#and joe considers letting eobard kill him after all
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so i think the best way to do a coldflash au of the greatest musical of our time, mamma mia, would be—yes i’m aware it’s 3 a.m., why do you ask—
anyway, the best way to do it would be like, a morbid dark comedy take on it where barry’s not trying to find his father, he’s trying to find the person who framed his father. for his mother’s murder. so he’s like ‘okay i’ve reviewed all the case notes, and i’ve narrowed it down to these three men. also, unrelated, iris and eddie, you don’t mind if i invite three people to your wedding last-minute, right?’
and the three men can be like, harrison wells, eobard thawne, and of course, leonard snart
and barry has sophie’s protagonist attitude of “i’ll just know which one it is when i see him,” except obviously, he doesn’t. harrison wells is an asshole, eobard thawne is a creepy asshole, and leonard snart is… flirting with him?
(i have zero notes on the “does your mother know that you’re out” scene from the mamma mia! movie. just do that again, but angrier, because barry isn’t sure if len is taunting him over his mother’s death or just poking fun at their age gap. but it should be exactly as horny)
len would be the first to catch on to what’s going on, because he knows doc allen from iron heights and puts it together, and he would be impressed at what a ballsy idea it was if he wasn’t too busy being mad at barry for what a stupid fucking idea it was instead, inviting the man who killed his mother to a wedding he’s in, to what? give him a shot at slitting barry’s throat in his sleep next?
if that happens, iris will probably cancel this wedding that len fully intends on crashing, so naturally his only option is to follow around iris’s very stupid, very cute best man for the next three days, just to keep him from getting murdered by whichever of the other two men did kill his mother. and, since that includes the previously-mentioned threat of barry getting killed in his sleep, well… he’ll just have to talk his way into barry’s bed so he can keep an eye on him overnight, too
#iris and eddie decide to elope at the end right before they get to the altar and joe is like ‘what the hell am i supposed to do now’#and len who figured out who killed barry’s mother like six hours ago but knew iris would kill him if he caused a scene before her wedding—#is like ‘well since you’re standing in the aisle… you could arrest eobard thawne for murdering nora allen’#and joe has a moment of wondering why leonard snart is at his daughter’s wedding and also why he’s wearing one of barry’s ties#before the words sink in and the entire church explodes into chaos#eobard makes a go at killing leonard instead and joe’s the one who stops him#and joe says if he had a second set of handcuffs then he’d be arresting len too#and len is like oh barry has a pair don’t worry. i’ve been very reliably informed#and joe considers letting eobard kill him after all
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Can you recommend me some good fics where Barry Allen gets kidnapped :) since in one of your tags you said you read a lot of them lol
I read them, I write them, I live and breathe them. Absolutely anon, allow me to dive into my bookmarks.
Just a reminder, always be sure to check the tags and warnings to know what you're getting into. Stay safe out there folks!
Juncture by @pennflinn may be my favorite fic of all time. Technically he gets kidnapped before the story's events but that's because it's an alternate ending to Escape from Earth-2 (and he is held captive for pretty much the entire fic so). The whump is SUPREME and the overall story is so well written. I will always recommend this fic.
One Second by pennflinn. Another one by penn because she is an incredible writer and HOLY FUCKING SHIT THIS FIC!! It takes my favorite premise for a fic "What if Barry was kidnapped in this scene/episode when he wasn't in canon!" and brings it to a WHOLE nother level. This one is diverges from 1x14 "Fallout" where, instead of everyone getting away semi-safely, Eiling kidnaps Barry and whump ensures. BUT there's another twist to this fic that (in my opinion) makes it stand out from many others-- every once in a while, there's a glimpse of a parallel universe where the events were different and let's just say some of those universes h u r t. Also, I wanted to kill Eiling so bad after reading this that I wrote a ficlet with the sole purpose of murdering him :) Anyways, go read; it's amazing.
Miles Through The Night by @hedgiwithapen. First off, this is an everyone whump fic, Barry is not the only one who is kidnapped but 1. IT HURTS GODS IT HURTS SO BAD I'M DYING. 2. The writing is spectacular, all the characters are super well done, and the story is INTENSE I'M STILL DYING SORRY I'LL STOP NOW. In this one-- actually nvm, the actual summary will do it justice. "With Eobard Thawne dead, life in Central City can go back to normalish. But Barry’s greatest enemy is not a speedster from the future fixated on him, and Eobard’s threat may have been the only thing keeping Team Flash safe from someone who doesn’t consider any meta to be human." THAT'S RIGHT-- AN EILING FIC! Just. Go read it, it's so good and I'm dying.
Lightning Bug by Hedgi. The writing in this was SUPERB and Eiling is a fucking bastard as always (count your days general.). And this time we have another speedster in the mix-- a toddler Wally! Ngl, I just reread this while getting the link and it was SO GOOD-- and once again my words can't seem to do it justice so I'll leave you with the summary "Months after the defeat of Zoom, Barry's main concern (aside from the odd metahuman attack) is helping Joe and Iris raise the four and a half year old Speedster Wally West, Cisco-named "Lightning Bug." And while that's hard, it's nice to have this speedster as family, not an enemy. Things are pretty easy.
Unfortunately, that doesn't last. After all, General Eiling's deal was only good for as long as their mutual enemies were still a threat." Eiling needs to die in a ditch as you can see, but there's some really sweet whump in this and it's because of him soooooo-- anyways, go read; it was fantastic.
Can’t Take That Away From Me by SophiaCatherine (or @sophiainspace on here). DUDE. DUDE DUDE DUDE-- I LOVE THIS FIC. I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS FIC. EVen once the whump passes, the A N G S T is so delicious! From the beginning of the first chapter alone; you'll see the sweet whump AND angst this fic has in store. Oh, and it's Coldflash which I somehow forgot to mention even though that's a foundation of the entire fic lmao. I love it, go read. Also, there is a sequel but it's not Barry being whumped this time... double also; there's a prequel and it's really sweet (no whump in that one fyi)
I Never Told Him by messedupstargazer. I am SCREAMING. THIS. FIC. Fyi, it's Coldflash. SO MUCH ANGST THE WHUMP-- IT'S SO GOOD I HAVE NO WORDS. DYING DYING DYING I AM DEAD I HAVE PERISHED.
Looking through all of these at once has filled me with many emotions and I apologize if some parts were incoherent. I'm probably missing a few and may add more as I find them but for now I'll finish with these two I wrote.
12 hours Barry's kidnapped before the events of the story but I think it still counts. He's trapped in Zoom's lair and forced to run for twelve hours every day :)
Trophy this is my beloved and the entire fic is a Barry whump fest (and angst. a lot of angst.). (or will be, There's one chapter posted atm) Technically we haven't seen the kidnapping yet but in the first scene he is in a cell so. Premise is that Zoom wins in the season 2 finale and everything goes to hell from there. I do feel obligated to warn though that there's not a happy ending for this one.
Thanks for asking! I'm always eager to share Barry whump! :D
#also if anyone wants their tag/@ removed lmk#asks#anon asks#barry allen#barry whump#fic recs#the flash#the flash fanfiction
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the flash and the problem of the pointless sacrifice
It starts at the end of season one. Eddie Thawne picks up his gun and shoots himself, dying to protect Iris, Barry, and the rest from his dangerous descendent Eobard Thawne.
Season two ends with its reversal, Barry creating the Flashpoint Timeline that, though its eventually set back to 'normal-ish', leaves a time remnant of Eobard Thawne alive and well (if running scared from the Black Flash/Hunter Zolomon as a speed zombie) to wreak havoc once more.
And I get it. The Reverse Flash is one of the Flash's most iconic villains - killing him off in season one couldn't be permanent. But apparently Eddie's suicide could be and the message that sends is... unfortunate.
Eddie is an extremely kindhearted person and we see that about him again and again throughout season one. He always has a smile for the people he cares about and he's an absolutely terrible liar. But we also know that he was bullied as a child/teen and since he never brings up the subject of his own family, it's likely he doesn't have a support structure outside of Central City. And the support structure he does gain in Central City was Barry's support structure first. There's not a single person we see Eddie spend time with in season one that didn't know Barry first.
And that's a big part of what wears him down over the course of the season. When both Barry and Eddie need support, Barry gets it first. Barry's secrets are treated as something Eddie has to prioritize over his relationship with Iris. Barry's loved Iris longer than Eddie's known her and while Iris loves Eddie, she also loves Barry and she's infatuated with the Flash - not realizing he's Barry's alter ego. Over the course of the season, Eddie constantly tries to connect with Barry and Barry constantly holds back. Their relationship is never equal. And that's what leaves Eddie open to Eobard's manipulations with the future news article.
And Eddie tries to make his own future with Iris anyway. But even with Iris accepting his proposal, Joe makes it clear he'll never truly accept their relationship and Eddie's sense of self worth is at an all time low. And that's the state of mind he's in during the fight in the pipeline. When Barry chooses not to let Eobard go after all, it puts them all in a position of potentially having to deal with this fight between the two speedsters just... never ending. It puts Iris in danger because Barry cares about her and because while Eddie is Eobard's ancestor... Iris isn't. From Eobard's point of view, Eddie's the only one who isn't expendable and from Eddie's point of view... he's the only one who is expendable.
His answer is suicide. And his death immediately erases Eobard from the timeline, but its also implied to have contributed to the re-emergence of the singularity. But at least Eobard was dead.
At least, until Barry created Flashpoint at the end of season 2. Presumably Eddie was alive in Flashpoint, but we never see him. Maybe he stays in Keystone instead of transferring to Central City. Never meets Iris. Never gets worn down to feel like he's not good enough. Never kills himself.
When Flashpoint is reset, Eddie's dead again but now his sacrifice has been rendered moot because Eobard's still alive as a time remnant.
It sets a rather nasty precedent for the show.
Season two also ends with a suicide. This time it's Barry's.
Much like Eddie the year before, Barry's been worn down. He had his place in his family's come into question, with Henry leaving at the start of the season and Wally's arrival midway through the season. His back is literally broken by the stress of fighting Zoom and despite everything he's suffered for the city, his honor is called into question the instant a different speedster takes to thievery. He has to give up his speed to protect Wally only for that to immediately put Caitlin in danger. His colleagues are brutally murdered by Zoom to teach him a lesson. His father finally comes back for good, only to be murdered in the same place as Barry's mother.
Honestly, there is no question (to my mind anyway) that Barry's suicidal at the end of the season. And because Barry his time remnants are fundamentally the same person at the moment of their split, the time remnant Barry creates is suicidal as well.
That time remnant tears himself apart to stop Zoom's plan to destroy the multi-verse. His very existence also lures in the Time Wraiths that take Zoom away, transforming him into the mindless Black Flash. All at the cost of a version of Barry killing himself, going unlamented and forgotten. But at least the multi-verse was safe.
Until the Red Skies Crisis when the multi-verse is actually destroyed and rebooted.
Another sacrifice rendered pointless.
HR does not kill himself in season three. But he deliberately places himself in a position to be killed in Iris' place. He arrives on the heels of a scandal on his Earth where he's been revealed to have been taking credit for someone else's work - with that person's blessing, but its still ruined his reputation. He comes wanting to reinvent himself, but from the start he's not the person the team really wants. They want Harry. Cisco wants Harry. He gets it hammered in that his strengths aren't appreciated by the team because he's not a scientist. His efforts to help STAR Labs are dismissed entirely. The only reason any attempts to help his museum venture succeed are because changing the future might save Iris.
It's not that HR is disliked, but he's left acutely aware that he's considered 'a bit much' and that he's always going to come second to the people he puts first. In fact, Tracy's probably the only one who truly and completely appreciates HR as he is.
So HR swaps places with Iris, knowing that he's going to die when he does. And while HR doesn't kill himself, there's an argument to be made that what he did was still suicide by proxy.
And this is a sacrifice that sticks, because Iris West is the love interest. She's never going to be killed off for real.
Three seasons ending with a suicidal sacrifice. And only one of them doesn't have that sacrifice reversed or nullified. Unfortunately, that's not the end of it either.
Harry leaves his Earth at the start of season four. His relationship with his daughter, which was shown to still be strong in season three, has somehow deteriorated to the point where she's thrown him off her support team and he comes to Earth-1 to reconnect with the found family he forged during season two. He's in the midst of a crisis and his understanding of himself as a parent is unraveling. And then DeVoe calls the other pillar of Harry's self identity into question, because Harry's genius isn't enough on its own anymore. He's not smart enough to out think DeVoe and his Earth-1 family is suffering. So Harry creates his own downfall, burns out his own brain trying to be the smartest. And he sacrifices his last moments of lucidity to find the answer to stopping DeVoe. In doing so, Harry puts Barry in the position to save Ralph's life.
But DeVoe still gets the last laugh when he causes the STAR Labs satellite to come falling down, nearly destroying the city and creating Cicada in the process.
But unlike previous seasons, Harry doesn't die. He gets some of his intelligence back and immediately gets exiled by the writers back to Earth-2 due to the massive problems with ableism this show has. But that's a different conversation.
Season five is probably the only season not to include a suicidal character who's kills themselves. Nora dies when she erases herself from the timeline by accident, but we know now she'll be back in the back half of season seven, along with her new brother. But one out five seasons not taking a suicide (or similar action in Harry's case) and painting it as a noble - but ultimately useless - gesture is rather... bad as far as track records go.
Season six has the alternate Barry Allen - implied to be the Barry from the 90s show - who dies in place of this show's Barry. To save the multi-verse and let this other Barry go home to his wife, something he'll never have with Tina again. And the multi-verse is destroyed anyway.
Season seven opened with Nash Wells, whose usual method of investigating mysteries and hoaxes led to the Anti Monitor's freedom and the multi-verse's destruction. His home Earth destroyed so he can never go home. He's confronted with an alternate version of his dead daughter, who can barely stand his presence. He begins to hallucinate alternate versions of himself and is possessed by the Reverse Flash and all his research on how to create a new Speed Force - to try to make up for some of the damage he's caused - points to a single conclusion. The only way to make things better is for him to die.
Instead, Nash's death immediately makes things worse. The artificial speed force is flawed and Barry destroys it in the very next episode. And while one could argue that Nash's death allowed Barry to save Iris and ultimately restored the original Speed Force, it doesn't negate the fact that Nash's suicidal state of mind wasn't addressed by the people who called him friend. And his legacy was immediately deemed a failure and destroyed.
While I wouldn't say the show is glorifying suicide, there's a subtle and incredibly troubling repetition in the story telling on the show that frames suicide as the right decision in certain circumstances. Even though what's being sacrificed for often comes to naught. And it's incredibly uncomfortable, seeing it all laid out like this.
I'm still really not sure what to make of it all, but I've got no doubt it ties into the show's ableism with regards to mental health issues. Because every time its someone whose mental health has been brought down to a low point who commits these acts of 'sacrifice' and while the team grieves these losses... they don't seem to learn from them either. Because it just keeps happening.
(Think I missed something? Please, by all means, add on.)
#the flash#the flash meta#tw suicude#some of the story telling trends on this show can be a little disturbing when you take a closer look at them#discussing several characters on the Flash who commit suicide (or make self-destructive decisions) across the seven seasons#ableism on the Flash
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The 14 Creepiest Arrowverse Villains:
Yes, this one should have been made for Halloween. But after the year we just had, let’s take comfort in the fact that were are not forced to ever meet this guys here on the street in the dark. While two of the villains on this list had rather big seasonal arcs, I specifically disqualified characters from here, have proper motivations and character arcs as well as villains, who are creepy but at the same time quite a lot of fun. This why you won’t find Alice, her Mouse, Ramsay, Eobard, the Trickster, Mallus, Neron or even the Thinker here.
This list mainly consists of people we want to put back in the box, they got out of, until not seeing them at least for a season or so, and who we want to yell at: „What’s wrong with you!“ while they are on screen.
14. Toyman Senior (Winslow Schott Sr., Supergirl, Henry Czerny)
Technically this one should not be on this list, because he was redeemed in Season 5, however that happend after his death and on Earth Prime rather than Supergirls Original Eart,h so we will ignore that for now (also I wrecked my head whom from „Supergirl“ to put on here, so I overlooked that on purpose). Toyman is more creepy as a concept than in reality. He blows up kids (and other than the Trickster is no fun at all while he is doing it), threatened the life of his son to get his wife to leave him and did God knows what else to said wife and son. And did not even stop terrorizing people after his death. Can you imagine growing up as Toyman’s son? Poor Winn, you truly deserved better!
