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Olivarry Week 2016 - Prompt 1 The Flash and the Arrow Part 2/4

My contribution to Prompt 1 of Olivarry Week:

Fairytale AU: Beauty and the Beast

Pairing: Barry Allen/Oliver Queen

Words: c.11000 this part. Probably about 40000 total.

Cross posted to A03: http://archiveofourown.org/works/7148747/chapters/16266848

Summary:

Where Barry’s beauty is his ability to see the best in people and Oliver’s beastliness is his inability to trust anyone.

When Oliver Queen decided to take on the evil Damien Darhk, he never expected to be on the receiving end of a powerful curse which would kill him unless he found true love before his 30th birthday. Weakened and scarred, Oliver retreated to the Queen mansion in the middle of the forest with his team to try and work on a cure. When nothing scientific can break the curse and when none of his relationships work out, Oliver struggles to accept that he has been ruined by something that he cannot fight. That is until a young man comes into his life and changes his perspective.

Summary (this chapter):

Barry has his first sensible conversation with Oliver and has a few adventures around the mansion.

Notes:

Wow, Thank you so much for all your interest in this little project of mine :)

Chapter 2 is being posted a little later than I would like (the next morning my time zone) because although I had finished editing this last night, it was done in a 'too much food induced super sleepy state' so I wanted to double check a few things when I was more with it :) Times like that I wished that I had Barry's fast metabolism!

Anyway, Chapter 2!

---

Barry glanced at his watch. It had been an hour since Oliver and Felicity had left him alone, and it probably wasn't late enough to sneak down to the kitchens and grab something to eat yet. He didn't want to risk running into Oliver but Barry felt a desperate twinge in his stomach and wondered if his speed would hold up long enough to get there and back unnoticed. It was worth a try, if he could find the kitchen that is.

Barry stood and stretched his arms above his head and winced when his right arm ached. The shirt he had changed into after Felicity left rode up and exposed a shallow cut on his stomach. Barry sighed. He needed to eat to kick start the healing process. At the moment the injury was still red and raw. He started towards the door and groaned as the borrowed pair of jeans rode low on his hips. Barry paused to tighten his belt and then twisted the door handle.

'That can't be right,' Barry frowned and jiggled the handle harder. 'They locked me in?'

Barry reached forward and placed his left palm flat on the door next to the handle. It would not be a challenge to unlock the door and Barry prepared to vibrate his hand.

Just as he was about to unlock the door, Barry heard a click as the lock disengaged and jumped back as the door knob turned.

'Felicity!' Barry exclaimed. 'Are you here to rescue me?'

Felicity laughed nervously and indicated to the door. 'Sorry about that, Oliver...'

'I get it. He doesn't trust me, and he wants me to starve,' Barry joked grimly.

'Oh, no, no it's not that,' Felicity insisted quickly. 'He just has very bad manners. I'm sorry about him. He should know better than to order people around by now, but he's been ruder than ever since he got ill. You must be starving, come on, let's get you something to eat.'

'Oliver is ill?' Barry asked as he followed her out of the room and down the large staircase.

Felicity nodded. 'It's pretty debilitating and causes him a lot of pain. We also don't get a lot of visitors, I think that he's forgotten how to act around people. You can join me and Thea and Dig for dinner.'

'Are you sure that it's OK? Shouldn't you be sneaking me to the kitchens and telling me to help myself?' Barry asked, and part of him hoped that she would do as he suggested so that he could eat as much as he needed without raising suspicion. He didn't know these people well enough yet to trust them with his secret.

'Oh, don't worry, Oliver is in another of his moods and it's really unlikely that he will join us tonight. He usually wants to be by himself when he's sulking,' Felicity explained and plastered a smile on her face. She hoped that Barry would not see through her lie.

Barry laughed as they entered a room with a large table. 'All right then, sure. I really am hungry.'

'Good, because I think that I overdid it,' a young woman frowned as she looked at the banquet on the table. 'I'm Thea, and this is John Diggle. You must be Barry.'

Barry smiled. 'Yeah, how did you know?'

'Felicity will not shut up about you,' Thea laughed. 'She seems to think that you'll make a good friend for Ollie.'

'Really? Felicity, he's been nothing but a jerk to me so far!' Barry protested and sat beside her near the head of the table.

'He grows on you,' Diggle commented.

Barry shrugged and helped himself to a large bowl of stew. He waited until the others turned their attention to each other for a moment and demolished the whole bowl in seconds, thankful that he managed to maintain his speed for long enough to eat. He was helping himself to his third bowl when the other's seemed to notice him again.

'Hey how much are you going to eat, slow down, you'll give yourself indigestion!' Thea exclaimed

'Oh, I have a big appetite.' Barry grinned. 'This is actually pretty normal for me.'

Felicity frowned in shock and Thea looked on with her mouth open. 'You weren't kidding when you said that you were hungry,' Felicity laughed.

'Yeah,' Barry nodded and looked around for a change of subject. The hall that they were in was spacious with a large, vaulted ceiling and Barry wondered if anyone else lived here. 'Big house for 4 people,' Barry commented.

'There used to be more of us,' Diggle turned to Barry 'but some of them couldn't stick Oliver's attitude any more, and left.'

'So, what are you like his servants? Carers?' Barry asked, eyes alight with curiosity. Surely they couldn't be...

'Friends,' Felicity replied and indicated to herself and John.

Thea smiled sadly. 'I'm his sister.'

'Oh wow, you guys are nothing alike,' Barry observed, and wondered how someone so nice was related to Oliver.

'Hey, Ollie used to have a pretty face, just like mine!' Thea protested indignantly.

