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themissingmarvel · 3 years

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Love's Reckoning [Part 1] (Batman/DCU)

(So, my first real go of things in the DC world. It's important to note that while DC is something I've been reading since I was six and wanted to be Poison Ivy when I grew up, I will not write this as something you can't understand. The background for Jason Todd will be explained as will Bruce's connection. I wrote a bit of a visual, but this is Jason Todd around late twenties. Bear with me on this if you've wanted a DC fic, as this will certainly be that.)

When the world you know, the world of safety and of silence, the world of letting heroes be heroes, comes crashing down, what will you do? Will you pick up your sword? Will you fight? And most important of all, will you fight to keep the first real thing you've felt?

Pairing: Jason Todd x powered!Reader, Bruce Wayne

Word Count: 3600

Warnings: Violence, a lot of cursing

[THIS IS A SERIES]

artist credit Oviya Vendan

It was never easy being a hero, not so far as you could tell. Bruce had broken more than a few hearts to save them, his own included. Clark was constantly fighting to keep those he loved safe. Barry struggled with his job and family balance. Diana was being criticized by the public for her appearance, even as an Amazonian warrior. Oliver struggled with Dinah in a way that both could find happiness but rarely ever did. Jason… well Jason had been essentially murdered while Dick simply wanted a family. Then there was poor Babs.

Being a hero sucked.

You had supposed, really, it was why you stayed so quiet about your own gifts. Born with gifts you’d never asked for, gifts granted when your father had desperately tried to save your mother’s life with an experimental drug, life had been easy, relatively speaking. The drug given had saved your mother but had left you different. The difference had made itself known when you were young, a child playing out in the streets when your parents weren’t looking. The difference was clear when the car barreling down the road had slammed into a shimmering blue force field, you curled into a ball and the driver unconscious.

That was back in Coast City. You’d moved after that to Gotham and then to Metropolis. A few visits to Star City during your college years and you’d kept a very close eye on yourself the entire time. The accident had been ruled as such, the driver no recollection of what happened but your parents insisting that “someone” had come and saved you. Everyone bought it, of course.

Bruce didn’t. That damn stubborn man.

He’d been younger at the time but he’d kept tabs. He had an easier time during your years in Gotham but he’d kept many out of your view. Instead, he’d watched and waited, hoping to see what exactly it was that you were capable of. Enough to stop a speeding car, without a scratch, at age ten. What had caught his attention the most was when he had bribed the scrap yard, still a young man himself at age twenty-five, to see the car. Of course it was totaled but the damage to the front was curved and looked like it had hit some sort of globe. So… not you.

As Bruce aged as well and connected with others, with Dick Grayson as a young one too, a bit younger than you, he kept it safe.

When you were eighteen you had found the gift on your porch, a box with silver wrapping and a blue bow that said, “Keep in touch” written in cursive. Inside had been a laptop far more advanced than anything you’d seen before. It was somehow more secure than seemed reasonable for a random laptop on your porch and it somehow knew your fingerprint and facial recognition. But the laptop had videos on it, ones not meant to be blackmail but rather an understanding of gifts.

See, your power was an incredible one and despite your parents insistence you not use it, that you hide it, you had been young and eager which was a dangerous thing. He had videos of you sending blasts of energy into boxes by the docks, falling from a building into an alley, surrounded by a sphere of light. You were safe. He had clips of you reaching out and creating energy barriers around others, like the dog about to be kicked by an owner and instead the owner thrown into a wall. The next was you grabbing the dog.

His name was Silver, a grey Husky, and he lived at home with you now. Much bigger.

What had interested you most was the videos of Bruce, both as himself in the cave and as Batman. Sure, the reveal made sense, but the folder had been labeled, “Trust me.” God, the man couldn’t just write a full damn note, could he? Infuriatingly unhelpful.

Through college, Metropolis, Star City… all of it, he kept up. As the Justice League formed, he kept the system updated, and when the tech began to fail, you’d get another little package. You’d considered leaving a stupid package at Wayne Manor that said, “I have a phone you know, you dumb bat” but that seemed passive aggressive and not your style.

Now in your mid-twenties, life had changed. As much as you’d tried to stay away from the limelight and let Green Arrow, Flash, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, even Red Hood do their thing, power of any kind did something to a person. Your mother in her infinite wisdom had once told you that power would either soften or break a person, but that soft didn’t mean weak. Soft meant compassion, it meant caring, and it meant feeling the hurt when others were hurt.

Life took odd turns, didn’t it?

“Hey, I’m headed out to get a coffee, you need anything?” You slung your bag over your shoulder, loose grey sweater hanging off your torso, covering you somewhat against the autumn air of Gotham, tattered black jeans on the bottom half.

A tall, rather handsome man about your age was behind the counter of the antique and rare book store, the one you owned, “You know the answer, BW,” there was a smirk, the smirk that made you regret hiring on the man who had such amazing references it was hard not to.

The nickname was cute, though. Even if it was those idiot’s initials. He had called you ‘bookworm’ so much the two letters became habit. He liked nicknames.

“Right, like your hair. Dark with a splash of cream. One of these days you’ll change it up though, Jason.” You grinned.

Instead, he winked, the man’s impressive form hardly masked by his choice of a deep red button-down shirt.

Jason Todd, a man who you had never known, had become a close friend and good coworker in the shop. He didn’t seem like the type interested in the rare and antique of things, but he was good at it. And he was dedicated. Always there, you’d said. And of course, he was the one person Bruce had kept from you for so many reasons.

Walking out, you tossed a wave and he nodded, going back to reviewing some of the newer books that came in. He was a good man, you had determined. For no particular reason, really. Other than the fact that he just… was. He asked about you, seemed concerned at anything out of the ordinary, and occasionally he’d walk you home. Gotham wasn’t safe, he insisted. You’d just shrugged. You were not a person The Joker or Two Face went after.

Strolling down the street, you squinted, seeing a throng of people ahead. There was some kind of gathering going on at the museum nearby, one that had escaped your knowledge. Walking closer, curiosity getting the best of you, you passed the coffee shop that had you gone into, none of this would have happened. Curiosity killed the cat, right? But didn’t satisfaction bring it back?

Scooting forward, you saw Bruce, clad in his more dapper attire, a long black peacoat on as he smiled by a microphone, catching a glimpse of Clark Kent in the front with his notepad that he refused to update into the 21st century. It seemed like a rather safe crew, stepping forward as you listened to Bruce speak, keeping space, “-and because of that, I am more than pleased to be able to support the Gotham Museum of Art with the lost Dali collection.”

The crowd erupted in applause, and you supposed it was fair to do the same, bringing your hands together as you smiled. Of course, it was something the man would do. The same man who knew who you were, dropped tech at your door, who had aged well, all things considered. He was 40 now, wasn’t he? The salt and pepper was a good look for him.

What happened next was something that made sense only in a world like Gotham or Metropolis. The explosion that rang out knocked back so many, debris filling the air as even Bruce fell back. Your balance was disrupted but you were able to keep steady, watching as people screamed and ran, the green haze dusting the world. It wasn’t toxic, but it was kryptonite. You had remembered reading about it on Bruce’s dossier about Clark, one of his only weaknesses besides Lois.

There was chaos, though. As men in masks bearing firearms stepped forward, looking like chaos as well. Someone was behind it, but it was controlled and no one had come forward yet. Frantic, you looked around, eyes wide as you tried to run through the crowd, pushing past as you scrambled to the stairs, stepping back as a few men descended upon the target that had been your own: Bruce.

Hiding behind a chunk of rubble, you watched as they grabbed him, binding his hands. He looked dazed, a gash on his head and blood trickling down his face. Looking back, Clark was on the ground, no longer struggling, unconscious fully and out for the count. There was no one here to save the day. Not yet. And who knew how long it might take for someone to come.

“Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck,” you mumbled to yourself, closing your eyes tightly. Now was the time, you had thought. Power made you soft. Those with power had humbled you. Perhaps too much.

A deep breath of cold air filled your lungs, removing the grey sweater that had covered your form, only a thermal black, long-sleeved shirt under it. Tearing at the sweater you had unfortunately really liked, you tied what you could around your face, from the nose down, covering your hair somewhat also. Dropping your bag you jumped out, catching the attention of the two men by Bruce.

Hesitation filled your body, watching as they pointed their weapons, “The fuck are you? Do you seriously wanna die?” One of the men growled out from beneath his mask, watching as you stood. Frozen.

The other scoffed, “Some wannabe hero. Gotham is full of ‘em these days. Just put a bullet in ‘er and get Wayne into the van!”

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck so much fuck fuckity fuck.

The weapon was raised and at once you held up a hand, a shimmering blue shield snapping around you, watching the bullet that left the chamber fall dead as it hit, not ricocheting. It’s why you liked the shield. But he wasn’t having it, muttering something as he let loose a storm of bullets, all aimed at you, catching the attention of others nearby, ones who had been doing what looked like damage control, ready to fend off whomever came.

None of the bullets touched you, of course. All slamming into a wall of energy before falling to the ground. The noise had been loud, louder than you knew a gunshot could be, and the sound filled the air. But as it died down, adrenaline was now pumping through you, eyes narrowing, “Bad day to be a bad guy, huh?”

At once you slammed your hand forward, a blast leaving it, bright and quick as it knocked the first man back, the second readying a weapon as well. He had no time, however, as you let off another blast that took him out, both flying backwards.

Shouting commenced now as you ran to Bruce, “C’mon, Wayne. Get up! Can you stand?” You knelt by him, trying to help him to his feet. He was struggling.

To your surprise, however, he was allowing you to help him, “Stopped hiding, huh?” He coughed, looking like absolute garbage and aware now he had internal things going on.

“Turns out I look pretty good in a mask. C’mon, we need to get-” shouts cut through the air suddenly, men scrambling up the stone stairs where you were standing, desperately, guns raised, something about getting you and leaving Wayne. Not that you were too worried, but you’d never been trained in combat. Bruce had decades of fighting skills while you only knew a semester of self-defense and some of your kickboxing from the class you were taking.

Bruce coughed and you winced, letting him down again easily as you felt the group descending upon you, eyes widening as you held up your hands, the energy forming around you both. The shield was bright, shimmering blue, the dome that had protected you as a child that was now saving the two of you, all grown up, “So… so beautiful…” the man muttered, trying to keep conscious as best he could though aware it wasn’t an easy battle.

There were more than a few coming, however, and you could feel them. Their energy. Their anger. Fear. Toxic rage pumping through them as they began to surround you both. Shouting continued as you closed your eyes tightly, trying to block it out. The gunshots were so loud, even through the shield. You were surrounded. You’d never used your powers like this and suddenly you understood you had bitten off more than you could chew.

His words echoed in the chamber of energy, though, “Focus, Y/N. Focus.”

Bruce’s words were weak but filled with a sort of understanding that you were more than you knew. Summoning strength, strength you had yet to fully comprehend, a rush of power filled you at once and you let out a shout, throwing your hands out and sending a blast wave of pure energy outwards, knocking back all of those who had surrounded you, debris included. It was powerful and it rocked the ground below.

You paused, quiet filling the air as you looked around, Bruce unharmed by the blast, as were you. Instead he was regaining his balance, wincing, “You need to get out of here. They’ll come back. More of them. The police too. You don’t need this. I’ll get Clark,” he looked down at the superhuman, unconscious and looking pained.

Only nodding, you turned, running towards the side streets and into a nearby back alley. Once you were sure you were alone, unwatched, you tore the fabric from your face, breathing hard as your knees buckled, falling to the ground. You hadn’t realized it, but you’d begun crying, tears falling down your face as shock washed over you, adrenaline still pumping through your veins. Closing your eyes tightly, you whispered, “It’s over. You’re OK. It’s over. Bruce is safe. It’s over.”

It took about a half hour before you were able to get yourself together, wandering back to the book store in a daze, your sweater and the pieces of it ditched into a dumpster. You’d dusted off your jeans, and all things considered you looked all right. But you were shaking, and as you entered the empty store, the bell jingling, you watched as Jason appeared to run over, “Jesus Christ, Y/N! Where were you? The explosion was on the news, then you didn’t come ba-” his sentence was cut off as he looked you over, grabbing your hand that had blood on it. Bruce’s blood, “Shit, you were there? Where’s your sweater? And your bag?”

Snatching your hand back your eyes widened, “Oh god. My bag. Oh my god, I dropped it when- when the uh- when the explosion hit. I dropped it. I took off my sweater to uhm, uh- to help someone who got hurt.”

Ok, not a whole lie, but now the panic was in that your bag was gone. Not just gone, but missing. In the hands of baddies? Randos on the street? What if someone put two-and-two together and figured it out? The sweater was one thing but the bag was another.

Jason wasn’t placated however, his eyes, those startling sapphire eyes tinted with emerald looking deeply into you. There was fear, and it was fear that was rooted in hurt. Not yours, per se, but in hurt none the less.

“I just- I called you and I didn’t hear back. I got worried, you know? I mean, there’s crazies out there. I can’t believe you got caught up in it.”

You shrugged and shook your head, brushing back your hair, “Honestly the only thing I’m pissed about is losing my sweater. Cold as hell out there,” you chuckled nervously, knowing it was too late now to run back and get your bag. It was too late for a lot.

“Oh god, my house keys. Fuck!” You shouted, not to Jason or anyone in particular, but just because you realized not just your keys, but your cell phone, your landlord’s number to even get in… all of it was in your dumb bag.

Once again there were tears. Frustration, anger, terror, worry, desperation, and just general sadness. It was all hitting you as the adrenaline was leaving your body and you fell to your knees, hardly able to register as the strong arms wrapped around you, pulling you close.

In truth, Jason Todd also didn’t know who you were. All he knew was that Bruce struck a deal with him that he’d get Gordon off his back and bring him back onto his team if he could both keep his shit together and keep the job at the antique book store and alert Bruce to anything unusual that came through. He was a man who trusted no one, and had relied on himself. The scars that should have been there from his murder at the hands of The Joker were gone, healed by the Lazarus Pool. He had regained his soul, too. But not without a cost. He had done much in his time, still held so much anger.

You had been different, though. Your smile had hit him like a baseball bat to the gut (and he did know what that felt like) and your laugh had been music. He felt like some teenager again, like Grayson when he got all fluffy about Starfire or whoever it was he was dating. Kid always had someone, didn’t he? Even if their age was the same. Even if Nightwing was in fact slightly order. In truth, the world had aged Jason in a way that couldn’t be measured, and you had come in to soothe him. It was immediate that he knew you were out of his league. Someone as bright, capable, driven, motivated, and absolutely as stunning as you were did not date him, even when he dressed himself up to look the part. He had instead convinced himself he was fine being a friend and watching over you. And he did. He’d drive by nights he wasn’t working to ensure you locked up safely before getting to your car. Or do a sweep occasionally of your neighborhood. He didn’t know Bruce had your profile. Couldn’t be risked. Todd was a loose cannon in every sense of the word.

He held you close as you cried and somewhere he knew something happened. There was a spark of rage inside him, the idea that someone might have hurt you. Put you in danger. He was the kind that took care of garbage in a way Bruce frowned heavily upon. So for now he kept his arms around you, taking in your smell, of chaos and of something sweet. Of a gentle human who hadn’t been touched by fear or hate how he had. He took you in, wholly.

Were you more present you would have described your cries as “gross crying” as it was indeed that. Choked sobs left your throat as you gasped for air, gripping to him as you wrapped your arms around him. He smelled earthy, in a way. Cedarwood, moss, sage… it was satisfying. It was calming. It was how you had imagined he’d smell, if he’d taken you into his arms the way he was now.

It was unclear how much time had gone by before you sniffled, realizing you had gotten tears and snot on his nice shirt, suddenly self-conscious as you pulled away. But he kept his arms around you, looking down as he wiped a tear away, face stoic, “We need to close up and I need to take you home. You can use my phone and we’ll make some calls. Sound fair?”

The kindness was new. Not new in that he’d never been nice, but this was something different. This sort of protective nature, not even questioning what had happened, just pure kindness. You were grateful now that you’d entrusted him with a set of keys to the store. He could lock up, couldn’t he? He would. And he did.

He got you up, with relative ease, and you felt how physically strong he was. Jesus. And in no time he was collecting you, grabbing his own heavy jacket and throwing it over your smaller form, wrapping you entirely. It smelled of him. It felt safe. He felt safe.

And as he got you into his rather impressive Audi that he had no business owning, you knew that at least for now, you were safe.

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camslightstories · 3 years

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Tolerate It - Part 7

Lena Luthor x reader, Kara Danvers x reader, Alex Danvers x reader. Baby Danvers.

Notes: Part 7 is finally out! after rewriting and doubting so much I finally came with this part. Not gonna lie, not the finest part of this story but its okay I guess. Sorry again for my bad writing :/

I’m receiving any request, comment, feedback, opining gladly. I hope you guys like it! Thank you so much for the support, I hope I can update tomorrow too but lets wait. Have a great day!

Taglist: @multi-images @captain-josslett

Russian Translations:

Принцесса - Princess

Не сейчас - Not now

Мы получили встречу с возможным партнером организации в мероприятии в Старлинг-Сити - We got a meeting with a possible partner of the organization in an event in Starling City

Хорошо - Okay

You looked up to see the now in her late 20s woman, staring at you with surprise and worries. Slowly her eyes ranked to your chest, where notorious scars could be seen. Some of them are larger and older and others newer and smaller, and on top of your right chest, the tattoo of the Bratva stood proudly, big enough for her to notice it but not recognizing the interpretation.

“How can I help you?” You offered, cutting out of her trance. Walking inside the apartment, grabbing the nearest shirt. The brunette walked inside and glanced at it, clearing her throat, when she sensed the change in you.

“My car has a weird noise, and it broke in front of a bar. And the security guy told me the directions to the mechanic” She commented, her voice was worried and confused. The Arias woman looked at you, trying to find any resemblance to the old you.

“Okay, I will look at it” You responded with the same tone, uninterested, giving her a nod, as you walked outside on your way to the car crane.

The ride was short and silent. The brown-eyed woman in a thinking mode, as she glanced at you. In those 3 years, you let a lot of things, one of them begin how to read people. And the dumbly staring at you like you were a broken charity project did not help your case.

Sam stared at you as you worked on her car, focusing only on it. With her phone in hand, and different feelings coming to the surface as she tried to figure out the situation, and what was the right thing to do. She just came to Texas to leave Ruby in college and now after years of not knowing anything about you, she didn't know if she could even lie to your oldest sister, her girlfriend, or her best friend, Lena, your ex, about your appearance.

Two years of relationship with Alex, seeing her sometimes cry herself to sleep, or have nightmares because you are not there anymore. Sam held her close to her chest, as she did. Everyone had lost a piece of themselves when you left. Some of them have a bigger void to fill than others.

Trying to avoid the tension as you checked the engine in calmness, she spoke up softly scared of what you would say. “How are you?”

“I’m fine” You responded almost immediately, as a monotone. Not taking your focus out of your job.

Furrowing her eyebrows in confusion as she noticed your attitude, taken back by it. Thoughts and various events came into her head but were interrupted by her phone ringing. The nickname of her girlfriend, your sister appearing on the top of her screen.

With trembling hands and lips, she answered after glancing where you stood, too preoccupied with working. “Hey babe”

“Sammy! I was getting worried, I haven't heard from you and it's almost 8, are you okay? ” Alex said through the phone in one breath. The Arias woman could feel the woman's worries through her voice. Also hearing the scandal of the game night in the background.

“I’m fine, I had to get a mechanic. She is checking the car” She responded as she walked outside watching the night hitting the streets of the small town.

“She? That's great, Woman Power!” Your oldest sister said with a chuckle, Sam sensing her drunkenness', she smiled. Kara and Barry could be heard in the background fighting because of a game and challenging each other to a race. Oliver being the voice of reason stopping them.

She responded spinning back to look at you, where she heard you clearing your throat. Opening and closing her lips to say something about your presence, but preferred to talk to you before about it. “Yeah, Babe… I will call you in a minute, the mechanic is back from checking”

“Of course, don't sweat it. I love you” The redhead slurred to the phone, and Sam could hear the charming, darling smile.

Sam whispered, ending the call. “I love you too, Alex”

Thinking now how to handle a situation, where she knew where you were and how you were and your sisters didn't. How could she lie to them in their face, how can she see them breaking down because you are not there, knowing where you are. She just didn't know what to do.

“Your car broke because it has an overworking engine, and the sound of the car is because the brakes are about to break. It would take 30 min for the engine to cool down and change the brakes, 45” You interrupted her thoughts speaking, cleaning your hands with a towel.

She nodded vigorously as she spoke “Yeah, okay just tell me when you are done”

The time passed, silence overwhelmed the brunette while it calmed you. You had closed the garage the moment the coldness of the night increased. She sat straight trying to make the best conversation starter, but not finding the right words since your answers were not longer than a general sentence long.

You waited for the engine to cool down, before changing the water, putting coolant, and changing the oil. The breaks of the frontrunner were changed for the first time as you could tell. Giving Sam only small answers to her questions, your patience burning out as she kept pushing your buttons.

“Sam, I'm trying to do my job, so will you please?” You said after sliding from under the car, to look at her eye. All of your walls were up, and now with an important person from your past, you wouldn’t let it down.

Trying to keep your emotions under control, as the thoughts came in to sabotage your bottle of feelings. Memories coming back to you. Happiness and sadness overloaded your chest for the first time in a while.

Clenching your hands, as blood dripped from them. Closing your eyes as everything began to fade away. The memories, the pain, the thoughts, everything. Minutes passed and everything went back to its place. Your feelings, your thoughts, and your memories.

Sliding out as you finish, you notice the frown on the brunette's face, and most importantly the pain in her eyes. It didn't matter to you, all you saw was black and white and you made sure of that.

Sam looked up to you, as you closed the car bonnet. The silence made the air thicker than it was, the Kryptonian trying to relieve the tension. She asked the long wanted question, after pulling different theories as you worked “What happened to you?”

The air became heavier, the coldness of the night became the only thing you could feel, the sound of the car running evaded your ears, the blood falling from your hands made you feel like you were under the rain, the taste of beer on your tongue became toxic. All of your senses were going into overwork.

The Russian voice of the man pulled you out of your thoughts. Sam watched attentively from her seat, with complete anxiety. “Good evening, Принцесса”

“Не сейчас, Anatoly” You responded, grabbing the white towel at the side of your tools before removing the blood from your hands. Only to wince of pain, when you felt the cut touch the towel, noticing the damage you had done.

Ignoring your pain, you looked over to Sam seeing her eyeing you and the Russian man confused. Before deeply sighing, making Anatoly walk over the brunette extending his hand with a smile, making you roll your eyes “My apologizes, I didn't know my friend...”

“Work partner” You interrupted holding out your finger threadedly, making the suited man chuckled, while Sam became more worried and confused by the second.

Anatoly claimed as he pulled his hand away, with a smile. Before looking over at you with a questionable glance. “Had any visitors over, Anatoly Knyazev at your service”

“Samantha Arias, nice to meet you” The Arias woman nodded in gratitude before speaking.

Sam turned to face you as she noticed your blood on the now stained white towel, and your hand flinching every moment the towel made contact with the wounds. Worries came crashing to her, as she came closer to you, only to make you back away.

The Russian man seemed to notice and to diffuse the tension between the two of you, he grabbed his suit sleeves before speaking in a work mannerly. “Принцесса, may I talk to you for a moment?”

“Yeah, I will be back in a minute, Ms. Arias” You claimed and didn't even wait for an answer walking over to Anatoly who was on the phone, waiting for you with his hand crossed over the chest.

The Russian man said, looking at you. Furrowing his eyebrows in a questionable glance as he glanced at the brown-eyed woman and you multiple times, making you shook your head and sigh in annoyance “Мы получили встречу с возможным партнером организации в мероприятии в Старлинг-Сити”

Massaging your temple with doubt you responded, pointing at the door with a serious look as he looked at you with a small smirk. “Хорошо”

Waiting for the old man to exit the garage, as he walked over to the brunette giving her a goodbye. In irritation you sighed before walking over to the brunette giving her the keys of the car, mentioning. “Everything is done”

“Okay, thanks,” Sam responded nodding immediately, taking out her card from her purse to pay, only to be stopped by you.