13. Bug Eyed Bandit (Brie Larvan, Queen Bee, The Flash, Arrow, Emily Kinney)
Yes, it’s because of the Bees. Because she controls Mechanical Bees that sting and kill people! I am sorry, but what’s your problem, can’t you just kill your enemies like a normal person, Brie? Not to mention the whole Felicity-thing, because yes it’s totally normal to go around and kidnap and threaten to get what you want and then try to murder again. I still do not get why they let her into the Young Rogues anyway, but then … most members of that gang were all wrong, weren’t they?
12. Garfield Lynns (Arrow, Andrew Dunbar)
Most of us have tried to forget about Season 1 Episode „Burned“ for several reasons. But the villain of it is also one of those. Because, yes Mick was a Pyromanic as well, but for more complex reasons. Garfield Lynns was a fire fighter who started burning people and ended burning himself to death because of reasons and … well let’s be honest, he was nuts and burning people is not cool at all!
11. Jake Simmons (Deathbolt, Arrow, The Flash, Doug Jones)
That’s what you get, if you hire a creature actor (no offense, Doug, we love your work!) to play a psychopatic villain. Occasionally kind of fun, yes, but mostly Simmons is crazy and creepy, and we never liked him very much, but crucial Captain Cold killed him with a flimsey excuse, which no one ever bought, and let’s put it that way: If Leonard killed him just like that, there had to be something wrong with him in a big way, and yes, the hints were there, so, yeah, what a creep.
10. The Mist (Kyle Nimbus, The Flash, Antony Carrigan)
A former Mob Hitman that looks like that and can turn into Mist. Do I have to say any more? I would take Victor Szasz over this one any day. Because Nimbus … well you would not want to meet him during a misty night, would you?
9. Murmur (Michael Amar, Arrow, Adrian Glynn McMorran)
This one actually cares about his grandma, I will give him that, but SOMEONE SEWED HIS FUCKING LIPS TOGETHER! So you don’t really like looking at him, and he kind of went over board after he was pressured into joining Damien Darhk with, you know, killing everyone and joining HIVE, who as you recall planned to end the world as wen know it, so what about everyone elses grandmas, they can just die or what? No, Mister Amar, there is quite a lot wrong with you, that’s for sure.
8. Everyman (Hannibal Bates, The Flash, Various)
That one could be a tragedy, but well, he got so mixed up and wrong in the head, that he became a danger to everyone else. He is creepy trapped between shapes and he is creepy in other shapes because … you don’t just go around and kiss random women, who think you are somebody else. That is just wrong. But Bates is kind of mostly wrong, so, yeah.
7. Anthony Ivo (Arrow, Dylan Neal)
Ivo is Sara’s Personal Case of #Metoo, which really should be enough to earn him a spot on this list, but there is also his habit of keeping people in cages and the whole „You have to choose, whom I shoot dead!“- thing and all of that is only the tip of the iceberg. Not even Dylan Neal can stop me from wanting to scream at the top of my lungs: WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?! at Dr. Ivo.
6. Nocturna (Natalia Knight, Batwoman, Kayla Ewell)
We all know the story how Nocturna was not allowed to show up in the Animated Batman Series in the 90s, because she was considered too disturbing (Morbius on the other hand was allowed to show up in the Spider-Man Cartoon but had to … undergo some changes, which made a perfectly good vampire into the creepies cartoon-villain ever unleashed on kids and scarred me for life, but that’s another story). Here she finally is, and yes, she is rather disturbing. Because she acutally knows very well that she isn’t a vampire, but still strings her victims up and bleeds them out, after biting them with laced spikey teeth. It would be kinky, if it were the least bit sexy, which it totally isn’t, so yeah, put her away for good please.
5. Vandal Savages Hawk Creatures (Legends of Tomorrow, Various)
Season 1 of „Legends“ was quite different than what came after, but „Night of the Hawk“ was an early highlight. While it was kind of a parody, being Season 1 it still played it straight for the most part, which resulted in an episode with the vibe of „American Horror Story“: We are in on the joke, but it’s still Horror. No wonder, after all Joe Dante directed this one. Vandal Savage turned poor teenagers into hawklike monsters, that no one would want to meet … ever. So yeah, thanks, but no thanks.
4. August Cartwright (Ethan Campell, Batwoman, John Emmet Tracy, Sebastian Roche)
Oh, God, that guy. So his mother wasn’t particulary ... nice, but that is no excuse to kidnap, gaslight, and brainwash a young girl, keep that girl’s mother’s head in a fridge for years, turn said girl into a slave and get her to make facemasks out of actual human face! Nor is that any excuse for fear-gasing your own son just because you are mad at him. Or anything in any way related to face-stealing, ,killing, identitiy theft, or anything else Dr. Cartwright has ever been up to. Like, seriously it has been a long time a character that desevers to be hated that much has been on our televions screens. Creepy Creep!
3. Duela Dent (Batwoman, Alessandra Torresani)
Female Slashers have become kind of a common trope in fiction by now, but Duela is kind of different. Suffering from a pretty extreme version of of body dysmorphic disorder Duela sees beauty through a different lense than the rest of the world (we will never forget what she deems to be her face being perfect, even though we desperatly want to). So yeah, she slashes faces, mainly her own, is out to punish people, who force beauty ideals on her and othes, and somehow has no problem with … donating her face to Alice. … Can someone please get that poor woman help, I mean, seriously?!
2. Rag Doll (Peter Merkel, The Flash, Troy James, Phil LaMarr)
He did make Joe West throw up. And not only him. Rag Doll is plains disgusting. So disgusting actually, that the producers dialed him back in Season 6 and used more CG and less pratical „Troy James freaks us out“- bending. But while he could be fun all elongaty, we actually prefer him as his creepy original Season 5 Self. He is demented, wears a creepy mask, acts creepy, and we really don’t want to see him do his stuff but can’t look away at the same time. I have no idea why he was in the Young Rogues either, because he is really mainly creepy – und would be the Overcreep on this list, if it weren’t for….
1. The Dollmaker (Barton Mathis, The Broken Doll Killer, Arrow, Michael Eklund)
I am still amazed to this day that they were allowed to make this episode. You have to remember „Arrow“ had been only on for one Season at this point and „The 100“ was still about to premier. The CW was yet to change it’s image. Still they somehow got to made the Dollmaker-Episode, which left us disturbed to this very day. What Mathis was doing to his victims …. Well not only Quentin got nightmares about it. Poor Laurel went understandable full addict after almost being made into a puppet by him. So, Rag Doll might look creepier, but the Dollmaker is one of this Serial Killers we never want to even hear from again. It’s really no wonder he was an one-off, like I said, I am still amazed they were even allowed to make the episode on Network Television let alone The CW at all.
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Things as They Should Be
My Writing
Fandom: Arrow, The Flash
Characters: Laurel Lance, Oliver Queen, Barry Allen, Nyssa al Ghul, Eobard Thawne, Malcolm Merlyn, John Diggle, Felicity Smoak, Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow, Joe West, Eddie Thawne, Thea Queen, Quentin Lance, Ra’s al Ghul, Ronnie Raymond
Pairing: Laurel Lance/Oliver Queen
Summary: Laurel, acting in Oliver's stead, arrives in Central City too late to help relocate the prisoners; but Reverse Flash sees an opportunity to correct an error in the timeline. Meanwhile, Oliver has had some second thoughts regarding his affairs of the heart. These two things collide on the rooftop where Sara Lance died. / Liberal rearranging of the timeline
*Can be read on my AO3 or FFN, links are in bio*
Laurel wished she could simply cherish the moment. Oliver had finally acknowledged her, not just as a somewhat useful ally, but as someone he trusted to watch over the city in place of himself. An equal.
She’d been waiting for it for so long, it seemed ridiculous to be feeling only a mix of elation and dread. It wasn’t fear or doubt for herself causing it; it was for him. Oliver wouldn’t be asking this unless he had no choice.
Unless he felt he wasn’t coming back.
She wasn’t stupid. He’d been saying goodbye the only way he knew how; by not saying it to her at all. Not face-to-face, anyway. Something was seriously wrong with Thea, and it was her friend’s condition that stopped her from demanding that Oliver explain the whole story first. Thea’s health was more important than Laurel knowing where and why he was really going. She could survive him leaving; she had done it before.
This city would need to survive, too. With that in mind, Laurel returned to the temporary base of operations they’d been working out of inside Palmer Tech. She’d have to make sure she was staying on top of any news or alerts, especially with Felicity leaving on the plane as well.
There was an unread message sent from STAR Laboratories. Laurel clicked on it, brow furrowing as she realized it was Barry Allen and his team requesting Oliver’s help in… moving prisoners? Was this more of that black-site prison stuff? But it seemed the prisoners were in danger of dying if they remained where they were. Okay, so this was important.
Was it more important than the whole city? She had just been tasked with being its guardian, could she really just leave to go help a different one?
Oliver would, if it was to help a friend. He was always there when it counted, when he could be. And she at least considered Cisco a friend, if only because she hadn’t had much chance to get to know the others in Central. This would be that chance.
Laurel sent the message on to Lyla to see if their ARGUS ally could send any immediate aid before going home to pack and call in a personal day from her job. She took the first train that left for Central, wishing that the highs-speed one that had been approved by City Council and their recently-deceased mayor was already finished.
By the time she found her way to the lab that Team Flash used for their base, it appeared deserted. The place was huge, though, so Laurel went down a few levels just to search and be sure. She should have thought to send a message ahead, but she didn’t actually have any of their numbers.
There was a strange humming noise coming from down a hallway. There was a circle opening into a wide, cavernous space. She supposed it was the infamous particle accelerator. Laurel looked this way and that, noticing a number of empty cubes. She wondered what they were for.
A streak of lighting appeared suddenly in the middle of the room. It rushed towards her like the footage she had seen of Barry in action on the news. Laurel tensed; something about this didn’t seem friendly.
She felt herself grabbed and thrown, too fast for her to see anything but a whirl of color and light before her back slammed painfully into something solid. Laurel hit the floor, groaning, and heard the whirr of something mechanical. She pushed back up onto her feet, quickly realizing she was in one of the cubes and that the door to it was closing. She ran forward, but even as she did she could tell she’d be crushed if she tried to slip under the closing gap.
A man in a suit like the Flash’s, but yellow stood grinning on the other side, watching her.
“Hey!” She pounded against the glass, but it barely seemed to budge. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“What should have been done already.” His voice was distorted with an underlying threat that Oliver’s own modulated tones had never held. “You’ll thank me someday.”
Without another word, he vanished. Laurel’s breath came quick as she paced the tiny space, punching and kicking at every wall to no avail. That humming noise was so much louder now, and she couldn’t imagine it would be good to be here for whatever that signaled.
Who even was that guy? How could she have screwed up so badly already? This wasn’t what Oliver would have wanted. It wasn’t what she wanted.
Laurel let out one last yell in anger as she kicked out, and a great boom rocked the tiny cell she’d found herself trapped in, throwing her senseless to the floor.
---
Eobard studied his plans for the time capsule for the umpteenth time while ignoring his ancestor still strapped to the chair behind him. It was all coming together quickly now. As soon as he could convince Barry to agree to the plan — assuming Barry would.
He was fairly confident he would. Eobard has spent years watching this Barry Allen grow up, subtly and then more overtly influencing him and his decisions, his very way of thinking. If given the chance to save his mother, how could he pass that up?
There was the Flash’s heroic streak, of course. Perhaps the anger at Eobard would outweigh his desire to be reunited with Nora. In case of that, Eobard had been doing what he could to ensure enough of the old timeline was being re-established, in case he had to make his way into the future on his own. Some things had been eluding him, of course, but at least he had finally broken his ancestor of the belief that Iris West was ever meant to be a part of their family tree.
As he continued revising his calculations, a beep of the alarms he had set up around the labs caught his attention. Eobard went to his computers to check.
“Uh-oh. A little birdie.”
He could hear the detective straining to see behind him. “What… what are you talking about?”
“Just some unexpected company.” He watched Dinah Laurel Lance slowly making her way through the cortex and then down, closer and closer towards the pipeline. And as he did, an idea began to form.
One of the more elusive elements that had been bothering him about this timeline was Star — or still Starling — City. The Green Arrow was not what he was supposed to be. His traditional allies had been shunted aside for other players, and he was mooning over an upstart from MIT of all people. The Black Canary wasn’t what she was supposed to be either. But, he might have just been handed a way to fix that.
Eobard went to the controls for the accelerator, up the launch time. He had enough speed to achieve this, and Eddie Thawne would be safe down here while he ran his little experiment.
“Just a little more repair work on the timeline. It’s good insurance,” he explained offhand, not that he felt his ancestor could really begin to comprehend the finer details. “Miss Lance has offered me a wonderful opportunity that I simply can’t pass up.”
Cisco was a genius, but even his tech couldn’t really hope to compete with the power of the real Canary Cry.
“What are you going to do to her?”
“It won’t kill her. In fact, it really will only make her stronger.” Assuming he got his calculations right. It’d be easier if his ancestor remained quiet.
Not even the pipeline cells could remain fully impervious to the activated accelerator; it was why Barry was amusingly taking the time to evacuate criminals they had been holding for several months now. The partial protection would suit his purposes nicely; enough to keep Black Canary alive, but enough also to allow her DNA to be changed and quickly at that. They had over a year’s worth of development to make up for, after all.
He donned his suit and raced up the ladder, spotting her just poking a curious head into the pipeline. Her eyes widened for a split second before he grabbed her, throwing her none-too-gently into an open cell and slamming the button to bring the hatch down. He gave her credit; she shook herself and rose quickly to her feet, but wasn’t fast enough to rush back out before the hatch slid shut.
“Hey!” Her fist pummeled the glass uselessly as she glared out at him. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“What should have been done already.” He couldn’t resist putting the reverb into his voice, enjoying the way she eyed him warily. “You’ll thank me someday.”
Rather than return to the basement, Eobard ran up and out of the labs, knowing that, if Barry found him on the premises after he had seemingly hurt one of his little friends, he would be less inclined to be reasoned with regarding his idea to reset things.
He would need to lay low now for another little while. Until the accelerator had had time to cool down before reuse. It would delay his plans to return to his time, but he could wait a little longer. He had already waited fifteen years.
---
Barry couldn’t believe he had screwed up so badly. Joe had tried to warn him, but he just didn’t listen. Now Cold had let all the metas get away, except Deathbolt anyway, and whatever crimes they went on to commit would be Barry’s fault.
He had tried to do things the smart guy way like Oliver, and he had failed.
Joe’s words of comfort helped him feel a little better, but he wished his friend were here to give him advice, even if it was to tell Barry just where and how he had gone wrong.
They were interrupted by Cisco rapping his knuckles on the doorway. “Sorry guys. Just… we got a problem.”
They regrouped in the cortex. “The accelerator is in cool down mode,” Cisco told them.
“So, what, Wells was just bluffing?” Joe asked.
“We don’t think so. We think it may have activated while we were gone,” said Caitlin. “And there’s something else.” Biting her lip, she turned one of the monitor screens to face them.
It was a view of one of the pipeline cells. A woman was laying on her side, blonde hair spilling over her face.
Barry’s heart dropped into his stomach. “No. No, we got everybody out. I triple-checked!” She didn’t even look like any of the metas, and it couldn’t be Bates either since he’d been accidentally killed while impersonating Reverse Flash.
He rushed down to the pipeline, opening the outer door and waiting impatiently as it rose before racing to the occupied cell. He opened that as well, waiting until he could just clear it before ducking inside. With greater care, he knelt by the body and slowly brushed her hair aside. His eyes widened and his heart gave another constriction.
It was Laurel.
What was the lawyer he had briefly met in Starling City doing here? And yet, he recalled Felicity’s mention of her becoming a vigilante… had she come here to help them after all? He didn’t know how he could forgive himself, much less look Oliver in the face again, if she was—
Running footsteps signaled the arrival of the others. “It’s Laurel,” he called out to them. “One of Oliver’s friends.”
Cisco’s voice sounded particularly distressed. “Black Canary?”
