It had been a month since we had locked Savitar in the Speed Force. We had not seen any signs of Savitar or Alchemy, and everything was back to normal, whatever normal was for us anyway. Barry and I had unpacked a few things, mostly just the bed and nightstands. I had fully moved out of my apartment and broke that lease, Barry and I's things in cardboard boxes around the room.

Barry lets out a scream in his sleep, jolting awake, causing my head to snap towards him, his breathing distressed and uneven. I was already half awake, his screaming fully waking me up as my hand touched his bare forearm, my voice raspy, "Hey- are you okay?"

"Yeah- I'm fine. It was just a bad dream. Just go back to sleep." Barry mumbles, sitting up, turning his back towards me.

"I've been awake for over an hour-" I sit up, the silk sheets rubbing against my skin, pulling Barry's t shirt that I wore down. "Do you wanna talk about it? You have my undivided attention."

"No- you know what I wanna do?" Barry turns, crossing his legs, facing me, grabbing my hands, "I wanna unpack. It's been a month."

"No changing the subject, Bartholomew." His full first name rolled off my tongue smoothly, as I held back a small laugh.

"Am I in trouble?" Barry shoots me a boyish grin, his hair a mess from being sleep.

"No-" I trial off, I moved onto his lap, letting go of his hands, resting them on his bare chest, "But, this is the third night in a row I've woken up to you screaming from a nightmare."

Barry wraps his arms around me, pulling me closer, "I know something else that's happened three nights in a row."

My eyes widen, my pointer finger shooting up, pointing at him, "You. You are dirty."

His smile widens, pressing a kiss to my lips, but unfortunately has to pull away at the sound of our phones buzzing.

I groan, throwing myself back, attempting to fall back into the bed, but Barry's arm keeps me in place, his other hand checking his phone, "There's a fire-"

"Go save the day, Flash." I lean back more, arching my back, in attempt to make him let go, his lips pressing a small kiss to my lips, before running, changing and leaving the loft, my back softly falling into the comfortable bed, a small smile on my face.

-

There was a new robber running around town. Barry had hesitated to stop him, and was now at edge when Wally jumped in and saved him, stopping him.

We were all in the cortex, ready for the Star Labs museum opening, awaiting for Wally and Barry's arrival. HR had given us a tour earlier, showing up the hologram of Cisco he had made for the tour guide, but throughout most of it, I was napping as Barry gave me a piggy back ride around every part HR showed.

I wore a navy blue jumpsuit, it was long sleeved and was plunged, the entire top material completely made out of lace. I wore a navy bra right under it, to make sure it blended in with the suit, my feet wearing black heels to go with it, my hair being straight.

"Wally, congratulations. That was amazing." Iris' voice breaks me out of my thoughts, my eyes landing on Wally, Joe with his arm wrapped around him, Barry following right behind him.

"Great job, Wally." Caitlin smiles at him.

"Nice work." I smile at Wally also.

"Kid Flash, let em know." Cisco hyped up, high fiving Wally. "That's how it's done."

"We just deposited Plunder in Iron Heights." Wally smiles, proud of himself also.

"His real name is Jared Morillo. Turns out he's wanted for a string of robberies from here to Star City." Joe informs us.

Barry finally speaks up, what he says catching all of our attention, "Wally, what was that? I mean- you're supposed to be shadowing me."

"Wait- you're mad at me? I thought-" Confusion washes over Wally, seeing that Barry was the only one who was bothered by his actions.

"Observe and learn. That's it." Barry snaps, his voice raising lightly.

"Barry. He saved your life." I stare at him, my eyes slightly wide at how he was snapping at Wally.

"That's it." Barry snips, raising his voice at me also.

"Barr, ease up." Joe looks at him, trying to calm him down.

Barry took off his gloves, turning, starting to walk away, "I'm sorry Wally, but if you can't learn how to follow orders, this deal between us, it's over."

"Barry." I raise my voice, catching his attention quickly, his head snapping over to me, his feet coming to a stop.

"A word." I sternly said, turning away, walking into another room, a sigh coming from Barry as he walks right behind me, looking down at me when we're alone.

