Watching the real world

Iris pulled up a chair, sighing as she sat down.

"I don't want to take another break today," Iris said.

"Sometime, though?" Eva said.

"I... maybe," Iris said. Her cheeks warmed at the memory. "Not right now."

She almost crossed her arms, then thought better of it - right now her shirt, ruined as it was, was worn by tying the arms in a knot and putting her head in that gap, letting it drape over her front. It didn't feel especially secure, and she was a little paranoid of putting too much pressure on it.

She shifted in her chair, glad to be sat down at least. It was easier to feel the back of the chair against the bare skin of her back, than it was to feel the air.

"Where were we?" Iris said.

"Oh, er, huh?" Eva said. She jerked, lifting her gaze up to meet Iris's eyes. Iris **** a patient smile, a little shaky, but used to Eva's tendency to be distracted.

"Ways to escape," Iris said. "Had we tried everything?"

"Everything we can do," Eva said.

"That can't be it," Iris said. "Nothing's impossible. If we got in here, there has to be a way out."

She'd long-since learned not to think there was anything that couldn't be done. By the time you married someone who could run so fast he went back in time, it was hard to imagine being defeated by a mirror of all things.

"Maybe there's a way to open the portal without using the mirror," Iris said. "A different way through without the same problems."

"Nothing we have the equipment to do," Eva said. She paused. "Could search. Another lab somewhere in the world - I know a few addresses, but it's a long trek."

Iris faltered. It was... an avenue to consider, at least. She looked down at herself.

"Table that," Iris stammered. "If we don't find anything else here..."

She glanced sideways. That anticipation in Eva's eyes was probably good, right? It had seemed like Eva had all but given up when she'd first gotten there, and now she was thinking of new possibilities, actually helping her.

Iris opened her mouth to say something, only to freeze when she heard Barry's voice. She stumbled to her feet, draped shirt accidentally brushed to the side as she got up, dragging her chair out with her; sometimes the mirror she'd come through displayed aspects of the real world. She'd yet to work out how or why, but it was nice to see a little of her other friends again.

She saw herself. Iris slumped back into her chair - even if she had been usurped by that doppelganger. She leant in, trying to watch.

It looked like STAR Labs. It had been a while since Iris had seen it, but there was no mistaking the wide open space and the mannequins. The duplicate Iris was sat down, much like the real Iris, though she was much more dressed, several layers complete with a coat wrapped around herself.

"But what happened?" Barry was saying.

The real Iris frowned. Something had happened with them?

"I don't know!" the duplicate said. "One moment I was just sitting down with my coffee, the next I was naked! Still haven't found my coat."

Iris blinked.

"There's a little weird energy," Cisco said. "Doesn't seem like a normal dark matter trace though. I don't know if it's a meta."

"You say it was at Jitters?" Caitlin said. "There was a weird distortion on the security footage, so we didn't see much of what happened. Was it in Jitters, out of Jitters? Were you talking to anyone?"

"I'd just sat down," the duplicate said, voice going higher. "Wanted to drink my coffee. I wasn't paying attention to anyone. Not going to be sad the security footage is gone though."

"Yeah, a lot of the footage of you is weird," Cisco murmured.

Iris stared in disbelief at the mirror. In her peripheral vision, she saw Eva stiffen, approaching her.

"Probably just an after-effect of whatever whammied you," Cisco said. "You really didn't see anyone?"

"I was a bit distracted to make a note of everything!" the double said.

"Could be a meta," Cisco said. "Might just be a tech whizz - haven't we all wanted to make a machine to zap a woman's clothes off?"

Several pairs of eyes looked at him sharply. Cisco coughed.

"Hey, like I'm the only one!" Cisco said.

Caitlin coughed, quickly changing the topic.

"Anyway! What do we do with this?" Caitlin said. "Have there been any other cases of public nudity?"

"None obviously like this yet," Barry said. "Maybe it was a test run of whatever this was?"

The real Iris stared in disbelief through the window, unconsciously squirming. Quietly, Eva moved behind her.

"I don't believe it," Iris said. "Out of everything she could be doing with my body, she picked streaking?!"