“Careful not to move her,” Caitlin advised at his elbow. The doctor leaned down, touching Laurel’s neck with two fingers and then listening at her mouth. “There’s a pulse and she’s breathing,” she announced to the whole group.
Cisco made a choked sort of sound, and Barry sat back as relief washed over him. He saw Laurel’s fingers twitch and her eyelids flutter. She drew in a deeper, raspier breath before coughing a few times.
Caitlin pressed a hand between the other woman’s shoulder blades and another rested on her shoulder. “Easy. Try not to make any sudden movements. We’re not sure what’s happened here.”
“Neither am I,” Laurel said with a grumble in her voice rather like Oliver’s, Barry couldn’t help noting. “Where’d that yellow guy go?”
His amusement evaporated. “Reverse Flash? He was here?”
“If he’s a guy in yellow leather with a creepy voice, yeah, he was. He threw me in here and said something about how I’d thank him for this, then ran away.” Her eyes finally seemed to focus as she added, “I think I’ll thank him with a fist to the face.”
Laurel began coughing again.
“She need water?” Joe asked. Barry shrugged helplessly.
“Laurel, do you think you can get up on your own? I’d like to examine you for any injuries or ill effects with my equipment. I’m kind of the team medic around here. Caitlin Snow.”
“Nice to meet you,” Laurel said. “I think I can get up but… who’s that shouting?”
Barry looked around at the others. “No one’s shouting, Laurel.”
She frowned, slowly rising from the ground. “But I hear…” Abruptly, she passed by Joe and Cisco out of the cell and took off further into the pipeline. Barry hurried to catch up to her.
“Hey, you really should probably be taking it easy,” he advised gently.
“Someone’s calling for help,” Laurel insisted. She stopped and doubled back a couple of steps. “It’s loudest… here.”
There was nothing and no one there, but as Barry looked around, he noticed a barely-visible seam in the floor. It was almost like a square…
Heart pounding, Barry called back to the others, “Guys? Is there supposed to be a trapdoor in here?”
Laurel had winced at his raised voice and rubbed her ear while they heard back a, “No?” from Cisco.
Barry licked his lips. “Stay back, alright?” He tried to move around to block Laurel from any potential view, but she stepped to the side and crossed her arms. Right, fellow hero. He wouldn’t really appreciate it if Oliver tried shielding him from something, would he?
He opened the hatch, peering down into darkness. “Hello?” He called out cautiously. If it was Reverse Flash, he’d given away any element of surprise, but why would the other speedster be calling for help like Laurel claimed?
“Barry?” Eddie’s hoarse voice made him nearly jump out of his skin. “Is that really you?”
He rushed down the ladder and found his friend tied to a chair in a small basement. Barry undid the bonds and rushed back upstairs, Eddie in his arms.
“We found Eddie!”
It was a strange group that made their way up to the cortex again. Caitlin was extremely worried about Eddie’s condition, citing dehydration and possible malnutrition. Joe was on the phone with Iris to let her know to come to the lab. Cisco was pouring over some of the notes they had found down in the secret basement.
“The, uh, transfer,” Laurel said. “Was it already completed?”
“Yeah,” Barry answered, too embarrassed to disclose just how it had been completed.
“Then I think I need to be going. I’m the only one really watching Starling right now.”
“But we haven’t gotten you checked out yet,” Barry reminded her.
“I’m fine. Can’t take painkillers anyway, so I’m used to scrapes and bruises. He needs Caitlin’s attention more,” she added, nodding towards Eddie on the medical cot.
“I still think it wouldn’t hurt to wait.”
“Maybe, but I promised Ollie.”
It struck Barry that he’d never heard the billionaire’s old nickname spoken with such obvious tenderness. “Is something going on?”
Laurel shrugged. “I don’t have all the details. I just know someone needs to be protecting the streets. Thanks for getting me out of that… cell, I guess.”
“Don’t mention it.” He still didn’t know why she had been thrown in one to begin with. What had Reverse Flash been aiming to do? What was his game?
Laurel pulled her bag over her shoulder with just a slight wince and walked out of the cortex. Barry watched her leave the labs on the surveillance footage. Of anyone on the Arrow team, Laurel remained perhaps the biggest mystery to him. How did she fit into the group? Why did she do what she did? She seemed separate from the rest and yet clearly held Oliver close in her heart.
Iris arrived, going straight to Eddie, and Barry looked away. He knew she loved the detective and was happy for them to be reunited, but it only made it a little easier, especially after seeing that newspaper article. What could have been.
He tapped Cisco on the shoulder and motioned for him to follow him out of the room. They headed back down to the pipeline. “What’s up?” His friend asked.
“I just wanna check something. Can you stand in the cell Laurel was in?”
“Okay?” Cisco agreed slowly, moving to do so. Barry ran back down into the basement, closing the hatch behind him. He stood by the chair Eddie had been in and shouted for all he was worth.
“Help! Cisco! I’m down here!”
Barry waited, repeated the exercise and waited some more. Then he rushed back up to the main level of the pipeline.
“Did you hear any of that?”
“Any of what?”
He’d thought so. Barry frowned. It was good that Laurel was okay and even better that she had led them to Eddie, but how had she done it?
---
Something was happening to her student, Nyssa couldn’t help feeling. More troubling than this, something was happening to her friend.
She had never had someone in her life quite like Laurel. Only a few short months ago, she had hardly known her beloved’s sister, yet now she spent her nights training the other woman in the art of combating evil. Nonlethally at that, which was something else new to her.
Laurel improved with each exercise, though she still had a habit of underestimating the cruelty of the common thug. She was an idealist and believed the best of people until spindly shown otherwise. Then, in some cases, she kept stubbornly believing in them anyway.
This particular night, Nyssa watched from a concealed place as Laurel took on her latest foe. The man was armed, though her student took no notice of this — until he lurched back to avoid a swing of Laurel’s nightstick, his jacket hitting the fence. Laurel tensed and shoved her stick under the man’s throat.
“Hands up. Go for your knife and you will regret it.”
Nyssa watched with growing surprise as Laurel soundly disposed of the common street thug. “Well done,” she announced, stepping out into the open. “What caused you to realize his advantage?”
“I heard something metal hit the chain link. It wasn’t heavy enough to be a gun, so a knife,” Laurel answered. Nyssa raised an eyebrow. She had heard? And in the midst of battle?
“Yes, well, he did have two knives,” she felt the need to point out. “We must observe with eyes as well.” Laurel grimaced, so Nyssa added, “I believe we have done enough for now. We should seek food to replenish our energy.”
Laurel suggested they dine on something called a milkshake and added deep fried potatoes to the deal by the time they had reached the restaurant. Unhealthy as it was, Nyssa enjoyed herself until her friend finally confessed to knowing where Oliver Queen had disappeared to of late: he had taken her father’s offer. He had supplanted her, and she knew what that meant for her future.
Nyssa left the restaurant and retrieved her armaments, then made her way to the rooftop where Sara was slain. If she was to die, she would wish it to be on the very same spot her beloved drew her last breath; if she were to be victorious, she would wish to strike her enemy down on that same hallowed ground.
Oliver, or what manner of monster he had become under her father’s care, did not leave her waiting long. He claimed he was to return her to Nanda Parbat, but she would force his hand to deliver the killing blow first.
They dueled, Oliver showing just how much he had learned in his time with the League, the things her father had never really offered to teach her. Nyssa grit her teeth as she felt herself backed up against the roof’s edge just as Sara had been, though it was a sword at her throat instead of an arrow in her chest.
A sound pierced the night, unlike any she had ever heard. The closest she could think of were her beloved’s devices, but they had not been nearly so strong. Nor so visible.
Nyssa could only cringe in pain as glass shattered around them and something like heavy waves of air struck her assailant in his side. He did not keep his feet; instead, her pain was forgotten in a gasp as the man who had once been Oliver Queen went over the edge, the black bow and arrows strapped to his back flying and falling with a clatter.
“Oliver!”
Nyssa whipped her head around towards the source of this unexpected rescue. The shout had come from John Diggle, Oliver’s aid, and the sound… she could only guess had come from Laurel. Laurel, who looked frozen in shock and horror at what she had done.
She had told Nyssa about the adjustments she had asked an engineer to make to Sara’s device, though Nyssa had maintained they would continue to focus on her physical skill set before incorporating such additions. Perhaps that had been in error.
There was a distant bellow of pain, a popping noise and another clang. Nyssa rolled to her feet and peered down. Her adversary still lived.
He was dangling from the rail of a fire escape several flights below, one arm hanging uselessly at his side and at an odd angle. Out of socket. His grip with the other hand was tenuous at best. Did she wait for him to fall? Or would he survive the remaining distance?
Nyssa drew her bow and another arrow as she contemplated, hearing her two allies scrambling across the treacherous roof with its broken skylights. She aimed the arrow down, pointed straight between the eyes.
Something flashed in his expression, and he could not hide it. Fear for his life, something no one truly brainwashed by the League ever felt. There was Oliver behind his eyes. He seemed to know she had seen it too, for he grimaced and spoke just as Laurel and John Diggle joined her: “Little help, please?”
---
Oliver couldn’t quite grasp what had just happened. All he knew was one arm was on fire, the other was not far behind it, his ankle had collided painfully with something metal that without putting weight on it he couldn’t test the possible damage and his ears were ringing. His whole body felt like it was still ringing.
John and Laurel hurried down the fire escape to him, hauling him up though he couldn’t quite hold in another yelp and he collapsed into Digg’s side as soon as he was standing. His ankle was damaged in some way.
“Ollie, are you — I wasn’t trying to do that,” Laurel said in a rush.
“Yeah? What exactly were you trying?” He grumbled.
“Sara’s sonic bombs, I had Cisco reconfigure them but something’s wrong.”
“Something’s wrong, alright. The thing broke and that sound still came out. Come on, we gotta get back to the base before the police come check out the noise disturbance.”
“Where is the base?” He wondered idly as they helped him limp along.
Nyssa joined them as John and Laurel helped him into the back of the van, and Oliver let his head drop back to rest as he breathed in and out. He needed to push the pain to the back of his mind in order to think, because his plan had just gone sideways.
The others knew it was an act now. They would never believe that he had been fully brainwashed by the League, even if he went back to Nanda Parbat tonight. And if he did go back, would he even be alive tomorrow? Ra’s would have to know he had lost this fight and that his team had nursed his wounds. He would know he was being played. What did they do now?
Malcolm wasn’t here to propose a new strategy. Malcolm would probably be furious that their current strategy had been ruined. That it had been at Laurel’s hands… well, even Oliver could appreciate that irony.
He could feel her eyes on him. Nervous, worried, guilty. Oliver found himself reaching out with his good arm and taking her hand. Maybe he was too tired to maintain the distant facade anymore. Maybe he didn’t care. Maybe he’d just missed her too much.
Of everyone, he hadn’t given her a proper goodbye, yet he knew she’d understood what he was trying to say all the same, and she’d accepted it. As always.
He wished he had asked her to make the journey with them, that she’d been there to help Thea through the worst of the Lazarus Pit’s effects. More than anyone, he could trust Laurel to take care of his sister for no other reason than because she already cared for her. She had beyond proven that to him when she had thrown his fear and doubt about her reaction to learning Thea’s role in Sara’s death back in his face. With Malcolm, there was still the lingering risk that he was acting in self-interest, and Oliver could still remember Felicity’s chilling words when he’d asked her to look after his sister in his absence: And what is that worth?
He’d had a lot of time to think about his relationships in Nanda Parbat; it had been necessary in order to maintain a hold of his identity. And in all his recollecting, he was coming to a troubling conclusion. He wasn’t sure he and Felicity were in love the way he’d thought they were.
He cared for her, obviously. He was grateful for everything she had dedicated to the mission. There was fondness, respect, trust… or there had been.
He’d been out of it still in the catacombs when he thanked her. But with a clearer head, it had hit him that for no matter what reason, Felicity had drugged him without his consent. He’d been near-furious with John for doing the same thing only last year. And if Felicity’s plan had succeeded, there would have been far worse consequences.
That rash action aside, there was more he couldn’t help seeing once he’d been on his own. Felicity had fallen into a habit of speaking for him, or even over him, often. She took it upon herself to interpret his meaning for others when he never asked for such a thing to be done. And just picturing her reaction to learning his and Malcolm’s plan and how much she wouldn’t have been allowed to know to until the end… he was almost as nervous as Laurel was to return to the team’s new base.
Laurel’s reaction he could picture perfectly as well. There would be disappointment that he had relied on Malcolm rather than the rest of them, that he had lied. But there would be acceptance that it had been the one way forward to ensure the least amount of danger to the city. She would set aside her feelings to deal with the situation at hand, the way she almost always did. It was only when it came to things like her family that she could become over-emotional, a flaw Oliver could privately admit he shared.
He had been so hard on her. He had hoped it would keep her away from all this. Instead it had just kept her from him.
The new base turned out to be an unused room within Palmer Tech. Felicity was there to meet them, and her eyes widened as John and Laurel helped him hobble towards a medical table.
“Oliver! What- what happened? Was it the League?”
“Nope,” John answered for him. “He was trying to take Nyssa out for the League. Laurel stopped him a little too enthusiastically.”
“I was supposed to bring Nyssa to Nanda Parbat,” Oliver interrupted before too many fingers could start pointing back and forth. “It was not my intention to kill her.”
“And what do you imagine my father would have had you do once we arrived?” Nyssa asked coolly.
“Malcolm or I would have figured something out.” He hadn’t known precisely what that something would be, but he had known capturing Nyssa at the least would have been vital to convincing Ra’s he was on the man’s side.
“Malcolm? I don’t understand,” Felicity said. “You’re still working with him? They said you’d be brainwashed.”
“They tried. Didn’t take,” he answered shortly.
“But you wanted Ra’s to think it did,” Laurel realized quietly. She’d been wearing a frown from the moment he had mentioned Malcolm, but now her brow creased with apprehension. “What happens now?”
“I really don’t know. What happened on the roof?”
She shrugged helplessly. “It shouldn’t have been that strong.”
“What shouldn’t have been? Can we use our words, people?” Felicity asked.
“Laurel had Cisco at STAR labs modify Sara’s sonic bombs,” John explained as he finished retrieving some medical supplies. “But the tech didn’t work the way it was supposed to, and somehow she knocked Oliver clean off the roof. It’s how he got so banged up.”
Oliver carefully shed the upper layers of his League uniform with Digg’s help. He was glad the others were not facing the brand, at least for now. Felicity’s eyes drifted over his chest while Laurel’s own gaze remained solidly on his face. Nyssa was looking out a window, her lips pursed in quiet thought.
“This is… probably going to sound crazy,” Laurel said at last. “But I felt something.”
“Like what?” He asked, hoping it came off as encouraging. Laurel needed to open up if they were going to get to the bottom of this.
“It was like it came from in me, in a way.”
“What, like you’re the sonic bomb?” Felicity’s skepticism rang loud and clear in the room.
“The device broke before the sound came out,” John revealed. He gripped Oliver’s bad arm. “Ready?”
“Do it.” He bit down hard as the other man forced his shoulder back into socket. Pain rippled through him and he gasped for air.
Felicity darted forward as if to steady him at his other side, but Oliver leaned away. He knew he didn’t want to discuss his revelations about their relationship right now in front of the others, but he didn’t want to lead her to believe in something that just wasn’t there. She drew short of him, a hurt look in her eyes.
Oliver focused back on Laurel. “Has this ever happened before, or anything like it?”
Laurel shook her head, but it was Nyssa who said, “I believe there is more to it than producing sound. Laurel has developed an unusually keen sense of hearing.”
“You never said anything,” Laurel said with a frown.
“I only noticed it recently,” the former Heir to the Demon said. “And on its own it did not seem so remarkable.”
“How recent, Nyssa?” Oliver asked.
“Within the last month, certainly. I would say it was soon after you left to usurp me.”
He pointedly ignored the last of that sentence, keeping his gaze on Laurel while John fit a brace to his ankle. “Could anything have happened to you between them and now that might explain this? Anything at all.”
“I mean, I- I went to Central to try and help Barry and the others with something. They, um, were trying to move their prisoners,” she said, the last word twisting her lips with distaste in a way that was almost amusing. “I got there too late, though. But there was this guy they called the Reverse Flash, in a yellow suit like Barry’s—”
“The guy that killed Barry’s mom?” Felicity demanded. Oliver felt his heart stop.