You claimed, and before she could protest you pulled the car out of the garage. “I only receive cash, if you don't have then it doesn't matter”

The Arias woman smiled quietly, as she felt a part of you from the past come out, but frowned immediately as she saw closely your palms, with the recent cuts of your digging nails. And moving up your handsome scars are more visible than others on your wrist.

The moment you notice her stared in your cuts and scars you cleared your throat in annoyance, Sam noticed your tension and got into the car without any other word, starting the engine before looking back at you with a worried face. So many things had changed now, and she had no idea how she was gonna deal with that.

The night was young. The lights of the city were on as the people. The sound of the music coming from each club invaded your ears. The soft smell of alcohol and cigarettes overwhelmed the streets.

Bars and restaurants open in the streets, which only could be lightened up by the brighten by the open places. Couples and Groups walking down the streets finding a place to spend their Saturday night.

Watching from the window of the black car, you were seated waiting for the arrival to the event. Guns and knives under your dress, prepared for any occasion. Not a single feeling coming out of your chest or mind, the blank and void expression on your face as the journey came to an end.

Anatoly was seated beside you, looking outside in silence. The Russian man, checking with the line of security inside the car. With a smile on his face, and a joking tone he turned to you “So what are your plans for the evening, Принцесса?”

You furrowed your eyes, before rolling them in irritation. Giving him a fake smile and a threatened index finger as a response. He chuckled before getting out of the car, making you sighed and abruptly say “Let’s get over with this”

Getting out of the car, you were met with a dark alley and Anatoly waiting for you with a hand in his pocket. You examined your surroundings, seeing various bars and restaurants close, and warehouses on each side. The street was dark and there weren't any people walking around it. You turned around to see the Star city water tower.

Entering the bright and elegant warehouse, you furrowed your eyes at the preparation of the place. Tall tables in the crowds of people, and a close fighting arena in the middle of the warehouse. Some bodyguards followed their bosses and others standing near them. No more than sixty people discussing bets. At the other side of the entrance a small stage was situated, where a woman and 5 bodyguards waited for someone.

You moved through the crowd slowly, walking with Anatoly at your side getting looks from people. Women and men glanced at you as you did. Your hair was down with some waves, a black long sleeve dress that fits you perfectly and a few inches long heels clicked as you walked to the stage, where the possible business partner stood. Your abs could be seen if you looked closely, and you biceps were showing even though you weren't flexing.

Your gut clenched when you felt a familiar started but you couldn't say how familiar it was. Your mind went into an auto mode as you kept walking. Something told you the night wasn't going to be so pleasant. And the moment you stepped onto the stage and recognized the woman made your assumptions true.

Veronica Sinclair, or best known as Roulette stood in a red dress that showed her tattoos, with a smirk as she eyed you and Anatoly. Clenching your jaw in her presence as self-restraint, the woman notice and spoke up with a sarcastic smile. "Weren't you the Danvers girl who dated Lena, but she chooses your sister over you”

“And weren’t you the girl, who didn't fuck Lena good enough, so she had to leave for a man, a British man” Anger moving through your system, and your mind clouded of the irritation you had. You clenched your jaw and your fits, before claiming as you walked closer to her with a sarcastic smile only to be stopped by a hand on your shoulder.

“We are going to get a drink, Roulette and then we can discuss what we came for,” Anatoly said, before dragging you out of the conversation. As he saw the both of you getting threatening close, your hand on top of your gun and her hand up, waiting to sign her bodyguards.

You grabbed a cup of the champagne the waiters were giving and took it all in less than a minute before putting it back giving the waiter draggers as you spoke “Bring me wine”

The young guy nodded vigorously before walking away almost running. You rolled your eyes before tapping on the table. Making Anatoly look up to you with a frown as you spoke. “Anatoly, let me do my job, while you do yours”

“You can't Принцесса, to grow as a business, we need her” He spoke softly looking around the crowd.

You scoffed before beginning to walk away, getting your gun from your thigh. Looking around searching for the bitch, only to not find her. "Great, then I kill her and you take over, capiche?”

Before you could walk back into the stage, people started to whistle as two people came into the ring. You looked over to the table you stood and Anatoly gathered another drink with a smirk as you frowned abruptly walking to the booth. Before commenting “Seems like time is not in your favor, Принцесса”

The sweat smell of the men fighting irritated you. The time the fight had taken, annoyed you. The lights of the place started to not function properly. People kept yelling bets, whistles, and more and it overwhelmed you.

The feeling of irradiance started to take over you, creating a headache. Taking your and Anatoly's drink as a remedy only made it worse. Your annoyance increased when the Russian man wandered off to an associate leaving behind. Grabbing three waiters as you threaten them into giving you their drinks tray.

Now with a clouded mind and a bad gut feeling, you walked to the stage where Roulette stood only to be stopped by the lights going off, and way too many familiar voices speaking.

“You have failed this city!” Oliver iconic, now tiring line

Kara said as she flew over all of the criminals “Why do you guys do this, knowing we are going to stop you?”

You felt the lights hit you stronger than ever when they were turned on again. Taking out both of your guns as quickly as you could, walking over to the tattooed woman standing with a smirk looking at your sister.

Before you started to shoot in hopes of taking down her bodyguard, but when it only took 4 of them leaving one. You started to fight him, mostly defending and waiting for him to make a mistake, at the third punch he tried to give, you grabbed his arm and flipping him to the floor before shooting him without hesitation.

Looking up to see Sinclair smirking at you with a gun in her hand, you tried to cover in one of the tables as she kept firing at you. When both of your sisters called her name and you thought you had your chance. Rushing out of it holding both of the guns in your hand, trying to locate her. You felt a pinch in your back.

The tranquilizer began to put your head more out of place than it already was. Losing consciousness as you tried to get the small arrow out of your back, you looked up to see Roulette smirking at you.

The sound of the firing gun invaded your ears. And the pain began to flow in when the bullet opened your skin in your stomach. Putting your hand over the now open scar and the bullet you felt as the pain began to flow in and blood to flow out, as it wetted your hands. Losing consciousness, when you felt the coughing began and the red fluid came out of your mouth.

Pain invaded your system and began to take over. Your hearing began to buzz. The smell of alcohol and fire began to overwhelm your nose. You tried to put pressure over the wound only to not feel a wound at all. Your vision began to blurry and everything began to fade away slowly, the only thing that remained was the pain.

The pain was eternal, the pain was there to stay. And the universe has taught you that. It was never going to stop for you and knowing that you lost yourself in the darkness once more.

#lena luthor #lena luthor x reader #alex danvers x reader #kara danvers x reader #supergirl imagine #baby danvers

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slippinmickeys · 4 years

Note

I’m obsessed with your Drabbles and Ch 3 of the Tumblr prompts (where Mulder is married when Scully joins the X-Files) has me feeling some kind of way. I’d love to read the same thing from Scully’s perspective. Also, I’d love to know more about how they get from 9 to 10 (since clearly a lot happened 🤣). Thank you for being amazing!! 🥰

1. He wore a ring, but never mentioned a wife. Nor should he, she supposed; they’d only just been assigned to each other, they’d only just met.

She considered that perhaps he was a widower, but didn’t feel comfortable asking. She thought maybe he was just a closed off, private man, until she found herself on his hotel bed in her robe, and he was telling her all about his family, his missing sister.

Then they had been three cases in, and there was still that ring. She finally asked him his wife’s name.

“Lauren,” he said.

She’d heard enough men talk about their wife in that tone of voice to know the relationship was not one like her parents, was not one she’d want herself.

She felt something close to pity.

2. He saved her life in the Twin Cities.

Donnie Pfaster was something more than evil, and when he told her he’d prepared himself for what he was going to see, she’d wished he’d prepared her, too. She was so thrown by the case that in addition to seeking out Karen Kosseff and availing herself of the therapist services supplied by the Bureau, she had plowed right past the fact that her partner had taken on the case for the sole purpose of taking her to the Redskins/Vikings football game.

A date.

3. She’d been with married men. She’d seen what havoc could be wreaked from the pursuit of such a relationship, and she had decided long ago that she would never do it again.

Mulder had become her best friend. Lately, her only friend. Their reassignment had been difficult, but she talked to him more days a week than she didn’t. She tried not to notice that she was number one on his emergency contact list, and Laura was number two.

She loved him as a friend, loved him as perhaps something more, but wasn’t convinced of his feelings for her until she was sitting atop Skyland Mountain with her hands tied in front of her, bound and gagged, and amongst a confusion of lights and sound, Mulder stumbled onto the scene, appearing as if from a TARDIS, and threw a haymaker so vicious it knocked Duane Barry out cold. He kicked him in the gut for good measure, and then tenderly removed her bindings, scooped her up in his arms and carried her down the mountain despite her shaky protestations that she could walk.

4. She had met Lauren only once, near the beginning of their partnership.

Lauren had dropped by their office to take Mulder to lunch on his birthday and had arrived 30 minutes early. As Mulder had told Scully he’d planned to meet his wife in the lobby, she concluded that Lauren had shown up early on purpose, most likely with the sole intention of meeting Scully in the flesh.

She’d given Scully an assessing once-over and then smiled at her with barely concealed conceit and distaste. She then turned on her clippy Manolo’s, and purred Mulder’s first name.

He had the look of a man headed to the gallows.

5. Scully had tried dating. For a while she accepted every offer, let her mother set her up on blind dates, went through the produce section of her local market with a wandering eye.

In the end, she had a few second dates, two one night stands, and a heart that was closed to all but one.

Each night she would soak in the bath until she pruned, cry until the water turned cold and lament her role as Eponine. In the morning, she would meet her partner at the airport, hand him a coffee and a cheerful smile and board the damn plane.

6. “You’re in love with your partner.” Missy said it as a statement rather than a question.

They were trying an organic tapas restaurant her sister had found and Scully’s appetite disappeared before Melissa had finished the sentence.

“Missy!” she said with horror and embarrassment, which Melissa brushed aside with a flick of her wrist.

When Scully was 12 and 13, she kept a diary. No matter how well she hid it, Missy would always find it, pick the lock, and read it back to her whenever she walked in her room.

Now that they were older, it didn’t matter if Scully’s secrets were at the center of a maze; Missy was forever Theseus, gaining its center and slaying the minotaur. Scully could keep nothing from her--she didn’t even know why she tried.

“I can hardly blame you,” Missy plowed on, popping an olive into her mouth, “he’s a dish.”

Scully slumped in her seat.

“So’s his wife,” she said.

Missy narrowed her eyes at her sister.

“Is she mean?” Missy asked.

Scully wouldn’t answer.

“I knew it,” Missy said, then, “how mean? Like on a scale of Heathers?”

Scully touched a napkin delicately to her lip. “Shannon Doherty” she said, with all the dignity she could muster.

Missy leaned back in her chair. “You and I are going shopping,” she said.

7. On an airplane over the arid West, Mulder told her, in no uncertain terms, that he was in love with her.

When their plane landed, she called Skinner and requested a week of PTO and an immediate transfer. She would not be a homewrecker again. She would not.

After three days next to a pool in Key Largo, Skinner called with an offer: Salt Lake City, take it or leave it.

Three days later, drained of tears and out of sunscreen, she called him back: leave it.

She returned to work on Monday. She pretended she never heard.

8. Two months later, Mulder stood in the doorway of their office and told her he was on his way to divorce court.

Scully sat at her desk, dazed, thrilled, scared out of her mind. A laugh bubbled up from inside her and burst into the dusty air at the bottom of the Hoover building.

9. Six weeks after the paperwork went through, Mulder showed up at her door at 9:00pm on a Friday and kissed her soundly on the mouth.

Five minutes later they were completely undressed, each het up to the point of frenzy. When she sunk down on him, took him all the way inside of her, she felt something pass between them, something heady and true. From that moment on she would always be a little less of a skeptic.

Later, when he was tracing lazy patterns over her skin with his fingers, their heads just touching on the pillow, he asked thoughtfully, “Is this what forever feels like?”

She took a moment to just look at him. Then, “Yes,” she said, matter-of-factly.

“I never knew,” he said, his voice full of wonder.

10. Two years later, in a bed in Bellefleur, Oregon, in the place where it all started, he looked up from in between her legs and licked his lips thoughtfully.

“You taste different,” he said.

She did some quick math in her head, then reached down and ran her fingers lightly through his hair.

“I think we should go back to DC,” she said with a tremulous smile

#the x-files #fanfic #prompts #my fic #msr

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olicitysecretsanta · 4 years

Text

Make it Home (I’m still here)

A/N: This fic is a gift for @lupin72 (Em)

Wanted hurt/comfort or angst with a happy ending. I’ve never written anything like this so here’s my take on it. I tried to make it close to canon so I did wait until last minute to write this. I added some scenes that I hope you will like and warm your heart as it did mine while I wrote this.

On a more personal note, Arrow has given me so much. I’ve always loved writing mostly essays but before this show I had never encountered fanfics. Never would’ve thought I’d be here writing my own and sharing it. It’s been very awesome to be a part of something so amazing as is the Olicity gift exchange.

I look forward to reading all the works. I hope you enjoy.

Long Live OLICITY ❤️!

-Annie ( @sparklesannie )

Heroes don’t always make it home and I never forget that.

The very same words Felicity once said to her step-son now echoed heavily in her heart.

It’s been about a month since she’d tracked Oliver in earth-2 and sent John to help him out. John promised to get her husband back. He’d promised, but a month has passed and there’s still no sign of either of them. Her hope begins to dim.

*****

A couple of months later John finally shows up to the cabin. Felicity had just put Mia down for nap so she closes the door to Mia’s bedroom and guides them to sit down in the living room.

“Oliver wanted you to get William back so that he and Mia can grow up together.”

“Wanted?” She whispers as her eyes well up with tears. It’s surprising she still can considering how much she’s cried since Oliver left, she thought she’d dried up by now. “John, where is he? Where‘s Oliver?”

She had prepared herself for the fact that Oliver might not comeback this time. But she still hoped, he had survived so much the man seemed practically immortal.

“Felicity. I’m so sorry I failed him and you and Mia.”

“Where’s Oliver? What happened?”

“I don’t—“ John takes a deep breath before staring again. “There was this other monitor—”

“The anti monitor, yeah, I know about that son of a bitch. Go on.”

“Well we were traveling from earth to earth trying to save everyone. And Oliver he was the last one out from earth 38. He fought until his last breath…”

“Just say it John.”

“I’m so sorry Felicity. We tried to get him back— hell we even traveled to another earth and threw him in the Lazarus pit. But ultimately he sacrificed himself to create a whole new universe.”

A new universe.

“Well maybe he’s lost somewhere. I bet I can track him!” Felicity jumps up from the couch and runs over to her secret room.

She’s already typing when she hears John come up behind her. She types furiously, with purpose. “Any changes between this universe and the one before? I need to know it might help us find Oliver.” She asks before John can try to stop her efforts of finding her husband.

“Well apparently I have not one but two kids!”

“Baby Sara and JJ. Did you not have kids?”

“Well yeah but just one.” He hesitates a moment before adding, “I don’t know if I should even tell you this but your kids from the future popped up for a little bit. They’re wonderful people.”

Felicity swivels back on her chair to face a smiling John. “My kids? Time travelled? And I missed this?!”

“Oliver wanted to tell you but we didn’t know how William and Mia being here would affect the timeline—time traveling is apparently very complicated.”

“Oh. Right. Ripples. Yeah don’t want those. You know that’s how Barry fracked up the timeline and left you with just one kid.” She joked. But she couldn’t hide the fact that she was disappointed on missing meeting her kids from the future. “Hold on where was Lucas? Did they talk about me? Will I be a good mom?”

“You did an amazing job of raising two wonderful—Wait what? Did you say Lucas?”

“I might have forgot to tell you…I’m eight weeks pregnant.”

“And you already decided it’s a boy?” He asked clearly amused but excited by the unexpected news.

“I feel it in my bones, John. I’m having a boy.”

—————

3 months later

I’m still here. -O

There’s a neon green post it with what she swears to be Oliver’s handwriting on their wedding picture she keeps on her bedside table.

It couldn’t be. Could it?

John said Oliver died.

There was no way it was Oliver. Somebody had to be messing with her.

Maybe it was the Monitor, he’d promised that he’d reunite them again but how could he now that Oliver was dead?

Nothing made sense to Felicity anymore.

——————

Everyone made it to Oliver’s memorial service. His mother, both of his sisters Thea and Emiko, and William.

Felicity had been keeping in touch with William since Oliver disappeared. She’d told him about his little sister and he was eager to meet her.

Felicity would never forget that day.

How surprised he was to see her belly as it just started to show. How William wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held to her tightly. How happy he was carrying his baby sister in his arms. And the sadness in his eyes when he asked “Dad’s not coming back is he?”

She cried her heart out. She really tried not to but she couldn’t keep her emotions in check. “I’m sorry kiddo. I don’t think so. But I really want you to come back home. I— Your father and I wanted you and Mia to grow up together.”

William didn’t say anything right away but she could see his eyes welled up with tears. He reached into his pocket with his right hand while balancing his sister on his left arm. “I actually wanted to.” He unfolded his hand to give something to her.

As soon as it hit her hand she knew what it was. The hozen.

Felicity gripped the hozen tightly inside her coat pocket. She would never get used to not having her husband by her side, even more so now with this pregnancy.

She kept hoping that one day they would reconnect. That the Monitor would turn up again to reunite her with Oliver.

———————

3 months later

Giving birth is not easy. Not even the second time around. Especially when Felicity can’t hold on to Oliver’s hand. This time she holds onto Lyla’s. Thea and Moira wanted to be in the delivery room but the reminder that there was a missing Queen, the most important one, was too much for Felicity. So Lyla kicked them out, nicely of course.

After six hours of labor Lucas Jonas Queen finally makes his entrance to the world.

John’s face is priceless once he meets Lucas and Felicity remarks, “Told you it was a boy!”

————-

A year later on her birthday Felicity finds a letter on Oliver’s side of the bed. She hasn’t had the heart to sleep on his side. The bed seems too big and while Mia and Lucas both sleep with her on it, it always feels a little cold without Oliver’s presence.

Happy birthday.

I’ll be watching over you and our kids.

-O

That’s not the first or the last note Felicity receives through the years. After the first five she starts to get her hopes back up. There’s something about the little notes that make her feel hopeful again.

Even though she knows better she can’t help but believe that it’s her Oliver.

Keep me in your heart.

Love, Oliver.

She always gets that one on Mia’s birthday.

On William’s it reads: William, I love you. Live.

P.S. I know.

And on Lucas’ birthday it reads: He is so perfect. My Beautiful boy.

On their anniversary she gets a rose with a note that reads: You will always be the best part of me for the rest of my life.

Oh how she wishes it were true.

But at least Felicity gets the chance to be there for their kids. She will tell them about the sacrifices their father made so that they could live. She would protect them, love them, teach them how to be a hero in the light and most importantly she would make sure they know their father loved them, even if he didn’t know they existed.

Oliver had created a whole new universe that required the ultimate sacrifice. The ultimate act of heroism. Felicity couldn’t even be mad at Oliver she would always be grateful, he saved not only the city but the whole damn multiverse.

It’s like she once told William, Oliver makes sacrifices so they have to make theirs. That’s what makes—made their love deeper than other kinds of love.

And even if she sometimes felt alone and overwhelmed she could always look around and find pieces of Oliver all over. Moira, Thea, Tommy, now she had the chance to really get to know them and count on them as family just like Oliver would’ve if they had survived in the alternate timeline.

——————

2040

A lot has happened in the last 20 years.

Living off the grid was hard. But not as hard as having to raise Mia and Lucas by herself. William helped from time to time but once he left for college she was, again, on her own.

Since Felicity had managed to get William back he had been sad that his father wasn’t in the picture anymore, but at least he was quite excited and happy to have a sister and a baby brother. And now he was on his way to be a successful CEO of his very own tech empire.

Mia was graduating college and soon hopefully if she said yes, getting engaged. JJ was the perfect boyfriend, much like Oliver was to her, her better half.

Not far behind was Lucas who halfway through college decided to drop out and focus on developing a nonprofit community outreach program.

The kids were happy and thriving. Her job was done. They didn’t need her anymore. Still Felicity hoped that one of them would take over at Smoak Technologies. It was getting old for her, she loved her job and the amazing contributions they were making in the medical field but she really just wanted some peace and quiet now.

Shortly after Lucas turned one Felicity decided it was time to go back to Starling City.

She never would’ve thought that she’d be living with Moira, Thea and Roy at the Queen mansion, but there was room to grow there. Plus the kids would get to know their family, so they did. Lucas was Thea and Roy’s favorite—they’d deny any form of favoritism but it was crystal clear.

—————————-

On May 14, 2040 Felicity summons her kids to the mansion, she had to tell them that it was time for her to go. They understood and of course they were sad but it’s like she pointed out to them, she’s not dying or in any pain, they’re not losing their mother. She’s just reuniting with Oliver.

So they said their heartfelt goodbyes, shared some last minute words of wisdom. She told them that she’d be watching over them and waiting for them from beyond. She made sure to warn them about coming over to the other side too soon.

William thanked her for being a wonderful mother and for always being patient with him. Mia cried her eyes out and said she’d keep both her parents in her heart. Lucas was being eerily quiet about it. He didn’t say much just hugged his mom and kissed her forehead.

Wherever Oliver was he was waiting for her and she felt it was time to go. So she wasn’t surprised when The Monitor appeared by her side while she talked to Oliver’s grave in the backyard of the mansion.

“Ms. Smoak, are you ready? Where I’m taking you there is no return.”

Felicity fiddled with the hozen in her hand and looked up, a soft smile on her face. “I have waited a very long time to see him. I’m ready.”

“Follow me.” The Monitor instructs as he escorts her back inside and leads her to the foyer. “Oliver requested that I bring you from this specific location. Must have some special meaning.”

Felicity looks around and realizes just exactly where she is and what day it is. On May 14, 2013 she stood here on this very same place with Oliver.

“You need to stay here.”

“What? Why? You can’t just ask me—”

“I’m not asking. I will come and get you when this is all over.”

“No!”

“Felicity”

“No. Not unless you tell me why.”

“Because I need you to be safe.”

“But I don’t want to be safe. I wanna be with you, and the others, unsafe.”

“I can’t let that happen.”

“Oliver. You’re not making any sense.”

“Slade took Laurel because he wants to kill the woman I love.”

“I know. So?”

“So he took the wrong woman.”

“Oh?”

“I love you. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

Felicity is still smiling when the portal finally opens. She walks through and suddenly she’s back in their Ivy Town home. A fire is crackling in the living room fire place, on the mantel are displayed the pictures from their trip over the summer. They looked so happy.

“Oliver?”

“In the kitchen!”

She whips around so fast her ponytail smacks her in the face. There in the middle of the kitchen stands a sweaty Oliver making omelettes. She doesn’t even try to pace herself. Felicity runs full speed at him and jumps into his arms.

“Hey.”

“Hi.” He smiles down at her and gently grabs her chin to angle her head and press his lips to hers. “I’m glad you’re finally home.”

This is where they spend their eternal life. Reliving their best moments as a couple, blissfully in Ivy Town.

Home.

The end.

#oliver queen #felicity smoak #fanfic #olicity fan fic #olicity #canon divergence #submission #olicity secret santa #goodbye olicity

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dimensiontripperhibiki · 4 years

Text

Hold It Together (As we Fall Apart) - chapter 6

You guys are not gonna like me for the end of this chapter...heh. I hope you enjoy it anyway. Let me know what you think! Thanks for all of the likes and comments! Lena paused in the doorway to the room Kara was being kept in, trying to muster up the courage to enter the room. Try as she might, she couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that Kara didn’t remember what had happened between the two of them. That Alex was under the impression that she had taken advantage of Kara’s inebriated, vulnerable state. Maybe she had. Lena looked around the doorway into the room. The silence had led her to believe that Kara was alone. Instead, she found the emerald archer leaning back against the barrier separating Kara from the outside. Kara mirrored his position on the other side of the glass, a little to his right. Lena felt a familiar twinge of jealousy at the sight but quickly shook it off. Kara wasn’t hers to feel jealous over. She locked eyes with Oliver and cleared her throat the get Kara’s attention. Kara glanced over her shoulder, seemingly disinterested in whoever was there but she visibly brightened when she saw Lena standing there. “Lena! Hi.” She scrambled to her feet as Lena entered the room. “I didn’t expect to see you this early. I thought you might be busy with meetings.” “My schedule was clear today,” Lena answered, choosing not to mention that she had canceled everything on her schedule. “How are you feeling?”