Barry shook his head and held up his hands. 'I wasn't saying anything about his looks! I just meant that your a lot friendlier than he is!'

'Well when you've been through what Oliver's been through, it's hard to be bubbly and optimistic like you are,' Thea replied sarcastically.

'I take it back, you guys are definitely related! Seriously, this is more and more like a fairytale the longer I stay here, creepy mansion, grumpy host, although if I didn't know any better I'd say that you and Oliver are what's left of the Queen family, and we all know the rumours...' Barry trailed off as he saw Oliver wander in from a side entrance. He saw the man quickly pull up his hood before he walked further into the room.

'What. Is. He. Doing. Here? Felicity?' Oliver growled as he took a seat at the head of the table next to Barry.

'Eating?' Felicity answered and held her breath for the explosion.

'I specifically said that he was not to eat unless he ate with me,' Oliver glared at her, filled a bowl and took a bite.

'And look at that, I am,' Barry retorted with a grin as he nodded at Oliver's bowl.

Oliver looked surprised and was stunned into silence. Barry took that moment to help himself to another bowl and ignored Felicity's raised eyebrow. Even Barry couldn't believe that he was still hungry, even for him this was a lot of food.

'That's...That's not...' Oliver spluttered.

'Ollie dear, he's right,' Thea smiled and sent a look of surprised respect Barry's way.

Oliver sighed. 'Fine.'

Oliver began to eat and kept his head down, content to ignore everyone around him.

Felicity had to stop herself from smacking her head against the table in annoyance. How, exactly, was Oliver supposed to get to know Barry if he refused to even talk to him? She had already done the hard work. She had tricked Barry into the dining room for dinner under the impression that Oliver would not be there and convinced Oliver that he needed to eat, no matter how upset he was. It looked like she would have to get them to talk to each other too. Time to go to work.

'So, Barry, you said that you were from Central city?' Felicity smiled. Now that Oliver was here it was time to get to know Barry a little better. 'What's it like there?'

'Better than Starling city,' Barry smiled. 'The crime rate is manageable, the people are mostly friendly, and the meta-humans are kept in line. We even have our own superhero!'

Oliver looked up with interest. 'Meta-humans?'

Barry looked surprised that Oliver had spoken but recovered quickly. 'Oh, we had an incident a little over a year ago where a particle accelerator exploded and caused changes to the DNA of some of the population. A lot of the people affected developed super powers, but so far there are only two who are using their powers for good. The Flash keeps the rest in line.'

'The Flash?' Oliver prompted. He had heard rumours of a Central city vigilante, but had not confirmed them.

'Central city's own superhero speedster. He wears a hood too.' Barry frowned. 'Well, more like a cowl really. Why are you wearing a hood anyway?'

'My appearance disturbs people,' Oliver ground out and looked down at his food in an attempt to signal that the discussion was over.

Barry saw Felicity shake her head out of the corner of his eye, in an attempt to discourage him from pushing the issue further. Barry was not phased and blurted out, 'I'm not easily disturbed. Take it down.'

'I don't think that's a good idea, Barry,' Oliver insisted and folded his arms across his chest.

'I don't see what the big deal is,' Barry exclaimed and stared Oliver down.

'Fine, you asked for it!' Oliver yelled and pulled down his hood.

Barry drew in a sharp breath of surprise as he got a good look at Oliver's face for the first time. Felicity, Thea and Diggle watched him carefully to see his reaction. Barry took in Oliver's features with a critical eye. There was no doubt in Barry's mind that Oliver had once been very handsome. Now however, scar's littered his face, over his cheeks, under his eyes, across his forehead and down his neck. Barry was sure that the scars continued down his chest too. He looked closer and noticed that some of the scars were red and raw where the skin had not closed back together, as if they had not healed properly. It must have been painful. No wonder Oliver was so abrupt and grumpy. What stood out the most though, even with the extensive scarring, were Oliver's eyes. Crystal blue and captivating. The kind of eyes that you did not forget easily. A jolt of realisation sparked through Barry that for once had nothing to do with the speed force.

'I was right, you guys are the Queen's. What happened?' Barry asked and ate some more food as he waited for one of them to confirm his theory.

Thea nodded sadly and when she noticed that Oliver had again been stunned into silence, she turned to Barry. 'That's us. We fell on hard times after Oliver was...injured.'

'Your not disturbed?' Oliver blurted out, surprise evident on his face.

Barry shrugged. 'I work as a CSI for the Central city police department, I see all kinds of things. This one corpse, the cheeks had been blown apart from the inside by miniature bombs. Poor guy's face was barely recognisable. We had to identify him from his dental records.' Barry indicated to Oliver's face. 'Believe me, I've seen worse.'

Oliver raised an eyebrow at him and Barry realised what he had said.

'Not that your face is bad or anything, I mean, your actually pretty handsome underneath all those scars, not that I'm looking or anything, and...I should stop talking now,' Barry sighed and focused back on his food, only to look up in shock a second later when Oliver laughed.

'Were you and Felicity separated at birth?' Oliver teased, but his eyes were bright and he had a small smile on his face.

Barry smiled back playfully. 'No, if we were, it would make that kiss really awkward.'

'You kissed her?' Oliver exclaimed, and glared at Felicity.

Barry laughed and clapped Oliver gently on the shoulder, mindful of his injuries. 'No, I was just messing with you. Should have seen your face.'

Oliver sighed, but Felicity could tell it was fond. This was going better than she had expected. She thought around for a new topic of conversation, but Oliver surprised her and beat her to it.

'So, you work for the police? Oliver asked and leant his elbows on the table to prop up his face with his hands.