“I wouldn’t know,” Laurel answered. “But he threw me in this box of some kind of reinforced glass, ran away and there was this big boom before I guess I passed out.” She hugged her arms to herself. “I came to and Barry and the others had gotten back.”
“But what happened?” John asked.
“That’s all I know.”
“Laurel,” Oliver started in frustration. She’d passed out and not told any of the others? What had Reverse Flash been trying to do to her? Why didn’t she care more?
“Well, they were all kind of busy with the man they found being held captive in their own basement,” she snapped. “Apparently I was the only person who heard him calling for help — which I guess was when that whole thing started. But I would’ve needed to get back here anyway because I needed to be looking out for the city.”
Oliver’s eyes slipped closed. The promise he had asked of her before he’d left. That was why she hadn’t bothered to remain at STAR and have them confirm anything.
“Felicity, call Barry,” he instructed. She blinked in surprise but got out her phone, shooting him an odd look as she did so.
“Alright, but you need to rest, man,” Digg said. “At least until he gets here.”
Oliver complied, if only because he knew Barry wouldn’t take long. Sure enough, the speedster was soon among them and listened attentively as they explained everything that had happened.
“It was the particle accelerator. Wells — or Thawne — Reverse Flash,” the younger hero decided on eventually. “He’d turned it on to use for something. We’re still not sure what the original purpose was, because even he shouldn’t have been able to guess Laurel would be showing up that exact evening.”
“Why would he want to use it to change her?”
“I’m not sure. He’s, he’s from the future,” Barry admitted to all of their shock. “And maybe that means he knows something about Laurel. Something that means she’s supposed to be a meta. But until we catch him, we can’t know for sure.”
“How do we do that?” Laurel demanded. He could tell she was shaken to hear that this man had made such a change to her without her consent. Oliver was beating himself up already for not being there. He should have kept a better eye on things at home; he should have protected her the way he always did; he should have—
It was with a sense of dawning wonder and fear that Oliver realized what this feeling was, the feeling that had never quite died in him no matter how hard he had tried to stamp it out: love.
He was in love with Dinah Laurel Lance, even when she had long gotten over him.
“Ollie?”
He started, working to school his features as the others all stared at him. He felt too shy suddenly to meet Laurel’s eyes, so he watched her shoulder and the lock of her hair that hung over the front of it. “Yeah?”
“We’re trying to figure out who to neutralize first,” John re-stated. “Ra’s or Reverse Flash.”
He swallowed. Right, the plan. He needed a new one, one that didn’t involve him resuming his place at Ra’s side. The longer they delayed, the more suspicious the Demon would become.
“Ra’s. We need to take the fight to Nanda Parbat now.”
“But you’re injured,” Felicity immediately protested.
“We can’t afford to wait. Ra’s will suspect he’s been betrayed and send out the best of his followers to kill all of us.” Everything he had tried to avoid by becoming Al-Sah-Him would come to pass.
His ankle wasn’t broken as he had feared. He could stand on it with the brace if need be. He would have to hope he could fight on it as well.
“A straight assault on Nanda Parbat is suicide,” Nyssa declared. “You would never be able to root each and every assassin out of the passages. They would surround you and slaughter before you had time to blink.”
“Not if it was Barry who was blinking,” Laurel pointed out. “Could you… I don’t know, run them all out of the fortress into the open?”
“Definitely. Not sure if I could stop them from going back in if I’m helping you to fight them, though.”
“Then we stop them from going back in,” said Oliver, a plan forming in his mind off the back of Laurel’s idea. “You can do that scream again.”
“I didn’t know I could do it the first time,” she protested, backing up even a step further. Oliver shifted his weight off the table onto his good leg to catch her hand before she could fully draw away.
“It’s your power, just like Barry’s speed. And I have a feeling it’s exactly what we need. You’re strong, Laurel. I’ve known that our whole lives. And no matter how or why you received this ability, you’re the one in control of it.”
Her gaze remained on their hands joined together. He rubbed a thumb over the fishnet material on the back of her glove, and slowly, she raised her head to meet his eyes. “What do you need me to do?”
There was a current between them, making his heart thump loudly in his ears and his mouth run dry. He wondered if he was the only one to notice it, or if Laurel could still somehow feel it too. Could he even be that lucky?
A throat cleared, and Oliver swallowed, glancing to the side to see the others watching and waiting. Felicity must have been the one to do it; she had a wet sheen to her eyes. He would have to speak with her soon. It was long past time to set things back to rights with his various affairs of the heart.
But ending the threat of the League in their lives came first.
---
Malcolm paced the small chamber he had been given in Nanda Parbat, far beneath the accommodations he had once held as Ra’s horseman. But soon, very soon, he would be occupying a much more opulent room within the fortress.
So long as Oliver didn’t screw everything up.
The man had yet to return with Nyssa or to report his progress. Ra’s was growing agitated, they all could tell and so all steered clear of their leader. It would certainly be an upset should Nyssa prove after all to be the better Heir, but Malcolm feared Ra’s discovering the truth: that Oliver was merely pretending to be the loyal disciple.
Had he quailed at killing the woman? The Oliver who had returned from the island two years ago would have been far better suited to this plan. He had developed a soft heart in his time back home. His friends were likely convincing him to try a new, futile strategy instead. It would end in ruin for all of them and Starling if they pursued it.
Malcolm began to pack his things. Once Ra’s discovered Oliver’s treachery, he would need to be far away from here. He would stop briefly in Starling to collect Thea and disappear. There were those who opposed Ra’s that they could ally themselves with and seek protection. At least for the moment.
But he had only the time to sling his pack over his shoulders before he was suddenly seized and felt himself carried impossibly fast. Malcolm closed his eyes and had his sword drawn when he was released from the strange sensation, blinking in the sudden light of day outside the fortress.
He took stock of his surroundings. All the League’s soldiers stood around in various stages of confusion. John Diggle had a gun aimed at Sarab, the current horseman. Nyssa stood proudly with her own bow and arrow drawn at him. Oliver favored his left leg but stood with head uncovered, his right arm braced on Laurel’s shoulder. At a nod from him, she stepped out from under him and marched to the front just as a streak of lightning rushed out of the fortress once more with a final member of this gathering: Ra’s himself.
“Al-Sah-Him, what is the meaning of this?” The Demon demanded once he had gained his feet. A man in red — the Flash from Central City, he realized — also appeared in solid form.
“Al-Sah-Him never existed. My name is Oliver Queen. And I’ve never been one for prophecies,” Oliver said. “Now, Canary!”
With a vicious smirk sent back Malcolm’s way, Laurel planted her feet and let forth a scream that shook the ground beneath their feet and the heavens above. The stone of Nanda Parbat’s entryway blasted apart under the force of the visible waves, and it’s pillars buckled before giving way.
Cries emanated from the members, some of horror and some of pain as they clutched at their ears. The Priestess clutched her robes and sobbed. And Malcolm could only watch in astonishment as his ambitions and plans crumbled to dust and rubble before his very eyes. Within minutes, Nanda Parbat was no more. His legs trembled, but he just barely stopped himself from sinking to his knees.
“No!” Ra’s scream of rage was marked with terror, and Malcolm knew why: the Lazarus Pit had just been buried and contaminated beyond any hopes of saving it. The Demon drew his sword and lunged — only for two arrows to embed themselves in his back.
The greatest warrior Malcolm had ever known fell just feet away from Laurel Lance. Both Oliver and Nyssa advanced on him as he raised himself to his knees.
“Your reign and your League is ended, Ra’s,” Oliver said. “You’ve lost sight of the mission you spoke to me of, descending into petty squabbles and schisms. You hoard your power and refuse to relinquish it. You’ve become what you swore to fight against.”
Ra’s eyes widened for a moment, before he sneered at his daughter. “And you, Nyssa? My own flesh and blood?”
“You forswore me the moment I discovered that love could rule my heart instead of fear. Your mistake was in thinking that it made me weaker.”
A puff of air left Ra’s lips as a trickle of blood leaked from the corner of his mouth. “You think yourself strong? You have destroyed your birthright. You will never be Ra’s al Ghul,” he rasped. Though he grew weaker, it seemed he was determined to die with a straight back. “And you…” his gaze fell on Oliver again, but the eyes glazed over and his body went limp before his final condemnation could be spoken.
Oliver turned to face the assembled assassins, frozen without orders to follow. “The League of Assassins is no more. You can either return to your old lives or make new ones for yourselves elsewhere. But if any of you even think about setting foot in my city, you’ll suffer the same consequences as your leader just has.” There was sweat beginning to bead on his brow, and Laurel returned to his side, subtly supporting his weight. Oliver smiled down at her briefly before they began a slow walk away from Ra’s fallen form, leaving Nyssa to see to what was left of her father.
Malcolm broke from his own stupor and hurried after them. “Oliver. What happened? This was not the plan.”
While Laurel did nothing to hide the contempt in her gaze, Oliver was more diplomatic. “The plan we had was riskier and would have taken longer. I realized I could end the League’s threat a different way, so I did.”
“And ended the League entirely?”
“Not exactly how you were hoping this would all go, was it?” Laurel asked, her tone entirely too smug. She had guessed his goal, then.
“How did you create that kind of force?”
“I don’t have to tell you anything, but I’d be more than happy to demonstrate how it works a second time.”
Malcolm shifted his weight back. He had no doubt if she used that new and strange ability again that it could kill him. No longer did he have the decided upper hand in their confrontations, and Oliver seemed to be far more inclined to favor her once again. How could he have missed such a dramatic shifting of the balance of power he’d been cultivating?
“You’re free to live your life without looking over your shoulder for the League, Malcolm. I’d say that makes us more than even,” Oliver said. “But use Thea for one of your schemes again, and it will not end well for you.”
So he wished to be enemies once more going forward, did he? “I see. Thank you for the cursory warning. I still think you’ve made a grave mistake today, Oliver, but it’s clear to me you aren’t interested in hearing it.” Malcolm stepped aside, allowing the two to rejoin John Diggle and the Flash as they left the mountains.
The Flash and now Laurel’s dangerous gift. Oliver had found himself powerful allies. Malcolm should have used the tension his presence on the team had caused between the former lovers to widen the schism while he’d had the chance. He should have remembered it did not take long for Oliver and Laurel to forgive each other their mistakes.
He returned to the grouping of League members who remained. Some had already departed; still others seemed to have taken the League’s ruination as their own and swallowed the poison capsule all members carried. Someone needed to take hold of the situation and fast before one of the most elite forces in the world was squandered completely.
While Nyssa ordered Sarab and the Priestess to help with the arrangements for Ra’s burial, Malcolm set to work doing what any good businessman would: networking.
He might not have the ring nor the seat nor the title of the Demon, but he would persevere.
---
Laurel felt an extra spring in her step that half of Oliver’s weight plus all his League uniform adornments couldn’t even dampen. She had ended the League that had taken Sara away from their family, both in life and death. She had denied Malcolm, the orchestrator of her sister’s demise, the prize he’d been so clearly seeking when he’d crafted the original plan Oliver had told them about. She had destroyed a centuries-old order with nothing but a scream.
It was a little scary, how much watching the stone fortress had exhilarated her. If someone else had these powers she’d had forced on her, what would they do with them? There had been no casualties from the destruction, but she would need to watch herself and hope her teammates had her back in the field.
Right now, she had Oliver’s, since it was difficult for him to navigate the rocky terrain with a bad ankle. Laurel couldn’t help wondering what was going through his head. He’d asked her to watch out for the city when he’d left to begin his deception of Ra’s, and ever since he’d come back, he had been… different towards her.
She didn’t want to think it or even dare to get her hopes up again. She wasn’t that much of a fool. He’d probably just missed everyone and was trying to express it in his unspoken way.
Though that didn’t explain the distance between him and Felicity when they returned to the plane where she waited for the news.
“Ra’s is dead, and the League is without a leader or a stronghold,” Oliver reported succinctly.
Felicity nodded and retook her seat, and it was John who joined her. Oliver directed them to keep moving further back to another row. She helped him lower himself down and then took the seat beside him.
Barry hovered a bit between the rows before taking his own chair across the aisle from them, leaning forward to talk to Oliver. “I had Caitlin reach out to Ronnie and Professor Stein. They’re planning to meet us in Central to take care of Reverse Flash. Are you sure you’re good?”
“I can fire an arrow, Barry.”
“You could take a sniper position,” Laurel offered, seeing that Barry looked just as reluctant as she felt to put him directly in the path of that speedster while he was still recovering.
Oliver thought it over quietly for a few moments. “Depends on where the fight happens. If there’s a good position to take, I’ll be there.”
Barry relaxed back into his seat. Laurel nodded and did her best to settle in for the flight. They would need to be rested so that they were ready to move once they touched back down in Central.
She wasn’t sure how long she slept, given that the window shades were all pulled down, but gradually Laurel became aware that she tilted to the right and that her head had landed on something warm and solid. She jerked upright, wincing as Oliver’s face scrunched you and he awoke as well.
“Something wrong?”
“No. I… I just realized I was kind of in your space. Sorry,” she told him softly. Barry snores lightly across the aisle, and she couldn’t detect any movement from the row ahead.
“It’s okay.” Oliver licked his lips and shifted in his seat a little. “I’m glad.”
“For what?”
“For not ruining everything again. For you still being… okay with me. For relying on me.”
“Ollie, you’re my friend. We’re always going to be okay. I rely on you, and I hope you can rely on me because I care about you.”
“Even if…” He stopped himself, suddenly looking more vulnerable than she’d perhaps ever seen him.
“If what?”
A tone chimed, indicating passengers were meant to be buckling back in. She heard John moving in the seat ahead and the low murmur of his voice as he woke Felicity. Regretfully, Laurel turned to lean across the aisle and nudge Barry.
There wasn’t a chance for her to ask what Oliver had meant. They landed and were immediately driven to STAR labs where a number of people waited. Most of them she had met the last time she was here.
“I wish we had time to run some tests on your abilities,” Caitlin said. She had her phone out, checking for updates from the two men still making their way here.
An alarm at the computers was tripped before that happened. Felicity and Cisco bumped into each other as they both went to check.
“It’s him.”
Laurel drew in a breath and released it. It was time to confront the man who had done this to her, along with the crimes he had inflicted on so many here.
“Did Ray send you what he promised?” Oliver asked.
Cisco passed him a couple arrows in green. “You’re gonna have to make them count. I was also able to whip up a pair of these.” He held up a set of earbuds. “They cancel out sound above a certain decibel. Should avoid some possible friendly fire from the Super Boss Canary Cry.”
“Only one pair?” Laurel asked, chewing her lip. She knew it was a lot to expect more in such a short period, but she wasn’t keen on hurting any of her friends.
“Take them, Ollie,” Barry said. “I heal.”
Oliver hesitated a moment, eyeing Barry strangely, before reaching out for them as well.
Barry squared his shoulders and turned towards the door. “Let’s not keep him waiting.”
She followed Barry out to the lot while Oliver and John took to the roof. The Reverse Flash waited with his cowl down, revealing a man with brown hair Laurel vaguely recognized from the news. The scientist that had set off the particle accelerator more than a year before he’d done it again to her.
“Well, looks like I provided you a friend,” the man called out to Barry, his grin sharp as he looked Laurel over.
“Why did you?” She asked. None of them had been able to figure that out.
“The same reason I gave everyone else their powers. I just missed you on the first try, and I couldn’t exactly waste the opportunity to correct it when you were good enough to walk right in,” he explained easily.
“Because it fit into your grand plan.” Barry added.
Reverse Flash shook his head. “You see me as the villain, but, Barry, if you were to look back, look back carefully at everything I've done, every wheel I have set in motion, you would realize I have only done what I had to do. Nothing more. Nothing less.”
A man with flames rising from his head and shooting from his hands and feet cleared a building to the right of the STAR Labs lot and descended. “Hope we weren’t late,” he said to Barry, his voice echoing slightly.
“You’re right on time.”
“Black Canary and Firestorm?” Reverse Flash remarked with raised eyebrows. Laurel wondered if he was ignoring Oliver and John for the moment or if they had managed to conceal themselves. She hoped for the latter.
