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Kara put Laurel down before landing. She sat down next to Iris and looked up at the stars.
“It’s a beautiful night,” she said.
“This is a good spot,” Iris said.
“Are you okay?”
“Fine.”
“You don’t seem very fine,” Laurel said, sitting on Iris’ other side.
“I am,” Iris said. “I’m always fine. I’m sorry about your dad.”
“It’s okay,” Laurel said. “It wasn’t really him. Is Joe okay?”
“He’s fine. Everything’s normal again.”
“I’m glad, Joe’s great. I mourned my dad already.”
“You still miss him,” Kara said.
“Yeah,” Laurel said. “I had a complicated relationship with him for years. I just…”
“Felt second best,” Iris said. “We switched lives, remember? I had my memories, but I think I had some of your feelings. I’ve never resented Wally.”
Laurel sighed. No one said anything for a few minutes.
“I always felt like second best,” Laurel said. “Sara died and they were mourning her and sad about her and obviously they were, their daughter died, but no one ever thought about how it feels to lose your boyfriend and your sister in the same accident and that be how you find out they’ve been sleeping together behind your back. I forgave them, I love my sister, but I spent a long time having all this anger I couldn’t let go of and I couldn’t share because no one could hear anything against perfect, lost Sara, and I know it was one of the things that drove a wedge between me and both my parents. There was a lot of baggage between me and my dad that maybe I didn’t get to work it all out, but it’s okay. Don’t feel guilty, Iris, you love your dad, you’re glad he’s back and this is how the timeline is meant to be, you’re allowed to just be happy. You’re not hurting me. I promise.”
Iris nodded.
“What’s this about your brother?” Laurel asked.
“Wally?” Kara asked. “He and Sara are normal again, aren’t they?”
“Wally’s fine,” Iris said. “It’s Danny. He’s come back from the future, he’s calling himself Reverse Flash, and he’s helping Cicada and we don’t know more. He said he wants to save me, but Cicada is killing metahumans.”
“Save you from what?”
“When Eobard Thawne first ran back in time, he used a newspaper to keep track of the timeline. April 2024, headline Flash Vanishes in Crisis. It’s the day I die.”
“Vanishes doesn’t mean-”
“It does this time,” Iris said. “Thawne said so and normally I wouldn’t believe him, but Zari and Rip said so, and my nephew Wallace, Danny’s son, I don’t get out of this one.”
“Then we stop whatever this Crisis is,” Kara said.
“It’s a constant of every timeline. A fixed point. It’s what the Monitor was talking about. What he was testing us for.”
“And you’re okay with this?”
“2024 is five years away. That’s so long for a speedster.”
“Iris,” Laurel said.
“Danny says everyone was so upset by what happened they pushed him away and ignored him. He became Reverse Flash because I couldn’t be there.”
“It hasn’t even happened yet,” Laurel said. “Don’t blame yourself. You might not have been able to be there then, but you can be here now.”
“Thanks,” Iris said. “You two are good friends. We should hang out more without weird life switching things happening.”
“I’m almost upset I didn’t get a go,” Kara said.
“Kara,” Laurel said.
“What, it could have been fun,” Kara said. “Find out what it’s like to be human.”
“You were probably human in that musical dream,” Iris said.
“I don’t know, that felt more like being under a red sun, or maybe burn out? Sometimes my powers shut down until I’ve had a chance to recharge, it normally only takes a day, maybe less if it’s very sunny. I didn’t even get to see Cisco running Central City’s criminal empire.”
“I would gladly have switched with you for that,” Iris said. “Barry shot me.”
"Being shot's fine, I've been shot loads."
"Normally I can catch bullets," Iris said. "And you're bulletproof, Kara."
"That's true. I did get shot in that weird dream."
"What did you two do?" Laurel asked.
"We got whammied by this guy calling himself Music Meister," Kara said. "And stuck in comas dreaming we were in a musical while he used our powers to rob banks."
"Dig's right, whenever I see you guys, things get so weird."
“You love us though," Iris said. "Today was kind of fun.”
“See?” Kara said. “Go on, Laurel, admit it.”
“Fine,” Laurel laughed. “It had its moments. Your powers are really cool.”
“I know,” Iris said. She glanced up. “There’s a shooting star, make a wish.”
Iris closed her eyes for a second. Somehow there had to be a way to get through to Danny.
“I don’t think I have ever seen this many stars,” Laurel said. “It’s beautiful.”
“After my mother died Barry used to take me stargazing,” Iris said. “He had Nora’s old telescope and he knew I kept trying to be strong for my dad and for Wally instead of admitting how much it hurt. I think I might always have had a problem doing that. We used to sit for hours just looking up at the stars above us. Sometimes Nora would take us up to Granite Peak so we’d get a better view.”
“I used to stargaze too,” Kara said. “The sky looked so different from the one I knew. Do you see that one? It’s quite faint from Earth, you can’t see it when there’s too much light pollution. Follow the bottom of Cassiopeia and go along just a little? It’s red, I don’t know how well your eyes can see it without a telescope.”
“I think I see,” Iris said.
“That’s Rao. Krypton’s sun.”
“Do you know about it in this universe?” Laurel asked.
“I didn’t look,” Kara said. “I don’t think I want to know. You can still see on my Earth. Krypton was destroyed, and it destroyed Daxam, but Rao is still there, and there are so many light years between us if you had a strong enough telescope you would still see Krypton. I used to look at it and pretend everyone was still there. I think we’re all a bit of a mess, Iris. You don’t have to pretend to be okay with us, not ever.”
“She’s right,” Laurel said. “We care about you a lot. A lot of people do, and they all want to help. We’re here when you need us.”
“Thank you,” Iris said. “I’ll be here when you need me too.”