A Whole New Multiverse: Flash

Chapter 4

After Barry was discharged from Star Labs that night, Jay and Joan insisted on him coming back to their house before he returned to his apartment. Since she'd just gotten her boyfriend back, Iris had no intention of letting him out of her sight, so she decided to tag along.

"Okay, so what exactly was the reason I had to come here first before I went home?" Barry asked as he sat down on the couch in the living room.

"Barry, we need to talk about your powers." Jay said.

"What about them?" Barry asked.

"If you're going to use them, then you need to know your limits." Jay said.

"Like what?" Iris asked.

"Well for one, thing, Barry's metabolic rate has been accelerated, meaning he needs to eat roughly the same amount of calories a kryptonian would have to consume on this planet to keep your energy up. Otherwise, you could end up passing out and falling on your ass at mach one." Jay said.

"He learned that the hard way. Good thing your powers also give you speed healing." Joan said.

"Wait, are you saying that Barry can't get hurt anymore?" Iris asked.

"No, he can still get hurt, but his injuries will heal exponentially faster than they used to. However, to maintain your powers, you likely need to consume around 10,000 calories a day." Joan said.

"Wait, does that mean that he won't gain any weight if he eats that much?" Iris asked.

"Pretty much." Jay said.

"Damn, now I wish I was the one who got struck by lightning." Iris said and Jay chuckled.

"Anyways Barry, you think you'll be able to get back to the lab tomorrow?" Joan asked.

"Yeah, I think I can even modify my current project to help out with my training." Barry said.

"Remind me again what you're working on?" Iris asked.

"It's a new kind of AI system. I'm thinking about naming it Gideon once I get it to actually working. I might be able to use it to help me with my training." Barry said and Jay nodded thoughtfully.

"Cisco's going to be stopping by the lab tomorrow so we can design your suit. If you're gonna be a hero, then you need to look the part." Jay said.

"Got any micro compression tech we could use for it?" Barry asked and Jay smiled.

"We'll talk about it tomorrow." Jay said.

"Anyways, we should probably head out, since I told my dad I'd be spending the night at Barry's place tonight." Iris said.

"Speaking of Joe, are you going to tell him about this?" Jay asked.

"No. My father cannot know about this." Iris said.

"Iris is right. We can't trust Joe with this right now. Maybe eventually, we'll bring him in, but for now, he stays out of the loop for his own safety." Barry said and Jay nodded.

"I'll see you at work tomorrow Barr." Jay said as he hugged his nephew and Barry then hugged his aunt before he and Iris walked out of the house.

When he entered his apartment, Barry was surprised that it looked like someone else had been staying here recently.

He turned to look at Iris.

"Iris, do you have any ideas who was staying here while I was in a coma?" Barry asked.

"It was me." Iris admitted.

"Really." Barry said.

"Yeah, it was hard for me after you went into a coma. Sleeping here sometimes would help me through the nights that were particularly rough." Iris said and Barry smiled.

"I'm surprised you had room for your stuff. After all, this place is kind of small for two people." Barry said.

"Well, now that you're awake, it will only have one full time occupant." Iris said.

"Actually Iris, my lease is going to be up in about a month, so maybe, instead of renewing, we can look for a place together?" Barry asked.

"Wait, Barry, are you asking me to move in with you?" Iris asked.

"Yeah, I am." Barry said and Iris smiled.

"Well it would be easier to spend time together if we didn't have to worry about my dad walking in on us at anytime." Iris said.

"And I'm pretty sure it'll get hard to blast in and out the door at superspeed from my neighbors." Barry said.

"And it would make sense to make sure that someone in the know is here to provide an alibi." Iris agreed.

"So, you wanna do this?" Barry asked her.

"Absolutely. We'll start apartment hunting tomorrow." Iris said.

"You got it." Barry said, even though he already had a certain place picked out.

"Great." Iris said with a smile as she kissed him again.