Barry turned back to him, confidence in every line of his stance. “I don't care how fast you are. You can't fight all of us at the same time.”
“Oh, I can't? Trust me. This... This is gonna be fun.” He lifted his hand and something yellow shot out of the ring on his finger. In a quick movement, he was wearing the suit she had first seen him in, eyes blazing with red. He and Barry shot forward, and the fight began.
The two speedsters circled each other so fast it was all one blur to her and Firestorm. They exchanged frustrated looks as they watched, waiting for some kind of opening. She could hit them both with her Cry, but that would take Barry out as well for the time it took him to heal. And they needed him.
“Move, Barry!” Firestorm urged. “We need a clear shot!”
Barry suddenly became clear when he was thrown against a wall. Reverse Flash tried to follow, but Firestorm put up a wall of flame between the two speedsters, and Laurel let loose her cry.
She managed to just clip his side as he dodged around the worst of it, grabbing Firestorm with a snarl and flinging him through the air.
Firestorm was sent careening out of sight. The streak of lightning that was Barry went racing after him, and Laurel readied her weapon as Reverse Flash turned to her with a leer.
An arrow sailed through the air and embedded in his leg before he’d taken one step. As he reached to pull it out, the blurring of his face and hands slowed.
“Nanites,” Oliver called down, his position having been revealed. “Courtesy of Ray Palmer. They're delivering a high frequency pulse that's disabling your speed. You're not gonna be running around for quite a while.”
Laurel didn’t wait a second longer. She went in with her nightstick, cracking her opponent across the face before delivering a combination of punches, only one of which the man blocked without his speed to aid him.
He had some training in throwing a punch, but at normal speed she was the better fighter. Laurel wasn’t sure if his healing had been disabled along with the speed, but she went in with hard blows just in case.
He landed on a knee and shook, faster and faster. The nanites were wearing off.
Laurel quickly backed up, readying her Cry, but he looked up with a grin and raced away towards the Labs. To her horror, the streak ran up the wall, making quickly for the roof.
John moved out in front of Oliver, firing down several rounds with his gun.
Laurel ran towards the building, but could only watch as the yellow blur dodged around the bullets and knocked into John, sending him crashing back onto the roof. Oliver’s bow and quiver fell down around her, raining arrows. The blur resolved, holding Oliver by his throat over the edge of the roof.
“The history books say you live to be 86 years old, Mr. Queen,” the speedster growled. “Well, I guess the history books are wrong.”
He let go. Oliver fell, and her heart dropped. She couldn’t watch this again, not so soon, there was nothing for him to grab onto and save himself—
“OLLIEEEEEEEE!”
The scream left her of its own accord, waves rippling upward. But where they met with Oliver’s falling form, something strange happened. He slowed, and then nearly stopped in his descent.
She was keeping him in the air. Laurel squeezed her eyes shut, maintaining the Cry for as long as she was able. Wind rushed past her and she could hear the crackle of two speedsters, but all that mattered was the man slowly lowering to the ground as her breath ran out.
“Laurel!” She heard it distantly over the sound of her scream. “Laurel, you can stop!”
She squinted her eyes open. Oliver was close; she could nearly reach him if she jumped. He was telling her it was okay; he would make it.
Laurel staggered back and gasped in a large breath of air to fill her lungs. She threw out her arms, and Oliver dropped the last few feet into them. They fell together, hitting the hard asphalt with two grunts.
Laurel sat up as soon as she was able, keeping one arm around his back as she checked the earplugs were still in place. “Did they work? I didn’t hurt you?”
“No. It was… I don’t know how to describe that. But I was safe.” One of his hands reached up, gloved thumb smoothing over where her cheek had scraped against the ground a little. “Thank you.”
She saw Firestorm’s feet come down in front of them, and Barry sped to her side. “We got him,” the speedster confirmed, which she was glad for despite having forgotten all about the fight. “And Digg should be good. Caitlin’s up there now checking to make sure he doesn’t have a concussion. You alright, Ollie?”
“Yeah,” Oliver said, his brow crinkling with confusion as he asked, “Since when do you call me Ollie?”
Barry blinked. “Oh. I don’t- didn’t, I mean. But Laurel calls you that sometimes, and I thought that meant you… liked it?”
Oliver smirked as a snort left his nose. Then he laughed. “Yeah. Yeah, I do. She knows me.”
“Better than anyone,” she confirmed with relief. Everything was okay now. Both cities were safe, and if anything, she had just learned that her powers could do more than cause harm. They could protect. They could save.
There were issues back home, maybe. Her father, Oliver’s vigilante persona being effectively dead and, Laurel could admit as she looked into his eyes, the stubborn feelings she’d never quite given up no matter what she said. But they could handle them together this time. She could feel in her bones that this was where they had always been meant to be.
---
By order of Dr. Snow, Oliver was put on bed rest for the next week, and possibly two judging by how much clucking she had done with her tongue while examining his ankle and other varied injuries. He, Laurel, John and Felicity returned to Starling on a train the next morning after seeing Reverse Flash safely locked away in the pipeline. Laurel had looked more than a little uncomfortable doing so, as he knew she was still one to advocate for the law whenever possible, and he’d taken her hand briefly.
Now he was stuck on a couch in the loft, recounting everything that had happened to Thea, who had been away visiting Roy in his new home for most of it. He didn’t ask her about her trip. Whatever had happened between them was theirs to know.
“I still don’t get why he gave Laurel powers to help beat him,” his sister said, and Oliver frowned.
“Something tells me there’s still more to his plans than he let on. But it’s Barry’s decision on what to do about them.”
“So what happens here?”
“Well, I heal. Then… I don’t know. I want to keep helping the city, but Lance took away the only way I had. Laurel has her Cry now, and Ray’s helping, but—”
“You can’t sit at home while she’s out there,” Thea guessed with a knowing half-smile.
“Yeah.”
“Roy gave me something before he left, you know,” she said lightly. “A red jacket. A few modifications… I could join her out there. At least while you’re still healing up.”
Oliver looked up at her. “Thank you.”
Thea shrugged. “I should do something good with what Malcolm taught me, right? And for the record, I’m so glad he’s not hanging around anymore.”
Oliver nodded. It did feel easier to breathe in some ways, knowing he wasn’t indebted to or being used as leverage for one of the man’s schemes. He could do his mission his way once again, if he could figure out just how.
“There’s something I’m kinda hoping you can clear up, though,” Thea said, turning fully towards him.
He sat up a little straighter. “Oh?”
“Felicity said something about the two of you after you went to join the League that seemed to indicate you’re… together?”
He winced. “We’re… we’ve tried to be.”
“But you don’t want to be.”
His shoulders slumped. “What does that say about me?”
He was a horrible person, wasn’t he? Everything he had put Felicity through, all the disapproval he had rained on her choice of Ray Palmer all so she would end things with the billionaire, and now he felt it had been a mistake.
He had thought being in a relationship would be enough. But it wasn’t a relationship he wanted, really. It was a person. And that person was Dinah Laurel Lance. It always had been, but he kept thinking he could fool himself.
Felicity wanted to be with him. Laurel… Laurel cared about him, because that was the kind of person she was. But he knew better than to assume anything should come of it. If he could have just been better, made the right choices, acted the way she deserved. Maybe he did deserve to be alone.
There was a knock on the door of the loft. Thea got up and checked at the peephole. “It’s Felicity.”
His heart sank, but he said, “Let her in.”
Thea opened the door. “Hey, you here for Ollie?”
“Yes, if that’s okay.”
“Sure, I was just heading out to grab some lunch. See ya!” She called over her shoulder, grabbing her keys and leaving them the room. It was the right thing to do, but a childish part of him wanted to call her back here for help.
Felicity moved towards the couch, ending up standing next to the coffee table. “Hi.”
“Hey.”
“How’s your leg?”
“Doing better. How’s… work?”
“Good. A lot of stuff you wouldn’t really be interested in, but, you know. Good.”
They lapses into silence. He wished it was comfortable.
“Felicity—”
“I had something I wanted to say,” she spoke at the same time. His mouth snapped shut. “I prepared it and everything, so I don��t go off-book and say something embarrassing. You know me.”
“Yes.”
She drew in a deep breath. “Okay, here goes. What happened in Nanda Parbat is not something I regret, but I feel like it didn’t go where either of us was expecting. Or hoping, maybe.”
He stayed silent.
“I thought part of that was just, you know, you going to the League to be brainwashed and all that putting an expiration date on us. But that was really a lie, and it made me realize something. I keep trying to save men from suicide missions,” she stated bluntly. “But I can’t. That’s your decision. And I think you made it on that island, and you’re not changing your mind.”
“No,” he confirmed quietly.
She nodded and took a small step towards him. “Ra’s told me that night that I should go to you to say goodbye. And I guess, in a way, I did. Or I should have. I need to, is what I mean. I can’t keep… doing this.”
He looked down. “I understand.”
“Do you? Cause I think you take it for granted sometimes. You are not easy to be close to or to care about at the best of times. Much less to love. So I hope you can see what it means, that someone you have hurt so many times is still standing there, standing up for you against virtually the only family she has left, fighting your fight when you can’t.”
He blinked, shock flooding his system as he realized truly who she’d been speaking of. Oliver slowly looked up, wondering if he was having some sort of hallucination.
Felicity smiled sadly. “Helena may have been crazy, but even a cuckoo clock is right twice a day.”
He was speechless, though he felt he ought to be saying something.
“Just… try not to screw it up this time, okay? You can only flunk out so many times, which you should really already know.” Felicity backed up and turned towards the door.
“Are you leaving the team?” He managed to ask.
“I’m still thinking about it. I won’t leave you guys in the lurch, but it’s all been getting a little too personal for me lately. I think I need to take a step back for a while.”
“Whatever you need.”
She smiled. “Thanks.”
Oliver shook his head. “Thank you.”
She let herself out, leaving him to his thoughts. Felicity believed Laurel still loved him. She knew he still loved her, the same way Helena had known it. And Sara, and Slade… why was he so stubborn?
If Laurel could still find room for him in her heart, then he needed her to know.
Decision made, Oliver reached for the crutches he had been supplied with at the lab and left the loft. It was annoying and slow-going, and if he had a reliable income he would just signal a taxi, but he tried to use the time to marshal his thoughts and his words.
She was at work, most likely, so he steered his way towards City Hall. It was his luck as he cleared the steps that Captain Lance almost collided into him on his way out the door.
“Sorry bout— oh.”
“Afternoon, Captain.”
He glanced down. “Injured yourself, huh?”
“Twisted my ankle. Bad sidewalk,” he added.
“Right,” the man said dryly. He glanced around, and Oliver did likewise. They were the only two outside at the moment, and for a wild second he wondered if he should be worried for his safety. But then Lance spoke again. “You know, Laurel tells me that the League Sara was part of is no more. And that one of the vigilantes took care of the man that held my baby girl captive all these years.”
“Well, that’s… that’s good to know it will never happen to another family,” Oliver replied.
“Exactly my thoughts.” Lance walked past him but stopped on a step and looked back at him. “Do I wanna know why you’re here?”
“Probably not.”
Lance nodded, like he’d already surmised as much. Then he turned and made his way down towards his car.
Oliver squared his shoulders and pushed his way through the door. He knew where Laurel’s office was, so he didn’t bother stopping at the desk. Her door was slightly open and he knocked at the frame with the end of his crutch.
She looked up from a stack of papers, hair tucked behind her ears and pen dangling from two fingers. It dropped onto the pile as her eyes widened. “Hey! Come in.”
She got up and went around him to close the door.
“I thought you were staying at the loft until your ankle was better.”
“I’m keeping off it,” he assured her, taking the chair across from her desk. “And I wanted to talk to you about plans going forward.”
“Here?” When he nodded, she raised an eyebrow and said, “Okay, well, I assume you’ll want to keep, uh, working.”
“Yep. I also think I’ll try and find a day job.”
“Really? Why now?”
“Well, my savings won’t last forever, and I want to be able to provide for myself and my family in the future.”
She laid her elbows on the desk, leaning forward a little. “That’s good to keep in mind. I’m glad you feel like you can think about the future again.”
He felt something warm sweep through him. He’d never voiced his fears of dying this past year to Laurel specifically, and yet she had guessed it all the same.
“Me too. The thing about the future is… I never thought about it before the island. I was young, stupid and I thought everything could stay that way forever. Then thinking about the future became one of the ways I kept going after the shipwreck. Both then and now, I see the same things.”
“What do you see?” She asked it gently, not demanding it from him. He could answer vaguely, and she would be satisfied. But it was now or never.
“I see our city, restored to better than it was even when we were kids. I see my family, even if it’s changed from what it was.” He had lost his mother, yet he had a brother in John, close ties to Barry and, if he could find a way to keep in contact, Roy and a growing number of friends and allies in two cities. “And I see us.”
Laurel’s smile froze. “Us?”
“You and me,” he clarified. “That’s the definition.”
She turned her head slightly, eyes on the glass window through which she could see out into the rest of her office. He could see now it wasn’t anger or denial in her features. It was nerves.
He leaned forward and took her hands, making her jump slightly. “I don’t know when that future might happen. It might not at all. But when I let myself hope, it’s what I see. That’s the truth. And I just thought you had the right to know.”
He released her hands, swallowing down the lump that threatened to lodge itself behind his Adam’s apple and set his eyes watering. Oliver turned out, reaching clumsily for the crutches leaning against the desk.
Laurel made it around before he could even get them on either side of his body. Standing there, she looked strong the way she had facing down a raging speedster or bringing the seat of the League’s power crashing down on its foundations. “You think I’m letting you walk away again?”
She wasn’t waiting for his answer. Instead she leaned down, one hand going to the back of his head and the other gripping the front of his shirt as she crushed her lips to his. Oliver welcomed it; he wanted the feel of her pressed deep into his memory so he would never forget it again.
The crutches clattered to the floor, and there was no telling how many of Laurel’s coworkers could likely see them through the window. But he didn’t care. He was finally exactly where he’d wanted to be those long years on the island, and this time there was nothing that could stand between his and Laurel’s reunion. Their challenges and their triumphs, they would take together now as teammates and partners. Always and forever.
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Thoughts on The Flash, season 1
So, long after everyone else, I have watched the first season of The Flash. I saw the pilot episode after the first Supergirl crossover, but it didn't grab me then. Now, it has grabbed me with such strength that I put off doing other things because I must watch more of the show. I even watch it in the morning before work. I look forward to my vacation because then I can watch even more.
Cisco is my baby and I want to protect him always, except I also want to put him in danger because that's how I roll. The scene where he "died" was amazing, as was the repercussions.
Barry is such a kind man and it's incredibly touching to see week to week. He kind of occupies the same space to me now as Captain America, where I'm not remotely attracted to him physically, but I'm in love emotionally.
And while his backstory could be dismissed as basic manpain, I think it works because he deals with it relatively well. Instead of "my backstory excuses my asshole behaviour" it's "I'm going to be as kind and helpful and positive as I possibly can, but sometimes I get overwhelmed by the underlying sadness and frustration." He gets to cry and process things, and heck, it's kind of refreshing to hear a heroic male character talk about his mom so often and so tenderly, even if it is a dead mom. (The only heroic male character I can think of who talks of his living mom like that is the L&C version of Clark Kent. Which is one of the reasons I love him.)
I think it's also vital that his quest isn't aimed at vengeance, or even primarily justice in the sense of putting the bad guy away. He wants to free his dad - his primary goal is defending the innocents. Which is heartwarming.
Although all this does make it rather strange that they never really talk about Iris's mom. It's only mentioned once, and up until then, I had just assumed she was the child of a not-so-amicable divorce. I know Joe isn't all share-y with his emotions the way Barry is, but no conversations between Barry and Iris? Really?
I guess it's part of how Iris so far has been written as "the girl", which means she only gets to have reactions and behaviours that further Barry's plot. Which is true for all of the characters to an extent, I suppose, but it's made more obvious with her because she's kept out of the group for so long. The whole "I can tell a whole bunch of people about my secret identity, but not the girl I love, because she Must Be Protected" should have died in the 20th century. It's so condescending. I know her father's the one to iniate it, and I guess that's meant to make it better, but it doesn't really. And then there's the obligatory love triangle, which doesn't make things better.