"What the hell is going on with you?" I question immediately, "Wally- saved your life. Your head hasn't been in the game since this robber showed up. And you're upset with him?"

"Listen- I don't need a talking right now." Barry rudely stops me from talking, keeping a straight face.

"I'm not giving you a talking. I'm asking you what the hell is wrong. You've been having nightmares, and now you're snapping on Wally for the wrong reasons." I cross my arms.

"I'm fine. My dreams have no relation to this. I snapped on Wally because he isn't following my orders." Barry shot at me.

I raised my voice slightly, "Maybe it's a good thing he isn't following orders. You're not exactly being the best team leader right now. You've hesitated so much with this robber- it was a good thing Wally did what he did."

"You don't know anything about this, Zee." Barry also raises his voice at me.

"You're right, I don't. Because you won't tell me. You won't let me be there for you. You aren't telling me what's going on with you. You're keeping it all to yourself, and completely shutting me out." I raise my voice fully to the point where I was shouting, but then I stop myself, letting out a breath, "You know what- you can tell me if you want to. As much as this is making me upset- it's your privacy. But- being in a relationship means sharing what you're feeling."

Barry sighs, opening his mouth to speak, but I cut him off, "I don't want to hear it." I put a strand of my hair behind my ear, "I'm going to go downstairs. By everyone else. You need to get dressed for the opening."

With that, I left him alone in the room, making my way downstairs, where everyone stood. I was barely down there for a minute until Barry shows up right next to me, "Caitlin, where is everyone? Nobody's here."

"Nobody showed up." Caitlin quietly answers.

"For real?" I look at her, walking over to her quickly.

Barry comes up behind, setting his hand on my lower back, leaning into my ear, "You look very pretty by the way."

I keep my gaze on the ground, just simply quietly thanking him.

A few minutes later, two people show up, thinking that this was free, and eventually get scared away due to the malfunctioning Cisco hologram.

"It's not working. I don't know why." HR sighs.

"See?" Cisco spoke as we all walk over to HR, "Do you see what you've done, HR? You've distracted us for months, so what? So that you could feel useful? You're not useful. This museum isn't useful."

"You know what?" HR exclaims, his voice going quiet, "That's mean."

"Yeah, you know what, I guess I learned that from your doppelganger, and at least he contributed something." Cisco shot back.

My heart broke at the sound of HR's tone, as I quickly stood by him, putting my hand on his shoulder, "Hey, Cisco. Lay off him. He probably doesn't feel the best right now and you're making it worse."

"Zee-" Cisco starts, as I could feel Barry's stare on me, as I defended HR.

"Uhm- guys we've got another customer-" Wally points behind us.

HR turns full of hopes, but is disappointed when it's only Julian, "Hey, welcome to Star- it's Julius, you guys." HR sighs, walking away from us.

I sigh, feeling bad for HR. Barry looks at Julian, his eyebrows furrowing, "Julian, what're you doing here?"

"Well, I've given it some thought, and I'd like to accept your invitation." Julian fixes his blazer.

Barry clears his throat, just as confused as the rest of us, "Invitation for what?"

-

I walk down the hall that lead to the cortex, my heels clicking against the ground as I walked. Caitlin had just explained to us that she had invited Julian to join Team Flash, without informing us. We had all come to a conclusion that we would think about it, and that's where we ended that conversation for now, not pushing it further.

I felt a tug on my right arm, pulling me back, causing me to walk backwards, a small shriek leaving my mouth due to the sudden force, my eyes snapping to see Barry, as he spins me around, grabbing my other arm, pulling me along into the Time Vault, "I need to talk to you."

I sigh, pulling my arm from him, crossing my arms, looking down at my feet. We stay silent for a second for two, Barry's hands shoved into his pockets.

Barry breaks the silence, "One of the things I admire about you- is that your heart is so big that- you hate seeing someone hurt- and you defend them quickly. Like you did with HR downstairs."

I sigh yet again, not making eye contact with him, knowing if I did, I'd break, and completely melt back into his arms, and I needed to keep my ground, a shrug coming from me, "I mean- I felt horrible for HR. He's got to be useful in someway. Maybe it just isn't this."

