait's checking on him right now, but a few minutes ago, he murmured your name," he looked Iris. 

The three walked into the medical bay where Ron and Caitlin were examining an attractive light-skinned teenager. 

Caitlin looked up and smiled softly, "Iris. Meet Wallace or as he goes by, Wally. Wally West."

Iris' eyebrows raised up, "did you say West?"

Caitlin nodded, "that's what he said, but he was saying your name before. I believe there's a possibility that he might be confusing his words."

"Why'd he come to the lab?" Barry asked. 

"We'd have to ask him."

"How long has he been out?" Iris questioned.

"Ten, maybe fifteen minutes. The concussion was obviously caused by the head injury he faced when he fell but I also noticed ..." she trailed off as she was thinking out loud.

"Noticed what?" Barry was intrigued.

"He has the same healing factors as you and Savitar," Caitlin said softly.

"He's a speedster?" Iris asked, astonished. 

"I believe so. Then again, he could be any sort of meta, I haven't done any tests. I'd like to run a DNA test just to confirm his relation to you and Joe," she said to Iris who nodded.

"Yeah, that'd be ideal, wouldn't it?"

Caitlin walked toward her and held Iris' hand.

"What about the virus?" Ron asked.

"Right," Caitlin shook her head.

Barry tilted his head, "virus?" 

"Yeah, it seems to be," Caitlin stated, "he has a very high fever, not to mention his blood pressure had dropped significantly. All signs of a common cold."

"But speedsters can't get sick," Barry contradicted.

"Exactly, which is why I think it's a virus. One that's contaminating his healing abilities."

Savitar rolled his eyes, "let me guess, this is a meta's doing."

Caitlin shrugged, "isn't it always?" 

Nothing more was said. Caitlin and Ron worked in her lab to run a bunch of tests to get a proper diagnosis while Savitar, Barry, and Iris waited in the cortex.

Iris sighed and put her phone down in obvious distress. 

"Joe's not picking up?" Barry asked.

Iris nodded, "it's not like him to-" 

Suddenly, Joe West himself rushed into the cortex, "where is he?" 

Iris was confused; she had never seen her father, the always calm and collected detective, so disoriented and confused. 

Then, a sudden rush of anger flowed through her blood, a hurt of betrayal. Iris watched closely as Joe frantically looked around the lab.

"So, you know?" Iris spoke at last.

Joe shook his head and put hand up, "I-Iris, now is not the time."

"Then, when is, dad? When is it ever the right time to ask you why this kid comes to Star Labs saying he's a West?"

Joe sighed, "it's not now."

Caitlin walked in and studied everyone's tensed moods. She glanced at Savitar who gave her an encouraging smile, comfort radiating off of him. She let go of everything she wanted to say and said what they needed to hear.

"Um, he's awake." 

The team huddled around the patient, Joe being the first to speak.

"Wally, are you okay?"

"I-yeah, I think so."

Joe smiled in relief, then looked at Iris, drowning in guilt. 

"Iris, I-I guess I owe you an explanation."

Iris had her arms crossed against her chest, but at the sight of her father's exhausted face, she set her arms to her side and tried her best to smile. 

"Don't get me wrong, you do owe me an explanation, but I'm sure it can wait."

Joe smiled at embraced Iris in a tight hug, "thanks baby girl, you always get me."

Their hug was interrupted by someone coughing. 

"Can I get some water?" Everyone turned to Wally who was coughing up blood.

"Yes, of course," Caitlin turned to Savitar, and in a split second he reappeared with a glass of water. Caitlin smiled at him for always being there when she needed him most.

She helped Wally drink his water and stepped back, "water will help temporarily, but I was hoping we could find more of a permanent solution for the virus in your system."

"Please do." 

"Tell me why we have a person in the lab named after a a robot?" Everyone turned their heads to look at Cisco who had just walked in, "sorry I'm late, I had a date with Cynthia and it lasted longer than expected." 

"Yeah, we can tell," Savitar smirked and Cisco quickly tried to straighten his shirt and fix his hair. 

"Ahem, so what about Wall-E?" 

As soon as Caitlin filled him in, Cisco began to ask questions, a lot of them.

"So, Joe, how long have you known about Wally? Or did you not know until now? How do you feel about all this, Iris? Are you mad? Happy?"

"Cisco!" Barry stopped his friend, "I'm sure we have plenty of time to ask questions later."

"I was working at CCPD, when Wally walked in, requesting to see me," Joe started, "he claimed to have seen a meta human who had hit him with some sort of wave."

"More like a freakin' blast," Wally interrupted, his voice hoarse, "my mom died of lung cancer a year ago and so I came here in search of Joe West, my apparent biological father when this crazy lunatic hit me out of no where."

"You told me you had speed powers."

"Yeah, and instead of listening to me, you told me to go to Star Labs."

"Of course I did. They can help you way more than I ever could."

Wally sighed then turned his head so he wasn't facing his father anymore.

"Wait, hold on, Francine died?" Iris asked.

"That's mom to you," Joe corrected her.

Iris rolled her eyes, "she was anything but a mom to me." 

Wally squinted his eyes at Iris, "well, she was a mother to me and she died."

He was obviously hurt of the rude words spoken toward his late mother, but then again, the perfect person you've built in your mind might not be the same person everyone else knows.

"I-" Iris paused, unsure of what to say. She had no idea who this young man was yet they shared blood. Did he know her? Did Francine share stories?

Wally suddenly sat up on the bed and threw up in a nearby garbage can. 

"We need to find this meta human. It's the only way to create a cure," Caitlin said as she ran to Wally's side. 

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I'm so sorry for the late update, but my first year of uni just started and I'm going a bit crazy, lol. I'll try and update and soon as possible, sorry again loves.

QOTC: I know a lot of y'all hate Iris, so my question for this chapter is why or why don't you like her?

My answer: Don't get me wrong, I liked her in season 1 and thought she had potential, but I feel like the writers really started to push her into storylines that didn't make sense to her character, eg. when she suddenly became leader of Team Flash in season 4, like what? lmao

Also, I think I may have to publish chapters without editing to finish the book quicker, I don't know, tell what you guys think.