Eva rested her hands on Iris's shoulders, fingertips brushing up against the loop around Iris's neck, rubbing gently, comfortingly. She was surprisingly good for someone who'd been without human company for so long; it didn't quite make Iris forget her stress, but she did relax a little.

"Might be genuinely out of her control," Eva said.

"What are the chances of that?" Iris said. Her face burned. "Wait, is this because it's happening here? Like, I was naked yesterday, so she ended up that way? Like we're connected, or something?"

"There's... no reason to think so," Eva said slowly. "Besides, I'm sure it didn't happen at the same time."

Iris was unconvinced. She kept staring at the mirror.

How many people had seen her naked? She'd been at least considering Eva's proposal in this world, reluctantly, but out there was a whole other matter. How many people had seen? She swallowed.

"Wait!" the duplicate Iris said quickly, as Barry began to move away. "Er. Barry."

"Yes?" Barry said.

The mirror Iris fidgeted for a second; apparently she felt the weight of everyone's eyes on her as much as the real Iris would have.

"Could you get a spare key cut on the way home?" Iris's double said. "Hide it where we talked about. If this really is going to keep happening, _don't _want to be locked out again."

"Oh, right, yeah," Barry said. "On my way to the station, will see to it on break."

The duplicate sighed in relief. The real Iris meanwhile felt her cheeks burn.

Locked out?! How long had she been like that? If anything, not knowing the details was worse- they didn't exactly have much of a garden around their apartment, there was barely anywhere to hide beyond the little nook in the doorway.

Suddenly all she could think about was that scrap of street. What would she have done in that situation? Hoped two cars were parked close and no one looked between them, or run even further down the road to that row of hedges, or just waited in the door frantically? She swallowed.

Eva's fingertips massaged her shoulders. Right, focus on that, Iris told herself. Try to focus on the thing that was actually vaguely calming.

She almost didn't notice her shirt slip off. It pooled in her lap.

A second later, Iris squeaked, jumping up just as the image in the mirror faded; she glanced up to see Eva staring straight down at her chest. Flustered, she crossed her arms.

"Oh. Sorry," Eva stammered. "Must have accidentally tugged on the knot. Didn't mean to."

"It's okay," Iris mumbled.

She took a few steps away, holding her shirt up over her breasts, for a moment faltering. She'd been sure the knot would be more secure than that. Apparently an accidental nudge during a shoulder-rub was enough to make it fall though. That could be a lot of hassle to keep doing up. Shaking a little, she fiddled with the arms, trying to redo the knot.

"Could always stay without," Eva said.

"You don't have to keep saying that," Iris said.

"I mean, think about it," Eva said, a little breathlessly. "You're worried your double is reacting to your nudity. See. If she suddenly ends up naked when you are, you know. Or if it happens of its own accord, you know it's coincidence."

Iris hesitated. Why was it everything seemed to come back to nudity?

She turned back around, top still draped over her arm rather than held up properly. Eva was looking at her encouragingly, eyes a little bit too wide.

"Especially if we need to search more," Eva said. "If we get too far from the lab, you could lose your clothes if they slip off. Better to leave them here if you're attached. That seems to be our next move. Right?"

Iris faltered. On one hand, she had really hoped to stay in the lab today, not walking through the outside world with next to nothing on. Then again, she didn't want to disappoint Eva's newfound drive.

"Can I think about it?" Iris said, a little nervous. She winced as Eva's expression fell. "So. These other labs, where are they?"

"Normal big names," Eva said. "Mercury Labs is nearest. Then Queen Consolidated."

"One, that's shut down," Iris said. Eva blinked.

"Has it?" she said. "Reflection might still be here. Or its replacement. Best to check."

"Two, that's in Star City!"

"Starling," Eva corrected her, apparently unaware of the name change. "Is a bit of a walk. But we aren't making any progress here. And then after that, I think Luthor-Corp might be working on something..."

"That's even further away!" Iris squeaked. "I'm not walking all that way naked!"

"You might not have to," Eva said. Iris relaxed a little. "Might find what we need in Starling."

Iris bit her lip. That was...

She glanced back at the mirror again. Then again, every day she was trapped here was apparently another day her double was exposing herself, and by extension Iris's body, to Central City.