'Yeah. We got this new guy transfer from Starling city recently, Detective Lance, you might have heard of him?' Barry asked as he pushed away his 6th bowl unfinished, and mirrored Oliver's position.

Oliver nodded and his eyes widened in surprise. A quick glance at Felicity proved that this was news to her too. 'I have, but I didn't know that he had transferred away from Starling.'

'Apparently the city went to hell about six months ago when the vigilante disappeared and Lance couldn't take it any more. Lance is still obsessed with catching the vigilante though, even though no one has heard from the hood since he vanished. Honestly, for a minute there I thought that you were him. There were always those rumours about you and he wears a green hood too. I mean it didn't make any sense given that green is poor urban camouflage, but the colour did suit him.' Barry sighed. 'It's sad, Starling city used to be defended just like Central is, but now it's lost its hero.'

'You think that the vigilante is a hero?' Felicity asked and looked pointedly at Oliver. Oliver looked away and exhaled heavily. He was tired of the constant argument between himself and Felicity over the Arrow's status. She maintained that he was a hero too, but Oliver insisted that he wasn't that good.

'Of course! He's a legend!' Barry replied and his eyes shone with admiration. He noticed Oliver's dark look and continued with a small frown. 'All right, sometimes he breaks the law, and sometimes he takes things too far, but it looked to me like he was turning over a new leaf: he hadn't killed in ages before he disappeared, and even one of his worst enemies only lost a hand instead of his life!'

'You sound like your stalking him,' Thea laughed.

Barry blushed slightly. 'No, not really. I mean I guess it could come across that way... I'm just fascinated by his work. He's been involved in a lot of impossible cases, and I used to follow impossible cases obsessively before I was struck by lightning. When I woke up, Central city was involved in so many impossible cases that I couldn't keep up with my blog any more, and then the Arrow vanished.'

'You were struck by lightning and your still alive?' Thea exclaimed.

'Oh most lightning strike victims survive,' Diggle commented. 'But they often have brain damage or other adverse affects. My cousin was struck by lightning once, he has a stutter now, and near constant muscle spasms.'

'You don't seem to have any adverse affects at all though,' Felicity frowned thoughtfully. 'Oh! That light spidery scarring on your right arm, I wondered what it was when I examined your arm for breaks earlier, but now I get it. It's a Lictenburg scar, right?'

Barry nodded. 'I got lucky really, that scar is the only lasting damage from the strike. Although I was in a coma for 9 months.'

'Wow, you call that lucky?' Thea exclaimed. That was like Oliver saying he was lucky to be stranded on an island for five years. 'You must have missed so much.'

'Yeah, I did,' Barry sighed, and Oliver noticed the way that his shoulder's slumped and he leant more heavily on his left hand. Sad didn't really suit the young man, and Oliver felt a sudden urge to try and cheer him up and get back to the easy smiles and grins of earlier.

'So why the interest in impossible cases?' Oliver asked and hoped that the change of subject would brighten the young man's mood.

Barry looked down at the table and his shoulder's shook slightly. Felicity could see him take a deep breath.

'You don't have to answer if you don't want to,' Felicity offered and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder.

'No, it's OK.' Barry took another deep breath and then looked up at Oliver. 'When I was eleven, my mom was murdered by something impossible. A blur of yellow light, and in that light, I saw a man. No one would believe me, I was just a kid, but I swear that it's the truth. My father went to prison for her murder, but he didn't do it. Ever since then I had been looking into anything else unusual to try and find the real killer.'

'I'm so sorry, Barry,' Felicity offered.

'Tough break, man,' Diggle sympathised and Thea nodded beside him.

'You said that you had been looking,' Oliver asked carefully after a pause. 'Something happened, didn't it?'

Barry sighed and nodded. 'I recently caught up to the guy that killed my mom, but he died before I could get a confession out of him. Now my dad will serve a life sentence and there's no hope for his release.' Barry stood and felt a wave of exhaustion threaten to overcome him. 'Thanks for dinner, I think I'll go to bed now.'

'Good night Barry,' Felicity and Thea offered sadly. Diggle waved him off and Oliver nodded and looked down in thought as Barry left the room.

Felicity glared at Oliver after the young man had left. Oliver noticed as soon as he glanced up.

'What? It's not my fault, Felicity!' Oliver protested. 'How was I supposed to know that his mother was murdered!'

'You could have sympathised instead of pressing the issue!' Felicity protested.

'You were the one who said that I should get to know him better!' Oliver huffed and stood up. 'See you tomorrow.'

Thea stood to hug him. 'Night Ollie.'

'Goodnight, Thea.' Oliver pressed a kiss to her hair and nodded to Diggle before he left the room.

'Well, that didn't go too badly,' Diggle commented.

Thea nodded. 'I like Barry, he's nice. I've never seen Ollie go for another man before, but who knows?'

'I didn't know that Barry was a fan of the vigilante,' Felicity smiled. 'At least if Oliver tells him, they may find something to bond over, as well as the fact that they both seem to have gone through hell.' Felicity frowned. She never would have guessed that Barry had such a dark past, and supposed that she couldn't blame Oliver if he wanted to know all the details.

'Never seen anyone stand up to Oliver like that either,' Diggle laughed. 'You were right Felicity, kid has no fear.'

Thea smiled. 'We can only see what happens tomorrow. I'm going out for a bit with Laurel, I'll see you tomorrow.'

'See you later, Thea,' Felicity waved.

'Be careful,' Diggle warned.

Thea nodded and left the room.

'Your sure that no one will notice Barry is missing?' Diggle asked Felicity once they were alone. 'I'm not comfortable keeping a member of the police force hostage.'

