A/N:Okay, so this was going to be more of a prologue, but it got a little long. Just know that future chapters will all be written in the present with a few flash backs here and there.

I want to thank withaflashoflove for the beta! Seriously, this would not have been written if it wasn't for her. She was very patient, yet very encouraging, and her advice and suggestions has made this chapter better. Thank you so much! I look forward to continue working with you.

~*~*~Barry~*~*~

Portland, Oregon, 1996

There was a time when Barry was afraid of the dark. It wasn't an uncommon fear, he knew. But still, it persisted. He would spend hours at night, clutching the edge of his covers with anxiety, feeling as if the darkness would swallow him whole. It was like the moment his mother switched off the light the world would disappear from him, the people he loved along with it, and he would be lost in his crippling isolation. He would cry and scream, begging his mother to run back into the room and turn on the light. Most nights he would even ask her to lay with him until he fell asleep, terrified of what would happen if she would ever leave his side.

Then one night, when his mother was tucking him in, she lightly brushed a bit of hair behind his ear with her delicate fingers and said "You aren't afraid of the dark, Barry. You're afraid of being alone in the dark. And that goes away when you realize something. You're never really alone."

It was like the words she spoke were part of a magic spell. They were enough for him to brave the dark, at least for the night. No matter what he could or couldn't see there were people out there who loved him and would always take care of him.

And that's when he first felt it.

In the beginning, it was subtle. It was a feeling of companionship in the dark and silent nights that extended beyond the love and protection of his parents. It was the presence of someone he was unfamiliar with, but not in a way that would cause him more fear.

Barry felt warm and comforted. Even when there was no one around, he didn't feel like he was alone anymore. There was always someone with him, deep in his heart, behind his eyes, that was experiencing the same things he was.

~*~*~Iris~*~*~

Central City, Oregon, 1996

Iris often sat on the front porch and gazed at the sunset as she waited for her father to come home from work. There were a lot of times where he'd return later than expected, but she didn't mind. She enjoyed the time she spent watching the slow changing colors as the sun lowered beneath the city scape only to be replaced by a sky sprinkled with glimmering stars. Living in the city, she knew that the stars weren't as bright or as many as they would be in the quieter parts of the world, but she could always locate the north star if she looked hard enough.

On the night of her 8th birthday, he was late again. She pulled her coat tighter around her body, fighting the chill of the autumn air, and kept her eyes fixed on her star, always enamored by the comfort of its brightness and consistency.

Finally, a car pulled into the driveway and Iris smiled at the sight of her father.

When he made it up the walkway to the stairs, he offered Iris an apologetic look and said "Sorry I'm late, baby" before leaning down to leave a kiss on the top of her head. "Is your mother in the bedroom?"

Iris didn't know why he even bothered to ask. Every night when he found her waiting for him on the steps, he asked the question he already knew the answer to. Every night Iris bit her bottom lip and nodded in response. Tonight was no different.

"She's been in there since she picked up Wally from daycare. But don't worry. I took care of him. He's sleeping now." She said as if she had no problem with it.

Joe shook his head in disappointment and sat down next to her on the steps. "You shouldn't have had to do that. Especially not on your birthday. I tried to talk to her-" He stopped and sighed. "I'm sorry you didn't get the birthday you deserve."

"It's not over yet!" She exclaimed.

"No it's not." Joe chuckled before he reached into the bag he was holding and pulled out a stuffed bear. "This is just a little something for being such a good girl, even when I've been gone all day."

Iris took the bear when he offered it to her, noticed the kind smile stitched into fabric, and hugged it close to her heart. "Thank you, daddy! I love it!"

"You're welcome, baby girl. Now why don't we go inside and have a late birthday celebration?"

When they went inside, Joe left the room for a minute or so before returning with a big box wrapped in purple paper. She tore it open to find the Easy Bake Oven she had been asking for for what seemed like forever. She was overjoyed.

