New Lightning Strikes (5) The Flash

10- Drop This Key

Heading into the lounge, Katrina find Iris sitting at the table, news clippings laid our before her, "You know this case will keep until morning" she tells Iris.

"Yeah, I know, it's just Merkel's still out there. The gala was a dead end and all we know is that he committed two completely unrelated crimes" Iris says to her, as she then looks at Katrina "I don't know what to do about Nora, Kat"
"I know, but look you know Barry and I are on your side of this. If you and Dick dampen her powers in the future, it's only because you care about her, and you are doing it to keep her safe" Katrina tells her.

"Yeah, but just because I can protect her, doesn't mean that I'm a good mom" Iris says.
"Iris, this isn't like what happened with Francine" Katrina then says knowing that Iris was thinking about what happened with her own mom.

Iris holds her tears back, "Isn't it?" she says to Katrina, and Katrina looks at her, "She left me, and my dad kept it a secret, all to protect me. And when she came back, I pushed her away. I barely had a chance to know her before she...." Iris pauses, "I lost my chance to connect with my mom and...Now, when I get older Nora is going to push me away, too" Iris says to her.

"Iris, that' won't happen" Katrina says to her.
Iris scoffs, "Well, it sure seems to be going in that direction"
"Well, then decide to go a different route. Make a different choice when you have to raise Nora. If you don not want to be that person, do not be that person" Katrina says.

"It's not that simple, Kat" Iris says.
"You are not your mom. You are not Iris from the future and you don't need to be, ever. I think....you should stop worrying about who you might become and reconnect with who you are now"

Iris wipes the small tear that had fallen, "Yeah"
Katrina then wraps an arm around Iris, "You gonna be okay?" she asks her.
"Yeah, yeah, I will be, umm, thanks for bringing Dick along, it was nice to not feel like a third party" Iris says to her.
"You know, his team's doing pretty well, and I might be able to convince him to stick around here. I mean, you two do get married" Katrina smiles at her.

"Yeah, that's a bit surprising" Iris says to her.
"I think it would be great, my two best friends getting together" Katrina says, and both girls laugh.
"Hey...you two okay?" they then hear Barry say as he and Dick stand in the doorway.

"Yeah, yeah, umm, Dick you know you can stay at the penthouse, your stuff should still be there from last time. Barry, we should probably head home" Katrina says standing up.
"Thanks, Kat. Umm, Iris you want some company?" Dick then asks.
"Uh, yeah, maybe you can help me with something?" Iris says, giving him a smile, as he then walks over to Iris, joining her at the table.

Barry and Katrina head out of the lounge, "Think Dick could stick around for a bit?" Barry asks Katrina, as he puts his arm around her.
"Why?" she asks him.
"Well, I mean, Iris seems a little happier when he's here, and it might be nice having his expertise" Barry says to her.
"I guess, I'll have to talk to him. I know, he's been thinking about leaving his team, they've been doing pretty good on their own" Katrina says to him, "And well, according to the article Nora showed us, they end up married"

"I guess so. Umm, I'm gonna go get us some Belly Burger, I'll meet you at home" Barry says to her.
"Yeah" she says giving him a kiss as she then speeds off to their loft.

Katrina arrives at the loft, cleaning up some of the things they had left out, when she hears a strange noise in the walls. Looking around the loft, she gets an odd felling, when her phone begins to vibrate making her jump. She picks it up seeing it was Iris video calling her, "Hey" Katrina answers, as she gets up to inspect where the noise was coming from.

"Hey, Kat. Dick and I just spoke with Mrs. Merkel. I think I know what Peter wants. The jewelry, the building, they all mean something personal to the victim. He wants to deliver the most painfully emotional blow possible, just like his family did to him" Iris tells her, as Katrina opens the fridge believing that was were the noise came from, and breathes out, when there is no noise. "You okay?" Iris then asks seeing Katrina's expression.