Felicity nodded. 'Laurel said that she would cover for Barry the best that she can. It's not for long anyway, John. It will be nice for Oliver to have some company in the coming weeks. You know he's been a little lonely since Roy left.'

John nodded. 'All right, just keep an eye on the Central city police channels, will you? The moment they put a BOLO on him, we let him go.'

Felicity nodded. 'I'll go and set up the alert now.'

'I'm heading home to Lyla, it's late and I should have been home hours ago,' John frowned. 'See you tomorrow Felicity.

'Good night, John,' Felicity offered and headed towards the lab to her computer.

–--

The next morning, Central city

Caitlyn Snow sighed as Cisco locked the pipeline. 'Are you sure we need to do that, Cisco? He's dead, he's not going anywhere.'

Cisco nodded his head. 'I'm not taking any chances. He gave me the creeps when he was alive, and I'm not having his corpse in the cortex or in my lab. If you had seen any zombie films at all, you would understand.'

Caitlyn smiled, amused. 'Fine, your the expert. So what now?'

'We call detective West and see if finding the man in yellow is enough to clear Henry. It's the least we can do for Barry after he traded himself to the beast for us,' Cisco frowned and removed his lolly pop from his mouth before he dialled. He followed Caitlyn back to the cortex and put the phone on loud speaker as he waited for Joe to answer.

'Cisco, what's up?' Joe answered on the third ring.

'There was an incident. The man in yellow is dead. Could you come over to the labs when you get a chance? We want to know if there's anything we can do for Barry's dad,' Cisco explained quickly.

'I'll be there as soon as I can,' Joe replied and hung up.

'I think he must have been at the station, or somewhere he couldn't talk. He didn't ask any questions,' Cisco frowned. 'I guess now we wait.'

Caitlyn nodded and sat at her desk. She brought up an article on Oliver Queen and his mysterious disappearance. 'I'm worried about Barry. You know, I heard that place is the old Queen mansion. Everything I can find on Queen says that he lost his mind when he was cursed a few months back. What if he hurts Barry?'

Cisco shrugged. 'Barry can take care of himself. As soon as he's better he'll be back here before we know it.'

'But what if they lock him back in the dungeon's and don't feed him?' Caitlyn worried, and bit her lower lip.

'Felicity won't let that happen, she seemed nice enough,' Cisco replied with dreamy eyes.

'You realise that you have a girlfriend, right?' Caitlyn slapped his arm. 'Anyway, she won't stick up for Barry just because she's hot. Oliver is scary, intimidating, she's probably terrified of him.'

'Ow, I know, I know. I have Kendra, she's fantastic. Doesn't mean that I can't appreciate beauty when I see it,' Cisco grumbled and looked to the door.

'Cisco, Caitlyn,' Joe nodded as he came in. 'What happened? Is Barry OK?'

'He's fine,' Cisco lied smoothly.

'Where is he then?' Joe frowned.

'He dashed off after we locked up Wells, haven't seen him since,' Cisco covered. 'He said something about chasing down something in Starling city?'

'Really?' Joe frowned. 'He must be taking Iris' news harder than I thought.'

'Something happened with Iris?' Caitlyn asked curiously.

Joe nodded. 'She told me that Eddie proposed to her. She was going to tell Barry yesterday over coffee. If he's run all the way to Starling he must be taking it harder than she thought he did.'

'Wow, tough break,' Cisco sympathised. 'Do you want to see the body?'

Joe sighed. 'May as well. Although without him alive to confess, getting Henry out is going to be difficult. Barry probably realised that too. Between this and Iris he must be feeling awful right now.'

'It was an accident,' Caitlyn explained and thought back to Barry's meaningful look in the dungeon. 'Your right, Barry wasn't too happy about it.'

'Poor kid's having a rough week. I'll give him space for now, we all should, and I'll cover for him with the Captain. If I haven't heard from him by tomorrow I'll give him a call.' Joe nodded decisively and stuffed his hands in his pockets. 'All right, show me the man in yellow.'

Cisco nodded and headed towards the pipeline. Caitlyn caught up to him and whispered in his ear. 'I hope your right and Barry doesn't get hurt, because lying to Joe, Cisco? That's his son Oliver Queen has hostage.'

'I don't think that Barry is in danger,' Cisco whispered back and Caitlyn glared at him. Cisco rolled his eyes. 'Look, if he doesn't return in a couple of days, when he should definitely be healed enough to run away, then we can get CCPD involved and storm the castle. Until then, we wait.'

'Fine. But I hope you know what your doing,' Caitlyn sighed as they reached the pipeline and showed Joe the body of the man that had tormented Barry's nightmares for years.

---

The next morning, Queen mansion

When Barry woke the next morning, he felt well rested. He rolled over to sit up on the edge of the bed and stretched his arms above his head. His right arm still hurt, although it felt as if it had partially healed at least. It was probably nothing more than a small fracture now compared to the break it had probably been yesterday at the river side. His chest and ribs felt a little sore, but it was nothing compared to the pain of yesterday. Food and a good nights sleep in a comfortable bed had done wonders for his injuries and it looked like his speed healing was back on track. Barry glanced down at his leg. The gash had healed completely along with the rest of the cuts and bruises that he had received when he fell over the waterfall.

Barry stood and tested his legs. He let out a sigh of relief when he barely any pain. He dressed much slower than usual and had just pulled a clean t-shirt over his head when his attention was drawn to a noise from outside, a twang, whoosh thunk, on repeat. Barry was in front of the window before he had realised he had moved. He groaned and held a hand to his chest. Super-speed still hurt slightly at the moment.