“A lot better. See?” Kara used her super speed to get to the other side of the tiny ‘room’ she was being kept in. “I just wish Alex would let me out.” “She’s been complaining about it all morning.” Oliver stood up, stretching and for the first time, Lena noticed that he’d changed from his suit into a black shirt and some light jeans. “I should go and find Alex. See if she needs any help with anything. I’ll see you later, Kara.” “See you later.” Kara returned back to the other side of the room, at normal speed this time. Her eyes remained fixed on Lena as Oliver left the room. “Are you okay?” “Am I okay?” Lena echoed, stopping directly in front of Kara. Her hand twitched at her side but she resisted the urge to touch the barrier separating the two of them. “You’re the one who was stabbed.” “I know but Alex said some things about me losing my inhibitions and doing things I wouldn’t usually,” Kara replied sheepishly, not quite able to meet Lena’s eyes. “And I know you were at my apartment when I got sick so I was wondering if maybe I hurt you or...something.” “You didn’t hurt me,” Lena said quietly. “You didn’t do anything I didn’t want you to do.” Kara frowned in confusion at the response. “What do you mean? What did I do?” “You told me the truth.” “Right…” Kara stared at Lena, noticing the troubled look on her face. She stepped closer, only succeeding in pressing herself flush against the barrier. “I wish I had told you the truth earlier.” “I know.” Lena murmured, aware that they were thinking about two different truths. “Me too, Kara.” “Do you think there’s a chance we can be friends again?” Kara had to force the words out of her mouth. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer to that question. She was too afraid that the answer would be yes. “Even just a slim chance?” Lena swallowed against the lump in her throat. “I don’t know. I don’t know if I can go back to being friends with you.” Kara tried to hide how much the answer stung and slowly nodded her head. “I understand. But just...if there’s anything I can do to make this better...if you think of anything at all, just tell me.” “Actually, I…” Lena was interrupted by a sudden gush of wind blowing her hair up. She swung around in alarm. Her stomach plummeted at the sight of the suited man standing in front of her. The color was different but the suit was all too similar to Godspeed’s. Lena instinctively stepped to the right, trying to shield Kara. “BARRY!” “Hey, hey, hey! Secret identity, remember?” The masked speedster said hurriedly as he stepped forward. He was grinning though, letting Lena know that he wasn’t a threat. “Right. Sorry. Lena’s a friend though. You don’t have to worry.” Kara said brightly. “What are you doing here? Have you seen Oliver?” “It was actually Oliver who contacted me.” Barry experimentally pressed his hand against the barrier Kara was being kept behind. “Yeah, I would hug you but…” Kara gestured meekly at the barrier. “Alex thinks I need to be in here for another 24 hours to make sure I’m at full health.” “Are you contagious?” “What? No!” Barry grinned and phased through the barrier separating the two of them. Kara gasped in delight and rushed forward into Barry’s open arms, hugging him tightly. Lena sighed to herself as she watched them. She supposed she should have been relieved by the interruption but she wasn’t. If anything, she was annoyed by it. She cleared her throat when the hug went on for a little too long. “Oh, sorry.” Kara sheepishly let Barry go and he took back, taking an exaggeratedly deep breath. “I’ve been deprived of human contact for the past 36 hours. Barry, this is my…” Kara made eye contact with Lena, clearly not sure what she should say. “Lena.” “Your Lena?” Barry smirked at her before he turned to the dark-haired woman on the other side of the glass. “Hey. I’m the Flash. You can just call me Barry though.” Kara grimaced at the look Barry shot her. “I’m sorry! I was surprised to see you and it just came out. You really can trust her though. I promise.” Lena swallowed thickly at the earnest tone of Kara’s voice. She didn’t know how Kara could consider her to be trustworthy after what had happened with myriad. “Actually I should probably go. I have a meeting.” “What? But you just got here!” Kara protested hurriedly. “I thought you said your schedule was clear today?” “I just remembered something.” Lena grimaced at the fact that she’d slipped up. Her mind was a mess of jumbled thoughts and memories. She wasn’t sure she could look at Kara the same now that she’d seen her naked. “I um...I’m glad you’re okay. If anything happens just let me know. I’ll see you later.” Barry raised an eyebrow as Lena turned and rushed out of the room. “She seems a little um...skittish?” “She’s not, it’s...it’s complicated.” Kara stared forlornly after Lena for a moment before she turned back to Barry, forcing a smile to her face. “So what are you doing here?” “I came for Godspeed actually,” Barry answered, carefully removing his cowl. He sat down on the edge of Kara’s bed. “Your sister and Oliver figured the best person to deal with a speedster is a speedster.” “Makes sense. Are you staying long?” “Probably just until Alex is done with Godspeed,” Barry answered with a slight shrug. “So what happened to you? Oliver didn’t say much. Just that you got hurt.” “Honestly, I’m not sure. I was stabbed with kryptonite. Everything else is just blurry or not there at all.” Kara’s thoughts turned back to Lena. She had definitely done something to her. Barry was right, Lena was acting skittish around her. She seemed less angry now. She just seemed sad. And worried. Kara couldn’t get a read on her. “How did you tell Iris that you were the Flash?” “Whoa.” Barry stared at Kara in surprise. “Thinking of telling someone who you really are? I didn’t know you were seeing someone.” “I’m not.” Kara’s heart clenched in her chest. “It’s not that, it’s just...was Iris angry with you when you told her? How long did you keep it a secret from her?” “Uh...you know what? I’ll be right back.” Barry sped off and Kara huffed in annoyance as she sat down on the bed. A minute or so passed before Barry returned with a paper bag and 2 paper cups in a cup holder. “I figured you could use some food. And this conversation might take a while.” “Barry Allen, I could kiss you!” “Please don’t.” Barry gave a soft laugh as Kara took the bag from him and began to dig around in it. “I doubt Iris would be happy about it.” Kara faux glared at him. “So you were saying? About Iris?” “Right, well…” Barry proceeded to dive into the story of how Iris had found out that he was the Flash and Kara listened intently, happy to have found someone who could relate to the struggle of keeping such a huge secret from someone they loved. ---- Lena stared into her coffee as she stirred it aimlessly, watching the froth of the cappucino slide slowly off the spoon, landing silently back in the drink. She had ignored the urge to drink her usual glass of whisky. As much as she wanted to drown her sorrows, she also needed her mind clear. She needed to try to figure out what to do. Her anger toward Kara had ebbed away, replaced with anger at herself for softening toward the woman who’d betrayed her. “This is not what we do.” She mumbled to herself. She recalled her mother saying that to her more than once when she’d shown weakness as a child. They were Luthors. Displaying weakness was not something they did. So she’d had sex with Kara. So what? That didn’t mean all of the anger, hurt and resentment was just going to fall away. It didn’t mean that Lena had forgiven her. Only she had. Or she was going to at least. She felt herself getting closer and closer to letting that anger go. But why? The only thing that had changed was that night and Kara didn’t even remember it. That, along with that fact that Kara had almost died. Letting out a sigh, Lena glanced to the pad of paper on the counter next to her. She’d been trying to figure it out for a while now, where this sudden desire to forgive Kara Danvers had come from. It frustrated her to no end. She wasn’t weak. She wasn’t going to show weakness. She was torn from her thoughts by the familiar sound of someone landing on her balcony. She looked up in time to see Kara knock gently on the glass. When their eyes met, the caped her offered a slight wave before she pushed the ajar door open and stepped inside. “Speak of the devil.” Lena drawled as she watched Kara walk closer to her. “You were talking about me?” Kara looked around, clearly confused. There was nobody else in the apartment. She had made sure of that before she landed. “Nevermind.” Lena waved the question off. “I see your sister finally let you out.” “Yeah.” Kara smiled at that. “She said I was doing much better so she let me out a few hours early and well...here I am. Good as new.” Lena took a sip of her coffee, finding it lukewarm. She supposed that was her own fault, for merely fidgeting with it for the past fifteen minutes. “What can I do for you, Supergirl?” Kara looked hurt for a fraction of a second before she spoke. “I want to know what I did to you. Alex said you were there when I was sick and I don’t remember anything. Alex won’t tell me what I did but she wouldn’t have locked me up otherwise. Can you please just tell me? If I did something...something else to hurt you, I want to know.” “You didn’t do anything to hurt me.” Lena answered curtly. “Nothing new.” “Nothing new.” Kara echoed slowly, her brow furrowed. She stepped forward until she was lightly gripping the other side of the counter Lena was standing behind. “Which means I did do something, right? I knew it! What di-?” “Kara, I said it’s nothing!” Lena exclaimed loudly. She set her coffee down harder than she intended, sending it splashing over the edges onto her pristine counter. She cursed as some of it splashed onto her notebook and quickly set about finding a cloth to wipe the mess up. Kara looked at the notepad, seeing her name written on it. She reached across to pick it up, out of curiosity. Lena’s handwriting was as neat as she had expected it to be. Not like her messy, hurrid, reporters scrawl. She frowned as she read it. “You wrote liar down twice.” “What?” Lena looked up, her eyes widening when she saw what Kara was holding. “What are you doing? That’s private.” “Sorry. I noticed my name was written on it.” Kara said sheepishly. “What is it? A list of...pros and cons? Good and bad?” Lena felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment at the question. “Yes.” Kara glanced back down at the paper for a moment. “Plane crash, concrete block, falling, publicly defending…” She murmured as she read through the list. She noticed an unfinished sentence at the end. “I l...What were you going to write?” “You do know what private means, don’t you?” Lena reached across the counter separating them and snatched the notepad from Kara. “It’s really none of your business.” Kara let out a weary sigh, her shoulders slumping. She watched Lena storm past her to put the notepad away. She disappeared into the bedroom but when she came back, Kara was still standing in the same position. “You’ve saved my life twice now in the last couple of days alone.” Kara remarked as she watched Lena walk toward the couch. “You really didn’t have to do that.” “Yes, I did.” “Lena.” Kara went to the couch, perching on it next to Lena. “Why won’t you look at me?” “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Lena said tiredly. To prove her point she looked up at Kara, her eyes fixed on the blonde’s cheek. “I’m looking at you right now. Though I would prefer not to be, I have work in the morning.” “You won’t look me in the eye.” Kara reached out, her fingertips grazing the back of Lena’s hand before Lena wrenched away from her. She fought a stab of hurt at the rejection. “What did I do to you? Just tell me and I’ll...mmph!” Kara didn’t manage to finish her sentence. She saw Lena move and suddenly she was kissing her. Lena Luthor was kissing her and Kara couldn’t do anything for a second. Lena’s hand moved to the back of Kara’s neck and Kara found herself giving in, her eyes sliding closed as she kissed Lena back. It lasted only a few glorious seconds before Lena drew away from Kara, her pupils blown wide. “You told me the truth.” Kara opened and closed her mouth a couple of times before she managed to croak out a response. “W-What do you mean?” Lena let out a frustrated sigh. “I went to your apartment to tell you I didn’t have anything to do with what happened to you and you kissed me. Told me you wanted me.” Kara felt her stomach plummet at the thought. “Oh...oh no…w-we...did we…?” Lena nodded in response, troubled as she took in Kara’s mortified expression. “Is the idea of sleeping with me so terrible?” “N-No! No, of course not.” Kara answered hastily. She didn’t want to give Lena the wrong idea but she was struggling to wrap her mind around it. “I’m just...I’m shocked. And confused. Why would you want to...you know?” “Have sex with you.” Lena said, pulling away entirely. She tried not to let the sting Kara’s reaction caused her to show on her face. “I think you know why. Do I really need to say it?” “Please.” Kara reached out and this time she succeeded in grasping Lena’s hand. “I need to know.” “Because I love you!” Lena answered, finally meeting Kara’s eyes, aware that her own were damp with tears. “I love you and I hate myself for it. It’s weak. It’s pathetic.” “Lena…” Kara couldn’t help it. She moved forward and wrapped her arms around Lena, embracing her gently. She felt Lena stiffen for a moment before relaxing, melting into her arms. “You’re not weak or pathetic. You’re the strongest person I know. I’m not just saying that.” “I should hate you.” Lena’s voice was muffled by Kara’s neck but Kara heard it. “I can hate myself enough for the both of us.” Kara said softly. She slowly drew away to look into Lena’s eyes. A moment of silence passed between them before Kara spoke again. “I should go.” “Go.” Lena blinked in surprise at the abrupt announcement. She realized she’d been holding onto Kara’s arms only when the hero slipped from her grasp. “You’re leaving? After everything I just said, you’re just leaving?” Kara hesitated for a moment, a pained look on her face. Her hands twitched at her sides and Lena noticed that the blonde looked close to tears herself. “I’m not going to hurt you again, Lena.” Lena stood up, her hands balled into fists as she followed Kara toward the balcony. “You’re doing this to me again? You don’t get to make decisions for me. You don’t get to decide what’s best for me! Kara Danvers, don’t you DARE fly away from me!” Kara stopped and took a deep breath of the cool air outside before she turned slowly toward Lena. “Do you think that I’m what’s best for you? You know what my life is like. You know how dangerous it is. I was selfish before when I lied to you. To keep you as a friend. I’m not going to do that again.” “You think this is selfless? This isn’t honorable, this is you being a coward!” Lena stepped forward, gripping the neckline of Kara’s suit to keep her from flying off. “You don’t think I’m scared too after everything that’s happened?” “I know you are.” Her eyes watering, Kara gently took Lena’s hand away and stepped back, using her speed to fly off. “Why can’t you just be brave for ONCE?” Lena’s parting mumble was heard perfectly by Kara, thanks to her super senses. She wished she could be. She made a beeline for her apartment, ready to crawl into bed and cry into her pillow. Noticing her head was feeling fuzzy and she was veering off course, Kara frowned to herself and struggled to set herself right. She put it down to being unsteady on her feet after her encounter with Lena and ignored the nausea that followed as she finally landed. TBC.

#Supercorp #Supergirl #Kara Danvers #Lena Luthor #Fanfiction

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andersunmenschlich · 4 years

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Episode 7: The Piper

This statement was given in 1922, when I was -67 years old.

Talk about jumping around. 22, 9, 27, 23, 19, 25, -67... is there any order to this at all? Even the monsters seem mostly unrelated, so if these statements are organized somehow, I don't know how.

Anyway.

In this statement, Staff Sergeant Clarence Barry tells about his time serving with a Wilfred Owen during the first world war.

Wilfred Owen turned up in the trenches as a probationary Second Lieutenant in July 1916, and he wrote poetry. Sergeant Barry didn't care for his poetry, particularly. Thought it lacked soul. Also, when he talked about how awesome he wanted his poetry to be, he had a habit of trailing off and tilting his head like he'd just heard something, which (given the title of the episode) I'm inclined to think means he was hearing something.

Wilfred Owen apparently made it almost a whole year before anything horrible happened to him, which I suppose is reasonable but I'm glad we're skipping that bit because it sounds boring. Here, then, they're getting ready to attack an enemy trench and he keeps acting like he's hearing something.

Clarence Barry gets his leg caught on some barbed wire during the charge, can't get unstuck, and looks around for help.

Wilfred Owen is no help.

He's standing there all caught up in listening to something nobody else can hear, blank-faced and gently swaying like he's hearing music. At which point Clarence Barry starts to hear music.

Some kind of pipes: bagpipes or panpipes or who knows what, but definitely pipes.

And Wilfred and Clarence both somehow know that Wilfred is just about to die. Which he does: there's a gunshot and it hits him, and then there's a mortar strike, and my goodness, he gets hit by that, too! There's an eruption of mud and earth, and he's just gone.

Clarence survives.

He lies in that hole, held down by barbed wire, until night falls and no one can see him moving, at which point he gets himself loose and slowly crawls back to relative safety.

Wilfred, of course, is gone. There was no way he'd be among the wounded, but Clarence asked anyway and no, he wasn't. Clarence Barry thinks about him a lot—or rather, he thinks about that strange music. Can't get it out of his mind.

A week and a half later, Wilfred Owen is found alive.

Which is simply impossible!

But there he is, not dead, not even wounded, lying in a shell hole by a river.

He's covered in blood and gore, but of course this must have come from somebody else, yes? Clearly it couldn't be his. Whoever he's covered in, they're very obviously dead. Which Wilfred Owen isn't.

Right?

Anyway, Wilfred Owen isn't talking. He hasn't said a single word since he was brought in wearing a bunch of ick, a wrecked uniform, and a thousand-yard-stare.

Clarence Barry goes to visit him anyway.

And there, in the hospital bed, is Wilfred Owen, looking intently at a man in another bed, who dies.

Okay... well, that could be coincidence. There's nothing that says Wilfred made that happen. People do die in medical tents at war fronts. Maybe he just knew it was going to happen thanks to his newfound connection to death, and that's why he was watching. Could be.

Wilfred Owen speaks his first words since being found to Clarence Barry.

He tells Clarence that he met the war.

And the war, he says, was no taller than Clarence, though it had three faces: one to play the pipes (made of bone, of course), one to scream, and one to vomit bloody mud everywhere (this one kept its mouth shut, apparently). It also had a lot of arms, holding—well, the pipes, obviously—but also many, many different weapons. And some of the arms didn't hold anything, they just begged silently for mercy (and one of them saluted).

The war wore a beat-up woolen coat that had been olive green once, and underneath it was more wound than body. And apparently it called itself the Piper.

Well, now. Isn't that a delightful image?

Clarence Barry apparently doesn't think so. "I had heard quite enough by this point," he says, "and said so to Wilfred, but if he heard me he gave no indication of it." And thank goodness for that! If he'd listened and shut up, how would we ever have gotten this story?

The war, Wilfred says, had come for him. But he begged to stay.

So it reached out one of its arms and gave him a pen, and somehow this told Wilfred that it would be back for him later, but in the meantime "he too would live to play its tune."

Clarence Barry thinks, just for a moment, that he can hear that piping again.

Whereupon he excuses himself and leaves, and Wilfred Owen gets shipped back to Britain to recuperate.

Clarence asks the men who found Wilfred whether he was holding a pen when they found him, and they say no—all they found was Wilfred, covered in gore, and the dog tags of somebody named Joseph Rayner (so... huh, I guess it wasn’t his old body after all).

Then for a long while nothing we're interested in happens.

Wilfred Owen is in Britain. Clarence Barry is in France. He can't really tell us anything that's going on with Wilfred from such a distance, so....

Oh, but he does notice that before a charge some men will look like they're listening to something far-off; and those men never come back from the charge, they always die. He mentions the phrase "paying the piper," and wonders about the lost children of Hamelin, maybe partially because they had a German prisoner from Hamelin (but he couldn't communicate with him because the guy didn't speak English, though he did hum a familiar tune...).

Wilfred Owen's poetry, meanwhile, has improved markedly.

It's popular, apparently.

Clarence Barry, however, never satisfied, still doesn't really like it. "There was something about it that sat uneasily with me," he says. Some people.

In July 1918, Wilfred Owen comes back to the trenches.

He and Clarence don't talk much anymore, but when he looks at Clarence there is, apparently, a fear in his eyes that he's quick to hide. Which makes me wonder: is he afraid because he knows Clarence saw him get A) shot and then B) blown up? Or is it just a general fear that Clarence only notices whenever their eyes meet?

Whatever the case, our statement-giver thinks the war's running out of steam and Britain's trying to push Germany into a surrender.

On the first day of October, Clarence Barry finally gets to see Wilfred Owen in action again. They hadn't fought alongside each other since Wilfred, you know... died. Very comprehensively.

And it looks like the new Wilfred is an amazingly vicious fighter!

He also briefly casts a shadow that isn't his, which I like. As creepy touches go, the somehow-wrong shadow is one of my favorites.

He gets the Military Cross for that particular savage attack, and Clarence Barry is spooked. About a month after that Wilfred tells him it's almost over. He's crying, and obviously listening to the Piper's tune. He asks if Clarence can hear it, and Clarence honestly tells him that he can't. Two days later, Wilfred Owen dies.

He dies at what Clarence Barry thinks is the exact moment peace between the nations was assured, and frankly I'm not going to argue with that, because it lines up really well with the whole Incarnation Of War Coming For You Later thing.

Also, he dies via the bullet wound that killed him earlier.

"The bullet hole simply opened, like an eye, and he fell to the ground, dead." That's cool. And what's more, it opens in his forehead—so it's like a third eye.

Clarence Barry also says that he had to close his window, back at home in Britain, when the military band in the parade for Armistice Day marched by his house. "It wasn't a tune I cared to hear," he says. Which means whatever tune the Piper plays, it's one humans also know and play. I wonder what one it is? Hmm. Kind of inclined to say this one, just because of the composer....

Oh, okay. According to Jonathan Sims, he's been going through the mid-2000s (and was apparently annoyed to find a statement from 1922 filed in there). So that's how he's picking statements: he's working his way through a specific file.

I really wanted to know that, so I'm pleased that now I do!

Mr. Sims also says the name "Joseph Rayner" sounds familiar, though he can't think where he might've run across it before.

This episode makes me think of Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality. Not that the incarnation of War worked quite like this in that series of books, but somehow it just has a similar vibe, you know?

I'm looking forward to the next episode.

#The Magnus Archives #episode 7 #commentary #late to the party

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saiilorstars · 4 years

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It Had To Be You

Ch.19: Wild Girl // Story Masterlist

Fandom: The Flash

Pairings: Barry Allen x Original Female Character

Pronunciation of OC’s name: Bell-en. The last syllable has an emphasis so it’s not pronounced like ‘Helen’ would be.

~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~

Chapter Summary: Barry struggles to help Belén get a hold on her powers' darker side. At the same time, they have to worry about the fact Iris is getting closer to figuring out who they really are to the city.

{Previous chapters here}

"You want me to...what?" Belén looked straight ahead at the STAR Labs training field in despair.

Beside her stood Barry, in his Flash suit with his hood off, who once again explained to her the motive of this visit. "You can't let your powers control you, Bells. It's quite simple actually. You-"

"Um, I believe the one that turns into a poisonous flower is me, Barry. No flower powers, no opinion."

"Fair enough," Barry conceded with his hands held up. "You said that when you 'change' it was usually because of some radical emotion you were feeling at the time."

"Yeah, when I was mad or frustrated actually."

"But you never actually learned to control it?"

"Um...no, that would be a definite no."

"And that's why we're here today, to help you gain control."

Belén once again looked at the empty field before them. Barry told her no one from STAR Labs knew about their little visit and no one would know about future ones till she was ready to talk about her untapped powers.

"I don't...even know how," Belén crossed her arms self consciously.

"And that's why we're here," Barry took her arms and gently put them to her sides. "I'm not an expert, but I do have some training on my side okay?"

"Are you gonna shoot me like Oliver did with you?" she innocently asked.

Barry laughed and shook his head. "No, I promise I will not shoot you. I don't do that sort of training."

"...you promise?" Belén asked quietly, still overly guilty she'd let Oliver do that to him the last time he was in the city.

Barry smiled at her, still answering her despite thinking it was obvious those tactics weren't his style. He stepped closer to her, lowering his head a bit to touch noses. "You think I'd shoot my girlfriend?"

Belén blushed. She felt like a teenage girl honestly with all the heat in her face and the jolt her heart kept giving. It'd been a couple of days since their first date so they were still getting used to their new relationship. It involved a lot of blushing, shy touching and some kisses here and there.

"Maybe to get back at me for Oliver's arrow tricks?"

Barry lightly chuckled. "No, I'm getting him back later on. Now, c'mon, you can do it Miss Azalea."

"If you say so," she took in a breath to calm her nerves. "How...how do I even start?"

"We need to trigger it first of all, and once we have it, we need you to learn a way to hold it off until you decide to change back."

"Oh, right, easy-peasy," Belén crossed her arms. "Except I told you it only happens when I get mad or frustrated."

"So then I just have to annoy you? I can do that," Barry grinned and took off without giving her a chance to ask what he had in mind.