They wound up using it right away, and while they waited for her small chocolate birthday cake to finish baking, he put in Sleeping Beauty for the two of them to watch together, knowing the movie would run past her bedtime. Being tired and overworked, Joe fell asleep long before Briar Rose did. Iris took off his shoes for him, covered him with a blanket, and returned to her movie as she held on tightly to her new teddy bear.

~*~*~Barry~*~*~

Portland, Oregon, 1997

Barry had made a bit of a transformation over the last few months. Overjoyed that he had seemed to have conquered his fear, his mother asked him what it was that made him feel so much better at night. Barry simply said that he thought about what she said, and realised that he had a friend there with him whenever he felt he was scared. It was a hard thing for him to explain in a way that made any kind of sense, but his father just smiled fondly and told him he was growing up.

Later he heard them talking about his new 'imaginary friend' when they thought he wasn't around and Barry frowned. It was normal in child development, his father said, and it wouldn't be long until Barry grew out of it.

The thing was, Barry didn't want to grow out of it. He wanted to close his eyes and know this person was there for him. He wanted this bond to remain a constant fixture in his life because he didn't know where he'd be without it. It was important.

She was important.

He didn't have a face or name. He didn't even have a voice. All he had were these emotions that seeped through his subconscious and the strong intuition he'd developed. The longer it went on and the more their connection grew, he knew with absolute certainty that she needed him as much as he needed her.

~*~*~Iris~*~*~

Central City, Oregon, 1997

Iris grew attached to her teddy bear rather quickly. She loved her Easy Bake Oven, she really did. But over the past year she found herself latching on to her stuffed pal and giving him more kisses than minutes spent waiting for a cake to be baked by a light bulb. There was something special about him. She couldn't put her finger on it, she had no idea what made him stand out amongst the rest of her toys. There was just something that told her that from the moment he was made he was supposed to be hers.

When Joe asked her what she decided to name him she gave him a hard look and thought about it for a moment. "Barry." She proclaimed proudly. "That's his name."

He laughed heartedly in response and said "Barry the Bear. I like it. He'll be good match for McSnurtle the Turtle."

He thought she was just keeping up the cutesy thing she did with a lot of her stuffed animals, but that wasn't it. Barry was his name, Iris could feel it. She couldn't help that he just happened to be a bear.

Barry stuck with her through a lot of rough times, most of which involved her mother in one way or another. He was there the days when Francine would isolate herself from anything and everything. He was there when she would yell at Iris for no reason. He was there when her mother basically wanted to forget that she existed. The more distance that grew between her and her mother, the tighter she gripped on to Barry, hoping her reliance on him could somehow fill the void.

Things haven't always been like this between them. There was a time when they were each other's world. Iris could remember when she would sing to her, when she would fix up her hair, when she would they would read together, when they would take special trips to the park.

But things were different now. As the years went by, those things they shared started to slip as her mother changed. It was like she just became disinterested.

Francine would never stick to a job, always giving the excuse that she couldn't work with the people there. So, to make up for it, Joe would spend so many hours out of the house just to make enough money for a family of four to live off of. Iris could hear their arguments at night. Her father would get frustrated and angry at her for not contributing anything to the family and basically giving up on parenting. She would respond with ridiculous accusations that made no sense to Iris whenever she heard them.

With the growing detachment Francine seemed to have with them, and the fact that she mostly ever saw her father when he came home late at night, completely worn out, Iris felt very lonely a lot of the time. Sure, she had Wally. Being only four years old and not being able to do all that much for himself, he provided her with the feeling that someone actually needed her. But , being so young, he couldn't be the emotional support that she herself needed.

Taking on the caretaker role she felt obligated to fill, she convinced herself that it meant she had to learn how to be strong. Being strong, she believed, meant never letting anyone see how much pain she was actually experiencing. She couldn't let anyone see her cry.

That's where Barry helped her the most. It didn't matter if he saw her cry because he was hers. He was made to be there for her while she was there for everyone else. She would pet the soft fur that grew more and more tattered with each passing day and could almost hear the words "It's okay" whispered to her as she cried softly.