Barry opened the window and sat on the ledge. He swung his legs over the edge so that they dangled outside and gazed around the garden below to try and find the source of the noises. With his left hand, Barry held the edge of the window frame as he leant forward slightly. The wind ruffled his hair and Barry caught sight of Oliver in the garden below, letting loose arrows at moving targets.

'No way! Is he really...?' Barry exclaimed, and leant forward further.

Barry frowned and watched closely as Oliver hit each target dead centre. Looking closer, it looked like Oliver was struggling to keep the bow steady and to pull back the string. Barry closed his eyes in an attempt to remember the pictures of the vigilante which always appeared on the news, and yes. Oliver was using his left hand to pull back the string, but the vigilante always used his right. It was still pretty cool that Oliver could shoot though and Barry couldn't deny that he wanted to get a closer look.

If his speed was pain free at the moment, it would have been easy to run down the side of the building. As it was, Barry was unsure if he could hold out long enough to get to the ground safely. Barry looked at the tree near his window and began to formulate a plan in his mind. He reached out with his good arm and grasped the tree trunk. It felt sturdy and did not wobble when he shook it. Good. Barry pulled himself to his feet and looked at the gap between the windowsill and the tree branch critically. He looked down at his legs and judged the distance to be manageable, especially with his long legs. He was only three floors up. If he fell, he would only sustain mild injuries, nothing that he couldn't handle.

Barry grasped the tree and stepped carefully across the gap. He looked down and sighed, relieved when the branch barely moved under his weight. Barry lowered himself to sit on the branch and carefully made his way down the tree.

It was going really well until Barry lost his footing on a wet branch and felt his feet swing out under him. Barry cursed as he fell and he reached out to try get a grip on another branch. His left arm scraped against the tree trunk but before he could fall further his right arm caught hold of a branch. Barry winced in agony and scrabbled to bring his left arm up to help support his weight. He pushed past the pain and pulled himself up to sit on the branch. That could not have done his fractured arm any good.

Barry looked over towards Oliver but the man was focused on his shooting and had not noticed his predicament, or his fumbling. Barry took a deep breath and when he had gained his breath back, he continued down the tree. He made it to the bottom without further incident and glanced up at how far down he had come. He had come a long way from the normal lab assistant he once was. Before he got his powers he never would have climbed so recklessly out of a window and to do so without using them was an achievement to be proud of.

Barry brushed himself off and wandered closer to Oliver. The spring sun was warm on his back and Barry marvelled at the way it brightened the gloomy mansion into something less scary. He chose a spot behind Oliver and to the left, near the wall of the mansion. Barry lowered himself to sit in the grass and leant back to rest his back against the wall. He closed his eyes momentarily and tilted his head up to bask in the sun.

A few moments later, Barry opened his eyes and watched as Oliver moved slowly but with precision, and fired off arrows in slow succession. In the light of day, Oliver looked pale and sickly and his moments were slow and careful, as if he were in pain.

As he watched, Barry couldn't help but notice Oliver pick up the pace and let loose arrow after arrow in a quick volley. Each one struck its target perfectly. For his final three arrows, Oliver ducked and dived in a roll, only to spring up and let loose all three arrows at once. They struck three vertical targets at the exact moment that they aligned one above the other and Barry could not help but cheer enthusiastically.

Oliver flung his bow over his back and immediately headed for Barry.

'Wow, you could give the Arrow a run for his money!' Barry smiled, impressed.

'It looks like you were trying to be a vigilante yourself,' Oliver gave a small, amused smile. 'You could have just used the door.'

Barry flushed slightly. 'I don't know my way around here yet. I probably would have gotten lost.'

'Better that than injured, surely?' Oliver raised an eyebrow at Barry's arm and offered a hand to help him up.

'I'd rather take my chances with the tree. This place is huge, I could have been lost for weeks and starved before anyone noticed that I was gone!' Barry protested and accepted Oliver's hand to pull himself to his feet as Oliver laughed easily.

'Here, let me see,' Oliver held out a hand for Barry's arm.

Barry held up his grazed arm without hesitation. 'I should probably have the other one in a cast, or at the very least a sling. It's fractured.'

Oliver sighed and rolled his eyes. 'So you thought that climbing a tree would be a good idea?'

Barry shrugged. 'I wanted to get a closer look. Do you think it will need stitches?'

Oliver shook his head. 'No, just cleaning. Come on, I can do that over breakfast, and then I'll give you a tour. Can't risk you climbing another tree in case you break your neck next time.'

Barry smiled as he followed Oliver inside and through into the room they had eaten in last night. 'It was only 3 stories up, I would have been fine!'

'Your not a super hero, Barry!' Oliver joked and pulled out a chair. He moved to a nearby cabinet and pulled out a medical kit.

Barry laughed and sat down with his arm outstretched. 'How do you know? You barely know anything about me.'

Oliver sat beside him and cleaned his arm with efficiency. Barry marvelled at the ease with which the supposedly spoilt billionaire treated his scrape. It was as if he had experience dealing with injuries.

'Plenty of time to get to know each other over breakfast,' Felicity smiled as she entered the room. 'Morning Barry, what happened to your arm?'

'I scraped it on a tree,' Barry explained. 'It's OK though, I'm in expert hands.'

Felicity laughed. 'I'll leave you two to it then, I promised Thea and Laurel that I'd help them track down Roy.'

'I don't think that he wants to be found, Felicity,' Oliver warned.

Felicity waved him off. 'Oh, I know that. He's the love of your sister's life though and she just wants to know that he's OK. I'll see you later, Ollie.'

Oliver nodded and stood. He turned to Barry. 'Come on, let's get something to eat. Any requests?'