I mean, I really like Iris in terms of personality, and I like Joe, and I even like Eddie (poor guy), but this is doing no favours for either of them.
Speaking of, "oh, we must keep our relationship secret, my dad would kill us!" isn't cute or funny at all. I know Joe would never actually kill them, but I also know that there are teens in real life living in that kind of situation, and they don't need that shit normalized.
I'm willing to somewhat forgive that because Joe is so great otherwise. I love his relationships with both Iris and Barry. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to let a cop foster the kid of a murderer he put away (especially when said kid violently disagrees - and rightly so - about his dad being a murderer), but what the heck, the DCF probably had one talk with Joe and went, "Absolutely, you'll be fine." :-)
Btw, Candice Patton shares my birthday, which makes me so happy. (Though of course not the same birth year, because I am old.)
I'm lukewarm on Caitlin so far, but I might like her later.
Harrison/Eobard is... IDK. I think the actor pulls off the mysterious, clever yet slightly sinister vibe pretty well, but at the same time, I think it might have helped if he wasn't quite so mellow. His expression barely changes regardless of what's going on, and I feel that particularly towards the end, a bit more emotion might have helped.
I also think we were given too much background on him too soon, considering how long it takes for Barry to catch up. It's fine for the audience to be a step or two ahead of the protagonist, but there were a few too many steps for too long, there. Then again, I fully acknowledge that I'm not spoiler-free, so that may also have affected things.
I don't mind the Arrow crossover bits, but so far I'm not really getting any urge to watch Arrow. Maybe because Oliver himself comes off a little constipated.
Am tempted to try Legends of Tomorrow after this, though, since Leonard Snart is a master thief - he steals every scene he's in. Also, I've heard rumours of lesbians, and that's always a good thing. Plus, Arthur Darvill! Yeah, I might give that a try. Then again, for all I know, something else might turn up in the meantime.
Anyway, I'm off now to watch season 2!
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DCTV Crossover: Crisis on Earth -X Part 1 & 2
Hi, I’m going to be watching the whole crossover today and tomorrow, but I’ll only do two liveblogs (one for each night, instead of four for each show)
Supergirl 3x08
James vs Ollie, interesting considering Ollie stole Jimmy’s girl in Smallville
Whoa, okay, not cool with this Nazi killing a black guy on my screen
Sara looks amazing in this Robin Hood getup, but then again she always looks amazing
Ugh, Mon-El is here
“Of course, she is. She’s Supergirl!” thank you, Alex
YAY sisters night!!
Um, Kara can’t put on break-up weight haha
I’m just not sure a wedding is the best way to get over the breakup blues, guys
Um, Iris, maybe the fact that Mon-El isn’t here should have been a clue that you shouldn’t bring him up
Keratin ha
Barry seeing Oliver in a suit and saying “Damn” is mood
What’s with the Darth Vader voice? Stop it
So Stein is totally gonna die. I can tell because he’s super excited about the future
Who is Alex hugging? She doesn’t know anyone on this Earth
“Her” Haha Sara’s face! Agent Canary looks like a very real possibility
Spider juice, yuck
“You can stick to things!” hahaha Good Ol Stein
Nice, Joe, reminding everyone of the awkward sibling thing WA has going on
ITS HAPPENING!!!!! Alex and Sara are making out!! Holy shit, I hoped I really did, but I somehow thought that was a pipe dream, but its really HAPPENING!!!!
Olicity is so bad at this. WTF are they doing? Wow that was embarrassing
Oh wow what did I do to deserve this Agent Canary content?
Wait...wtf did Mick sleep with Stein’s daughter? Surely not
“Out doing what?” Sara. She was doing Sara
“Do you know what I did?” “No, not the specifics, no.” Oh I am LIVING for this!!! The Danvers sisters are my life
Who is this waitress? She looks very familiar to me, and she’s acting weird. Is she a super fan of the flash? Is she from the future?
Aw this song :)
OMG! The minister!
#IhateNazis
Why are they not more alarmed that a guy was just vaporized!?!
Haha really enjoying the new and improved KillerFrost/Catlin. Caitlin rolled her eyes like damn I didn’t want to invite that bitch
Nooo not the heat vision stand off! That’s DUMB!
Have Oliver and Cisco done this breaching move before? They must have practiced right?
I’m not sure what I like more Sara and Alex fighting together or Sara and Alex sleeping together. Lucky for me this crossover has both.
I wonder if Nazi Supergirl and Nazi Oliver are like...a thing
So like are you married now or...oh I guess not
Aren’t you not suppose to let concussed people sleep?
Joe has to leave but Iris gets to stay?
Oooo the Trump dragging is back, nice
Let Alex at him, we all remember Exodus am I right?
Are you not also Kryptonian, Nazi Supergirl?
Wait shouldn’t Nazi Reverse Flash be Eobard Thawne?
Arrow 6x08
Oh shit they’re hitting Ollie right in the feels, bringing Tommy into this
Those did not look like 1945 outfits, guys
Just want to point out that there should probably be more than 52 earths, there should be like an infinite number of alternate universes
“...And Rory.” aw thats mean Barry
Um, Ollie, that’s not how Dopplgangers work
There we go making promises we can’t keep
Oh, Nazi Tommy is evil. I for one am #shocked
So he could have killed himself before, but instead he waited to make his terrifying speech
These three seem to work really well together
Haha “10% less brooding” a valid request
Yeah, anti-Kara/Ollie are definitely a thing. Weird
Yeach, fuck dopplegangers
Alot has changed since Ivy Town, Ollie
That was two years ago!
Please respect her on this, damn.
Is Cisco okay? Boy still sleepin?
“It’s not about you.” haha That’s what I’m always thinking about Wells. Get him the fuck out
Jazx, don’t make him feel bad for wanting to be with his famil
Awkward!Alex. It’s totally gonna be a thing
Aw :( That’s a real bummer on the Agent Canary front. We miss Maggie too, Alex
I love Maggie and I love Sanvers and I’m super sad they broke up. But even if they had stayed together forever and gotten married, I think that would have also been a bit problematic on a few levels. Because Alex just came out and it seems strange to me that she would fall madly in love with and live happily ever after with the first woman she dates. Like I love them, but that’s not very realistic to me. If maybe a season or two down the road they could bring Maggie back and they could somehow work through the whole “kids” issue that would be great. Maybe Alex could even have a smaller scale love interest in the meantime (not necessarily Sara and) not like right now, but maybe next season
Iris looks so good in this...sweater? Sweatshirt? Idk but she looks great
Hahaha poor Ollie on his motorcycle
Well, at least Barry isn’t a Nazi
So that is Eobard Thawne. Got it
Kara is so pissed about Nazi Supergirl
“Ew, gross! No offense.”
Uh oh, Ollie has some explaining to do
Now both the Karas are pissed!
Villians are always knocking things over to distract heroes, fucking cowards
Alex being a brilliant scientist!!! GIVE ME MORE!!!
Interesting how anti-Kara is the levelheaded sort of emotionless one and anti-Oliver is the overly sentimental one. I wonder if meeting anti-Kara is going to finally turn Kara off this whole “I’m not human, I shouldn’t feel these things” phase
Is Cisco still asleep? Is anyone checking on him?
Alex, Felicity, and Catlin looking good while they work
Hahah Mick wanting to bring KillerFrost out to play
What do you mean you can’t believe he’s back? He was just fucking with the Legends a few months ago, this shouldn’t be that shocking. People rarely seem to stay dead with you guys
Aaaand now I have that High School Musical song stuck in my head, thanks alot
Alex suiting up with the rest of the heroes!!!!
“Wall to wall Nazis” is never a sentence I wanted to hear
Alex forgot to bring her alien gun? Bummer
Where is our Supergirl? Is our Supergirl going to fight their Arrow? Sounds unfair, but okay
He didn’t check the fridge for mustard? The fuck?
I thought anti-Ollie was about to kill Wells and I wasn’t unhappy about it :/
Ok, but like anti-Supergirl hitting Ollie probably should have killed him
Mick is KillerFrost’s #1 fan
Uh! KillerFrost just freeze him! BE BETTER!
Aw Barry caught Alex
Well, fuck
What the fuck is wrong with anti-Kara? Foreboding
Protective!Alex!!!
Wait her sister? Did anti-Kara have an anti-Alex or is she talking about some Kryptonian sorta sister?
#DCTV#DCTC Crossover#The CW Crossover#Crisis on Earth-X#Supergirl#Arrow#The Flash#Legends of Tomorrow#Supergirl 3x08#Arrow 6x08#WestAllen#WestAllen wedding#Kara Danvers#Kara Zor-El#Alex Danvers#Oliver Queen#Felicity Smoak#John Diggle#Curtis Holt#Dinah Drake#Rene Ramirez#Barry Allen#Iris West#Catlin Snow#Cisco Ramon#Sara Lance#Ray Palmer#Martin Stein#Jax Jefferson#Mick Rory
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liveblog. flash 3x23. spoilers.
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That one thing everyone was saying would happen, happened. Oh joy. At least they addressed that Iris wasn’t okay with it.
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H.R. sacrifices himself and leaves a few final words concerning Cisco. Instead of checking up on Cisco, Barry instead decides to check the future newspaper first to see that Iris is still alive to write that one story. What a friend. Fuckin’ Julian cared more about H.R.
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Cisco straight roasted Savitar. omg. Never change, Cisco. You’re still the best dude on this show.
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Soooooo... Barry’s operated on the idea that hating someone enough to kill them is A-OK, until now, conveniently when the big bad they’re facing is just himself, from the future? Talk about preferential treatment!
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Barry is giving second chances to Savitar for pulling shit he’d throw a geriatric Eobard down a flight of steps for. I can understand that, because it’s stupid, and I may not like it but it’s the story they’re clearly trying to tell. I can’t abide by Iris being written to sympathize with her now-almost-murderer and vow to help him, though! I mean, the acting is okay but what the fuck is this writing? Julian, Joe, Wally, even Tracy, are the only people appropriately hostile to Savitar right now.
Also, Eobard disappeared within the minute of Eddie shooting himself. But Savitar got hours to live before the paradox caught up to him, even though he’s only years older than our current Barry and Eobard was over a century ahead of Eddie. Shouldn’t the paradox have taken longer to reach from Eddie to Eobard than it did from Barry to Savitar?
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You know this episode is weird as fuck when even Savitar is trying to get people to see reason about the fact that he murdered someone close to them and they’re trying to buddy-buddy him. They definitely didn’t try pulling this on Eobard or Hunter when they got all murdery!
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Savitar demonstrating exactly why you don’t trust a known murderer with a god complex to suddenly shake off all his neuroses just by people loving him hard enough was A++.
Iris was the last one taken out of there, though. What the fuck?
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Let me reiterate. Cisco is still the best dude on this show.
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“I care about you, you piece of shit” -- Cindy in a nutshell
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So if Killer Frost could’ve put Black Flash on ice this whole time, shouldn’t Eobard have just gotten Captain Cold to do that in LoT? How much colder is Killer Frost than a gun firing off “absolute zero” temperature? Not to mention, Cisco deliberately built the cold gun to disable speedsters. Eobard would’ve known that. Did I miss the part where he at least thought of it?
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I love how Savitar has so far: killed H.R., intended to kill Iris, kidnapped Cisco, almost blew everyone in the Labs up with the Philosopher’s Stone after they tried ( futilely ) to reach out for him, sicced Caitlin on Cisco, threatened Cisco with making him “die the same way twice”, and threatened the exact same thing that Eobard did in the end of Season 1 ( murdering everyone Barry ever cared for, and doing it out of spite ), and Barry just lays there and listens, then spares Savitar, and then Iris has to live with taking a life, because Barry’s too damn good for it, apparently. He needs to be free of all moral culpability even if it means his love interest is used as a scapegoat for troubling, less-than-clean acts.
Eddie remains the only one that had the good sense to Looper himself when a mass murderer threatened the lives of everyone around him, whereas Barry consistently finds loopholes out of self-sacrifice. It’s really stupid because I’m sitting here writing about characters doing something I wouldn’t condone in real life, but considering this show set the precedent of “suicide as a valid option to stop evil people” right in season fucking 1, I’m expecting them to stick with it.
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So this guy who looked like a dead guy who was also a murderer impersonating another dead guy, this guy right here used a face changing tech so that he didn’t look like the murderous dead guy who impersonated a dead guy, but now he’s dead, and they bury him, and the gravestone has his name on it. His name that is almost the same name as the murderous guy before him and the dead guy before that. And I say ‘almost’ because we never heard Harrison’s middle initial ( which some assume is ‘G’ because of the Time Machine reference but it could potentially be ‘R’ ). The point is, how did anyone not question that? Did they bury him with Randolph’s face? Did he have an identity forged? What?
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He wasn’t a genius, and he didn’t have super speed, but he saved Iris better than Barry did. Eyyyyyyyyyyy.
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I can smell the Frozen jokes and crossovers.
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... Iris deserves a lot better writing than “I just murdered the evil version of my fiance who I’d treated with compassion and regarded as the same as my actual fiance for the past day or so, but it’s okay, I’ll feel something about it at some point in the future, I have a marriage right now! :)”.
“I’ve always been yours.” Even when she was with Eddie? ... She needs magnitudes better writing than from people who think “OTP” legitimately makes every other pairing invalid or false or retroactively nonexistent. People that try that post-hoc bullshit in relationships are usually thought of as bad news.
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Speedforce storm! Knew Barry wouldn’t get away with this bullshit scot-free! :) Could this be a comics reference? I don’t see why they could pass up the chance for a Flash: Rebirth-style plot resulting in more speedsters (including Godspeed). We may not get a speedster big bad for Season 4, but we can get a shitload more speedster heroes, technically! If they.... either omit or rewrite Godspeed.
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Oh, right, the Speedforce Prison needs an occupant since Savitar is gone and Jay was freed. Now the Speedforce is revolting and destroying everything to get what it needs, starting with the city and potentially capable of wiping the whole planet if left unchecked. Who was it they said created that thing again? Oh, right. Barry.
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How can Barry not be going to Hell after the shit he’s been pulling? I’d like to have a good, nice, half-season without him in it just for that.
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There should be a counter for how many times Joe’s called Barry his son and Barry’s called Joe his father. It’s got to be in the high double-digits or something.
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Iris Cries About Not Having the Chance to Be a Mediocre White Dude’s Wife.mp4
again, the acting is okay, but what the fuck is this writing?
Also why can’t she just keep her last name and Barry hyphenate his to Allen-West? He was adopted by the Wests over a decade ago and is more or less their family. He’s been their family longer than Iris has been married, so first things first, and there’s actually a family to be acknowledged with the name change. What the hell is Iris going to marry into when the only Allen is the dude she’s with? Barry should’ve hyphenated. Marriage isn’t the only reason people have more than one last name, anyway. JFC. Get with the times, writers.
#anti barry allen#anti westallen#/ / / /#/ / /#/ /#the flash spoilers#flash spoilers#flash 3x23#the flash 3x23#long post#liveblogging the flash#flash liveblog
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Iris West: Stories that could have been great - Season 1B
So, on that anon’s request, the 1B part of my ‘canon fix’ head-canon, kinda.
OK, this is very rough and I don’t remember a lot of what happened in most of these episodes to know if I’m properly integrating the storylines. But here goes… I created an Iris+Mason vs Reverse Flash adventure that’s a bit like a horror movie because we rarely get Normal vs Meta action on this show and that can be engaging if it’s done well. I threw in an Iris/theFlash (pre-reveal) Kiss because honestly, we were robbed of that. I made Iris’s realisation more angsty than angry and put in another Iris/Caitlin scene. There’s implied Iris/Linda and Iris/Arrow interaction but I didn’t go into much detail there. It mostly sticks to canon wrt to romance, but I think it makes Iris pov and what drives her emotional decisions a bit more complicated and more simple at the same time. (Basically, finding out that you’re destined to marry the life-long BFF that has gaslighted you for a year will influence your romantic decisions for the worse).