~*~*~Barry~*~*~

Portland, Oregon, 1999

Barry wasn't all that into sports. He was much more into sticking his nose in a text book and coming out with cool new science experiments he could pull off, hopefully without destroying the kitchen (he'd already gotten in big trouble once… or twice, when he attempted an exploding foam experiment). But after Barry came home with a gold medal in the long distance run from his 5th grade class' end of the year Track and Field day, Henry saw that as an opportunity to get his son outside and start participating in group activities. So he signed him up for Little League Baseball.

Truth be told, Barry had been a little more standoffish lately. He'd spend an incredible amount of time in the house, not too keen on the idea of socializing. Not being very popular in school didn't make him friendless. He had couple good friends he'd made over the years, but whenever they called over the past few months, asking if him he wanted to come over, he'd decline and give a lame excuse. He'd say things like "I promised my mom I would clean my room today" when he did nothing of the sort.

He was sad and detached, never knowing how to get out of this funk he'd seemed to find himself in. There was really no excuse for it. His family was good. His parents were getting along well. Summer had arrived and he should be buzzing with excitement the way that every other kid did.

It was her, he knew. His friend that he never allowed himself to talk about anymore. Not if he really wanted to give his parents something to worry about.

Something was going on with her. She was in pain, and he wished now more than ever that he knew who she was so that maybe he could figure out how he could help her. But right now, there wasn't much he could do.

Then it occurred to him, maybe if he can feel her, she could she feel him too. Whoever or wherever she was, if he made an effort to participate and push his way through all the sadness, it was possible to bring her out of it as well.

So when Barry's father sat him down and told him that he had signed him up for Little League, he didn't fight like it he was probably expected to. Instead he nodded and said it might be fun. It was time to get outside and put a little light in her life.

~*~*~Iris~*~*~

Central City, Oregon, 1999

It had been just over two months since they lost their mother. Or, to be more accurate, it had been two months since she left them. There were signs, she knew, but she didn't realize how much she would regret not paying attention to them until the day she realized all of her mother's things were gone and she was nowhere in sight.

Francine had been talking to herself more frequently over the past year or two. What started out as muttering nonsensical things under her breath evolved into locking herself in her room and having full on arguments with herself. She even started spewing outlandish accusations at the people who she used to trust and was getting more and more depressed, eventually not being able to leave the house. Iris tried to reach out to her in hopes that she could help, but she could rarely reach her. Every once in awhile, she would see her father hand her a few pills, urging her to take them. For a while it seemed like they would calm her down, but even that didn't manage to prevent what happened next.

Iris could remember the night she left and how the air smelt strange, like something she couldn't even begin to describe, when she was gently shaken awake. She remembered the feel of her father's hand on her shoulder and the concern in his eyes when she looked up to see him standing at the side of the bed with Wally in his arms. When she asked what was wrong, all he said was that she had to go outside with him.

When the three of them made it to the front porch, Iris saw an ambulance parked in front of their house and a man with a medical bag approached them. He checked them over, tested their breathing and their heart, and said that they seemed okay, but said they should get over to the hospital to be looked at by a doctor. He offered them a ride in the ambulance, but Joe declined saying that he could drive the kids himself.

Iris still had no idea what was going on and when she asked again, her father said that there was a gas leak in the house and he needed to make sure that they were okay. Then, when she asked about their mother, all he would say is that she might be gone for a while.

The next day, Iris was surprised to find that all of her stuff was gone. Apparently she left after Iris and Wally had fallen asleep and accidentally left the gas on the stove on. It didn't make much sense to her, her mother rarely even used the stove anymore and gave no indication that she was leaving, but it was a story told by her father, someone she knew to be a very honest man, so she believed him.

Days turned to weeks and there was still no word from their mother. Where she was, Iris had no idea, and she couldn't help but feel the pang of abandonment that stung worse than it did when Francine would consistently shut her out. She left them. There were no goodbyes or explanations, no promises that they would see each other again. She was just gone.

She cried nightly in her bed, hugging Barry tighter than she'd ever had before, saying the words "Please, please, don't ever leave me".