'Big Belly Burger?' Barry joked and followed Oliver into a large kitchen.

Oliver smiled. 'I can't do that, but if your after something hot, I can fry up something.'

'Please,' Barry nodded. 'I get really hungry. Ever since I woke up from a coma my metabolism is super fast and I need to eat a lot more than regular people.'

It wasn't a lie, but it was more than he needed to share and may make Oliver suspicious. Still, Barry could not help but feel open around Oliver. Perhaps it was his theory that Oliver was the vigilante and was one of his kind which led him to share more with Oliver than he would anyone else that he had just met.

Oliver opened the fridge and pulled out bacon, eggs, sausages and mushrooms. 'Your in luck, Felicity bought too much food again. She hasn't adjusted to Roy and Laurel leaving yet.'

Barry leant against the counter and crossed his arms. 'Roy was Thea's boyfriend?'

Oliver nodded as he set the food to fry and leant beside Barry. 'I don't think that he could take my temper or my condition any longer. Things have been going steadily downhill since my mother died.'

'I'm sorry,' Barry offered and placed a comforting hand on Oliver's shoulder. 'What condition do you have? If you don't mind me asking.'

Oliver sighed and pulled away to turn their food. 'I was cursed by a magician that I pissed off.'

Barry began to laugh, but one look at Oliver and he tailed off uncertainly. 'Your serious?'

Oliver nodded and dished out their food. His eyes scanned Barry's face carefully for any traces of disbelief and he was surprised when he saw none. He handed a plate to Barry who accepted it gratefully.

'Wow, and I thought that Central city had it's fair share of nut jobs. Tough break,' Barry muttered as he followed Oliver back to the dining room. 'Is that why your face is so scarred?'

'Part of the curse, yes. I also don't have the strength or stamina that I used to have,' Oliver sighed and was surprised when he felt like talking more. Barry was easy to talk to. 'These past few months haven't been easy, and I may have taken that out on the people around me a little too much.'

'Don't most curses have a cure? An out?' Barry frowned as he watched Oliver look blankly towards the window and took the chance to demolish half his plate of food.

'Yes, but it's complicated,' Oliver sighed and turned to Barry. He noticed the speed at which Barry had eaten and frowned. He already had his suspicions: an emblem with a lightning bolt had been on the floor outside the front door of the mansion this morning and Barry did not seem bothered by his injuries much. Barry had also admitted to a fast metabolism, ate faster and more than any of them could, and was from a city where meta-humans were common. It was possible that he was one of them. Oliver decided that he would keep a close eye on Barry over the next few days. It was possible that Darhk had sent the young man to ensure his demise, although Oliver hoped not. He actually liked Barry.

'How bad can it be?' Barry asked as he picked at his food at a more normal speed now that he had Oliver's attention, unaware of Oliver's suspicions.

'The only way to break the curse is to fall in love, and have that person love me in return. I've tried, but nothing, not even my attempts with my closest friends, worked. I'm stuck like this for the rest of my life,' Oliver regarded him sadly and decided not to burden the young man with the fact that the rest of his life would not be that long.

'Wow, Cisco was nearly spot on with his Beauty and the Beast theory. There isn't an enchanted rose hidden in the basement is there?' Barry was unable to resist asking. 'I'm sorry, that was insensitive.'

Oliver's lips twitched into a smile. 'No, it's fine. There's no enchanted rose.'

'Probably just as well. To have the symbol of true love counting down your days? That's just cruel.' Barry frowned. 'Not that love isn't cruel anyway.'

'Do I sense bitterness?' Oliver smirked.

'No, no. I shouldn't be really.' Barry sighed and looked down at the table. 'It's just that my best friend, Iris, got engaged to her long term boyfriend. I should have expected it really, they've been living together for a while now. He's a typical pretty boy like you, not a gangly nerd like me, and she's beautiful. I should have known that I'd never have a shot.'

'Your in love with her?' Oliver asked, and tried to keep the disappointment out of his tone.

Barry frowned and leant back in his chair. 'I don't even know any more. I'd been in love with her since I knew what love was. I even told her how I felt, but Eddie, her boyfriend, punched me in the face and she's thrown herself into their relationship ever since. I guess I just threw myself into my work and didn't want to dwell on it too much. If I think about it, I'm not in the right place to be in a relationship right now anyway, I'm far too busy with work. She deserves someone who can give her all the time in the world and make her happy.'

Oliver nodded. 'I can relate to that. There's always something else going on. It was even worse when I was trying to run QC on top of everything else.'

'Didn't that get taken over by Ray Palmer?' Barry asked and finished his food.

'Yeah, he's doing a far better job than I ever was,' Oliver admitted. 'Although he did have help from Felicity. I don't think that I was cut out for corporate meetings and business management.'

'Maybe you should take up the vigilantes hood?' Barry suggested. 'You really are good with a bow, and I wasn't kidding when I said that Starling city has gone to hell without it's hero.'

'As much as I want to help, I couldn't, not with my poor stamina.' Oliver sighed and ran a hand through his hair. 'What use am I when I struggle to pull back my bow string?'

Barry could see that Oliver's shoulder's had tensed and his eyes had closed briefly.

'Your frustrated, you feel helpless. I get that. I've been there.' Barry remembered clearly the time when Blackout had zapped his powers and attacked Star labs. He had never felt so helpless since he had gotten his powers. Still, he had gotten them back so could Oliver get his strength back? 'Surely there must be something we can do to improve your stamina, your strength, other than breaking the curse?'

Oliver shook his head. 'Felicity has had me try so many types of medications, supplements, even herbal remedies. None of them work.'