"I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier." Barry keeps his state on me, his stare burning right through me, "I didn't mean to argue with you. I just- it's-"

"It's what, Barry?" I say quietly, keeping my arms crossed, and my stare on the ground.

Barry moves, pulling up the article from eight years from now, "Remember this?"

I look up at the article, sarcasm rolling off my tongue, "The article that tells me my boyfriend is going to disappear into thin air eight years from now? Nah."

Barry shoots me a look, "It used to be written by Iris West-Allen."

"Okay? Maybe she quit her job or something." I shrug, keeping my eyes on the article.

"I hoped that too." Barry spoke, "But- there's something I've kept from everyone."

"What?" I question.

"When we threw the stone into the speed force. I accidentally got knocked into the future." Barry starts, which causes me to finally make eye contact with him, as he continues, "I watched Savitar murder Iris. I wasn't fast enough to save her. And- Jared Morillo was the robber I saw on the news-"

"How far did you knock yourself into the future?" I ask, my eyes wide.

"Four months from right now." Barry answers.

"That's why you've been having those nightmares-" I realize, "Oh my god- I'm going to lose my best friend in four months." I cover my mouth, tears stinging in my eyes, mentally cursing at myself because of how much I've been crying lately.

"No- no. This is not going to happen. I'm not going to let it happen." Barry immediately grabs my forearms, trying to get me to look at him.

"You tried to let Plunder go- so it would change the future, didn't you?" Tears slipped my eyes, as I stared at nothingness, "We can't lose Iris. I can't lose Iris. She's always been there for me- I can't lose her-"

"We're not going to lose her-" Barry tells me, "Hey- hey- hey- look at me."

Uncontrollably sobs left my mouth, as I couldn't bring myself to look at him, "I've been so upset with you for not telling me about these nightmares- but you've been dreaming about seeing the woman you love getting murdered- how could I ever get upset with you for that-"

"Hey-" he lifts my face up, and forces me to make eye contact with him, "You're the woman I love. Zee, believe me when I say that I'm going to do everything to prevent this from happening. Jay said this is one of the possible realities- it doesn't mean it's going to happen. I won't let this happen- none of us are going to lose her."

I sigh, tears falling, sniffling, looking away, giving him a sly nod in defeat, as he pulls me into his chest, holding me tight.

-

We had told everyone but Joe about what Barry had saw in the future. Eventually, Barry and Cisco vibed to the future to get some clues of things that would happen, so we could eventually change the events that happened towards Iris' death, so we could alter it, and change what happened.

Barry has Wally catch Plunder instead of him, this being one step to changing the future already. The Star Labs museum had started up pretty nicely, which caused HR to fill with happiness.

I walk into Barry and I's loft, dressed in a pair of high waisted ripped jeans as per usual, and cropped sweater, that was loose on my body, my coat hanging off my arm. My eyes go wide, staring at everything that was unpacked and set in the right places, the bed that was once in the middle of the loft, gone, and probably set in our bedroom, "Wow-"

Barry jumps lightly at the sound of my voice, his head turning, his gaze landing on me, quickly fixing something on the dinner table, before turning and facing me, "Hey-"

"You unpacked? Everything?" My eyes scan around the room, then land back on him, hanging my coat up on the rack, walking over to him.

"I mean- yeah." Barry quickly says, "I figured since- between both our jobs and- Team Flash- unpacking this place like a normal couple would've taken forever so- I took matters into own hands and did everything myself- do you hate it?" Barry asks quickly, stepping in front of me, the look on my face immediately causing him to over think, "You hate it- is it the couch? I could move it-"

"No- I don't hate it-" I grab his hands the minute he turns to the side to move to switch the position of the couch, "I love it."

"Are you just saying that because it's me you're talking to?-" Barry starts, completely unsure of my answer, thinking that I did hate it.

I move up, standing on my tippy toes, pressing a kiss to his lips to shut him up, pulling away, "I love it. Alright? You took a lot of work off both of our shoulders. Now-" my head turns towards the kitchen island, "Who's coming over?"

"I may or may not have invited Team Flash over- for a little dinner party- because they all wanted to see the loft." Barry lightly shrugs, "They should be here a few."