Here goes nothing:
16: So in this repeat!day, the disastrous bowling event happened and Iris shows up at CCPD to ‘get a story’. Since Barry’s already arrested the Weather Wizard, she doesn’t meet her father, Eddie & Barry leaving Singh’s office but actually literally runs into Barry as she’s entering CCPD, scattering her folder which contains some materials about Nora Allen’s murder. She’s skitterish around him (because of the dream), becoming even more so when she realizes he’s just discovered (she thinks) about her investigation into his mom’s murder. But Barry takes it unexpectedly well. He’s high on the repeat!day and the knowledge that she’s about to return his feelings. He’s completely off his guard – finishing some of her sentences (based on their previous conversation), and making slips like when he says he was just at CCPN to look for her and she’s like – that’s 30 minutes across town, Barry? Iris, despite herself, starts getting charmed by this jovial, angst-free Barry & they start looking rather cozy together. Which, of course, is when Eddie walks up to them, takes one look and walks away. Iris and Barry follow. This leads to a three-way confrontation – which is sort of the “something’s changed between you two” speech but with heightened suspicions/emotions that ends with Iris & Eddie pretty publicly breaking up. And Eddie punching Barry in the face after Iris leaves. (Because, come on, Barry had that coming.)
At CCPN, Mason meets her with his suspicions about Harrison Wells & Iris has a eureka moment – when she bumped into Barry and her papers spilled, one paper was a copy of a newspaper clipping of Henry’s trial with a smaller article mentioning Harrison Wells’ accident. It can’t be a coincidence that the one event happened at the same time as the other? Mason shares his findings about Snart and Iris shares her theory about the Particle accelerator making meta-humans. The question now is… did Wells do it on purpose? Had he done it before (with the meta that killed Nora?) They take a trip to Starling City (cross-over episode) to get some more information.
They feel they have enough to force a confrontation with Wells at STAR Labs. He’s alone – and they start asking questions about the PA, and about Nora Allen.
Wells is considering murdering both of them at the spot, when Barry shows up & he ‘escorts’ them out of STAR Labs. He and Iris almost get into a fight about Wells – he insists that Wells is his hero, mentoring him, etc (remember, Mason wasn’t murdered so Barry has no reason to suspect Wells) & anyway her theory is wrong because ‘he’ was affected by the PA and he doesn’t have powers. (Another light-bulb moment for Iris here but she doesn’t want to think about what this means).
Iris meets up with the Flash to ‘interview’/’warn’ him about STAR Labs & Wells. At first, Barry is ticked off (still smarting over the quarrel & her suspicions about Wells, then her ‘crush’ on the ‘Flash’) but when Iris tells him to keep an eye on Barry, because she knows he hangs around Wells, they have a ‘moment’, and Barry (who is being extra that day) kisses her.
Iris likes the kiss very much – but she breaks it off, and tells him that she’s sorry but she can’t…
The Flash: I thought you and your boyfriend broke up.
Iris: How did you…? It doesn’t matter. Look, I like you, so much. I admire you and respect you but… there’s someone else. Will be. Soon. If… he hasn’t changed his mind…
And Barry realizes she’s talking about him. He’s about to tell her the truth there and then – when he gets buzzed by STAR Labs. He wants to ignore it, then she gets an urgent call from Mason, that he’s just got a hot lead. The Flash then gives Iris a ‘ride’ back to CCPN.
Iris goes back to CCPN very confused, to pull a late night with Mason who wants to publish the article soon. Reverse Flash attacks them. He forces Iris to send messages to her family that she and Mason have left the City to chase a lead, knocks them out, transports to an abandoned industrial warehouse.
(17): RF tells them that he’s not Wells, he’s Eobard Thawne. He tortures Mason to get Iris to reveal where they kept backups to all the intelligence they’ve gathered on their investigation on Wells. He says that he can’t have them jeopardize Wells before his ‘mission is complete’. He has to leave (to play-act as Wells), and Iris & Mason have a long conversation about the case, and finally manage to escape. Mason is badly injured which slows them down & the place is like a maze (the whole episode/arc is shot like a horror movie). RF returns just as they are about to make an escape. Iris (who has figured out that for some reason, RF doesn’t want her dead, hides Mason & confronts RF). He threatens her, and she calls his bluff that he can’t hurt her. She asks him about Nora, etc, and why would he harm Nora. RF, not having anything to lose and being petty, tells her that he did it to harm Barry Allen. Iris asks why, what would an 11-year-old boy have ever done to him? RF says that it’s not what Barry was (at 11) but what he would become. He says it meaningfully and Iris (who has been connecting the dots all this while) is shocked and heartbroken.
RF tries to attack her again, and she leads him to a trap she and Mason prepared where he falsl into the pool of electrocuted water, seemingly dying. Mason wants to use the opportunity to unmask him – know who he is, once and for all, but Iris just wants to leave.
Just then, the Flash shows up. When Iris left a message for Barry and her father, she used certain words that Joe taught them to use when they were in danger and Barry realized that she was. He’s been looking for her ever since and only just found her. He’s about to whisk her away when they both realize that Mason had – foolishly – unplugged the electric supply into the pond so he could unmask RF. RF kills him at once.
RF and Flash battle and RF escapes. Flash takes Iris to the hospital.
At the hospital, Barry comes to visit her & she tells him ‘hello Barry or should I say the Flash?’
18: Iris had been piecing the clues together all this while – that the Flash appeared the same time Barry woke up; his recent slip-ups; his vanishing acts; she got the idea of electrocuting RF because of Barry being struck by lightning; some of the stuff that Caitlin let slip, etc. They have a long, painful, tear-filled (on both their parts’) conversation that must have Iris saying things like this.
Barry: I was going to tell you at the roof. I always wanted to tell you. You were the first person I wanted to tell. Then I went to Jitters… and… and everything else happened and I thought maybe Joe was right…
Iris: my father knew?
Barry: He was trying to keep you safe… We both were.
Iris: (after a long silence): Iris: I believed you about what happened the night your mother died! I was the only one who did. And when I was talking to you about the impossible, about the Flash, about you, you lied to me, you tricked me, you fooled me.
Barry: Iris…
Iris: Why Barry?
Barry: I did it to protect you.
Iris: Maybe at first, that was true. But you kept lying. Even when I worked with Caitlin, with Cisco, with the Flash…
Barry: Everything that was happening just made me more convinced…
Iris: The truth, Barry…
Barry: …with Wells, with Reverse Flash, Iris…
Iris: Tell me the truth, Barry!
Barry: BECAUSE YOU WERE DATING EDDIE!
<long, heavy silence> Both looking shocked. Barry didn’t realize his reasons were so buried in his subconscious, that he’s just articulating them.
Barry: (anguished) Iris…
Iris: You kept this a secret… to punish me for Eddie?
Barry: Not to punish you. Never. But… I woke up. 9 months in a coma and I came to Jitters to tell you about this amazing thing that happened to me and I saw you with Eddie and I realized that… I had lost you. (he’s struggling with the words, hating himself for hurting her – she’s crying now and he tries to comfort her but she waves him away) And every-time I saw you with him, I saw you making a life with him. You were leaving me and I needed something…
Iris: Something that I wasn’t part of. Something that you could escape away to. Away from me.
Barry: <too anguished to speak>
Iris: Please leave.
Barry: Iris…
At this point, a nurse comes in and shushes him away.
Joe/Iris fight, then later Iris accuses Caitlin of also lying to her and Caitlin tries to appeal to Iris on Barry’s behalf (‘he was on his way to tell you, you know. The secret was hurting him.’)
Later on, Eddie comes to see her and offers her a place to stay, as a friend. He knows that Iris is on the outs with Joe and Barry, and won’t be comfortable staying at her dad’s place. Iris accepts. They’re not dating, but it looks like they’re working towards a reconciliation.
19 – 21: Iris is fully integrated into the secret team to bring down “Wells”. She interviews Dr McGee & contributes towards discovering that Wells is actually Eobard Thawne. During the “Everyman” incident, she and Barry work together to clear Eddie’s name. So it paradoxically helps her reconcile with Barry, while making Eddie believe that she is becoming closer to him.
Rather than a proposal at the bridge, Eddie starts asking her about giving them another shot, when RF kidnaps him. Pretty much like canon.
22 – 23: Iris finds an engagement ring box (that’s what she shows Barry in the restaurant, not the ‘return labels’ she has to send back). He puts aside his own feelings to (for once!) be a good friend. Eddie is found. He tells Iris that he’s moving out of the flat & Iris asks ‘what about us working things out?’ and Eddie gives her the ‘you and Barry marry in the future’ speech. Squeeze in a heart-to-heart with Joe, about how Eddie is a good man and if Barry hadn’t ever told her his feelings, she’d be perfectly happy with him but…
Joe: Barry told you and that changed everything, didn’t it?
Iris: It doesn’t matter. Even if Eddie & I never get back together, I’m not going to let Destiny or Fate decide who I love.
Joe: Are you sure you’re not letting Destiny/Fate choose Eddie for you? Honey, I think you’re making a…
Iris: What did I tell you about not doing things to ‘protect me’ anymore?
Joe: stays silent.
/and pretty much everything else that happens in canon… Eddie & Iris make up. Eddie shoots himself. The End./
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Movies I often ColdFlash Take 2:
Decided to make a new post about it with updated ideas and such, the original list is here.
The Holiday - Still coldflash as the main couple, with Barry being single and he and Len totally hopping into the sack at some point if not as soon as they meet XD But the second pairing is now arrowwave cause I want it, and I can easily see Oliver breaking up with someone and leaving on impulse for a vacation elsewhere. Mick is still a single dad with two daughters, Len's a writer who was having an affair with Sam Scudder, who is now engaged and refuses to let it be known that he's gay if not bi.
Oliver didn't take his previous relationships seriously, b/c most dated him for what he was, rather than who he is, and Mick could care less what he is aside from hot af and great in bed. He's also got two little girls to consider, which endears him to Oliver and makes him take this budding relationship a lot more seriously. Meanwhile, Len loves that Barry isn't afraid to share that they're dating and doesn't treat him like some dirty little secret. The main issue would be the distance when they inevitably return home. (Yeah I'm totally resolving that via some peeps move.)
First post about this
Second post about this
Stepford Wives - Same, after killing his dad, rather than go to Iron Heights, Lyla Diggle arranges for Len to work for Argus, b/c Barry knew he was under duress and deserved a chance to do good in the world, he just needed a chance. That and monetary motivation, but Len won't be paid until he's worked his prison time off. His first mission: investigate the town of Stepford as one of their latest married couples. He got to choose his spouse, and deciding on some revenge, he chooses Barry Allen. Fake dating trope to the max, cause I love this fucking trope XD
The Mummy - I feel this would be easier as a coldwave fic, cause Mick as the American who charms librarian Len sounds really hot XD And Barry as their adopted son would be so cute :3 I know this is a coldflash list, but seriously, it would be easier to have Len and Lisa as a pair of archaeologists/historians, and Mick is the ex-soldier who's been to the place they want to go. Otherwise, I have no idea who Lisa or the others would be if I coldflash-ed this.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes - This would totally have to be an AU, and I'd make Len and Mick both thieves as well as entertainers. Oliver or Ray are the detective sent to follow the two on Barry's behalf, and thus shenanigans.
Coming to America - I know I said Barry was the prince in the last post, but now I have it in my head that Len is a fairy!Prince and he drags Mick with him to find a bride cause he believes his people have become too isolated and need new world views. He doesn't limit his search to women of course, and Barry is totally adorable. I'd let Barry have his powers and be the Flash in this case, so both of them have a secret to keep, though Len is better at figuring out Barry's XD
Labyrinth - Same as before, Barry is annoyed with Captain Cold constantly pulling heists to get his attention, and wishes he'd just go away for a while. Enter Mirror Master sending Cold into some random mirror dimension and Barry feeling guilty and going after him. They have to work together to get out of there, encountering all kinds of obstacles and discovering love in the process XD
(more under the cut, with a lot of details XD)
Teen Witch - I never explained what I had planned here: Barry lives with the Wests cause his mom was killed and his dad put in jail, etc, and he's best friends with Cisco and Caitlin at school. Iris is also a good friend but she's part of the popular crowd and dating Eddie, a football player who's friends with Ronnie. Other football players include Mick, Len and Tony, the last two often times bullying/teasing Barry.
On his sixteenth b-day, during a class field trip, Barry discovers a necklace w/a lightning bolt, his teacher Dr. Wells encouraging him to keep it. Hartley, a loner/outsider that people often called weird, approaches Barry and claims he's a witch like him and that they should rely on each other and learn to master their powers together. Barry immediately rejects the idea, cause witches aren't real, but then at a party Iris invited him too, he's cornered by Tony and manages to make him 'disappear' into thin air, which freaks him out. With Hartley's help, he brings Tony back with no memory of what happened at the party, and Tony transfers to another school not too long after.
Turns out, Barry is a witch from his mother's side, and the necklace is his talisman. Hartley having a similar necklace only with a flute at the end of it. Hart also has a ton of books on magic so Barry has a lot to read through.
Barry discovers a love potion and considers using it on Iris, but he knows it wouldn't be real and it would hurt Eddie, who he has gotten to know as a decent guy. Instead, he tells Iris about the witch stuff, and she happily agrees to help keep it hush hush from Joe who would probably send Barry to a mental institution.
Some conflict arises as Cisco and Caitlin want to know why Barry's not hanging out with them as much, and so he confesses to them too. They don't believe him at first, so he demonstrates his power by making Caitlin admit her feelings to her crush, Ronnie. Turns out that Ronnie had a crush on her too, but thought she'd rebuff him since she was so aloof. Of course, Cisco now wants to experiment and test out Barry's abilities, including the use of that love potion. (No worries, it doesn't get used.)
Meanwhile, though he wasn't nearly as cruel and as menacing as Tony had been, Len still teases Barry to some extent, but rather than use his powers to make him go away, cause Barry feels that makes him just as bad as a bully, he applies a truth spell on Len, and discovers Len has been in the closet due to an abusive dad and has a crush on Barry. (Even though Barry utters the spell, Len would be admitting these things in front of Mick and Eddie who are in the locker room with him after gym class, the spell breaking after Len takes a shower cause water did that in this movie's continuity.)
And that's as far as I got with this XD (I'm a dick.)
True Lies - Len is the super, sexy, spy and Barry is his adorable husband who works in a cubicle and doesn't realize he's married to a spy. (They also have an adopted son.) Barry's been neglected for some time though, and he starts to worry he's being cheated on. With this state of mind, it's fairly easy for some scumbag to try and seduce him into an affair. Though like in the movie, Len discovers this affair before anything too scandalous can occur, and in his jealous rage he gets Barry to perform his own little 'spy' mission. It backfires when the real terrorists come in and kidnap them both and the rest of the fic is like the movie. @mockingbird-22 and I angsted it up though in certain parts cause Barry inspired it XD
Romancing the Stone - Definitely an AU, though this story could be turned into a coldwave as well as a coldflash story. Len as a romantic novelist sounds lovely doesn't it? And he'd do anything to protect Lisa, including traveling to a foreign country and risk all types of danger. Barry I see as more of an action/adventure, sci-fi thriller type of writer. He'd still go and try to save Iris of course. And either Len or Mick would make a great con artist/love interest.
Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead - So Len, Mick, Lisa, and maybe a few others are orphans and living together in one house. Len successfully got their care taker put in jail cause they were embezzling funds. Of course the state gives them someone new, but that person winds up dying of natural causes on the first night. Mick and Len get rid of the body, unintentionally destroying the money along with it. The only choice they have now is to either wait till the next monthly deposit, or one of them gets a job. Len winds up getting a job while Mick agrees to stay and watch the younger kids. (They're 17 and 16 respectively, Mick being oldest.) (Btw, Len drops out of high school but gets his GED, in case peeps wonder why he doesn’t attend school)
Len's first job sucks, though he meets Barry who's secretly a hero in training. Len winds up quitting cause the pay isn't enough to cover all the bills or worth the amount of stress it gives him. He recruits Hartley, a kid really good at hacking, into making him a new resume that would land him a better desk job somewhere. Only he made it too good, as Malcolm Merlyn decides to hire Len on the spot as an executive assistant to his 'secretly a bad guy company' rather than be a simple receptionist. (Yeah I went cartoony with this XD)
Len is surprisingly good at this job, as he's organized, logical, and a great strategist. His only obstacle being Sam Scudder who had been in line to take the position until he showed up. Also, his creepy g/f Rosa who keeps hitting on him. Eobard is another creep who apparently likes to brag about tormenting the Flash. Oh, and Len is dating Barry now, so keeping this whole thing a secret is hard, especially when he finds out Barry lives with a cop and intends to become a CSI when he's older. So much conflict and all Len wants to do is keep a roof over everyone's head.