'How about home brewed elixirs then? Those are always tons more effective in my experience,' Barry suggested. He raised his hand to cup his chin thoughtfully and looked upwards towards the ceiling as the possibilities churned in his mind.

'You think that's possible?' Oliver frowned. He had never really considered the possibility when Felicity had failed to come up with anything.

'I'm a scientist, of course it's possible,' Barry scoffed and rolled his eyes.

'Your a CSI,' Oliver frowned.

'The best there is,' Barry insisted. 'Or the best that I know anyway. Most of my work is based in science. If I had access to my lab I bet I could figure something out if I had a sample of your blood.'

'I have a lab,' Oliver mused and continued when Barry's head shot up and his eyes widened as he regarded Oliver with interest. 'In the basement.'

'You do? Show me!' Barry insisted and stood to lean his hands on the table. 'Please?'

'I'll see if I can include it on the tour,' Oliver mused and held his hand up to his chin in thought as he pushed back his chair to stand. Perhaps if Barry discovered his secret, he would show his hand, and one way to let that secret slip was to let Barry have access to the lab.

'I hear the owner is a real hard ass,' Barry joked, and his eyes twinkled with amusement as he smiled at Oliver. 'Might have to sneak around him.'

'Hey!' Oliver exclaimed and moved around the table to punch Barry playfully in the shoulder.

Barry grabbed his arm and winced. 'You know, I find it hard to believe that you have a problem with your strength with a punch like that!'

'Sorry,' Oliver murmured, but he smirked when he saw that Barry didn't seem to mind really and turned towards the door.

'It's fine,' Barry laughed. 'I just wasn't expecting you to hit so hard.'

Oliver smiled. 'I'm stronger than most people, even with the curse. Come on, I'll show you the lab.' Barry nodded and Oliver turned and led his way to the grand staircase to start the tour.

–--

Oliver had left Barry to it once they had reached the lab, but Barry had not stayed long. Oliver had some good equipment, but Barry's focus had been on the large library Oliver had shown him earlier, where he hoped to find some books to help him create something to help improve Oliver's strength.

The library had a high, vaulted roof, and the walls ran floor to ceiling with books. The curtains were shut but the room was not neglected. An abandoned coffee cup sat on a desk near the door and when Barry pulled back the curtains there was an open book on the windowsill, both clear indicators that someone had used the library recently.

Barry sighed and looked towards the desk for some kind of index. Luckily, the library appeared to be well catalogued, and soon Barry found himself in the medicine and science sections. After a quick look around to ensure that he was alone, Barry decided that it was safe and sped around to grab a few books that may be useful. He was relieved when he felt more in control and less in pain when he used his speed than he had before, and settled into the deep recess of the windowsill surrounded by books.

He had sped through around 20 books when he startled as the door creaked open and he dropped the current book he was holding into his lap.

'Felicity! Hi!' Barry squeaked.

'Barry, I'm sorry did I startle you?' Felicity smiled.

'Just a little. I was really into my research,' Barry returned her smile. 'Did you find Roy?'

Felicity nodded. 'Thea is with him now, he was in Central of all places!'

'That's good,' Barry smiled. 'I take it she won't be back for a while?'

'Probably not. I just hope that Oliver won't mind,' Felicity sighed sadly.

'I'll keep him company until she gets back,' Barry offered without hesitation.

'You don't mind?' Felicity mused, surprised.

'No, not at all,' Barry replied and found where he was up to in his book.

Felicity smiled a genuine smile and moved towards the window. 'So, what are you reading?'

'Oh, just a few books about medicines and alchemy. Oliver said that his strength and stamina aren't what they used to be because of the curse, so I'm trying to see if I can help him,' Barry explained, and made room for Felicity to sit beside him.

'Oliver told you that?' Felicity asked, surprised, as she took a seat and picked up the book that she had abandoned on the windowsill yesterday.

Barry nodded and then a look of realisation dawned on his face. 'You tricked me last night, you said that Oliver wouldn't be at dinner!'

'Hey, don't blame me, I said that it was unlikely, not that it was impossible,' Felicity protested.

'Well, it's not like it matters. I'm glad that he was,' Barry smiled, a small genuine smile as he looked back to his book.

'Really?' Felicity asked, trying not to sound too eager.

'Yeah, he's not so bad. He just makes a terrible first impression. Once you get past his walls, he's actually a good person. We've been getting along fine, he even let me in the forbidden basement!' Barry exclaimed and sat up straighter. 'Your lab is amazing.'

Felicity smiled. 'That's Oliver for you. Although I'm surprised that he's opening up to you so easily, he's usually fairly cagey and secretive, even with the people that he knows well.'

'I seem to have that affect on people,' Barry mused and remembered how Caitlyn had opened up to him fairly soon after they met, even though she had closed herself off pretty well from most other people.

'Well, I'm glad that your getting along,' Felicity said happily and settled in to read her book. Barry went back to his book, although it was at a significantly slower pace than before. It was not long before he felt his leg begin to twitch as his mind attempt to skip words and read faster.

'Can I borrow these?' Barry asked as he closed his book. 'I'll need to look through the rest to see if there's anything useful, and I have a few theories now so could use them in the lab.' He would also get through them much faster if he locked himself in his room and used his super speed to get through as many books as possible.

'Sure, go ahead,' Felicity smiled. 'You really think that you can help Oliver?'

Barry nodded. 'It's going to be tricky, and I'll need some ingredients either from the forest, or from the lab, but I think I can make things easier for him.'

'That's good,' Felicity smiled sadly. 'Anything that you can do to can help Oliver lead an easier life would be much appreciated.'

'Sure,' Barry agreed and grabbed as many books as he could carry. 'I'll see you at dinner.'