She barely shifted her feet when a strong gust of wind pushed her backwards. She stumbled for a couple of seconds, blinking wide and fast, and then was hit with the same force. "Wait-" she nearly fell forwards but Barry returned again and made her do the opposite.

He went back and forth, truly irritating the hell out of her because she didn't have the opportunity to get her balance back.

"BAR-" but she whirled in her spot again. On one try, she actually fell to the ground. When her eyes snapped open, there was a new wildness sitting in them. A rapid scaly green crawled over her skin afterwards. "STOP!" she roared and jumped back on her feet.

Barry came to a skidded stop, stunned to see her change. Belén had narrowed eyes on him and without a warning shot a vine right at him that smacked him to the ground. With a groan, Barry opened his eyes to see the sky up above.

Well, at least it worked, he thought though he was sure there were some fine bruises forming on his back. Thank god for the super healing.

Belén started blowing her poison which, in her state, turned out to be stronger-packed with poison than thought. Barry got on his feet and coughed for a moment due to the poison. He started to run around her just like he usually would but this time Belén conjured up a a series of vines and spun on her feet to swing them at Barry. The speedster crashed straight into it and was thrown a great length away.

"That one actually hurt, Barry pushed himself upright. He saw Belén was coming towards her with the same strange wild eyes and frankly, it did scare him a little knowing she wasn't in full control. He was sure, though, that with the right training, she would beat it. "Bells?" he called to her. "It's time to reel it back!"

But she kept coming.

"Belén?" he called louder as he stood up. "Belén, I know you can hear me! C'mon, take control!" She drew one arm back, getting ready to attack again. Barry hook his hand at her, frantically calling to her. "Belén! I'm not fighting you anymore, see!?"

She growled and fired boomerang-like bits of vines with thorns all around them. Barry sped out of the way and came up from behind, ramming her to the ground. She gasped and Barry saw how quickly the scaly green vanished from her skin. Her usual warmth filled her eyes soon afterwards, signaling she was back.

"I'm sorry..." Barry apologized and got off her.

Belén groaned and rubbed the back of her head, groggily looking around. "I couldn't get back, could I?" Barry's face said it all. Belén sighed and covered her face with her hands. "Did I hurt you?"

"No, you just..." Barry pursed his lips and thought about it, "...kind of kicked my ass."

"Well if I'm gonna do that I'd rather do it as myself," Belén pushed herself up to her feet and fixed herself up. "This was a mistake."

"What? No! It wasn't-"

Belén raised an eyebrow at him, none too pleased he was trying to downgrade whatever she'd done. "I wasn't in control and if you hadn't knocked me down, I probably would've actually hurt you."

"Belén, c'mon," Barry walked up to her and took hold of her by the arms, "You've been suppressing this side of your powers so it's natural that they're gonna be harder to control but-"

Belén shrugged his arms off her and stepped back. "Then maybe it's best if I just leave them alone. Maybe if I let them stay inside they'll just...go away."

"I don't...I don't think it works that way," Barry hated the mortified look on her face.

"I don't want to hurt people," Belén whispered. "So maybe...maybe for now it's just best to leave things alone. I-I need to think..."

"Belén-"

But the woman shook her head, meaning the conversation was over. "We're done," her order was frail and quiet, but its finality stood out.

~ 0 ~

"Your brother hasn't been answering his damn phone," Angie told Maritza the moment the latter walked into Angie's apartment. "And for that matter, he hasn't been around for days."

Maritza would've liked to roll her eyes at Angie and tell her off for being so annoying but in this case...she happened to be right. Rayan was slowly getting...weird. She didn't know what it was - nor did Angie or Noah - but Rayan was acting differently. No longer was he all a genius put together. There were moments where he...spazzed out. He had mood swings, moods that he never really exhibited.

"I think we should try that warehouse," Angie's voice brought Maritza back to the present. "It's the only place where he could be."

Maritza agreed it was a good idea and so the two headed out of the apartment in search of Rayan.

~ 0 ~

Through his many problems, Barry could only manage so far to only add new ones. Rushing into the city's morgue caused him to collide with Singh, knocking over the man's drink over his new coat, and partially dropping the drink on Barry himself. After dozens of apologies, he moved over to Joe to discuss the newest crime scene left behind last night.

"What's with all the water?" Joe inquired, gesturing to the emergency sprinklers on the ceiling. "Did the sprinkler system go off or something?"

"No, I checked all the sprinklers. They're all intact. But look at this," Barry led him to where the coroner's corpse laid on the floor. He bent down beside it and, with some tweezers, picked what looked to be like a small particle of ice off the ground.

Joe titled his head, confused. "What is that, ice?"

"Mm-hmm." Barry then pushed the coroner's shirt to reveal purple bruises left on the stomach. "The coroner has multiple impact bruises on his torso, all the size of a tennis ball. Judging by the amount of ice and water on the ground, I'm guessing he was killed by hail."

Joe was even more lost. "Hail? In here?"

"Yeah."

"Do you think this was Snart?"

Barry straightened up and shook his head. "No, his cold-gun couldn't have done this."

Eddie moved over to the two holding a tape recorder. "Joe, we got something. The Coroner's office just installed an automated dictation system. Listen to this."

He played them the tape which revealed that Mark Clydon was alive and searching for the coo responsible for his brother's, Clyde, death. In the end, the coroner gave up the name that turned out to be Joe's.

Needless to say, Barry felt an extra layer of pressure to find this new metahuman quicker than normal.

~ 0 ~

Iris shuffled papers for one of Mason's stories, barely paying attention as she was busy looking around. She was pretty bored without her close friend in, so when she saw Barry coming in she perked up at the little distraction she would soon have. Leaving her papers on Mason's desk, she walked for him. But as she neared, she picked up on some odd, yet totally familiar, things in him.

The moment she got close enough to be heard without shouting, she voiced them. "Hmm," she crossed her arms, "That nervous face, the shifting, and the sole little Azalea in your hand could only mean one thing…" her lips widened with a teasing smile, "You had your first couple fight."

Barry saw no point in denying it. Sooner or later Belén would tell her something. "Something like that," he settled for.

Iris chuckled. "What was it? Week-a-versary? Oh! Or you-"

"Iris," Barry cut in sharply, "It's not the moment to be funny. I need to see Bells."

"Well I'm sorry to inform you but she's not here. She left early for dance practice."

"Damn," Barry mumbled.

"You know," Iris began, coming closer and letting her arms fall on her sides, "I could help you out."

"No offense, Iris, but I don't think you can…"

"Sure I can," Iris assured. "You just let me get her to a place and watch how things get sorted out." Barry gave her an unsure look, clearly preferring to do this on his own. Iris nudged him, pegging him on. "C'mon, I can help. Let me help. Pleeeease?"

Barry knew when he was at a loss, and against Iris West he was always at one. "Alright, fine."

Iris clapped and cheered, one main idea already forming in mind. "You won't regret it, I promise!" While she hugged him, Barry was still yet to feel so confident.

~ 0 ~

Maritza and Angie both walked into the warehouse they'd found ages ago to come around and practice their powers. It was the same one Rayan took an office for himself before coming to find Maritza and revealing he was alive.

"Rayan?" Maritza called as the women looked around. "You around?"

"Clearly not," Angie had walked into the office already. Maritza followed in a couple seconds later and found Angie gazing over a couple empty pill bottles on the desk. Angie picked one of them up and tilted her head. "These are headache pills. I bought some last week and they've all gone missing."

"My brother is not a pill abuser," Maritza warned Angie not to even go there. She came further inside and took a look at the state of the room. It was a mess, even for Rayan. "My brother is not okay..."

"You think?" Angie sarcastically gasped, making Maritza glare. "Oh c'mon, I'm not an idiot. Rayan's been...losing it, for a lack of a better word. I think it's your sister's fault."

"Belén did nothing," Maritza frowned. She was still fairly upset about Belén choosing the Flash over her family, but what Rayan was exhibiting had nothing to do with her actions. She suspected it was something biological that was hurting Rayan but up until now he hadn't shown anything besides headaches.

"Then where is he?" Angie gestured to the empty room.

Maritza went around the computer and pushed Angie out of the way so she could pull out a drawer. Rayan had a hidden laptop inside and so Maritza pulled it out to see what was inside. Unfortunately, he'd shattered the screen.

Angie's eyes widened. "Well, he's getting worse. Why do you think he would do that?"

Maritza decided not to answer. She put the laptop back inside the drawer and gazed at the papers over the desk. It appeared Rayan was taking notes for something. She grabbed a couple and skimmed some lines.

We're all losing. It's over. We must end it.

"Rayan...what the hell...?" Maritza lowered the papers and looked up at Angie, for the first time with honesty since they'd met. "We need to find him.

~ 0 ~

"I have never bowled a day in my life," Belén sighed as she and Iris walked down a bowling alley. She was only mildly interested in the place but she knew how much Iris loved the place so she just went with it.

"Easy win then," Iris rubbed her hands with a widened smirk.

Belén rolled her eyes. "I would think so. Why am I here again?"

But her answer did not come from Iris herself. She spotted Barry and Eddie halfway down and blamed herself for being so clueless this time. When she glanced at Iris the woman was cheekily smiling, turning and walking backwards to the guys.

"Iris West, one day...I will get a clue," Belén weakly pointed at her friends and followed after.

"Hey guys," Iris greeted, going straight to Eddie who was tying his bowling shoes on the couch.

"You are one sneak," Belén promptly accused Barry who'd gotten up from the other couch. Barry stuttered and somehow tried saying a sentence that involved apologizing. "I'm not mad with you, Barry, I hope you knew," she spoke quieter while Iris and Eddie got ready to bowl. "I'm mad with myself because...you know…"

Barry nodded, feeling relieved but not enough knowing she was still conflicted with herself. "You shouldn't be. Maybe I pushed you too far-"

"No, you didn't. I'm just...I don't know what to do," Belén admitted with a bitter chuckle. "I don't want to hurt anyone but the powers...they're my powers and I should be able to use them."

"Exactly," Barry was glad to see her perspective had changed since the last time they saw each other. "And we can work on it. Everyday. I want to help you. Can I?"

Belén looked to the side. She felt she was being overly complicated but she couldn't see herself agreeing right there. She didn't feel...ready. "I need some time. I don't think I can jump back into that training again tomorrow. I can't."

Barry took his win where he could. It was a compromise in the end. He wouldn't push her but she wouldn't let it go.

"Hey?" Iris called, making both metas look at her. "We bowling or what?"

"I've never bowled in my life," Belén sighed to Barry.

"I can teach you," he said, now eager to play. He took Belén's hand and led her towards the other couple.

Iris cheered as they began to play. Barry took his first turn, and with Belén intently watching him, he made sure to take his best shot. He swung the bowling ball down the bowling lane and made a perfect strike. Gasping in awe, Belén clapped for him. In his excitement, Barry did a little dance of triumph that involved sliding his feet and waving his arms.

Belén laughed for him as he came back. "That was adorable," she commented while his face flushed.

"Yikes," Iris, too, was laughing from her spot with Eddie, the latter trying not to laugh, "Belén, it's not too late to switch for a nice cop."

"Oh, thanks," Barry sarcastically said, glancing at her sharply.

"Aw, I like scientists better," Belén shrugged, winking at Barry.

"Thanks," Eddie mimicked Barry's sarcasm.

Belén winced and sheepishly smiled at him. "No offence."

"Let's just let Bells take her turn," Iris offered. "I can help you if you want-"

"No you won't," Eddie yanked her back the steps she'd taken towards the other couple.

"What? Why?" Iris frowned.

Barry had taken Belén back to the bowling ball retrieving space. To answer Iris' question, Eddie pointed as the other pair moved for the bowling lanes. Barry placed his hand over Belén's hand that held the bowling ball. He instructed her how to bend and move her arm. Together, they moved in sync and swung the ball down the lane. Although it wasn't a perfect strike as Barry's had been, she still managed to knock eight out of the ten pins. Belén squealed in delight and whirled around, practically jumping on Barry and giving him a hug.

"That's why," Eddie told Iris.

She gasped and looked up at him. "Is that why you took me golfing? To hold me?" Eddie cheekily smiled and went for another bowling ball.

As the night progressed, Iris proved to be a better bowler as she and Eddie increased their scores. Midway through, Belén felt so bad she was causing their loss she told Barry it was better for him to go solo.

"That's no fun!" he shook his head, plopping down on the couch beside her. He reached for one of the french fries she had on her plate over her lap.

"You know, I'm making you lose," Belén said, making a face at Iris who'd taken a seat on the other couch. "And I gotta be honest, I'd feel a little less guilty if someone-" Iris looked up with a wide smirk, "-didn't tease you about it."

"Good going Iris, you're making my girlfriend feel bad," Barry shot her a sarcastic look. Belén whacked his arm, making him laugh. He only stopped when he caught Belén yawning behind her hand. "You tired?"

"A little. I was up early today," she nodded.

"Maybe we should call it a night, then," he looked back at Iris and Eddie as he came back with a soda in hand.

"I'm sorry," Belén apologized as she left her plate on the middle table and got up with Barry.

"Don't worry about it," Iris waved it off. "I'm just glad you two are fine again. Whatever it was you were fighting about…"

Barry and Belén exchanged looks, both agreeing not to touch that subject right now. Barry ushered her towards the counter where they would switch in their bowling shoes for their regular shoes. Denying Iris and Eddie's offer for a lift, they headed on their own towards Belén's home.

"This was oddly fun," Belén said as they watched Iris and Eddie drive away.

"Oddly?" Barry quickly looked at her, suddenly afraid their fight was still an ongoing thing.

"I'm not exactly the sports girl," Belén gestured to herself with a light chuckle. "I don't like them very much."

"To be honest this is probably the only sport I was ever good at," Barry shrugged, "In case you were hoping you scored yourself a sporty boyfriend…"

"I'm happy with who I'm with," Belén reached for his hand. "My singing scientist."

"We're never letting that go, are we?" Barry laughed and shook his head.

"Nope! I've still got the video on my phone," and Belén could promise him right there and then that the video would always be there with him.

Barry brought them to Belén's front porch and with one glance at the driveway Belén concluded that her sister wasn't home.

"I wonder where the hell Maritza went," she thought out loud as she began to check for the lights from the living room window. "She's teaching tomorrow in the morning. And Axel..."

"It's eleven..." Barry said after checking his phone for the time. "Aren't four year olds supposed to be sleeping by now...?"

"Mhm," Belén was now checking her phone as well. She found one text message from Maritza sent over an hour ago saying Axel was left with their neighbor, Mrs. Andrews, and was waiting for Belén herself to go pick him up. "Oh my God!" Belén's eyes widened in alarm. "I should've picked him an hour ago!"

"Well, it's not like it's far," Barry reminded Belén the house was literally just across the street from them.

"Funny," Belén playfully rolled her eyes. "I need to go get him. Hopefully Mrs. Andrews is still awake."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"No, that's fine. You have work in the morning too, I remember," Belén wagged a finger at him. "But thanks for offering."

"I'll talk to you tomorrow, then?" Barry reached for her hand, gently stroking small circles over the back of her hand. "If...you want...?"

Belén chuckled. "I want. Definitely want." She leaned forwards and kissed him goodnight, something that left them both blushing.

From there, the two split. Belén had an interesting time trying to figure out where it was her sister had gone to. Axel didn't even seem to know, and much less Mrs. Andrews.

~ 0 ~

Mark Mardon would have expected anything nowadays, but his hideout's door flinging off its hinges was not one of them. A man in black and grey leather walked in with a complete straight face. His brunette strands seemed about the only messy thing about him.

"You have got to clean up," Rayan remarked like this was just going to be a casual greet and meet.

"Who the hell are you?" Mardon stood up, hands extended to threaten them.

"Put the hands down please, it's gonna be a waste of time if we fight first then talk," Rayan walked in, looking around the cluttered and dirty apartment.

"Why would I talk with you?"

"Because we essentially want the same things," Rayan stopped on a side, hands behind his back.

"I doubt that," Mardon snapped, bur Rayan remained at ease.

"Your brother died because of an officer and the Flash. More importantly, he died because of that Particle Accelerator. It's only fair we take them out in retaliation."

"I want bigger," Mardon clarified his intentions.

"Course you do, and on that I believe we differ but if we work together we can take it all down. I, personally, want the Flash but I'm willing to compromise."

Mardon scowled at the man. "I don't need any help!"

"If you would-"

"I said no!" Mardon practically screamed his powers off but Rayan deflected any potential threatening away from his body.

Telekinesis was by far the superior metahuman power, he thought. He also felt smarter, incredibly smarter than your average human. "I feel like you still wanna try your own luck against the officer. Do it. And when it fails, I'll be back to discuss how we can work together." Before he left, though, he made sure to leave behind a way to be in contact. He was sure Mardon would come around eventually.

~ 0 ~

"Hellooooo?"

Cisco looked up from a half-finished metal wand-looking device. He beamed at the second call for someone.

"Cisco! Boom!"

"Sweet!" Cisco laughed as he turned on his chair to greet Belén and Axel. "Axel! Welcome back!"

"You are not in charge of him anymore," Belén warned as Axel ran up to the empty chair beside Cisco.

"What are we going to make today, Cisco?" Axel pushed his chair closer to Cisco's, eager to see what was on Cisco's computer screen.

"Uh, you are going to make nothing," Belén warned them both before they got any ideas. Maritza entrusted her to watch Axel and that's what she would do. After getting back late last night, Maritza asked Belén if she could look after Axel for the day while she went off to work. Mrs. Andrews had other plans for the day and since Belén had the day off...it was all set.

"We are," Axel whispered to Cisco, though not as quiet as he thought because Belén was warning Cisco with a glare not to even try it.

"So...you want to check something cool out?" Cisco gestured to his computer screen.

"Always," Belén moved around to Cisco's other side since Axel was already leaning forwards on the right.

"I remembered the laat time we had a run-in with Mardon, Clyde Mardon-"

"Em - you mean that period in which you all decided I shouldn't know anything about metahumans?"

"Let bygones be bygones, Belén," Cisco said in a rushed manner, wincing at Belén's 'Mhm' in return. "I was tinkering with something to help attract unbound atmospheric electrons."

"I speak English, not nerd."

"Well Barry understood it."

"Mm, I rest my case," Belén patted Cisco's shoulder.

Cisco looked up at her, obviously offended. "For real?" Belén just shrugged in response. Cisco shook his head and continued to explain. "Basically, this thing would work like a sponge and suck up all of the particles in the air that allows Mardon to control the weather."

"Oh, that sounds good," Belén smiled at his excitement.

"Yeah it does!"

"Yeah!" Axel repeated in the same excited voice Cisco had even though he knew the boy didn't have a clue about the conversation. He decided to instead give Axel a live show by creating a new weapon that would win them the fight against Mardon.

At some point, Belén heard her phone vibrate from her purse and went to answer it. It was a text from Iris, and its content was...alarming. She quickly forgone the text to dial Iris instead. She motioned Cisco to keep an eye on Axel while she talked out in the hallway. "Iris, what is this nonsense?"

"Well, you tell me," Iris countered. "Mason showed me some pictures-"

"Iris I thought we discussed this - Mason is an idiot. You shouldn't even be following his so called 'lead'."

Iris thought she should point out that if she - Belén - had the confidence in her to tell her what exactly went on with STAR Labs and its workers, she wouldn't be following Mason's lead at all. But instead, Belén kept it all quiet. "I just wanted to know what was really going on with Dr. Wells and-"

"There's nothing, Iris," Belén sighed, rubbing a hand over her temple. "There's no story - I should know."

'Yeah, you should,' Iris thought rather bitterly.

"Bells?" Barry's voice made the ombre-blonde jump on her spot.

Quickly hanging up - much to Iris' irritation - she turned around. "H-hi, Barry," she greeted, hoping to God he hadn't heard anything, especially Iris' name.

"What did Iris want?"

Dammit, Belén gritted her teeth behind her closed lips. "Just...work stuff," she began her weak explanation.

"Why are you holding your phone like that?" Barry inquired after noticing she was practically clutching her phone to her chest.

"Hmm?" Belén looked down at her hands and quickly moved them to her sides. "No reason, just...stressed. What are you doing back?" she decided it was best to slowly lead him into the cortex to prevent any other questions.

"There was an incident with Mardon. He tried attacking Joe and I earlier."

"Is Joe alright!?"

"He's fine, but he's confined to the station now so...Cisco?" Barry gave a call, making Cisco look up from Axel. "How are we doing with the, uh…?"

"Wizard wand!" Cisco exclaimed, causing Axel to giggle and wave his finger at Barry and Belén.

"Like Harry Potter!"

"Uh, no, he has a wand," Cisco reminded him and pushed Axel's finger don.

"K, see that's why I don't want you in charge of my nephew," Belén crossed her arms and shook her head at Cisco.

"How does it work?" Barry asked after struggling not to laugh.

"Think of it like an active lightning rod," Cisco said and got up from his chair. "You just point it at the sky, and it'll suck up whatever energy's floating around it like a sponge."

"And it'll stop Mardon?"

"At the very least slow him down," Cisco pointed at her with the wand. "If there's no atmospheric electrons available to him, there's no way for him to control the weather."

"Sounds great," Belén laughed.

"Yeah, I'm gonna go get this to the station and explain how it works for Joe," Cisco said, understanding the situation was even worse there. "Bye Axel, and remember? Sonic?"

Axel happily threw his arms in the air. "Boom!"

"CISCO!" Belén shouted but Cisco had already dashed for the exit. Barry had to laugh himself as he turned back for the desk. Belén decided to leave that behind to focus on something a little more important. "Um...would it be wrong to ask of you like a big big favor when we're like barely starting to date?"

"Well, considering we've been friends for months more, I think it should be fine," Barry tried to humor her. He was no fool - he knew Belén was trying to hide something.

"I have to go into work just for a bit - tiny bit of a second - like a quarter really, well not exactly, it'd be more but you probably got the jist-"

Barry surprised her by planting a kiss on her that lasted well over a minute. They missed the quiet "yuck" Axel uttered while he got into some drawings on the desk.

"U-uh...w-w-what, what...was that...for?" Belén blinked pretty fast afterwards, trying to catch her breath.

"Just...thought it would be nice," Barry crookedly smiled, although now he was becoming self-conscious about what he had just done. "But, maybe now...that I think about it...it might have not been the best way, to, um...to interject…"

"N-n-no, that...was excellent," Belén flushed bright red, "I mean...feel free to do that again...yeah, anytime."

Barry laughed, slowly returning to normal. "Alright, so, this favor...what was it exactly?"

"Right," Belén sucked in a breath. "Um, I just really need to go back to CC Pictures to talk to someone. Can you take care of Axel for a bit?"

"Yeah, no problem. Want a lift?"

"I...don't...I really need to do this on my own," Belén warned, knowing Barry's persistence in helping others.

"Then I stay outside with Axel," Barry compromised after getting the sense this was something more complex than just a simple pop back into the workplace.

"There's no way you're letting me go out on my own are you?"

"Nope."

"Fine," Belén went to grab her purse off the desk. "Axel? Come here, please."

Axel obediently went to his aunt. "Are we going to go help Cisco?"

"No, you're going to stay with Barry for a tiny bit, okay?" Belén explained to him what would happen in the next couple of minutes.

Axel glanced at Barry for a second. "Can you make a wand like Harry Potter?"

"I can make a cooler one," Barry easily replied to, earning himself a big grin from the boy.

It was all he needed to have Axel's comfort and trust. So, he took hold of Belén and Axel and in a second he had them inches from the CC Pictures. After pleading Barry for him to stay in his spot with Axel, Belén went inside the place. First thing she did was locate Mason. It wasn't difficult catching him on a coffee break at the snack table.

"Mason?" she called while making a straight beeline for the man. "We need to talk."

Mason took a short sip from his coffee mug. "Isn't it your day off today?"

"Why the hell did you insist on the stupid STAR Labs story with Iris when I specifically told you there was nothing more!?"

"Because I didn't believe you? I thought that was self-explanatory?" Mason arched one eyebrow.

Belén was in no mood to entertain his common sarcasm. "You listen to me right now you overbearing-" she began jabbing her finger on his chest, "-self-righteous man, you better leave my friend Iris out of this ridiculous story. Stop putting ideas in her head!"

