"Is that a compliment?" She asked back with a smile.
Barry laughed for a while and said nothing else.
Because she was right. And there was nothing he could offer in response that would be both true and safe to say.
They finished dinner slowly. The restaurant emptied around them as the evening got later. Eventually they were nearly alone. Just the kitchen sounds and one other couple near the front.
Outside on the street afterward, Iris tucked herself under Barry's arm as they walked. Cold night. Clear sky. Central City quiet in the way big cities got after midnight.
"Walk me to my car?" she asked.
"Yeah."
They walked two blocks. Stopped at her parking spot. She turned to face him, back against the car door.
"I had a good night," she said.
"Me too."
She reached up and kissed him. Warm. Long. Her hands finding the front of his jacket. Barry pulled her closer without thinking about it. Just responding. Human and uncalculated.
When she pulled back, her eyes were soft in the streetlight.
"Whatever you're building," she said quietly, "I hope it's worth it."
Then she got in her car and drove away.
Barry stood on the sidewalk watching her taillights disappear around the corner. The city moved around him. Taxis. A couple arguing across the street. A delivery truck running late.
Iris's words stayed with him.
'Whatever you're building, I hope it's worth it.'
He turned and walked back toward where he'd parked, mind gradually returning to the frequencies it normally occupied.
March 2015. Twelve months and seventeen days away.
The Chamber at 67% completion. The unknown surveillance ongoing. Wells's suspicion building quietly. Waller watching from her government perch.
All of it waiting for him. All of it requiring attention and precision and intelligence beyond what most humans could bring to bear.
Barry got in his car and sat for a moment before starting the engine.
'It will be worth it,' he told himself. 'It has to be.'
He started the engine and drove home.
---
Barry's apartment was dark when he got back. He didn't bother with lights. His enhanced vision handled the low light easily. He set his jacket down and sat at his workstation out of pure habit.
The laptop screen activated. Gideon's interface blinked to life.
"Barry. Three items requiring your attention."
"Go ahead."
"First: Chamber construction team reports an issue with the biometric resonance calibration. Minor but needs your review tomorrow morning."
"Noted. Second?"
"Two additional battery contract inquiries arrived from Korean manufacturers. Samsung follow-up and LG expansion proposal. Combined value estimated at $180 million."
"Send them to the legal team. Standard initial review process."
"Third item." Gideon paused with the specific cadence that indicated priority information. "Deep trace on unknown surveillance organization produced significant results."
Barry was immediately alert. "Tell me."
"Ownership chain has been partially unraveled. The surveillance organization traces back through seven shell companies across four countries. At the end of the chain, the controlling interest belongs to a single entity."
"Who?"
"A private research foundation registered in Markovia. Publicly described as funding advanced scientific research. But financial forensics show revenue streams inconsistent with legitimate foundation operations. Equipment purchases match military-grade intelligence capabilities. Personnel records, partially accessible, show former NSA, CIA, and international intelligence operatives."
Barry's enhanced mind processed the profile quickly. Private foundation. Markovian registration. Former intelligence professionals. Military equipment. Sophisticated enough to stay hidden until Gideon found them.
"What's the foundation's name?"
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