Joe took a short leave of absence from work to help them as much as he could through the transition, but eventually he had to go back to his long hour days. He would try to reassure them over and over again that if he could spend every day at home with them, he would, but there were still bills to pay and he could only do that if he went back to work. Iris understood. She knew how much he loved them and everything he did he did for their well being. It didn't make it any less hard, however, to see him leave through the front door every morning.

They were lucky to have a kind neighbor who would pick up Wally from daycare and let them stay at her house while their father was at work. She had a couple kids of her own for them to do things with and when summer came she would take them all to the local pool where they had signed up for swimming lessons. It could be fun, she supposed, but it did little to distract her from the pain engulfing her heart for more than minutes at a time.

~*~*~Barry~*~*~

Portland, Oregon 1999

Barry hated being placed in the outfield during games. Playing in little league it was rare that anyone would ever be able to the hit the ball past the pitcher's mound, so there wasn't much of a chance that he would get a taste of any of the action this inning. He would probably just stand there for however long it took to get three more outs.

Barry kicked at the grass, bored, eager for chance to run and get his adrenaline pumping. He watched as his teammate Tommy struck out the first batter, causing the kid to throw his bat hard on the ground in frustration. One down, two more to go. At least it didn't look like this wasn't going to be dragged out too next boy managed to hit the ball on the second throw, and it bounced a few feet from home plate and he was just fast enough to reach first before he could get struck out.

Barry threw his head back, losing his focus on the game and watched the few clouds move slowly overhead. He was tired, he was hot, and he was suddenly very thankful his mother insisted on covering him in what seemed like a bucket's worth of sunscreen. He took a moment to wonder what his friend was doing right now. He could sense that she was getting increasingly more sad lately and hoped that maybe all the sun he was getting was helping her mood a little. He read once that sunshine could release some kind of Neurotransmitter in your brain, making you feel happier and more positive. Barry had no idea if it was actually helping her, but he sure hoped it did.

~*~*~Iris~*~*~

Diving was the subject of her lesson today. If she passed this with good marks, she would be able to advance to the next level of classes. She was happy about that at least. Iris liked the idea of going home and showing her father that she wasn't going to let their recent blow to their family get in the way of her accomplishments and that, despite everything, life still goes on.

So, when instructed to do so, Iris knelt down near the edge of the deep end of the pool and looked down at the water below her. She readied her arms and positioned them above her head, took in a deep breath of air, and held it. Just as she was about to dive in, however, she froze when she saw something peculiar. She saw what looked like a few wispy clouds and a bright sun glaring in the corner of her eye. There would be a logical explanation to this, had they been outside. It would just be the reflection of the sky above them. But they were inside with nothing but a white tiled ceiling and fluorescent lights above their heads.

Iris blinked a few times to get rid of what she could only assume was some weird illusion, as if her mind was playing tricks on her. But the image of the sky wouldn't fade. When she heard the sound of a sharp tweet of her swimming instructor's whistle, she knew that it was time for her to jump.

~*~*~Barry~*~*~

Another minute or so Barry stood there, lost in his thoughts, when he should have been paying attention to what was going on in front of him. Suddenly, he was brought back into the game when he heard someone shout "Barry! Barry! It's coming your way!"

Then, the strangest thing happened. When he looked in the direction he expected to see a ball flying toward him, the sky faded away completely and was replaced by the sight of rippling blue water. Instead of looking up, it was like he was looking down at the bottom of a recreational pool.

Barry's eyes grew wide and all of a sudden he felt like he couldn't breathe, as if he had been submerged in the water he knew couldn't possibly be there. He didn't move, just stood there and gasped for air, and didn't catch the ball that was hurled toward his head.

A/N:I know it looks like I am piling all the bad stuff on Iris while Barry get's a much happier life, but believe me, that is not the case. Most of the bad things that happen to him take place after the events of this chapter and will be explained throughout the story. You'll see right away next chapter, he is in a really different place in his life, as is Iris.