"I think-"

"I don't give a damn about what you think!" she snapped. "You will stop, or I will come back and make you wish I never even entered this place."

"Such determination," Mason's observation didn't make Belén falter. This wasn't a game for her - it meant Iris' credibility as well as safety from any potential crazies who took her words seriously.

"You've been warned," Belén turned on her heels and strode out of the place without so much of a glance.

True to his word, Barry had remained outside caring for Axel. When he saw Belén coming towards them it wasn't difficult to see something had changed in her. "What's wrong?" He went for the direct question.

"Nothing, you wanna walk instead?" Belén went past him into a hasty walk.

"U-uh, sure," Barry hurried a little to catch up with her.

"I want Jitters."

"Okay," Barry tried leaning forwards to see her face, "Are you okay?"

"Honestly, no," Belén shook her head. "But don't worry about it I'm taking care of it!"

"Really?" Barry was now eyeing her balled up fist in her jacket pocket. He stopped and abruptly grabbed her by the same arm, revealing a mildly emerald green fist. "Because it doesn't look like it." Belén was staring at her hand with terrified wide eyes. Gently lowering it while also covering it with his own, Barry made a step closer to her and tried to understand again. "I want to help, so tell me how to help."

Swallowing hard, Belén stuffed her hand back in her pocket. "It's Mason again. He's...he has this crazy idea that there's something suspicious going on with Dr. Wells. And he doesn't stop there, oh no, he now has Iris asking questions."

"What?" Barry frowned. "What could he possibly have against Dr. Wells?"

"I don't know!" Belén exclaimed. "He knows what happened to Simon Stagg. Apparently, nobody's heard from him or seen him since the night you stopped Danton Black."

"Okay…"

"But he's wrong, God everything is so wrong! And I'm trying to make things better but it just doesn't seem to want to be fixed!"

Barry quickly wrapped her into a hug - along with the help of Axel - and kissed her hair. "You shouldn't leave all this for yourself, Bells. I can help you - I want to help you."

"Then please help me because I don't know what else to do," Belén admitted.

"Of course," Barry barely got the two words before he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He saw the text message urging him to get to the police station. "I gotta go," he said to Belén who didn't need further explanation than his facial expression. With a kiss on her cheek he was out of the street in a second.

Belén resorted to making her way back to STAR Labs on foot as she had originally planned minutes ago - though stopping first by Jitters. By the time she got back to the building, she heard from Cisco and Caitlin about the terrible thing that happened back at the station involving Barry's boss - Captain Singh - landing in the hospital thanks to Mardon.

"I should have been there to help," Belén couldn't help blame herself after hearing the story. She was looking at Axel who'd taken interest in drawing on a lone paper Caitlin supplied for him along with a pencil. He was deadset on a new Harry Potter wand.

"Where were you anyways?" Cisco curiously asked, but upon receiving a sharp look from Caitlin he quickly added, "I mean, just...just out of curiosity...though if it was some date with Barry I would rather not hear it."

Belén laughed and shook her head. "It wasn't that, honestly. It's...well...I know Barry is going to tell both of you at some point so might as well get over it. One of my co-workers thinks there's something weird going on with Dr. Wells."

"Weird as in how?" Caitlin crossed her arms, trying to understand.

"Like, he's not who he says he is or...I don't know, maybe he's hiding something?" Belén shrugged, thinking it even more ridiculous with each time she said it out loud.

"That can't be," Caitlin scoffed and went back to the desk. Cisco, meanwhile, became silently pensive. "Dr. Wells is a fantastic man."

"I think it just might be a gruge from the accident with the accelerator," Belén admitted. "But I just don't like the fact that this co-worker is bringing Iris into it."

"I'm sure everything will work out fine," Caitlin sent her a reassuring smile.

"I guess," Belén sighed and started gathering her things. "Anyways, I think I'll be heading home. Hopefully everything works out for Barry's boss. Keep me posted okay?"

"Yeah, goodnight," Caitlin said, watching the woman pick up her nephew.

"Goodnight," Cisco mumbled and also watched Belén leave.

Caitlin was shutting off one of the computers when she noticed Cisco's extra-pensive demeanor. "Cisco, you okay?"

"Honestly, no, Bells is making me think about Dr. Wells' true persona…"

"What?" frowned Caitlin. "You don't actually think what her co-worker says is true do you?"

"No, no, it's more than that. Joe said that maybe Dr. Wells was somehow involved in of Barry's Mother's death and her murder."

Caitlin wondered how many idiotic things she would be hearing about Wells that night. "That's absurd."

"Yeah, I know, and that's what I said, and we proved that that wasn't the case, but I'm just saying, some things aren't adding up."

"Like what, for example?"

Cisco motioned for Caitlin to follow him into one of the side rooms. "Come here, look at this." He stopped in front of another computer and typed away. "The night we trapped the Reverse-Flash in the force-field, he escaped because the containment system failed, but I checked that data three times, and the super-capacitors were still fully charged when he got out. The numbers don't add up, Caitlin. There's no reason that the containment system should have failed."

Caitlin could understand his confusion but to say that Wells had something to do with it was beyond ridiculous. "I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation."

"One perfectly good explanation is that Wells did something to the trap."

"Are you suggesting that Dr. Wells is in league with The Man in the Yellow Suit? I'm... We all saw that thing nearly kill him that night."

"Yeah, nearly…"

"Cisco, what you're saying doesn't make any sense. That's crazy."

Cisco turned to Caitlin, very serious, and asked, "Can you keep Wells out of STAR Labs tomorrow morning?"

~ 0 ~

"You went to who?" Angie's high-itched voice filled the apartment without even trying.

Rayan popped in another headache pill and motioned her to wait. After quickly swallowing it without water, he repeated his story again. "I went to Mardon - the new meta that's causing trouble. I knew he was probably going on a hunt for the West detective and-"

"-you thought you would just strike a deal?" Noah was just as confused as Angie. "What for? I thought we decided not to bring anymore in? It's a nuisance-"

"-tell me about it," Rayan still eyed the man with regret for Maritza's choice of bringing him in. "New recruits tend to be useless."

Noah ignored the insult and got back to business. "So what the hell did you even see this guy for? Gonna cause a big storm over the city?"

"I went back because I saw an opportunity to get to the Flash," Rayan got up from the couch. "I want to know who he is." Noah exchanged a confused glance with Angie.

"What for?" Angie was dumb enough to ask out loud.

"Because I want to know who the hell managed to get my sister to leave her family!" Rayan's shout made her flinch.

Noah rolled his eyes. She had to ask. "Who cares who's behind the mask," he said. "I say we just start taking whatever we want."

Angie perked up at that idea. "I can get behind that!"

"NO!" Rayan once again screamed and this time he caused a portrait hanging behind Angie to crash straight on the floor.

The blonde woman growled as she saw her graduation frame all broken. "STOP DOING THAT!"

Rayan flung his hands to the side and threw both metas to the ground, using his telekinesis to pin them there. "Let me get this straight for you," his voice was dark and final, "I'm going to find out who the Flash is, and when I do I'm gonna kill him. And maybe then my sister will reconsider her life choices."

Despite their attempts to get off the grounds, Angie and Noah found themselves stuck there until Rayan felt otherwise. Still, they could both see a small trickle of blood oozing from Rayan's nose.

~ 0 ~

Knock, knock, went the door of the West residence. Instead of being received by Iris, Belén was received by none other than her new boyfriend. "Aren't you supposed to be at work?" she tilted her head in confusion but nonetheless allowed Barry to take her bag and let her inside.

"Slow work day," he said cheery.

Belén hummed in thought and spotted Iris coming out of the kitchen, apparently ending a phone call.

"I can't get my dad to answer," she frowned, leaving her phone on the coffee table. "Hey Bells, what's up?"

"I wanted to talk to you," Belén said politely.

"Right now?" Iris made a face. "I don't get into work for another two hours. Barry and I were about to get lunch if you wanted to…"

"No, I want to do it here away from all things Mason," Belén said sharply, letting her know what the subject was going to be about.

"Oh…" Iris' eyes flickered from Barry to Belén, wondering which one would be lying to her face today.

"I don't know what he's been telling you but you can't listen to him," began Belén.

"I don't know what's real and what's not, but all I know is that he's got some sort of big article coming out about Dr. Wells," Iris shrugged.

This was new information to both Belén and Barry.

"What kind of article?" asked Barry.

"The sort that exposes him I would say?"

"This is the kind of crap that I'm talking about," Belén slapped a hand to her forehead. "He's gone berserk."

"Look I don't know what he's got written for that article but I can guarantee that I had no part in it." With that clarified, Iris picked up her phone from the coffee table and made a gesture she would be upstairs getting ready for work.

"I tried," Barry began with Belén about the whole ordeal with Mason, "But she keeeps giving me the same responses."

"You think she's not believing in us anymore?" Belén worried they would begin to lose the trust Iris had for them if they kept up all this secrecy.

"I hope not," Barry, too, was also thinking the same thing.

"I guess that's it for me here then," Belén sighed, shaking her head. "I thought I could make a difference but I guess I was just wrong."

"No, c'mon, wait up," Barry grabbed her arm and gently turned her around. "If Iris wants to believe something then we can't force her to change it, and we can't blame ourselves for it either."

"It's our job to protect those we love and right now I feel like Iris is going to get herself into trouble. Remember what happened with that blog of hers?"

"I know," Barry agreed with the gravity of the situation. "But we can't stop it. I mean, the best we can do is just keep an eye on Iris. We won't let any harm come her way. I promise."

Belén fully trusted him, and she trusted herself to be strong enough in case Iris ever needed them.

~ 0 ~

News spread fast about Joe West's abduction, and while Iris was distraught she knew Eddie was doing all that he could to bring her father back. However, things grew worse when she received a call from Mardon himself asking her to come to the waterfront on her own. She wouldn't be alone, she was promised by Barry and Belén who'd been with her at the time. They figured if things came to worst, one of them - most likely Barry - would be able to sneak off to fight as the Flash while Belén stayed with Iris to make sure she was alright.

Before heading off they tried contacting someone at STAR Labs for backup, but no one answered...which was weird for them. But for time's sake they didn't dwell on it. If they had known that Cisco was facing the Reverse Flash himself, revealed to be Wells, perhaps they would have given it a bit more consideration. By the time the trio reached the waterfront, the sky was darkening with rumbling thunder. Immediately, they knew who was behind it.

"Oh my God," Iris was terrified by the sight. She could see in the distance a faint gray boat in the ocean where her father was surely hostage.

"Barry I think we might need to do that disclosure now..." Belén mumbled to him.

Barry agreed with a sigh. He glanced at Iris, sadly, and wondered why it had to be like this. "I'm sorry," he told her before speeding off.

Iris' mouth gaped open and she pointed in the direction he went off in. There weren't words at the moment that she could use.

Belén turned around to her, placing her hands on Iris' shoulders. "And breeeathe, please. Listen Iris this isn't exactly how either of us wanted you to know but…"

"He's the Flash, isn't he?" Iris sucked in a breathe, her eyes flickering from one side to the other.

"Yes, and the only reason we didn't tell you was because..." but she trailed off when she saw a park bench coming directly at them. "DUCK!" she pulled Iris down in time.

Iris winched as the park bench crashed into pieces not too far from them. "What just happened!?"

Belén quickly got back on her feet and spotted the culprit. She gulped. "Iris, you have to leave..."

"What? But I want to know what's going on!" Iris searched for the culprit as well and figured it had to be the man across them who was coming towards them. "Who's that? Enemy of Barry's?" the sharpness in her tone didn't go unnoticed by Belén. She was mad. Mad as hell.

"No...that...that would be my brother," Belén stepped forwards, hands forming into fists.

Iris' eyes widened in alarm. "But...but he's-"

"Crazy, by the looks of it," Belén inwardly sighed. What had her brother come to now? She took another step forwards and raised her hands. "Rayan, whatever you want-"

"It's time to go!" Rayan didn't waste time in openings nor chit-chat. He knew exactly what Mardon was going to do and he needed to get his sister out of there at once.

"Go? Go where!?"

"Away from here, to safety," Rayan calmly stopped a couple feet away from her. "She-" he nodded to Iris, "-is not welcomed."

"How is he still alive?" the indicated woman asked.

"I murdered my captors," Rayan said plainly then returned his attention to Belén. "You coming the easy way or not?"

Belén raised an eyebrow. "You're threatening me now? Is that what we've really come to, Rayan? Seriously?"

"I'm looking for your safety, Belén. I've already warned Maritza and she's getting Axel out of here but-"

"-you've talked to Maritza!?" Belén wondered how that went for her poor sister.

"Let's go," Rayan motioned Belén to come walking towards him but Belén shook her head. "Belén, let's go."

"No, we've got to help these people," Belén glanced back at the water, which was building up into what looked like would be a tsunami. "That's going to take out the city-"

"-which is why we need to leave now-"

"RAYAN!" Belén suddenly screamed, trickles of scaly green going down her cheeks. "Listen to me, dammit! We need to help!"

Rayan balled his fists now, eyes closing for a second. He felt that pain in his head begin to increase. "I don't have time, Belén. I really don't. Let's-"

Belén saw this was going to be a useless argument so she decided to focus on the more important factors around them. "Iris, leave this place. Just...go to STAR Labs. I'll try to help-"

Rayan rolled his eyes and made a motion with his finger for something to come over. Broken metal legs of the park bench he threw at them earlier now shot towards them again. Iris gasped and shut her eyes, expecting to feel the immense pain at any moment. Instead, Belén swung an arm to the side and captured the bench pieces with a vine that wrapped around each piece.

Now furious, she turned on her brother. "GET OUT!"

Rayan was surprised to find the scaly green all over Belén, and even more so when she retaliated against him. Lasso vines tried to capture him so he jumped back a couple steps - a decent distance - and in that time Belén once again urged Iris to get away from them. Not wanting to be a liability for her friend, Iris decided to head over to STAR Labs.

Rayan telekinetically caught the lasso vines, leaving Belén to continuously try to pull them out of his pool of energy. "Amazing, you worry about everyone except your family," Rayan said.

"Are you kidding me!?" Belén openly shouted at him. "You've attacked people - you just tried to hurt someone you knew! You are not the brother I used to have! You're just like any other metahuman the Flash and I catch." She left the vines and conjured up new ones. She swung them like boomerangs at her Rayan but he would deflect them with his fingers.

Belén could hear the pandemonium around them as the waters behind grew bigger and got closer to the city. In one of her distractions, Rayan actually threw her an empty baby stroller and knocked her closer to the ledge. As she got up, she saw Barry, as the Flash, zipping around the coastline over and over.

"If I have to take you unconsciously then I will!" Rayan's warning pulled her back into her fight.

"Try me," she said with no hope of making up after this. She charged on back towards him with every intention of defeating him and putting him away in the pipeline like she once promised.

Thanks to a quick chat with Caitlin, Barry was intending on creating a 'vortex barrier' along the coastline to stop the tsunami. It was the only way to keep everyone safe, he just hoped he was fast enough. On each round that Barry made along the coastline he could see brief glances of Belén trying to strike a man he hadn't seen before. He couldn't figure out who it was, but it looked like the fight was heated.

I need to finish to help her, he pushed himself harder to keep going.

Belén was too enraged with her brother to realize she was losing herself again. The wildness was coursing through her, giving her an extra layer of strength against Rayan. Thorn-covered vines stabbed Rayan's chest and one of his palms. As he screamed, she lunged onto him, tackling him to the ground.

But somehow, it all vanished. Everything from Barry's eyes began to disappear. There was a loud, eerie noise that filled his ears and the next thing he knew he was running under a dark Central City street. He came to an abrupt stop in a familiar intersection and looked around.

He saw the same woman calling for a taxi as he did the previous night. He saw the dog owners, the running man on his cellphone...everything.

Where was he? When was he?

#the flash #barry allen #arrowverseocs #ocappreciation #ocapp #barry allen fics #the flash fics #barry allen imagines #the flash imagines #oc: Belén Palayta #oc: Belen Palayta #fic: it had to be you

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bronzecanary · 4 years

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Quarantine Fic: A New Timeline

To be back here, of all places, was overwhelming. The Vanishing Point was out of time, meaning it was all still happening, and yet not happening. Barry and the others were arguing with Lex. Sara wasn’t a fan. She’d earned her bullshit detector and it was glowing red around him. Sick of the arguments that were going nowhere, she wandered around this place where destiny was supposed to end. She saw barely a flash of white leather and golden hair, here she was. She heard a familiar voice and… boom! It wasn’t as loud as it should have been but enough to push her back a few steps, arms covering her ears. She moved forward again. This time, the white and gold could be made out into her own shape. She glanced over to see the leather jacket that once kept her warm, and the… friend that kept her warmer.

“There are no strings on me,” words said heavy with finality. This explosion she was ready for, mostly. To hear a blasting sound with blinding light. How was she the Paragon of Destiny when this is where it should have ended? Did that mean his death meant nothing?

She should have left, walked away, but the voice of her English companion rang true in her head, “What’s the point of seeing the past if you don’t wallow in it?” So, wallow she did. Over. And over. And over. She watched herself kiss Leonard and run with Mick over her shoulder. She uttered his last words with him and took in a breath as he took his last. Over. And over. And over. Zari had talked about her time loop, how she couldn’t wait to escape it, so, why wasn’t Sara escaping? If she was the Paragon of Destiny, couldn’t she stop this? The most recent of hundreds, maybe more, of explosions, she could have sworn she saw him look at her. To see a puzzled expression on his face before it disintegrated into the dust in her lungs. She watched longer. Yes, he was definitely looking, yet at the same time, his face was as it always had been. A trippy double image. As the replays went on, he started slowly moving, yet staying the same. One crook would stay, holding the bomb, one would inch closer, but they both burned up in the light.

Her past self would disappear into the haze as soon as she ran off, past an invisible wall of her present self’s making. She wanted to move closer to him, to reach out and pull him from himself but she was stuck, trapped and forced to watch this play out. Well, he did have to do everything himself if he could. Maybe hours had passed, maybe weeks, but this new apparition was almost free of his past body. When he finally was, he stopped burning up. He was still moving as slowly, but he was free. Was this her power as Paragon? Was she able to free him from his fate? Seemingly infinite time later, he was finally close enough to touch. His body gained form, stole his kiss and the loop they were stuck in became distant. Sara knew she shouldn’t be holding him, kissing him, but what was the chance they were ever going to escape this place? Ava was gone, as was everyone not at the Vanishing Point. She’d achieved what she came here for and was able to leave the past behind. The Paragon had given him the chance, and the thief removed the strings from himself.

Endless time passed and as quickly as it had begun, Crisis was over. Sara and Leonard boarded the ship, expecting to be swarmed with questions and many hugs from Ray. As they walked through the halls, no one was surprised to see the formally dead thief. They held Sara and gave their condolences, but no questions were asked. Exhausted and confused, Sara stumbled off to the captain’s quarters. Where Ava’s clothes and neatly folded boxes once were, sat mechanic’s tools and more men’s jackets than she’d ever thought possible. The team was called to the bridge. She knew Crisis had changed things, and it was time she knew how much. In various states of exhaustion and intoxication stood John, Charlie, Mick, Ray, Nate and… huh? Listening to the team talk about their experience taught her that his name was Behrad, and he was the new air totem bearer. Except, not the new one, the only one. She asked about Ava and got confused looks at why she’d care what happened to “the mean lady from the Time Bureau.”

After the team left, Gideon had shown Sara the timeline changes that she’d detected so far. Zari had never lost her family and had never been given the air totem. All of the adventures they’d shared with her were with Behrad now. Does that mean Nate and Behrad…? Now wasn’t the time. Ava had never warmed up to the Legends, confirming Sara’s suspicion that her tolerance to them was only a product of her affection to Sara. Gary was still an occasional contractor to the Legends, mostly to follow John around like a puppy. But the most surprising change rested on her finger. The ring she had resized, that once sat on her pinky, was now one finger over and embedded with a blue diamond that she’d have thought too big to be real. Leonard had escaped the Oculus and they’d been through this journey together.

Over the next few weeks, both Sara and Leonard began to develop both sets of memories, making daily life with the team easier. She told him what had happened when he was gone: the good, the bad and the cuddly. He struggled to comprehend the Loom of Fate, the Spear of Destiny and overall what Sara had become in the time he was gone. However, if he was good at anything, it was adapting. When she’d have conference calls with Gary, occasionally Ava would scowl from the back, breaking Sara’s heart. Apparently, they were roommates now that the Bureau had dissolved. It was hard to remember her like this, after years together as lovers and friends, with no real closure for Sara. Laurel and Tommy had visited, who knew Oliver could do that? Sara sat at his grave, thanking him for returning her family to her with his sacrifice, saying she’d help Felicity raise Mia when she could in return. Lisa gushed over wedding plans, Cisco in arm. Mick had suggested that he should be reunited with his 3-breasted alien lady, Garima, to bring as his date. Behrad and Nate were officially not together, although Gideon had a certain fondness for the totem bearer. As Sara watched Leonard perform Shakespeare, she knew that she had a lot to learn about this new timeline, but she was happy to learn it with him.

#CaptainCanary #captain canary #arrowversequarantineficexchange

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talatomaz · 5 years

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legends of yesterday | team flash x fem!reader | part viii

a/n: i had the biggest writer’s block with this episode which is why it’s not as detailed as the others. this takes place around season 2 episode 8 and this story is mostly canon with a few things changed

warnings: mentions of blood

word count: 1.6k

masterlist | request list | request rules

i do not give you permission to repost or translate my fics on any platform - likes/reblogs are okay and are much appreciated

(Read Healed Scars before reading the rest of this story since it actually fits in so well with the end of part 7)

You jumped out of the SUV alongside Caitlin and Laurel and grabbed your bags from the trunk.

“Remind me what was wrong with S.T.A.R Labs again?” You asked, slamming the trunk door closed.

“Well, I mean, absolutely nothing, if you forget about the revolving door you guys installed so the bad guys could come and go as they please.”

Oliver said, mocking your lack of security which you were about to protest against but Caitlin beat you to it.

“Remind me again what happened to your old lair? Or the one before that?” Caitlin said sarcastically, making you and Laurel smirk.

“Well, lair number one was compromised by the police, and I will stop helping.” Felicity added when she saw all of you looking at her.

You all walked into the old farmhouse when Barry and Cisco entered with the equipment and the latter began complaining about the lack of data and service.

After discussing what Oliver so aptly named Savage’s ‘magic stick thing’, you all decided to divide and conquer.

Felicity, Cisco and Caitlin were going to work on a gauntlet that would allow you to touch the staff.

Diggle said he’d check if ARGUS had any information on Savage whilst you, Laurel and Thea checked police records to try and get a location on Savage.

“Is this even gonna work?”

Thea asked as the three of you walked into the relatively empty police station.

“Yeah, of course. I’m a detective and Laurel’s an ADA, so us working together on a case is plausible.”

“No, I meant all of our plans. Savage is some supposed time-travelling dude who’s been around for thousands of years and he now has even more magic. How are we gonna beat him?”

Thea worried but Laurel reassured her.

“We will, Speedy. We’re all working together on this so he doesn’t stand a chance.”

You all approached the desk, “Hi, I’m Detective Davis, this is ADA Lance and Miss Queen, we were wondering if we could have a look at some files.”

“Can I take your badge number, please, Detective Davis?”

“Of course.”

You rattled off your badge number and once she confirmed your identity, she allowed the three of you access to their file room.

Every file from the 1990s had since been digitalised so it meant that you, Laurel and Thea had to do some grunt work and search through a whole lot of paper files and it was a few hours into that that you found your first solid lead.

“Guys, I think I found something,”

Thea shouted from the other side of the room so you and Laurel joined her.

“It says that there was some sort of conspiracy group who were really interested in a guy who matches Savage’s description.” Thea explained as she showed you the file.

You leaned over her shoulder and read the rest, “Wait, it says here that there’s another file. Give me a minute.”

You said, climbing the ladder and using your powers to rummage through the dusty boxes.

“Got it,” you said, jumping down from the top rung of the ladder.

You blew the dust off the folder, “Shit, this talks about the Pentagon.”

“We gotta call John.”

Laurel said, putting the file in her bag whilst you and Thea put the boxes of files away.