The Mask of Zorro - Netflix recently added this, so now it got me thinking of Henry being the original Zorro/Flash, only for Eobard to kill his wife and frame him for it. Then whisk Barry away to raise him as his own while also disguised as Dr. Harrison Wells. Len, Lisa and Mick are sort of thieves/anti-heroes until Lisa and Mick are captured and in his attempt to break them out of prison, Len breaks Henry out on accident. His family was sent elsewhere, and Henry offers to help Len find them if he agrees to help him put a stop to all the evil that's corrupting their city. Len doesn't want to be a hero, but he understands their city is suffering and he needs help investigating his family's whereabouts. Turns out Dr. Wells has been capturing metas and trying to turn them into soldiers so he could take over the city. (Len, Mick and Lisa are metas in this.) Keep in mind, the time period would be the same as in the movie. Romance wise, Barry would totally be enamored with the mysterious hooded figure who wields ice in ways he didn't know were so beautiful. And who is this charming but infuriating man named Leonard Snart?
Look Who's Talking - @mockingbird-22 and I both have different takes on this. In my version, it's an a/b/o world, and Eowells(?) has made a bad habit of spreading his seed. Barry thought it was true love, but turns out he was being used like the other omegas in Eowells life. (Debating if I should name Hartley among them and bring him into this idea or not.) Barry does what he can to move on, though it is quite stressful, especially when one omega pursues a lawsuit against Eowells for sleeping around so much with no intention of helping out with the resulting offspring. Barry, along with a few others, are called to witness the trial and to provide proof that they were all impregnated by the same man. It's enough to stress Barry into labor as he exits the building and into Len's unsuspecting cab.
Len saw that Barry came out of the courthouse, but he doesn't know why he was there. He just drives him to the hospital as quick as he can. Barry gives birth to a healthy baby boy, and returns to his apartment with both his baby and a compensation check from the lawsuit. Len arrives not too long after cause Barry forgot his wallet inside the cab.
If you've seen the movie, the rest follows along the same lines with a few details changed such as Len using Barry's address so Lisa can attend a different school, and both Len and Lisa taking turns to babysit the baby. Also, Barry's relieved when Len forcibly removes Eowells from visiting the baby, as Barry wants nothing to do with him anymore. Though the explanation as to why the other man was trying to visit is awkward, Len takes it in stride.
I can see Barry giving in and wanting a relationship with Len easily, but then worrying that Len was too dubious in the eyes of the law to consider, especially if I make him a thief in this verse XD
And that’s all I got for now folks! Thanks for reading, and if you’d like to head canon some stuff with me on this, feel free to message me. If you want me to just write these fics already, let me know which and please wait :3
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#The Flash S3 Ep 11 "Dead or Alive" Recap & Review
In this week's episode of The Flash, the team are given a break from crime fighting, in order to deal with a problem with their newest Harrison Wells. A meta-human "Collector", named Gypsy, has travelled from Earth 19 to find H.R., but her intensions are initially unknown. She has the same power set as Cisco, but is shown to have far more experience using them. After reviewing security footage of Gypsy breaking into Jitters, H.R. tells Barry and Cisco why she is on Earth 1. He reveals that inter-dimensional travel is a capital offense on his earth and was made illegal after a neighboring earth indeed and almost destroyed them.
Gypsy finds her way into Star labs and subdues Cisco and Wally, demanding that H.R. surrenders. H.R. prepares to leave with Gypsy when Cisco challenges her to a trial by combat for possession of their friend. Gypsy gives the team 24 hours to prepare and leaves. The team tried to help Cisco train, but he his no confidence in his abilities.
Meanwhile, Iris convinces Wally to help her track down weapons dealers, who are trafficking advanced rifles similar to the one that Plunder used in last week's episode. Iris wants to report on it, believing that, if she is going to die, writing successful articles is the only way she'll be remembered when she is gone. Iris tells Wally to keep it a secret from everyone else, which he begrudgingly does. H.R. and Barry, not confident in Cisco's abilities try to take down Gypsy on their own. This fails and H.R. is taken by Gypsy until the fight.
The West siblings manage to find the warehouse where the dealers are held up, but Iris' knowledge of her own death in the future make her think she can't die until then. She confronts on of the dealers and is almost shot. Wally manages to save her and she gets her story. Joe and Barry find out and are understandably angry at Wally and Iris, though Wally seems to agree with them that it was a bad idea. Barry talks with Iris and manages to get through to her. Julian finds a way for Cisco to win the fight against Gypsy and "Vibe" prepares for the conflict.
Gypsy and Cisco fight throughout the multiverse, visiting Earth 2, Earth 38, and an unknown Earth , ending up back in Central City. Gypsy has the upper hand for most of the fight, but when she tries to perform her signature move, Cisco exploits a weakness and defeats her. Vibe refuses to kill his opponent and wins the freedom of H.R. Wells. Gypsy has one last encounter with the team before returning to Earth 19. Not wanting her perfect record broken, she tells H.R. that he has to say on Earth 1 forever. In return, she will tell her superiors that she killed him. H.R. agrees and Gypsy leaves.
Barry and Iris share a scene in their apartment, where Barry is reading over Iris's article. Barry is interested at her giving Kid Flash the forefront of her article. This gives Barry and idea. The episode ends with Barry training Wally, whose speed is increasing considerably faster than Barry's. Barry tells Wally that he is going to save Iris, suggesting that Wally will become faster than Barry.
This episode was a feature for Cisco and a bit of H.R. All season we have been shown tidbits of Cisco's alter ego Vibe, including parts of his suit. But this week, we are given the full package. Cisco and H.R.'s interactions strengthened their bond and made H.R. a more sympathetic character. The omission of a weekly villain was good choice for this episode. Gypsy isn't a villain, considering she was just doing her job and had good interactions with both Cisco and H.R. It's also good to see Wally as Kid Flash fighting alongside Barry. Julian has joined the team and his blunt outlook on things adds more heart and humor to the team's dynamic. The only downside to this episode has to be Iris. Her behavior made no sense this week and she came off as very selfish. This could simply be a weekly anomaly, considering characters in the Arrowverse can be victims of bad writing now and again.
One thing that is Flash related, though not on the show is the introduction of a new speedster on Legends. Black Flash is hunting Eobard Thawne and though it will most likely stay on Legends as Eobard's nightmare, the implications of its existence are severe. Black Flash is the Speedforce incarnation of Death, tracking down speedsters like the Grim Reaper would hunt his victims. It is deeply tied in with Barry Allen and Wally West, with its only appearances ever, involving them. During the Flash season finale last year, we saw time wraiths kill Hunter Zolomon (Zoom) and turn him into Black Flash. Now little more than a humanoid monster, who senses he speedforce, Black Flash can potentially appear anywhere in the multiverse.
LET US KNOW
-What other Earth's would you like to see appear on the Flash?
-Should Cisco suit up more often?
-Will Wally become, "The Fastest Man Alive"?
#Grant Gustin#Candice Patton#Jesse L. Martin#Carlos Valdes#Danielle Panabaker#Tom Cavanagh#Tom Felton#Kenyan Lonsdale
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first day for @superlotdragonweek!! i chose first meeting as the prompt....
Martin Stein never planned on getting a dragon until Ronald came along. Their bond had been completely accidental-there was an explosion at the hatchery, and Stein was forced to bond with the nearest fire dragon in order to survive the flames.
Ronald had been a rather stubborn partner, but he was the best dragon that Stein could’ve ever wanted. He was huge, dark black all over like a coal with rivulets of orange and red running through his scales. He’d had a massive pair of curling rams horns, good for smashing into things. Two pairs of large wings and a heavy crocodilian tail that often lit with flames had signified his status as a firedrake. The row of spines that ran down the length of his spine had had a perfect spot for Stein to sit in a fireproof saddle.
Ronald had been everything to Stein, no matter how reluctant he had been to bond with him in the first place. Clarissa had met her own bonded dragon through Ronald, an icedrake named Caitlin who was Ronald’s mate despite how unlikely it was that a firedrake and an icedrake would ever even get along for extended periods of time, much less become each other’s mate.
And then the accident had happened.
Nobody could’ve seen it coming, they’d assured Stein later. Harrison Wells and his rogue dragon, Eobard, had been terrorizing Central City for months, but they’d never actually killed a dragon before. Riders, civilians, and creatures, yes-but never a dragon. And then in one fell swoop they killed dozens by opening a portal in the sky, using a young rider named Eddie’s life force to create the blood seal.
Ronald and Stein had been a part of a hastily thrown-together squadron to stop the portal, along with Cisco Ramon and his dragon, Vibe, Barry Allen and his dragon, Flash, and Jesse Wells and her dragon, Liberty.
Ronald had been the only dragon to die.
It had almost killed Stein to be separated from him. Their bond had been strong, stronger than most, and it would have made any rider sick to be separated from their dragon in such a painful and horrific manner. Stein hadn’t even seen him die, but he had felt it-felt the bond be severed, felt Ronnie screaming in pain as he was torn out from underneath Stein’s saddle, wings burning one final time as he fell to the earth.
Stein had almost died too-he’d almost plunged to his death, mind numb and his body burning with pain, until Barry steered Flash down to catch him before he fell. He’d spent over a month in the hospital, trying to recover with Clarissa by his side-Caitlin was grieving too, in too much pain from the loss of her mate to comfort him. Stein respected that.
It wasn’t much of an option to bond with another dragon afterwards. Younger riders did if they lost their dragons to some sort of disease or to some sort of border skirmish. But Stein had been with Ronald for quite some time, and he hadn’t exactly been young when they had first bonded. Stein considered himself far too old to bond with another dragon. Even if it did extend the lifespans of both participants, and by this point Clarissa would outlive him for quite some time.
(The oldest dragon-rider pair in Central City was Rip Hunter and Waverider, who had been around for years and would be around for even longer. And there were rumors of a pair of ancient dragons up in the mountains who had never bonded to anybody. But it was largely considered a folk tale that the oldest rider in the world had done some sort of black magic ritual to stay just as alive and youthful as he would’ve been while bonded to a dragon.)
So no, after the accident with Ronald, Stein decided to never bond with another dragon. He’d live out the rest of his life unbonded.
Or at least that was what the plan was supposed to be, until Jefferson-no, Jax-came along.
Caitlin had alerted him to the fact that there had been an accident on the border of Keystone and National City. Eggs had been liberated from the back of a smugglers truck-five icedrake eggs, a single firedrake egg that was in sickly condition from being too close to the icedrake eggs, an adult wyvern in terrible shape with injuries and a muzzle, a small dragon that had been forcibly bonded to one of the drivers of the truck that had begged to be put down on the spot, as well as several different creatures that were obviously sick.
Since Stein, Clarissa, and Caitlin were so close to the scene and Stein knew that they would be receiving the eggs soon at the hatchery Clarissa volunteered at anyways, he couldn’t see a reason to stop his wife and her dragon from investigating.
Joe recognized them and let them pass-Clarissa was more than a little bit experienced with handling eggs, something he knew full well. Barry grinned at them and waved, gesturing for them to come over. “Were you guys in the area too?” When they nodded, he smiled wider. “I’m not usually at these kinds of crimes, but I called Singh before going past the tape and he said it was fine, so…”
There was a low snarl from the injured wyvern as an officer tried to move it away from the crowd of people gathered around. Barry darted over as it snapped its teeth at the officer, shielding him with his own body as Flash curled around the stranger protectively.
“Hey, hey, hey,” Barry said soothingly, lifting his hands up to stop the wyvern from snapping again. There were marks around its mouth where the muzzle had been. “Easy, buddy, easy. Calm down. You’re free now, but you’re hurt badly.”
The wyvern lashed its tail, black wings flicking open to their full extent and momentarily blocking Barry from view. “The egg is hurt,” it hissed in English, which made Barry a little relieved. He didn’t know any other languages, so if the wyvern had spoken, say, Spanish or Mandarin, he would’ve been out of luck. “The fire egg is hurt.”
Stein and Clarissa exchanged glances. Caitlin made an anxious churring noise. She couldn’t get close to the egg-it was highly dangerous for an icedrake like her to get close to firedrake eggs. And since the egg was already sick, none of them knew if Clarissa would be able to help it.
But Stein knew he could.
Shrugging off his coat to wrap the egg up, Stein knelt down by it. The egg, which should have been soft orange and hot to the touch, was dull and felt dull and lukewarm against his hand. He eased it into his jacket, wrapping it up tightly and holding it close to his chest. “I’m taking this back to Star Hatchery,” he informed Barry. “It should still be alive by the time I get there.”
With a single flap of its wings, the wyvern landed in front of him, bowing down and bracing its wings on the ground so it wouldn’t overbalance. It turned its dark yellow eyes on him. “I will take you.”
Stein swallowed. “I’m not sure if that is the wisest course of action, Mx…?”
“Hartley,” the wyvern growled, “and that egg is going to die if you don’t let me take you.”
Stein looked at Clarissa, who nodded. Caitlin kneaded the ground anxiously with her claws. She would’ve loved to take them herself, but… The health of the egg was far more important. Taking a deep breath, Stein clambered onto the wyvern’s back, bracing himself for discomfort. He knew riding a wyvern was going to be different than riding a quadrupedal dragon like Ronald had been, and it had been a long time since he had ridden bareback, but-
Cursing in Yiddish, Stein wrapped one arm around the wyvern’s neck as it took to the sky, clutching the egg against his chest.
Halfway to Star Hatchery, Stein heard an all-too-familiar sound, and his heart dropped into his stomach (even more than it already was from the awkward sliding and rocking that he was doing on Hartley’s neck and back). “Put me down, now.”
“We’re not there yet!” Hartley hissed, banking left sharply.
Stein bit back a curse. “I don’t care. The egg is hatching.”
Hartley snarled. “Hold on.”
Almost too late, Stein tightened his grip, squeezing his eyes shut as Hartley folded his wings and dove. He could feel the egg thrumming against his chest and prayed that the already-sick dragon wouldn’t be dead by the time it hatched.
Hartley landed with a thump that made Stein swear, stumbling from the wyvern’s back and collapsing against a tree as he shakily unwrapped the egg from his jacket. It was definitely hatching. Stein looked up at Hartley, who had craned his neck to look down at the egg. “Keep going to Star. I’ll try to keep the egg alive until you get back.”
Hartley seemed to realize that arguing was pointless, and that flying ahead was the best chance they had at saving the poor hatchling. With a small awkward waddling running start, he took to the skies again, injuries making him hiss in pain as he kept flying.
Stein looked down at the egg in his lap, which was starting to cheep-the baby dragon trying to let its mother know that it was going to be coming out into the world.
After about an hour of cheeping and shaking with small cracks and chips coming out of the egg, with Hartley still not back, Stein realized that the egg was going to hatch. Something inside of him told him that right now, right here, the egg was going to hatch, and that meant-
He jumped to his feet and hid behind a tree, wincing at the wave of heat that still rolled over him. Firedrake eggs had a rather unpleasant tendency to explode when they hatched.
Peering out from behind the tree, Stein couldn’t stop himself from gaping.
The tiny hatchling in the middle of the explosion range was mewling pitifully, a deep red color all over except for its black horns and spines and the yellow plates on its chest and underbelly. It had a thick stubby tail and four wings, just like Ronald had once had. It blinked open its eyes, and as Stein watched they narrowed as it tried to focus on him before scrambling toward him while making small squeaking sounds.
As he automatically fell to his knees to take the dragon in his arms (his clothes were fireproof, which was good, since the baby dragon was leaving smouldering patches in its wake), Stein somehow sensed how tired and sick the poor thing was. It wouldn’t last the night even with Star’s help-and he could hear distant wingbeats now, heavy and fast as they moved toward him from the distant direction of the hatchery.
Which meant that if he wanted to keep this hatchling alive, they would have to bond.
Sighing deeply, Stein opened his mind and sought out the hatchlings. To his surprise, the baby dragon immediately latched onto his consciousness, sending peals of happiness down the link and into Stein’s brain. He’d forgotten what that felt like.
And then the link-and the dragon-lit with flames, and Stein welcomed the bond once more.
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