First Interlude

—17 years earlier—

"You can't keep worrying about this, Iris. It's not good for the babies," Caitlyn said, handing her friend another tissue.

"I know that. I just can't seem to stop nowadays," Iris complained as she heaved herself off of the sofa. She started pacing, one hand placed protectively on her stomach. "I keep thinking that somethings off. Not just Barry disappearing again."

"He'll be back. He always comes back," Caitlyn quipped with a small wry smile.

"I know," Iris agreed. She wandered to the kitchen and plucked a nectarine out of her fruit bowl. "It's something else. I just can't shake this horrible feeling."

"First time nerves? I've heard that some expectant mothers get paranoid," Caitlyn added.

Iris gave her a warning look and bit into the nectarine. She paused and then scrambled for a napkin. She frowned at the fruit. She could have sworn her father had said that they were fresh from the market when he dropped them off a couple hours ago. They shouldn't have had the time to soften up yet. She turned around to say something to Caitlyn.

The world went black.

*****

"Extraction successful. These are fine specimens."

Iris frowned at the words. She could tell that it wasn't English, but she couldn't figure out how she knew what was being said.

"Don't forget to put the container back."

"As you will."

"Is the Assimilator still on? Why is it on? Turn it off. It's a waste with the refusal."

"As you—" the rest of the sentence faded away into a garble of unintelligible sounds.

Iris felt the panic start to rise. She couldn't open her eyes and now there was noise she couldn't understand. Past experiences were telling her that this was a Very Bad Thing.

Then the world went black.

*****

Iris woke up in her bed. Her phone was blaring on the bed stand. She groped after it, frowning at the time. Since when did she oversleep?

"Hello?" she asked, groggily putting a hand to her head. She had a splitting headache.

"Where are you? Where have you been?" Her dad's voice was thunderous.

"What do you mean? I just talked to you yesterday. Didn't you bring me some nectarines?" Iris asked. She sat up, wincing at the pain and froze.

"What yesterday? You've been missing for three days."

Her hand rested against her stomach. Her flat stomach. Her very flat stomach.

Iris screamed.

******

"What do you mean I was never pregnant," Iris snarled at the Ob-Gyn. She felt like strangling the opinionated know-it-all.

"Now, Iris," Caitlyn said, striving for control herself. The air was starting to get just a bit frosty.

"I was pregnant two days ago and now I'm not," Iris struggled for the right words. "What happened to my kids?"

"I've run tests and you're not pregnant. There's no sign you ever were, and frankly no sign you gave birth." The OB shut the file he was perusing and gave her a sympathetic glance. "Perhaps the stress you've been under has affected you? I heard that the Picture News had to shut down for a couple months? You are the Iris West-Allen that works there, right?"

"I'm not crazy and I'm not stressed." Iris reached over and grabbed her purse. She unerringly pulled out a small photo. "See? Dated not a week ago. Now, where are they?" She demanded as she showed a sonogram to the disbelieving doctor.

He frowned at the sonogram. In it, two nearly to-term babies floated, nearly touching. The date on the sonogram was clearly a week ago and the doctor was one of theirs, only on vacation.

"We were doing a delivery when she came back from vacation, Dr. Soames that is," Iris said. Tears started to well and then stream down her face.

"If I wasn't seeing it for myself, I would say this was Empty Womb Syndrome." The OB shrugged and gave back the sonogram. He frowned. "Let's do some more tests. Perhaps there's a clue we overlooked?"

"Empty Womb Syndrome?" Iris turned to Caitlyn who shook her head.

They both pulled out their phones and started searching. The more they searched, the gloomier Iris became.

"The cases are rising recently. I'm not the only one."

"Some of these are clearly deluded women," Caitlyn cautioned, "but there are way more cases than there should be."

"Then there's a reason. And that reason has my kids and I'm going to get them back," Iris vowed.

*****

The driver shoved her glasses up and let them rest as an impromptu headband. She sighed, popping the gum she was chewing. A quick glance in her rearview showed the officer lumbering out of his car and cautiously approaching her window. She slapped on an engaging smile as he finally arrived.

"Is there a problem, off'cer?" she asked with a blink of her baby blues.

"Do you know you were speeding?" the officer returned, glancing in the car. His eyes bounced off the baby in the backseat and his stance softened just a bit.

"I'm so sorry. We just crossed the state line and I forgot that the limit changed," she lied with a fake look of concern. "We're so sorry! Ain't that right, baby girl?"

The baby obligingly gurgled. The officer sighed.

"I probably shouldn't, but don't do it again." He turned and walked back to his patrol car.

She watched him get in and then speed past her. She took in a deep breath and then rested her forehead against the steering wheel.

"If I knew whether he'd love you or hate you, it'd be easier, but I can't take that risk," she finally said to the baby in the backseat.

The baby gurgled again, chewing on a lock of blonde hair. Her mother looked at her in the rearview. She could almost hear the semi-apologetic, 'who knew she was so fragile?' She sat up and reached for her map.

"Sissy will take great care of you," she assured the baby. "She loves kids and money. But especially money." The driver started up the car again and eased back onto the highway. "It's all for the best, Harley. It's all for the best," she muttered as she shot back through traffic.