After leaving the station, the three of you got back in the car and were on your way to meet John and Lyla outside of ARGUS HQ and you were a bit nervous to be honest.

“You good, y/n?” Laurel asked, as she drove.

“Yeah, just haven’t been this close to ARGUS since…”

You trailed off but both Thea and Laurel understood.

“Are you sure you’re okay? You can always stay in the car while we talk to Dig-”

Thea suggested but you shook your head.

“I’ll be fine. It just brings up some sore memories but I’m sure I’ll be okay. Thanks for asking though, Thea.”

“Seriously though, y/n, we’re here for you if you need it.”

Laurel said, placing a comforting hand on your arm.

***

“What do you guys have?”

Felicity asked when you, Laurel, John and Thea walked into the farmhouse. Laurel handed the tape to Felicity.

“Beta Max. Aww, what, did you guys get this off of eBay?” She said sarcastically.

“Lyla hooked us up.”

You had finally met Lyla and after an in-depth conversation with the former, your thoughts about ARGUS were confirmed.

There definitely were people who wouldn’t agree with what ARGUS would become like in the future.

Lyla being one of them.

“The tape came from a conspiracy theory group that's interested in Savage.” Laurel explained.

“Pentagon had a file on Savage back in '86, but it's all been heavily redacted.” You continued as Felicity managed to get the tape playing.

You all watched as a Dr. Boardman theorised that Savage was an immortal who, if not stopped, could destroy the world.

He then went on to propose that the only thing that might stop him is an object, any object which was present at the ‘calamity’ that gave Savage his immortality.

When Oliver and Barry arrived a little while later, you filled them in on the tape and what you had found and Oliver began to devise a plan.

“We're going to put Kendra and Carter up against Savage; you guys attack with the element of surprise. Y/n and I will lay down the cover fire. Barry, you speed in, and-”

“Snatch the staff, I got it.” Barry finished as Oliver nodded in agreement.

“Where do you need us?” Diggle asked but Oliver shook his head,

“This is me, Barry, y/n, Kendra and Carter.”

Thea tried to protest but Oliver remained adamant and told you all to suit up.

***

“It’s wonderful to see you again, my love.”

The five of you were now standing face-to-face with Vandal Savage in some abandoned warehouse.

“I will never be your love.” Kendra spat out.

“I know. This always makes this easier.” Savage replied as he took a knife out of his holster.

He walked threateningly closer towards Kendra, “Chay-Ara. Parting is such sweet sorrow.”

He raised the knife to stab her but before he could, Oliver grabbed his arm and stopped him, causing a full blown-out fight between all of you and Savage.

You used powers to try and draw the Staff of Horus to you but Savage used it to blast you and Barry to the ground.

Oliver was able to disarm Savage but Kendra was unable to “grow her wings” as it were.

And whilst you were able to quickly recover, Barry still seemed affected by the blast.

You saw Savage get the upper hand on Oliver so you used your powers to pull Oliver towards you and away from Savage’s assault but Savage then threw two knives into Carter, shocking you all.

Then he threw one towards you that got lodged in your arm and you winced in pain, blood coating your hands.

Before you fell unconscious from the loss of blood, you saw Savage murder Kendra and Barry fail to try and use the Staff of Horus to attack Savage.

You blacked out as the energy from the Staff created an explosion.

***

“Seriously though, y/n, we’re here for you if you need it.” Laurel said, placing a comforting hand on your arm.

“Thanks, Laurel.”

You paused and furrowed your brows.

Woah, major deja vu.

“Y/n? What’s up?”

“Nothing. I just had the biggest feeling of deja vu.” You shook your head, almost trying to physically get rid of your thoughts.

After meeting with Lyla, you all went back to the farmhouse and played the tape and when Barry and Oliver returned, you explained the situation to them.

You paused again when you finished explaining the tape to them, “What is with this deja vu?”

You murmured to yourself but when you looked up, you caught a knowing glance between Oliver and Barry.

Your eyes widened with realisation.

Oh, Barry, you didn’t.

“Barry, can I speak with you for a moment?”

You both went into the other room where you confronted him and he confessed to travelling back in time.

“He killed Kendra and Carter. You were unconscious from blood loss and then you and Oliver both died in the explosion. I couldn’t just let that happen.”

Barry whispered harshly, trying to make sure no one else could hear the two of you.

“Fine. So what do we do differently?” You conceded.

You were all suited up and ready to fight Vandal Savage at the abandoned warehouse where you had previously died.

At the moment, it was just you, Barry, Oliver, Kendra and Carter but after the latter grew their wings, the rest of Team Arrow joined you in fighting Savage.

You, Laurel and Kendra kept Savage’s attention on you three whilst Barry and Oliver worked the Staff and were able to effectively turn Savage into a pile of dust.

After defeating Savage, you all breathed a sigh of relief and Kendra revealed that she and Carter were going to move on with their lives, away from Central City.

She expressed her thanks to you all and said goodbye before leaving to do the same with Cisco.

When you and the rest of Team Flash said your goodbyes to Team Arrow and returned to S.T.A.R Labs, you pulled Barry to the side.

“Do we tell them?”

He shook his head,

“No, let’s just keep this between us.”

<- Previous Part Next Part ->

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raywritesthings · 4 years

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Mended Hearts 1/2

My Writing Fandom: Arrow Characters: Oliver Queen, Laurel Lance, Thea Queen, John Diggle, Felicity Smoak, Quentin Lance, Carrie Cutter Pairing: Laurel Lance/Oliver Queen Summary: When Felicity refuses to take part in the plan to capture Cupid, Oliver must find something else to lure the love-obsessed archer in... or someone else. The trouble with the best laid plans is that they often have unintended consequences. *Can be read on my AO3 or FFN, links are in my bio*

Felicity laughed. Normally it was a sound Oliver cherished, but in this instance it was sharp and mocking.

“This is the worst idea you've ever had.”

Oliver said nothing. He’d known she wouldn’t be happy with this plan, but he’d hoped she might see the need to stop Cupid from taking more innocent lives. Their own feelings, whatever they were, had to be set aside for now. They could still work together; it was what they’d said they both wanted.

John leaned forward. “Actually, it's not the worst.”

Felicity whirled around to face their friend, shock and indignation clear on her face. “Et tu, John?”

“We lost our lead on Cutter, Felicity, and this might draw her out.”

“Oh, so she can kill me,” she replied. “Pass. No, thank you.”

Thea tried to reason that she and John would be on hand to intercede before Cupid could launch an attack, but his former fiancé would not hear it. She was even more incensed when he was forced to reveal he’d had yet to cancel their reservation at the wedding venue.

“Felicity, you’d be safe—” As he stepped forward, she stepped back.

“No, Oliver, it’s over. I am done playing bait for you!”

He froze. Felicity looked shocked for a moment, then her features closed up. She nodded, almost to herself, and marched towards the elevator.

“Felicity?”

The elevator doors closed and, apart from the sound of its ascent, the base was left completely silent. He kept his gaze fixed on the elevator doors, not wanting to see either Thea or John’s pitying looks.

He still felt it when his sister touched his arm. “Ollie, I’m sorry.”

“We need to focus on Cupid,” he said gruffly. “She’s out there killing innocent people. We have to stop her.”

“We agree with you, Oliver, but how do we lure her out without the plan?” John asked. And truthfully, he didn’t know. But he had to keep trying.

Trying was all he was good for, apparently. Even if experience seemed to show that would never be enough.

“Okay, what do we have?” He asked aloud of his team. “We have a wedding venue.”

“That’s booked only your name,” Thea pointed out.

He grimaced. “Yes, but it doesn’t have to be my wedding.”

“Can’t be mine,” Digg was quick to point out.

“Yeah, and there’s no way I could get Alex or any guy to propose to me in enough time to turn this around. So there go the obvious candidates you’d book a venue for.”

Oliver had to admit they were right. He tried to think of other couples he knew — even if Captain Lance had the time to give them an answer right now, Felicity would intercede the minute she heard her mother was involved. And Oliver didn’t like the idea of making Quentin lie to his girlfriend anyway.

Thea’s phone buzzed. “Darhk’s being denied bail.”

Oliver looked around sharply. “He is?”

“Yeah. Laurel was able to use her dad’s testimony to prove he’s too dangerous. He’ll be held in Iron Heights until the trial.”

“Well, that’s some good news,” John remarked. “At least Laurel came through.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “Not many people can outmaneuver her in a courtroom.”

He looked back to Thea to give her a message to pass onto their friend, but paused at the contemplative look on her face.

“Speedy?”

“Just thinking.”

He exchanged a nonplussed look with Digg. “About?”

“Cupid. And Laurel. And Alex..,” she added, almost as an afterthought.

“Laurel and Alex?” Oliver echoed with barely concealed distaste. The thought of it alone was making him ill.

“No,” Thea said with a roll of her eyes. “I meant some of the things Alex said. You know, when he was trying to convince you to distance yourself?”

“When was that?” John asked with a frown.

“A while ago. It was — I talked him down. But Thea, what does any of that have to do with stopping Cupid?”

“It has everything to do with it. If Alex thought you and Laurel still being close was something people might talk about.” She seemed to sense his growing frustration with her talking circles around the issue, for she laid her hands flat on the table and leaned forward. “Ollie, we need a couple in a venue that’ll get people talking online where Cupid can see. You booked the venue. And since your ex is refusing to cooperate for a fake private ceremony...you’re gonna have to elope.”

It hit him a moment later just who she meant him to elope with. “No.”

“Look, I’m not exactly crazy about dragging all that up again.”

“Yes, because it’s complicated, Thea. Laurel and I are complicated.” They’d finally committed to a stronger friendship before everything with William had been blown out into the open. He should have spoken to her privately first. The guilt he felt when thinking back on her kindness with Samantha still ate at him a month later.

John was shaking his head. “We gotta have some other way.”

Thea shrugged. “Well, who else do we know that we could get in on the plan? You want me to call up the Flash and get hitched?”

“No,” Oliver said just as firmly, though for different reasons this time. He had nothing against Barry, but potential husbands for Thea were supposed to be vetted. His mother would rise from her grave with no supernatural aid to haunt him if he let her baby girl elope. “I’ll do it. It’s just — anyone but Laurel.”

The faces his sister and brother-in-arms made indicated they thought that was harsh. Oliver presses his lips together for a moment, frustrated.

“I didn’t mean it like that. This would ruin her reputation. Her career, her- her social life.” He’d meant to say dating life but hadn’t quite been able to force the words out. Oliver knew, of course, that someday Laurel might start dating again. She deserved to try dating again, if it was something that would make her happy.

He even tried to picture it for a moment. But try as he did, it just didn’t seem right. He shook his head. Now wasn’t the time.

Thea has begun speaking regardless. “We can tell the press after that you were helping law enforcement capture Cutter and that the whole thing was fake. It’ll be fine.”

“You gotta ask Laurel if it’s fine with her first,” John said, and Oliver was glad for it. Until he realized his friend hadn’t been looking at Thea.

“I have to ask?”

“This was your idea.”

“My idea was—” Oliver clamped his mouth shut before he finished that thought. He couldn’t tell the others that his idea had been to work with Felicity and remind her of the team they made together. To try and bridge the divide he’d created between them. He shouldn’t have been using their work to patch up his relationship, as badly as he wanted to. Even if he had a feeling they both suspected it anyway.

“She’s on her way to the base,” Thea informed him. “Best to ask her as soon as possible.”

They both retreated to the mats in order to respect his space as he weighed his options. Asking this of Laurel...it was a lot, especially considering everything that had happened recently.

But Cutter needed to be stopped before others paid the price. That was true with or without Felicity. The question now was whether the plan could continue with Laurel’s consent.

She entered the base still in her courtroom attire. “Hey, Thea said the lead on Cupid didn’t work out. Do we have a new strategy yet?”

“We do. Or we’re looking at one. Uh, let’s—” He reached to her arm to help guide her into one of the smaller, unoccupied rooms off to the side. “All we know about Cutter’s plans is that she’s targeting high-profile weddings or newlyweds.”

Laurel nodded.

“I had the thought that we could use the venue and everything from, from Felicity and my...you know,” he finally said, not quite able to finish that sentence. Laurel watched him sympathetically. “The only problem is Felicity is not comfortable with that plan.”

“Is that why she’s not here right now?”

“I’m not sure she’s coming back,” Oliver admitted, scared as he was to voice it. He didn’t realize he’d looked down until he felt Laurel’s hand on his cheek, guiding him back up to meet her kind eyes.

“I’m sorry. This is all coming at such a hard time for you.”

Oliver swallowed down the lump in his throat. “Yeah, well, Cutter’s not going to stop killing just because I’m going through a breakup. So we need two people at that venue getting married. Felicity refuses, and John and Thea are both out for obvious reasons…”

He saw the moment she realized what he was asking without having the courage to actually say the words. Her eyes widened, and her hand jerked back. “Oh.”

“You have every reason to say no.”

“Do I?” He thought he detected a hint of a laugh in her tone as well, though this one was far less mocking than Felicity’s had been. “Cutter’s out there. How soon were you hoping to do this?”

“Tomorrow. That’s the earliest I could get the venue to move up the reservation.”

“Tomorrow,” Laurel echoed. He could see her holding back, trying to keep from looking overwhelmed.

“We can figure out a different plan,” he offered again, even as he had no idea what that plan would be.

Laurel licked her lips, her eyes on the ground for a long time. She looked back up at him.

“She’ll pick some other couple to kill if we don’t act fast.”

“She will.” He hoped she understood the apology in his gaze.

Laurel drew in a breath. “Okay, then let’s get her. Let’s get married.”

Oliver breathed his own sigh of relief. “Thank you. I wouldn’t ask, but — Laurel, where are you going?”

For she’d stepped away and was picking up her purse. “You mean where we’re going? If this is going to work, we need to apply for a marriage license. You have your ID?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Then let’s go. I’ll drive.”

He followed in Laurel’s wake, unaccountably grateful for her sense of organization and ability to think with a clear head. At times, her emotions ruled her, but she had come a long way from when she’d first started out as a vigilante. The fact they were able to embark on this plan at all was proof of that.

They could be professionals about this, Oliver told himself. This was just another mission. They would deal with the consequences after, the way they always did.

In a way, he was almost glad he was doing this with Laurel.

---

Laurel kept resisting the urge to pinch herself. Was this some messed up dream? A Vertigo hallucination? Some elaborate joke? Or was she really this much of a masochist?

Reality continued to hold as she and Oliver walked up the steps of the county clerk’s office, so it apparently really was the last one.

“I’ve only been to the county clerk’s office a handful of times. Shouldn’t really know anybody there,” she’d assured him on the drive over when he’d voiced a concern about running into someone. It was a precarious balance they were trying to walk; they wanted people talking so Cupid would know but not for people they interacted with to be talking. A secret elopement that was an open secret.

As they reached the doors, Oliver jogged up the final steps to hold the door open for her, placing his hand at the small of her back when he entered the building behind her. The fingers of Laurel’s right hand inched closer to her arm.

It’s not real, she kept repeating in her head like a mantra. It’s just an act. He doesn’t do this kind of thing for you anymore. He never wanted to marry you.

If anything, she felt sorry for him. Oliver was meant to be getting this license with the woman he loved, basking in the knowledge that he would be spending the rest of his life with her.

“Still no response from Felicity?” Laurel muttered out of the corner of her mouth. They joined a line of people waiting to submit their applications.

He shook his head. A beat later, he admitted in a shameful voice, “I think she blocked me.”

Laurel reached for his hand, squeezing it tight. It probably helped whatever front they were trying to put on, but she thought he knew her real intent behind the gesture judging by the sad smile he gave her.

“Can I help whose next?”

Laurel stepped forward and pasted a smile on her face. Giddy bride-to-be. “Hi, we’re here to apply for a marriage license.”

“Do you each have a valid ID?”

“We do.” Oliver presented his driver’s license as she did hers. If the clerk recognized either of them, she didn’t say. A consummate professional. Laurel could respect that.

They filled out their portion of the forms needed and Oliver confirmed that they had an officiant and a witness for the ceremony.

“So who is our witness?” Laurel asked as they hurried down the steps, Oliver once again sticking close.

“Me,” said a familiar voice from their right. Laurel looked in time to see Thea lowering her phone. “Sorry, thought the leak might be more believable with a fake paparazzi shot. Ollie, Digg’s waiting to drop you off at the base. I’m gonna go with Laurel to start preparations.”

He nodded. “Okay.” She felt his hand squeeze her arm for a second before he let go and walked over to where she could now see John’s car pulled into a space at the side of the building.

“Preparations?” Laurel repeated as she fell into step with Thea to head back to her own car.

“Yeah. Ollie’s on ring duty and he already has a suit. You need a dress.”

“Do I?”

“For this to pass off as real, yeah,” Thea told her.

“I do have a white pantsuit. What if I need to run for my life?” She pointed out.

“Laurel,” Thea groaned. “Work with me here. Cupid’s not gonna buy you two suddenly rediscovered your burning passion for each other if you show up in your work clothes.”

Laurel was too busy choking at ‘burning passion’ to really have a reply ready for that. She went around her car to avoid looking at Thea and opened the driver’s door to get in. “I don’t think a bridal shop is going to be able to fit me for a dress in time.”

“Hey, I still know a few places. Don’t underestimate the power of the Queen name in my hands.”

Laurel rolled her eyes but had to smile at her younger friend’s antics. It made this feel less awkward.

Back in the city, Thea got them into a boutique Laurel wasn’t sure she’d even known the name of before, and a gushing attendant conferred with Thea in the racks about what kind of cut would look best and whether there should be sleeves or not.

Laurel’s only job was apparently to try things on and look pretty. She tried not to watch the mirror too much. This wasn’t any more real than the vague imaginings she’d had as a child of her wedding dress.

She walked out of the changing stall to two gasps. “Oh, Laurel.”

Against her better judgement, Laurel looked.

It wasn’t anything like what she’d pictured as a child. There was no poofy skirt with the princess glitter. There wasn’t even a train. If anything, it was a simple evening dress in white, with off the shoulder straps and a slit in the skirt that showed off some of her leg. It would also give her a better ability to run if the situation ended up calling for it.

Most importantly, she was confident it wasn’t what Felicity had been planning to wear. Even if Oliver hadn’t ever seen the dress, she did not wish to be a pale imitation of his chosen bride.

It was what she’d signed up for, though, wasn’t it?

Thea was convinced Cupid would show up sometime during the ceremony. “She’s been getting bolder, and I mean, how could she miss something like this?”

“You’re not going to miss it,” Laurel remarked as they left the shop with her new dress.

“Oh. Well, the plan is for me and John to be waiting to take her on.”

“I know, but we need a witness, Thea. I can’t ask my dad.” He’d think she was crazy after that near-breakdown she’d had in his office last month. Better for him not to know until after the whole thing was over and done with.

“Okay. If that’s what you need,” Thea agreed after a pause. She was watching Laurel closely now.

“It would make more sense for you to be the single witness anyway,” Laurel continued, hoping to distract her. “Ollie and I both consider you family, after all.”

That got a smile. “Well, for the record, I’m honored,” Thea told her. “God, it’s gonna be so much fun whenever I get to plan your real wedding.”

Laurel’s smile froze on her face. “I wouldn’t go to anyone else,” she eventually decided on. She didn’t have the heart to tell Thea that the only person she had ever envisioned herself marrying was the man who had asked her in order to catch a serial murderer. How was that for fun?

She had the next day off work, which was both a blessing and a curse. Laurel didn’t know if she would have been able to concentrate on anything at the office, but she had nothing to even try to distract herself with at home. All except the blank sheet of paper Thea had set in front of her.

Vows. Apparently it would be more believable for them to write their own rather than recite the traditional lines. And Cupid had a knack for sniffing out lies, so they had to come from a place of genuineness.

It wasn’t that she had nothing to say. But how did she write it in a way that didn’t make it too genuine? Various drafts were started, ripped up and started again before Thea pulled her away to start on her hair and makeup. Laurel had her keep it simple, then ushered Thea out to get ready while she dressed and readied a precaution or two.

She drove to her own wedding. It was a funny little detail in her mind, one that helped remind her how fake all of this was. The dress Thea was wearing looked far too expensive for a sham wedding, but Laurel knew her friend liked the excuse to dress up when she could.

She was also wearing an earpiece, which she listened to as they entered the lobby of the Hochman Hotel. It was mercifully empty. “John’s in position, and Ollie’s waiting with the officiant,” Thea related to her. She helped Laurel out of her coat and hung it in a closet to the side. “You ready?”

There were butterflies in her stomach that try as she might, she could not fully suppress. She didn’t know how. “Yeah.”

Thea took her hand and they went through the double doors to the room that the ceremony would be conducted in. Oliver stood near the front on a raised step, talking to a woman who Laurel guessed was the officiant. His back was to them at first but he turned at their approach, his eyes wondering for a moment.

He’d always worn a tux well, and now was no exception. There was a boutonniere pinned to his lapel and she thought of their prom, her first attempt at dyeing her hair blonde.

Thea stayed back as Laurel went up the step to stand beside him.

“You look beautiful.”

Laurel ducked her head. “Thank you. You, uh, look very nice, too.” She turned to face the officiant as Oliver handed off a small cloth bag to Thea.

“We’re ready,” he said.

“Of course. Mr. Queen explained to me your, ah, circumstances,” the officiant said. Laurel sucked in a breath at the stink eye that the woman sent her way. There was no point ignoring that she probably looked like some kind of home wrecker, especially with William still being kept a secret from the public. Better for her reputation to take a hit than for that innocent boy to get dragged into the spotlight. She could handle the judgement of others. And it would all be cleared up the minute Cutter decided to crash the party.

“You’ve written your own vows? We’ll begin with you,” the officiant said, turning to Oliver. He nodded and cleared his throat, facing Laurel.

“Dinah Laurel Lance. You’ve been many things to me over the years, the most important of which is my friend. I’m lucky to have such a friend as you. Your patience, your understanding and most of all your compassion, have saved me and inspired me in turn more times than I can count. You’ve also fought with me and aggravated me beyond belief more times than I can help,” he added, which startled a laugh out of her.

He chuckled as well, but reigned it in as he said, “But through all of this, through all our struggles, we’ve come out of it stronger. That’s what has allowed us to be here today.”

Not in love, but in service of others, she knew. That was one thing she and Oliver could always agree on; the needs and safety of the people of this city were greater than their own.

“Any man would be lucky to be standing here in my place.”

She forced herself not to shake her head. She knew that was him trying to be kind, to say that after all of this was over she might find herself at a real wedding someday. He couldn’t know that just wasn’t going to happen. Not without him.

“But since I am the one standing here, whether I deserve that honor or not, I will make you these vows. I vow to listen to you, to take your advice into consideration before acting rashly. And I hope you can find that same counsel in me.”

He was talking about Machin. He was apologizing. Her lips parted slightly, but no sound came out.

“I vow to keep you and your family in my heart, to love and to cherish them the same way you do mine.” They both glanced to Thea, who stood there with shining eyes and a warm smile on her face. Laurel found herself smiling as she and Oliver looked back to each other. “And I vow to be the friend you deserve, and to always strive to be better than the man I am, for you and for our families and friends.”

Thea stepped forward, taking a ring from the bag Oliver had given her and handing it to him. He turned to her, taking her left hand in his and slipping it onto her finger. She could feel his own hand trembling.

The ring was some kind of plain metal that seemed almost familiar, but the most she could tell was that it wasn’t usually used for wedding rings. Good, he’d kept his real ones. He was going to need them someday.

It was that thought that caused her eyes to start stinging. Laurel squeezed them shut and drew in two deep breaths. It was her turn.

“Oliver,” she began softly, then smiled as she added, “Ollie.” That brought a half-smirk out of him, and his eyes were warm as they looked into hers. “Through childhood, adolescence and adulthood, you have been one of the few constants in my life. Whether some consider that a good or bad thing. I know five years ago, I might have said the latter.”

He looked down.

“But that is one of the things we do best together,” Laurel continued, her voice gaining strength. “We grow and we change and we challenge one another. I could never have become the person I am today without you in my life, and that person is the best version of myself that I have yet to find. As the years have gone by, I hope and I know that you have found that version of you, too.”