"You couldn't have warned me? I look-" I began, about to criticize my own attire.

He cuts me off, "Beautiful."

I roll my eyes lightly in a playful gesture, pressing a kiss to his lips before walking over to the kitchen, pulling ice out of the freezer, grabbing a huge bowl, holding them both up, "You forgot the ice, hun."

"I got sidetracked-" Barry innocently shrugs at me, a smile on his face, before he turns, heading into where our bedroom was.

I set the bowl on the island, opening the plastic bag of ice, pouring enough in it, before turning, opening a drawer, looking for a spoon, while quietly singing to a song that had been stuck in my head, my hands lightly rummaging through the drawers, "All my nights, taste like gold, yeah when I'm with you it's like everything glows, and all my days, we can lay low. Yeah, when we're waking up, we're waking up slow-"

I quietly sing, the runs sounding off my tongue gracefully, as I grabbed the large spoon, placing it in the bowl, placing the ice back, Barry walking into the kitchen, grabbing my hand, turning me to face him, as I silenced myself.

"You should sing more often-" Barry lightly smiles at me, pressing his lips into mine, a smile forming on my lips as I grabbed his face.

The door bell ringing caused us to break apart, "I should've changed-"

"You look fine, love." He grabs my hand, pulling me to the door, opening the door. Everyone stepped inside, making little comments about how they loved the loft, Wally handing me a plant as a housewarming gift, HR even giving Barry a turtle due to on Earth 19, they gifted each other with reptiles.

"You two did really well, this place is noice." Cisco looked around after giving me a hug, Joe, Iris, Caitlin, Wally and HR following after him, Cisco and Caitlin moving to the table, Wally and HR moving to the kitchen island, Iris and Joe looking around, wide smiles on their faces.

Barry grabs my hand, setting the turtle that was in some sort of fish bowl down on the table by Cisco and Caitlin, "What are we gonna call you?" Barry cooed at the Turtle, looking into the bowl, "Look guys- I gotta pet-"

I snicker lightly, kissing his cheek, a knock coming from the door, Julian walking through a second later, holding a bottle of champagne,
"Hi- I hope I'm not too late."

Caitlin, Barry and fortunately I, walk over to him due to Barry pulling me along, still holding my hand.

"You're right on time-" I take a breath, looking at Barry, confusion written all over my face, "Uh- when did you invite him?"

"It's lovely to see you too, Detective." Julian snickers at me, the small smile remaining on his face.

I look at him, giving him my best smile, "We're not at work right now, Julian. There's no need to the formal talk."

Julian nods, smiling at me, before handing the champagne to Barry, "This is for you."

"Um, yeah- so we all talked it over, and welcome to the team." Barry smiles at Julian.

"When did I agree to this?" I look at Barry, Barry shooting me a look, causing me to clear my throat, "I mean- of course. Yes- welcome to Team Flash."

"You being serious?" Julian looks at us.

Barry nods, shaking Julian's hand, them both smiling.

"This is so exciting- I mean, my last team- they were all murdered by Savitar." Julian spoke, everyone's smile fading.

"We need to work on your small talk skills." Caitlin smiles at him, leading him inside, "Come on in."

"Okay, I think I need a drink." I spin, slipping my hand away from Barry's, kissing his cheek, walking over to kitchen island, pouring myself a drink.

Barry and Joe share a drink before HR taps on his glass with his stick, catching all of our attention, as we all slowly walk over to where he was standing. "I just wanted to say a few words on this occasion, you know-"

"A home, you know, it's more than bricks and mortar- and a turtle. It's- a feeling. It's a feeling of belonging, isn't it? Of love- of course- and hope for the future." HR spoke, "I don't know if I've ever met two people more suited for one another than you two."

HR looks at Barry and I, "To Barry and Zee." He held his glass up.

Everyone held their glasses up, repeating the toast to Barry and I. I look at Barry, a small smile on my face, the happiness rushing through my veins overwhelming me, Barry smiling down at me, "To us."

"To us." I whisper, leaning up, pressing my lips into his, everyone taking a sip of their alcoholic beverages.