On an impulse, she reached for his hands, gratified when he allowed her to take them.

“You are so much more than the man you think you are. You are more than your damage. All of us who you have let in over the years, to know you and to love you, know this. The greatest gift you have to give is yourself and your love.”

Oliver’s grip was tight around her hands, and his lips were pressed together in that way of his when he was trying to hide his emotions. It could all be an act for Cupid, wherever she was hiding, but Laurel hoped some of what she was saying was reaching him.

“So these are the promises I make to you as we continue our lives together. I promise to be there for you always, in whatever capacity you need that to be. I promise to support you in your convictions, and to hold you accountable to your principles. I promise to make time for the good days so we remember why we fight through the bad. And I promise to love you—” her voice wobbled and her breath hitched, but Laurel pushed on. “—as a partner and a friend.”

A sniffle to her right reminded Laurel to take the remaining ring from a teary Thea, and she breathed deep to steady herself as she placed it onto Oliver’s ring finger.

“With this exchange of vows and in the presence of your witness, I pronounce you man and wife,” their officiant said, her tone a surprising neutral. “You May kiss the bride,” she told Oliver.

Oliver hesitated. His eyes flirted to Thea, who gave the smallest shake of her head. No sign of Cupid. He looked back to her, eyes full of conflict.

Laurel told herself not to let that sting and instead turned her cheek slightly, so that when he did lean in it was only the corners of their lips that brushed. Her eyes still closed at the ghost of familiar sensation. When they leaned back, she forced a tight-lipped smile.

Thea clapped, probably to keep up the ruse, and then was directed to sign the certificate by the officiant. Oliver and Laurel signed after the officiant, who packed the certificate away and directed them out of the room. No Cupid. No arrows. Just them leaving their wedding ceremony completely silent.

And that was it. The fairytale dream of her youth. She was Oliver Queen’s wife. And it was nothing like she had ever imagined.

---

Oliver tried to stay calm even as it seemed like his plan was turning out to be a failure. He wondered if Felicity were here whether she might take the moment to tell him she’d told him so. Of all his stupid ideas...

He, Laurel and Thea left out of a side door after grabbing the girls’ coats, as a number of cars were pulled up near the front. His sister’s leak had indeed drawn the paparazzi.

“There!”

“Oliver! Mr. Queen! What happened to you and Felicity Smoak?”

“Miss Lance! Or do we call you Mrs. Queen?”

Oliver did his best to shield Laurel from the cameras with his body. She was the least used to this out of all of them, their time dating before the island notwithstanding.

They made it into her car and pulled away from the hotel. “Now what?” Laurel asked. He couldn’t get a read on her from where he was sitting in the back — Thea had gone for the passenger seat likely out of habit.

“Well, Cutter didn’t actually go after the couples until after their ceremonies, so she could still be out there,” Thea told her. “We’ll have to keep the ruse going for a bit.”

“Right.” He did his best to focus on their ongoing mission. “We can’t afford to lead Cutter back to the base.”

“You’ll have to come back with us. Or me,” Laurel amended. “I guess Thea wouldn’t be staying over tonight.”

He ducked his head, a bit of heat creeping up his neck at the thought those words implied.

“I’ll have to circle back to meet up with Diggle so we can case the area around the apartment. Probably should have done that before, come to think of it.”

“This was on extremely short notice,” Oliver said. “You and John have been doing great.”

She grinned back at him. “So have you two.”

They reached the apartment, and Laurel let Thea out before taking her car into the garage under the building. Oliver followed her to the elevator, which they were thankfully able to take up without any other residents.

Though the closer they got to the apartment, the more Oliver’s mind kept going back to thoughts of what was considered proper for a wedding night. Not that Laurel would be expecting — but they had to play to some kind of expectation if Cupid were watching closely.

“Are your curtains closed or open?” He asked quietly as they stepped off the elevator.

“Couldn’t say. Why?”

“Because we may be being watched,” he reminded her.

She raised an eyebrow at him while undoing the lock on her apartment door. “So what’s the plan?”

“Trust me?”

She nodded. So Oliver stepped into her space and placed one arm at her back while the other went behind her knees. Laurel caught on, throwing her arms in a loose circle around his neck. She leaned her head on his shoulder, and he thought that was a deliberate choice on her part to keep their faces from getting too close. He really had to find some way to thank her for how much thought she was giving to his current state regarding relationships.

Laurel was a familiar weight in his arms, and he wasn’t sure if that made this more or less awkward for both of them. Oliver walked them over the threshold and set her down, taking note of the closed curtains. He blew out a breath and set her down, reaching behind him to shut the door.

“Should we share a room tonight?” Laurel’s back was to him as she hung up her coat, but he could see the tension in the line of her bare shoulders.

“I can sleep on the floor.”

“And have a stiff neck when we’re attacked in the middle of the night?”

“It’s not ideal,” he admitted. “But, Laurel…”

The last time he’d been in her bed had been a time of physical intimacy. The kind they no longer shared. He was still committed to Felicity, whatever she said about them being over, and sleeping in another woman’s bed no matter the circumstances seemed wrong. Especially considering his past.

“I’ll see if we have extra blankets to make a bed on the floor,” she told him. “Just add it to the list of preparations.” With that, she grabbed a number of picture frames off of shelves, end tables and the mantelpiece.

“Laurel?”

She passed him into the kitchen, setting the picture frames on the countertops there. “Mm-hm?”

“What are you doing?”

“I’m my experience, the home invaders haven’t gotten into the kitchen, so I am putting the more fragile things in my apartment in there.”

He hung his head. Here he was fretting over propriety all while asking her to risk damage to her own home. “I’m sorry about this.”

“Don’t be sorry unless this doesn’t work.”

Right, where was Cupid? Oliver looked around. “What can I move?”

“My laptop? It’s over there,” Laurel said, gesturing to the desk that stood near a window. She took another trip to the kitchen, this time carrying a couple decorative bowls.

Oliver went to the desk, bumping into the right side as he moved around the chair. His leg caught the knob of the top drawer, pushing it out a couple inches. He went to push it back in but stopped at the sight of his own handwriting. Oliver instead pulled the drawer further out.

There was a letter sitting inside, one he was intimately familiar with. He’d written it only three years ago.

The paper was worn in a way that suggested it had been held a number of times. Oliver traced the words, hearing them in his own voice as though from some deep well within him. There were some words that were now unintelligible, discolored from dried splotches on the page: tears.

One sentence was completely unreadable but he knew it by heart.

Never doubt my love for you.

His breath caught, the words seeming to burn there in his lungs, unspoken for the longest time.

“Ollie?”

He slid the drawer shut, spinning back around to face Laurel. She was watching him from the kitchen archway, leaning against it with her arms folded. Casual yet guarded. Why had he never seen that before?

“Laptop?”

“Uh, yeah. Right.” He reached behind himself for it and walked over to her. “I was just, just trying to see if I could spot Cupid or not. Nothing so far.”

“I’m starting to wonder if she’s ever showing up. Maybe we’re not such juicy gossip after all,” Laurel remarked, and there was something to her teasing grin like a note just slightly out of place, minor instead of major.

Did he ask? Did he dare? Maybe she’d shoved his letter into that drawer years ago and never looked at it again. Maybe she’d kept it as proof of his cowardice and hypocrisy. Maybe—

A window shattered, and Oliver reached to pull Laurel down to the floor with him. They were both tensed and waiting for the emergence of their enemy, but nothing followed.

Slowly, they both stood, staring at the arrow that was embedded in Laurel’s couch.

“A warning shot?” She guessed.

Too late Oliver noticed the canister attached. “We need to get out—”

Gas released, filling the room and choking them both. Oliver slumped to the floor, catching Laurel in his arms. A pair of boots entered his field of vision before everything went dark.

The first thing he really registered was music, a mellow-sounding male voice back by a soft piano and some kind of strings.

...passing years will show You've kept my love so young, so new...

Oliver forced his eyes to open, though he regretted it when he was met with harsh lights. Through that minor annoyance, he took in his surroundings.

They were in a warehouse. He was bound to a chair — not impossible to get out of if he was given the time. Laurel was barefoot and bound in a chair facing him about ten feet away. Her head rested on her right shoulder, her white dress had graying stains on the hem but she looked unharmed to his great relief. He didn’t know whether to risk calling out to her or not.

The music was still playing in the background.

And time after time You'll hear me say that I'm So lucky to be loving you...

“You didn’t have music, so I thought I’d help you out with some,” Cutter’s voice came from behind him, and Oliver tensed. The music cut out.

She walked around in front, studying him. “It’s interesting, isn’t it? Time after time, the two of you.”

“You- what do you want?” Oliver asked, remembering he needed to play dumb, like he hadn’t ever met Cupid before.

“I’m just trying to help you. See, the universe has tried its very best to protect you, to keep you apart. Near-death, other relationships. I would’ve thought you both had realized by now: Love is a bullet in the brain.”

“That’s not true.” As long as he kept her talking, it might buy time for the others to find them. Regret washed over him as he remembered he wasn’t wearing a tracker; he hadn’t put one in because he’d wanted his wedding — the real one — to be a normal day.

Maybe he should have realized that wasn’t possible for him.

Still, the others had to be on their way. He chose to believe that. “Love is what inspires people to be the best of themselves. When we struggle to keep going or to find our way, love is a guiding light that brings us home. That has always been the case for me.”

“Well it wasn’t the case for the men I loved!” Carrie Cutter snapped. “You don’t think I tried to guide them the way she’s done for you? Love always ends in death. Always! And it should’ve ended for you nine years ago!”

She pulled a gun, leveling it at his chest. Oliver braced himself. At this distance, even with the bulletproof vest John had insisted he wear under his tux, he would suffer serious injury. Cracked ribs or worse. Assuming she didn’t just shoot him in the head instead.

“I’m sorry,” he tried. “Just — please don’t hurt Laurel.” This has all been his idea and she’d gone along with it, trusted him. He hadn’t deserved her help and she didn’t deserve this fate.

“Because you love her?” Cupid guessed with a sarcastic edge.

“She’s my oldest friend,” Oliver answered truthfully. He couldn’t really see her behind Cutter, but he hoped she would wake up in time to get away. John had gone over escaping binds with her and Thea that summer, his sister had mentioned. If he couldn’t buy time for himself, he would buy time for her. “And I do love her.”

Everything he had said in his vows to her had been true. She did inspire him and comfort him. Like he’d written in that letter, she was the best of him. She had guided him home so many times like Cupid had said. Was all of that, still, love?

��But you’ve hurt her, haven’t you? So many times.”

“Yes.”

Confusion and heartache tore at him. Faced with his own mortality, he didn’t know what to think or to feel.

“Then I’m helping her, you see?” She asked him, and like always Oliver could see she believed every word of her warped ideology. “If the love can’t be killed, then the lover can.”

A gun cocked, but Cutter was the one to freeze.

“You can help me by dropping your weapon.”

Oliver risked leaning to the side to see Laurel standing behind Cupid, both hands on her own gun. She was like a vision, one that he might have had on the island, in her white dress with tousled hair.

Cutter grit her teeth but lowered her weapon to her side. Laurel took it, then nudged the other woman into kneeling. She nodded to him, and he quickly freed himself before taking Cutter’s gun from Laurel to hold on their captor as she tied Cutter’s hands behind her back with the ropes she’d previously been bound with.

“Search her for a phone?”

“Already on it,” he said, patting down Cutter’s pockets. He located it in her coat. Oliver put in John’s number.

“Hello?”

“It’s me, John. We’re both safe.”

“Oliver,” John said in clear relief. “Where are you calling from?”

“Not sure. I’m hoping someone can use this signal to pinpoint our location.” It didn’t have to be Felicity. Even if it would be gratifying to know she was there and worried.

“I’m on it,” John replied, dashing the last of Oliver’s hope. “We’ll send a squad car your way.”

“Thanks.” He hung up and returned his focus to Cutter, who was watching them both with confusion and dismay.

“You planned this? Together?”

“Maybe not this specific part, but yes,” Laurel told her. “It was a setup.”

“But you weren’t lying. Either of you, I could tell. I listened to the whole ceremony,” Cupid insisted. She swung her head around to look at him. “You said you love her, even after everything.”

Oliver couldn’t find an answer.

Laurel did so for him. “Love comes in a lot of different forms, Carrie. It’s not black and white.” Her eyes strayed to Oliver as she added, “And it can cause pain, but only as much as you let it.”

He swallowed down a lump in his throat he hadn’t realized was there. The letter in her desk was at the forefront of his mind, and he needed to ask — but later, when they weren’t playing minders to a serial killer.

They were picked up by Lance’s second in command — and acting police chief in light of his suspension. Oliver stood next to Laurel as they watched Cutter being loaded into the back of a second squad car.

“Where’d you get the gun?”

“Thigh holster.” She raised her eyebrow at his surprised look. “What? I couldn’t exactly protect myself with a bulletproof vest in this dress.”

He found himself smirking in spite of himself. “Fair. You really are a cop’s daughter, you know that?”

She smirked right back.

It was long past daybreak when they arrived at the station where Thea, John and Lance waited. Whatever knockout gas Cupid had used must have been powerful stuff to keep them unconscious for that long, or perhaps the unbalanced woman simply hadn’t calculated the right dose. Another hour passed as they both had to give their statements. Laurel’s father was brought in briefly and asked to confirm their secret plan to catch Cutter, which he fortunately went along with even though they’d left him out of it.

They were left in an empty conference room with their family and friends to get their things together and leave.

“Your shoes got lost somewhere in the travel to Cutter’s base, so we couldn’t track you the whole way. I don’t think she realized the tracker was there or anything, just gave up on keeping them on your feet,” Thea explained as she handed the footwear over to Laurel.

“Okay, so next time it goes in the bra,” Laurel noted to herself. Oliver gave an awkward cough, which she and Thea looked askance at.

“No, you’re right. That’s probably a good idea,” he offered under their combined stares.

Thea nodded, satisfied with his revised statement, and Laurel sat to strap her shoes back on.

“We’ll have to see what the cleaners can do about your dress.”

“Don’t worry about it, Speedy. I’m not going to need it again.”

Oliver looked down, his weight shifting to his heels as he felt himself hunch in. She couldn’t know she wouldn’t need it, could she? Not for certain, not unless...

“Been meaning to ask about that,” Lance said, walking over to join them and interrupting Oliver’s train of thought. “You went ahead and got yourself married, and I didn’t get to give you away?”

Laurel shook her head. “It wasn’t anything to get worked up about. The whole thing is off once we get the certificate back anyway.”

She looked at Oliver, all business. He couldn’t tell if she was happy or sad or just indifferent. But calling it off had been the agreed-upon plan — it was what he wanted, he reminded himself — so he nodded. “Right, I’ll call the officiant.”

“You might want to get on that sooner rather than later,” John prompted him. “It’s almost time for most businesses to be on their lunch.”

Oliver sighed, took out his phone and dialed, waiting a few rings. He paced away from the others, not quite facing them as he prepared for the conversation.

“Hello?”

“Hi, this is Oliver Queen. You officiated a wedding between me and a friend of mine last night.”

“Yes, I remember.” She sounded slightly puzzled by his wording. Most newlyweds didn’t refer to their spouses as a friend, he supposed. But that was who Laurel was to him first and foremost.

“I was hoping to arrange to pick up the certificate. It’s sort of a long story, but the wedding was a ruse to draw out Carrie Cutter for the SCPD. Now that she’s been caught, we, uh, we don’t really need it.”

There was a slight pause, but to her credit the woman responded soon enough. “I’m not sure I follow, but I’m afraid I can’t help you. I left the certificate with the county clerk this morning.”

“You took it to the clerk?” He echoed.

“What?” Lance asked.

Laurel’s chair scraped back as she stood. “Is it at the county office? Oliver, is it filed?”

“Yes, I left it with their office,” the officiant was saying.

“Um, thank you for your help. And sorry about- about all this. I’ll just call them,” he said into the phone, quickly hanging up.

“Wait, what’s going on?” Thea asked.

Laurel was already holding her phone out with the number for the county office pulled up, so he simply switched for hers and dialed them.

It took him a while to get through to the right person. “Hi, I was married yesterday and our officiant said she’d already turned the certificate over to your office. I was wondering what the status of that was.”

“Name?”“

“Oliver Queen. Dinah Laurel Lance, if you need the name of the- of the bride,” he said, stumbling over the words as he glanced nervously at her.

There were several minutes of silence as the woman he was speaking to searched for their information. “Your certificate was filed this morning by your officiant, and everything was in order. Congratulations!”

“Oh no,” Oliver blurted. He didn’t miss Laurel’s sharp look up at him, clearly asking for the details. Lance, Thea and John all looked extremely concerned.

“Oh no?” The woman echoed dubiously.

“Yeah, the thing is, there’s sort of a misunderstanding,” he explained on a slightly forced laugh. “We got married last night to help the authorities capture a serial killer.”

“You — I’m sorry? Oh, you’re from Star,” the woman on the other end of the line seemed to realize a moment later.

Oliver grimaced. “Yes we are. So, we weren’t actually trying to get married. It wasn’t supposed to go through.”

“Were you both aware of the conditions of this union? Neither of you entered into it with false impressions?”

“No, neither of us were lied to.” For once he’d been totally truthful to his team.

“Then I’m not sure what to tell you. Regardless of your intentions to help the law, the law says you are married.”

Oliver was dumbfounded. True, this wasn’t his area of expertise — as a vigilante he had perhaps an even looser grip on legality than most — but there had to be some caveat.

He turned to the woman at his side, the woman he had, technically, willingly married. His partner in this plan gone very wrong. Oliver held the phone out towards her, pleading. “Laurel?”

#lauriver #laurel x oliver #oliver queen #laurel lance #arrow #green arrow #black canary #my writing

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bravehxarts · 4 years

Text

So! Today is a very blessed day because it just so happens to be Zee’s birthday (AKA @liightningchosen). HAPPY BIRTHDAY BB! I love you very much and I’m glad we managed to bump into each other again. Seems we both remade our blogs at a perfect time!

Since I can’t exactly fly over to give you a present, I’ve written you something as a throwback to how we started talking. I really hope you like it.

This is sort of AUish but has canon stuff also.

SNOWBARRY ( five times she loved him & once she actually said it. )

i. The karaoke night – she couldn’t help it. When they sang together, even though her voice had been terrible in comparison to his, which had been beautiful, Caitlin (perhaps in her drunken state, or perhaps for the first time noticing how dazzling his genuine smile was) had felt a connection to him somehow. It didn’t make much sense. Neither did the uncomfortable feeling she got when she returned from the bathroom to see a girl talking to Barry. She’s really pretty, Caitlin thought, holding back until she left – though she definitely saw her leave her phone number.

Then he took her home, helped her get into her pajamas, and even agreed to stay with her until she fell asleep. When Caitlin awoke the next day, along with her banging hangover, she also found herself with something else…feelings for Barry Allen. She’d been glad that her sunglasses were on when she saw him, because the feeling of happiness mixed with anxiety that rushed over her most definitely would have shown on her face. Thank god for hangovers.

ii. This one’s a little more complicated – when the metahuman that could change into anyone he wanted was roaming around committing crimes as other people, something happened. Something that Caitlin hadn’t told anyone, and yet the experience is burned into her memory. He’d been acting a little odd, but at the time, she had dismissed it – she turned around and he was right there. Her heart had started beating a little too fast when she saw him, and she tried to move away from him. But then he kissed her. She’d had a feeling even then that it wasn’t him, but she kissed him back anyway and Caitlin couldn’t even describe the feelings inside her as it happened.

The beeping of her completed scan made them break apart. For a split second, Caitlin thought about telling him how she felt – but then her flight instincts kicked in, so she moved away, and a little while later, she found out that wasn’t even him. She'd known it, but still…sometimes when she looks into Barry’s eyes, she thinks about it. She’s doing her best not to.

iii. When she came back to the team after being kidnapped by Zoom. As soon as Caitlin’s eyes settled on Barry, the relief that came over her was unlike anything she’d ever felt before. She wanted to run to him, hug him tightly, and never let go. He seemed to sense that thought. In a blur, suddenly, Barry was right in front of her, holding her tightly, his face buried into her shoulder. She held him back, surprised by the emotion behind it as he whispered. “You’re okay…oh thank god. I’m so sorry, Caitlin.” It hurt her to think that he saw this as his fault.

“Do NOT blame yourself, Barry. This is on Jay. Do you hear me? It wasn’t your fault.” Caitlin didn’t want to pull away, but she did, so that she could look him in the eyes. “I’m okay. What we need to focus on now is stopping him.”

Barry lingered on her for a moment longer than usual, Caitlin observed, and when he let her arms go his fingers seemed to drag across her skin instead of just moving away. A shiver went down her spine, and she was certain he noticed the look in her eyes when she looked up. I love you. But she couldn’t say it, not now, especially not with the way Iris and everyone were staring at them. Not yet.

iv. “Caitlin, I need your help with something.”

Those words were all she needed to drive straight to Jitters to meet Barry. When she got there, she noticed that he looked…actually, incredibly happy. Well, at least nothing bad had happened, right? She approached his table, smiling upon noticing that her usual was already in front of the spare seat.

“Thanks. So, what’s up?” Caitlin asked, as she sat down and looked across at him.

“Actually, I’m taking a day trip. “ Barry explained.

“But you’re the Flash. Your job doesn’t exactly let you take a day trip.” Caitlin sipped her coffee, raising an eyebrow. Where was he going with this?

“I pulled a couple strings, okay? Oliver owes me a favor. Besides, if he, Joe and Cisco can’t figure things out, I can race back over here. Look, that’s not the point. I want you to come.”

Caitlin paused, eyes widening slightly. “You…do? Why not Iris?”

“She was my second choice actually. Look, I’ve been to a lot of places with Iris. I’ve never been anywhere with you. Besides, I know you’re struggling lately. I thought it’d do us some good. So, what do you say?”

Of course she said yes. They went to a museum, then to lunch and then to a carnival. Barry was like an excited kid, and honestly, so was Caitlin. That side of her hadn’t been brought out in a long time. They went on a bunch of rollercoasters (she hated every second of it, but Barry held onto her hand the whole time and she felt safe), then went to finish the day by getting candyfloss. As they strolled through the carnival, joking and laughing, Barry stopped Caitlin in the road.

“Hold up.” He giggled, reaching forwards into her hair and pulling out a bit of candyfloss.

“Thanks.” Caitlin was smiling widely, and she couldn’t believe how nice a day she’d had – what she also couldn't believe was the way Barry was staring at her right now - like she held the entire universe in her hands. It made her confused and happy and nervous all at once. This could be her chance – after all, hadn’t today seemed like a date? No, her mind told her. No, this was two friends having fun, nothing more. Don’t ruin it.

So instead of saying those words that would release her burdens, she simply looped her free arm through his and they kept walking. She convinced herself that the frown on his face when she stepped away from him had been her imagination.

v. Barry had been injured quite badly. He’d been passed out for a few hours now, at least. Caitlin had offered to wait by his side, and everyone agreed. She played it off well, but she was very worried about him – every time he went out there, she felt as though he was closer and closer to getting killed.

What would she do if he didn’t wake up? If he died one day, and she’d never had the chance to tell him that—

“Cait.”

Caitlin gasped, her gaze snapping over to Barry like a shot. He was awake, and smiling weakly. She got up and, without thinking, leaned over to hug him.

“Hey, hey, careful!” Barry said, but he laughed, and just as she went to pull away he held her tighter. “How long was I out?”

“Three and a half hours. Barry, do you have any idea how worried I’ve been?” Caitlin pulled away to look at him, a stern expression on her features. “You could’ve died, and…”

“Caitlin, I’m fine! I promise you.”

“Barry, listen. Okay, look, I…I can’t keep watching you go out there and be in that much danger while I’m keeping this huge secret.” She began. “There’s something I need you to-“

“Barry!” Iris came running in, and hugged Barry tightly. Joe was following behind her. “Oh thank God, we were so worried about you!”

“You scared the hell out of us. You really gotta stop doing that.” Joe chided.

Caitlin stepped out, and didn’t notice Barry staring after her. He needed to spend time with his family. Or maybe, she thought, just maybe that’s a sign that this is never going to happen.

i. “Caitlin?”

She nearly jumped out of her skin as she whirled around, panic clutching at her for just a moment before realizing it was Barry. She huffed a breath of relief – arguably, she shouldn’t be at Star Labs at 3:30 in the morning, but at least she wasn’t in danger.

“Oh my god, Barry. What are you…doing here?” she asked, looking at him with a half-smile.

“I came to think. Figured there wouldn’t be anyone around.” He replied, smiling at her. “Great minds think alike, huh?”

Caitlin grinned, lowering her gaze a little. “Of course. I haven’t really been sleeping well lately. I thought coming here and focusing on work might help me escape my thoughts a bit.” She sat down and he joined her, giving her those big puppy eyes that he did when he got concerned.

“I know the feeling.” Barry reached out to place a hand on her arm.

Caitlin jumped away like she’d been shocked – she wouldn’t meet his eye, either. Barry frowned. She’d been acting weird lately, but he’d assumed that it was because of the ongoing threat of metahumans. Now he realized that it wasn’t just that – had he done something wrong?

“Cait…” he whispered, a sad look in his eyes. “Have I upset you?”

“No!” Caitlin exclaimed. “No, no, of course not.” Please don’t think that.

“Then what’s going on with you? Every time I try to meet your eye, you look away. Every time I touch you, you act like I burned you or something, and you've been weird with me ever since we got back from the day trip. What’s up?” Barry sounded worried, and that made Caitlin feel so guilty.

But how could she tell him, her best friend, that she did all these things to avoid him figuring out how she felt about him?

“I’m not sure you really want the answer to that, Barry.” Caitlin replied softly. “Just let it go.”

“I can’t.” he said. “Caitlin, please look at me.”

When she didn’t raise her head at first, he reached out again, his fingers gently finding her jaw. She didn’t pull away as he tilted her head towards him, and their eyes met. Her breath caught in her throat.

Barry seemed distracted, his eyes flicking downwards before meeting her eyes again. “What’s going on?” he moved his hand from her face to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear.

A shiver ran down her spine, and Caitlin honestly didn’t know how much longer she could keep this up. Especially right now, because Barry’s eyes weren’t leaving hers and the look in them made her feel…a lot of things. She couldn’t keep going like this.

She stood up, turning away from him. “Okay, so…I’m going to tell you the truth, and I don’t want you to say anything until I’m done.”

“Okay.” Barry sounded disappointed, and she didn’t want to turn around and see that look on his face again, so she faced away for now.

“When we first met…I was a completely different person to who I am now. I'm kinder, more open...and a lot happier. You helped me grow into this person, Barry. You’re my best friend. But…” Caitlin took a deep breath. “I love you. I don’t mean in the friendly…kind of way, I mean I’m in love with you. I see you every day and I feel like every part of my body is trying to pull me towards you. Every time you go out and get hurt I almost fall apart because I would hate for anything to ever happen to you. Even when I leave here at night, I still can’t stop thinking about you.”

She fell silent, and so did he. Oh god.

“I was too afraid to tell you.” She turned around slowly. “But that’s the truth, so I…”

She gasped. Barry was right behind her – and it really was him this time, ducking his head to kiss her. She melted into him immediately, her fear instantly evaporating and being replaced with a feeling of pure joy instead.

When he pulled away, he didn’t pull away entirely – Barry kept his forehead resting on hers, his arms around her, and Caitlin didn’t know how to describe how happy she felt in this moment.

“I love you too, Caitlin. I can’t believe you took so long to tell me!” Barry teased, laughing as she shoved him playfully and they kissed again, making up for lost time.

#liightningchosen #( my writing. )#( oneshot. )#HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZEE SORRY THIS IS SO LONG SLKFSDLK #YOU'RE THE BEST

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ruffiorocks · 5 years

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James Olsen Issues with powerful men and women (anti James, but only because i think i finally see the issue!)

OK, so after the last episode i have come to the conclusion James is and has been in need of some serious therapy since he first came to National City and even before then! I've started to see a pattern of jealously towards both powerful men and women. Essentially, people more relevant that himself.

Kelly stated that Lex has tried to kill James 8 times now.

We’ve also learned that Lex kidnapped and tortured James to get to Superman.

That is a lot of bad s**t to happen to a guy and not have him work through it. That is guaranteed to cause some kind of issues!

When James got to National City the first thing he did was get involved with yet another super, even though he clearly hasn't worked through the issues that being involved with the first super had caused. This was a super he could get involved with and influence, have some degree of control over.

After seeing his poor treatment of Kelly (before the end of the ep) im wondering if this is what has caused him to have issues with women telling him what to do or being his superiors.

Hear me out (then you can tell me if you think im wrong,which is fine, each to their own).

So ever since James met Superman he has been in the shadow and the side kick of the most powerful alien on Earth. A man that James is even taller than! In addition to this James has been in the middle of a battle royale between the most powerful alien on earth and the most powerful man (Lex). James’ only role in this rivalry was to be kidnapped, tortured and basically nearly killed 8 times. James has basically been a damsel in distress. Maybe this is what led James to go and get himself a black belt.

So, James has never been able to be on par with the men in his life while in Metropolis. Clark is Superman so no competition there, Lex is a billionaire genius, James cant compete and he worked for Perry White a powerful man in the media. Who is James here other than the guy who gets kidnapped? He isnt really relevant in the grand scheme of things and he just takes photos. (By relevant, i mean he is no different to any other civilian other than the fact he knows Superman).

Now James goes to National City, pretty much just after he has been kidnapped, tortured and been given 18 scars. The first thing he does? Gets involved with the shenanigans of yet another super and put himself in yet more dangerous situations with no way to really defend himself. By rights the guy should already have PTSD and should have been in therapy and having a looong get away somewhere quiet without super drama (pun intended).

In the very first episode after Kara meets him and says Cat doesn't like to be kept waiting, James replies with ‘whats she going to do? Fire me right after hiring me?’ His attitude towards his new female boss here is not a good start. A prelude to how he will later treat Lena as his boss?

James also thought he was enough of a big shot to sit on the arm of the couch in Cats office while everyone else was standing up in respect and fear. One look from Cat was enough to nip that in the bud! James got a reality check here.

The first season he got annoyed that Winn knew Kara’s secret, like he was the only one that should have known it. He made a point to flirt with Kara even though he still had a girlfriend he hadnt broken up with.

When his girlfriend came after him he tried again with her while continuing his flirtation with Kara. He then got annoyed at Lucy for working at Cat Co, he broke up with her, he then got annoyed when she came back and Kara revealed herself to her. James was annoyed when Lucy said ‘and you’re back in Kara’s loft, nothings changed then’. Lucy wasnt willing to have a boyfriend who had no respect for her and outwardly flirted with other women in front of her.

So what was James' issue with Lucy? A strong, independent woman who was career driven? Well, maybe that was exactly it. Remember how Lucy was/is a Major in the army with respect, status, is involved in alien, government, DEO business? She’s also freaking tiny and James is like 6 foot tall. he couldnt handle a small in stature girlfriend being above him in any way. James also stood up Lucy to help Kara and always put Kara first, the only one willing to put any work into that relationship was Lucy. James put Superman first, then Supergirl. Lucy Land deserved so much better than James. Lucy would later be made the head of the DEO and work with Supergirl and Alex, being relevant where James was just not.

General Lane, even James’ girlfriends father was a man of more power , influence and relevance than James was. Out shined by both your girlfriend and her father. Even more out shined by your girlfriends sister since shes the Daily Planets top reporter. Who also happens to be the girlfriend of his best friend and the man he will never outshine.

Then we had Barry Allen show up and James was instantly jealous of the attention that Kara gave him. He was once again shown up (in his mind) by a man who was more powerful than he was. A man that could help Kara take down enemies that James couldn't help with.

Winn, well Winn contributed more to helping Kara save the day than James ever did, both in season 1 and when he put on that ridiculous Guardian outfit. Winn was a smaller, none athletic nerdy guy who was 100xs smarter than James and way more useful. James in season 1 was a glorified love interest who didnt do much.

When James did try to help in season 1 he managed to piss people off. He called Clark because he didnt believe Kara could handle Reactron because her male counter part couldnt. (proved wrong)/ He went snooping after Maxwell Lord and got kidnapped and got his ass handed to him again by a billionaire man more powerful and relevant than himself.

When James turned up at the DEO he was told by Jonn to go home, he wasnt wanted there because he wasnt needed or relevant.

Winn was asked to join the DEO and he left Cat Co to go and continue to be a valuable relevant member of the team. Winn was wanted and needed by the DEO, Jonn and Alex.

Remember when Kara was on red K? James wanted nothing to do with her afterwards. Yes she absolutely assaulted him, but that just backs up my point of James’ experiences with someone far more powerful than himself and a woman to boot.

When Lena turned up James was instantly suspicious, another powerful billionaire with more influence than himself. A woman he instantly judged for her family name, even though we learned last week she was kidnapped the same as him by the same guy. She was also the reason that Lex was caught. Lena did what Clark and James were incapable of doing.

James became Guardian because he felt he had the same call to help people and he was ‘meant for this?’ No, James was watching everyone else he knew be relevant and was watching people more powerful than him have influence and was jealous.

James demanded that Winn finish his suit because he couldn't stand being left out and watching the people whose job it was to deal with threats and were perfectly capable of dealing with them handle it.

James told Kara she had no right to decide who gets to be a hero, true, but then he thought he deserved to be one because he had a ‘call’ and he had a black belt. Go join the freaking police academy then! He couldnt stand Kara telling him no’ another powerful woman with more influence than him. Kara didnt want her human friend to get hurt, her untrained human friend. She did meet Oliver, Sara and CO, but they had years of intense physical and psychological training. They didnt get a black belt and put on a Halloween costume and think they were the s**t. Even Alex had to train for month before Jonn let her out into the field.

Alex? Another powerful more relevant woman than James will ever be. She told James and Winn to tell Kara the truth and he didnt.

James couldn't deal with Mon El, ‘I had to deal with the civilians’ ‘Mon El cares about you and himself!’ He didn't believe Mon El could be a hero and didnt want to give him a chance. What was his issue with Mon El? Another man more powerful than him, replaced him as a love interest and was welcomed at the DEO to be part of the team.

Cat leaves James in charge of Cat Co, a job he has zero experience in. But he finally gets to be a man of influence, this shows in later seasons, especially with the COL story line. James has become a man that now has some influence and is more relevant, his words now mean something. But then Lena buys Cat Co and James just thinks he’s going to keep his position and he’ll continue to run things the way he has been and will give her weekly updates. Well she soon nipped that in the bud didnt she? He even said they didnt have an office for her. Well technically his office was still Cat’s and since Lena bought it it becomes her office. He was even rude to her when she asked where Kara was running off to and he got annoyed that Lena held a meeting without him. Sure she probably should have told him, but dont forget this is a man who had no love for Lena and she had no reason to like him, so maybe she wanted to meet the staff without James’ influence, so she knew what she was dealing with.

This was clear example of yet another powerful, influential billionaire being more relevant and one upping James. To add to it she’s another woman who can now tell James what to do.

James realized Lena was staying? Well he’ll just get romantically involved with his boss, that will keep his position and influence in tact.

James looked beyond annoyed when he touched Lena’s bare shoulder and she squirmed (yes squirmed) out of his grasp.

James was approached by the COL who saw something in him and wanted to work with him. James was so flattered by this he got involved with them without even thinking about it, leading to of course disaster!!

Lena told James as his boss not to go and meet with the COL because she had booked him to debate with Ben Lockwood on TV, something that would have made more sense. But James told her she wasn't allowed an opinion on what he does because its work. He told this to his BOSS! She then had to pull rank on him and he couldn't stand the fact that a woman could tell him what to do. He ignored her and sent an inexperienced rookie reporter to do it instead.

James even got pissed at Lena because she saved him from going to prison for a long time for coming out as Guardian. Instead of thanking her he got mad and rejected her love. Another/same woman able to do something that he himself would never have been able to do. He was once again saved by a woman and someone more powerful than he was. A woman who supported his stupid decision to come out as Guardian in the first place.

James gets dumped and decides he may have to look into the lead he tried to squash on his girlfriend. Take down the woman who dumped you? Your boss? Using her resources?

James gets shot and his sister authorizes the use of a drug to save his life. He wakes up and is instantly disrespectful to her and tells her she just wants to tell him what to do and she should go home!

OK so, i conclude from this that James’ traumas in Metropolis has given him serious issues. He is always being kidnapped by male billionaires and beaten up. He cannot stand that there are both alien and human women that are more powerful, relevant and influential than he is and have authority over him. He cannot stand being on the outside looking in, he has to get involved in whats going on even when he’s told not to and people dont want him to. His romantic interests always consist of women who have more power and influence than he ever will, whose thoughts, opinions and decisions actually matter in the situations the gang find themselves in. When those women tell him ‘no’ or pull rank on him, he even dumps them, tells them they cant tell him what to do or he makes them feel like they are in the wrong.

He cannot stand that there are humans out there more relevant and useful than him (Winn) or aliens (Mon El).

James needs therapy, all of this trauma has turned him into this man that doesn't like female authority, cant stand men of more influence than him and has left him with a desperate need to be in the thick of the fight when in fact he has no business being out on the battle field at all. James’ time as the ‘dude/damsel in distress’ when he was with Superman has left him feeling weak and vulnerable and his masculinity has taken a huge hit.

General Lane said ‘You surround yourself with special people, but that doesn't make you special’. Probably the truest words ever spoken to James. James is/was special in his own way, he should have stuck to being a photographer. Like a few episodes back when he got back into that again. All of the above is just James trying to be something he will never be.

Either that, or poor writing. You decide.

#anti james olsen #anti guardiancorp #kara danvers #mon el #supergirl #superman #alex danvers #lex luthor #winn shott #lena luthor #jonn jonzz #lucy lane #general lane #maxwell lord #cat grant #kelly olsen #clark kent

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achangeinpriorities · 4 years

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Prompt: Len betrayed Barry with Sara during his journey with the Legends. Barry and Leonard had been married for a year. One night Mick is drunk he says this phrase "Snart, how was sex with Sara?", Unfortunately Barry was there and he heard everything. They quarrel and divorce. In the end they try to start over and be a couple again ... but Barry will hate Sara Lance forever!

Hullo anon! I don’t think I’ve ever done a cheating fic before, so I’m sorry if this is a bit rubbish. Once again, cross-posted to AO3 for anyone who prefers it there (link here). Here you go:

Len hasn’t felt this kind of excitement—this kind of challenge—since first meeting the Flash. He’s intrigued, of course he is, and that’s his downfall. The fact that Sara flirts as readily with him as he does with her only makes matters worse.

They have one night—one wild, mildly painful, exquisite night that starts with sparring and ends with Leonard pinned down on his bed. When all is done, Sara curls on top of him like a cat and falls asleep. Leonard lets her, mostly because he doesn’t want to be beaten up for waking her.

He sleeps poorly. Sometime around one in the morning, the full impact of what he’s done hits him and he has to restrain himself from shoving Sara off the bed in disgust. (He’s not upset with her, not truly. He’s disgusted with himself.)

“Shouldn’t have put a ring on me,” he whispers into the darkness.

The next day, he freezes Sara out as effectively as he’s ever frozen out anyone who’s gotten too close. Mick notices, because unfortunately Mick notices a lot more than he admits, but the others take it for his customary rudeness. Well, Leonard amends, Rip might know. He’s nosy that way, and Leonard wouldn’t put it past him to have Gideon report on illicit goings-on.

This suspicion is confirmed partway through the day when Rip takes him aside, folds his arms, and demands, “Is this going to be a problem?”

“No.” Leonard feigns interest in an old map to avoid having to meet Rip’s eyes. “I need to make it clear to Sara that it won’t happen again. Beyond that, no, it won’t impact our working relationship.”

Rip raises an eyebrow. “There aren’t rules against fraternization on my ship. Lord knows it makes everything easier if there are, but that seems hypocritical, given how I fared when faced with such restrictions.”

Leonard glares at him. “I thought you knew everything about everyone you brought on board. I’m married.”

Rip’s eyes widen and his mouth drops into a comical ‘o’ of surprise. “Oh,” he murmurs. “No. That’s…not in any records.”

“Well, no, it wasn’t.” At Leonard’s insistence, and somewhat reluctantly, Stein had performed the ceremony. Beyond that, they took no legal steps; Leonard hadn’t wanted to jeopardize his husband’s future. (Being married to a thief tends to close otherwise promising doors.)

“Gideon,” Rip appeals to the computer, “did you know about this?”

Leonard has never heard Gideon sound so disapproving. “I did,” she replies, “given that he married my creator, Barry Allen.”

Rip gapes at him in a mix of shock and horror. Leonard has never felt smaller or more repulsive. He does what he always does in such situations: he lashes out. “That’s right. I just cheated on the Flash. What kind of monster does that make me?”

“Human,” Rip says simply.

Leonard leaves without a backwards glance. He lied to Rip. He’s not repulsive for cheating on the Flash, although by most people’s standards that of itself is an unforgivable crime; he’s the lowest kind of scum for cheating on Barry, the relentless optimist who forced him to be a better person and who, should he ever find out, will probably try to convince him that they can recover from this, too. He vows then that the kid can never know. He can’t face his earnest attempts to make it right.

***

After defeating Vandal Savage and the Time Masters with some help from an ex-Time Master and his daughter, the Legends return to their own time victorious. The others celebrate. Alone of them, Leonard dreads the return. What exactly is he going to tell Barry?

As soon as the Wave Rider touches down, the others bolt for the door. Leonard lingers, trying to find the courage to face the excited speedster he knows will be waiting for him. Then a cool voice speaks from behind him.

“Mr. Snart, I do not usually stoop to threats, but if you hurt my creator and you ever step foot onto my ship again, I will make your life hell.”

Threats from a computer program. This is what Leonard’s life has come to. “Duly noted, Gideon.”

By the time he leaves the Wave Rider, their welcome party has turned into a real party. He spots Sara reuniting with her sister and Oliver, Stein embracing Clarissa, Jax and Ronnie clasping hands, and Cisco batting Mick away from a vial of disturbingly crimson liquid. His observations are cut short by a familiar blur of scarlet that speeds into his arms. “Len!”

“Barry.” Leonard feels so thoroughly disgusting that he can barely bring himself to hug his husband. Barry notices, of course, but he takes it the wrong way.

“You’re tired, of course you are, you’ve been jumping all through time and Sara said you almost got blown up and do you want me to run you home? Or do you wanna stay? Do you want cuddles or should I back off?”

They should go home. The longer they’re around the rest of the Legends, the greater the probability someone will let something slip. Leonard is about to say so when Cisco calls, “Barry, bring your…Snart…and get down here!”

Against his will, Leonard finds himself coaxed down the walkway and led into the middle of the party. Barry cuddles him insistently, although Leonard doubts he’s aware of it; he’s simply too tactile not to. He forces himself not to pull away. Barry wants to be touched, to be held close, to be loved. After what Leonard has done, fulfilling these wishes seems like the least he can do.

They’re in the middle of a fascinating exchange with Thea when Mick wanders over, reeking of alcohol. “Hey Snart,” he rumbles. “Just overheard Sara and her sister. When were you gonna tell me you slept with her?”

The room goes still and breathless. Barry turns to him, a question in his eyes, desperate to be told that Mick is confused. Leonard can’t give him that.

“No,” Barry says when the silence has stretched too long. “No, no, no, no, no, Len, say something, say he misheard…”

Every guilt-induced nightmare Leonard has had to this point pales in comparison to the look of abject horror on Barry’s face. He closes his eyes so he doesn’t have to watch the impact of his words. “He didn’t, Barry. I slept with Sara during the mission.”

Barry makes a wounded sound as though Leonard has struck him. When Leonard glances at him, he’s leaning against Thea for support. She’s glaring daggers at him, and he braces himself for a well-deserved reprimand when unexpected trumpets sound from their right.

“Ah!” Cisco jumps, scrabbles at his pocket, and mutes his phone. Every eye turns to him. He stares at the ground, gives a sheepish mutter of “I have to…I’m just gonna…go, now,” and skulks away. As he passes Leonard, he mutters, “By the way, I’m going to kill you.”

Leonard nods in curt acknowledgment of the threat but doesn’t turn his attention from Barry. “There’s nothing I can say,” he murmurs.

Barry draws in a shaky breath. “We’re not doing this here.”

That’s Leonard’s only warning before he finds himself at home. The world spins around him and he lurches violently to the left. Before, Barry has always steadied him with a hand on his arm or his waist. This time, he watches impassively as Leonard leans against the counter for balance.

“I’m sorry,” Leonard manages. “I know it’s not nearly enough…”

“No, it’s not!” Barry bursts out. He looks up at the ceiling. Leonard can’t tell whether he’s on the verge of tears or simply too frustrated to look anywhere else. When he speaks, his voice breaks. “You cheated on me?”

Leonard feels obligated to say, “Don’t blame Sara. It was my fault.”

“I know that!” Barry’s voice hitches on a sob. Before Leonard can apologize again (and oh, God, how he wants to), he clears his throat and tries again. “I don’t blame Sara, she didn’t know, it’s on you for saying yes—oh no, no, wait, you said yes, didn’t you?”

Leonard scoffs. Even now, faced with indisputable evidence of how self-centered and cold he is, Barry can’t help trying to give him an out. “She didn’t force me, Scarlet. I said yes and I kept saying yes.” Admitting as much aloud is rubbing salt into both of their wounds. Leonard nonetheless feels he owes it to Barry to lay the whole sordid affair bare.

“Why?” Barry bursts out. He drops his gaze from the ceiling to Leonard’s face, and Leonard sees tears shining on his lashes. “Are you that desperate that you couldn’t wait for me? Am I not enough? What did I do wrong that made you not want to wait for me?”

Leonard’s heart shatters. No, Barry can’t think this is his fault. “It wasn’t you. I’m selfish and shortsighted and Sara was there, and I didn’t think about how it would hurt you until it was done.” His instinct is to push until Barry snaps, because he can handle anger and it’ll be better for the kid to realize that there’s nothing to fix. He’s just not strong enough to be cruel when faced with Barry’s heartbroken pleading. “I don’t have a defense. What I did was cruel and it hurt you and it hurt her, and all I can say is that I’ve hated myself so fucking much since it happened.”

“That doesn’t make it better,” Barry says in a broken whisper. Leonard reaches out to him out of habit, desperate to hold him. He shies away. “I can’t, I can’t. I need to just…I need to not be here right now.”

Leonard doesn’t stop him. After what he’s done, how can he?

***

Miraculously, Leonard manages to avoid the STAR Labs crew and the rest of the Legends for a week. On the eighth day, he returns to his house and finds Barry standing uneasily in the kitchen.

“Barry,” he says in surprise. He hadn’t thought, after what he did, that Barry would want anything to do with him.

“Don’t, don’t talk.” Barry holds up both hands. “I scripted for this all week and I’ve got to say it or I’m gonna lose my nerve. Okay.” He draws a deep breath and relaxes into a not-quite-easy stance. “I’m really, really upset that you slept with Sara knowing that I was here waiting for you. I’m not so upset that I can’t forgive you, but I’m going to need time—and no jokes about time travel from you because that’ll just piss me off more. I wanna move back in and I want things to go back to normal but I don’t…” The determination drains from him. He looks small and weary and hopelessly lost. “I don’t know how to trust you again. That’s something you have to earn back.”

It’s more than Leonard had hoped for, and more levelheaded than the emotional pleas of “Let me try to fix this” that he’d envisioned on the Wave Rider. The request for boundaries and time is something he can respect. “I won’t push you, Scarlet.”

Barry squares his shoulders. “I’m going to ask you not to call me that,” he says firmly. “Not until I say you can.”

Leonard nods. He can respect that, too. ‘Scarlet’ is a pet name; it’s more than fair that Barry wouldn’t want a reminder of the easy intimacy between them when he’s so thoroughly destroyed it. “I can do that.”

Once again, Barry’s determination melts away. Leonard gets a glimpse of deep, aching pain that cuts him like a shard of glass; then the kid tucks it away into a look of weary defeat. “Then, yeah,” he says. “I guess we give this another try.”

#anon ask #prompt fill #leonard snart #barry allen #sara lance #cheating fic #not sure how i felt about writing this tbh

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