'Good luck,' Felicity offered.

'Thanks,' Barry replied and made a hasty retreat from the library and to his own room.

Once he had dumped off the books, he made an additional trip to the kitchens to grab as much food as he could carry for lunch and snacks during his extended study session.

Back in his room, Barry dumped the food on the bed beside the books and closed and locked the door. He rummaged in the bedside drawers and was relieved to find a notepad and pen. The first book he picked up was a book on herbs and their practical uses in potions. Barry settled comfortably on the bed, grabbed his sandwich and lost himself in his reading.

A couple of hours later Barry had finished reading the stack of books he had brought up from the library. He looked around himself at the empty bag of prawn crackers, three chocolate bar wrappers and sandwich crumbs that surrounded him and dashed off the bed to clear up quickly. Barry grabbed the notepad he had been writing on and frowned down at his scrawled notes. He had a few ideas for things he could brew up to improve Oliver's strength, but he would need some ingredients, and he could probably only get those in the city.

Barry stood and stretched. His ribs still twinged slightly, and he knew that he could not run all the way to Starling or Central city, whichever was closer, today. Still, that didn't mean that he couldn't run at all. His body felt tense from his extended study session, much as it usually did if he spent the whole day seated at his lab at CCPD when there were no crime scenes to attend. His legs twitched and his body ached to run, to clear his head in a way that only running through the streets of Central city could nowadays.

It was not an option to run in the forest with it's wolves, just in case his speed failed him again, so Barry left his room and wandered the halls of the mansion until he came to the darkened stairway at the far end of the mansion that led towards the attic. Oliver had shown him the disused space earlier and Barry had known at the time that it would be a perfect place to stretch his legs and test his speed without anyone else knowing that he was there. It was a square shaped space and Barry was sure that the attic, like the rest of the mansion, circled the courtyard in the centre of the mansion that Oliver had pointed out earlier.

Barry reached the top of the stairway and stretched out his legs as a quick warm up. His eyes crackled with electricity and he took off seconds later around the large space. Barry sighed and felt himself begin to relax. It was not as freeing as running in the city, where the wind whistled around him and he was free to run where ever he wanted, but it was safe and would do until he had made a full recovery. Just to feel the speed force coursing through him strongly again was a relief to Barry and he did a few laps of the attic before his ribs began to ache again.

Barry slowed to a stop and walked over to the nearest window. He pulled back the curtains to let in some light and threw open the window to try and clear the musty smell from the attic. It was a little better, but not perfect. Barry looked around at the other windows which were evenly spaced on the same side of the building where he currently stood. There were eight windows on this side of the building, and on the opposite side, higher up, a further six windows. From up here in the attic it was easy to see just how large Oliver's mansion was.

Barry frowned and stared at the nearest window on the opposite side wall. 'I wonder if these open...'

There was one way to find out. Barry took a lap of the attic at breakneck speed and ran up the wall towards one of the upper windows. He grinned when he realised that the window opened and got a glimpse of the central courtyard. From the first window, it was easy to speed around to throw open all the windows around the courtyard. Barry then turned to the outside wall and opened the windows and curtains there too.

'Much better,' Barry sighed as the cool breeze from outside began to circulate in the now much brighter space. This was now the perfect training ground.

Barry did a few more laps of the attic before he felt his chest begin to ache and he sighed as he came to a halt. He stretched his arms above his head and winced. The little bit of running that he had done had taken a toll on his body, and he was still weaker than he would like to be.

Barry shook his head. That would be all for today. If he pushed himself too hard he risked delaying his recovery further. There was always tomorrow, and by then he would probably be up to running to the nearest city and back for those ingredients.

Barry was about to head down the stairs when he heard voices. It took him a second to realise that the wind had carried the voices inside through the now open windows from the courtyard below. Curious, Barry zipped closer to the nearest window and eyed the gap critically. He was small enough, and the window would open wider. Barry sped up and pulled the window open as wide as it would go. He dragged himself through the window and onto the small ledge that skirted the courtyard, high above the two people talking below.

The ledge was just wide enough to sit on, and Barry leant back against the sloped tiled roof so that he would not be spotted. He closed his eyes and listened as the two people continued their conversation, unaware that they were no longer alone.

'You don't know if he will work anything out, Oliver. I wouldn't get your hopes up,' a woman was saying, and Barry recognised the voice as Felicity's. Barry leant forward and looked over the edge of the small wall that ran around the ledge.

'I know, but he sounded confident,' Oliver's voice carried up to where Barry was perched. 'I just hope that he can help. If I get even some of my strength back I can help Starling city like I used to. It really sounds like it needs me now more than it ever did...'

Barry frowned and continued to listen. Just what did Oliver mean by helping Starling city?

'Oliver, you can't risk yourself like that. What if you run out of energy at the wrong moment? You could get yourself killed!' Felicity protested.

Barry shook his head in wonder. Could it be that Oliver was the vigilante after all? Or did Felicity mean that any attempt to help Starling city and get rid of Damien Darhk would be dangerous and could get Oliver killed?

'I'm going to die anyway, Felicity, at least if Barry can help me, I can do some good until then,' Oliver insisted and folded his arms across his chest. Barry could not see his expression clearly from high up, but he felt that Oliver sounded pained. Barry watched as Oliver looked at Felicity and ran a hand through his hair. 'I'm sorry, Felicity. I know that this situation is hard for you. It's hard for me too.'

Barry watched as Felicity reached out and hugged Oliver close. He could not make out her next words but he saw her lips move near Oliver's ear.

Oliver returned her embrace and smiled sadly at her. 'Come on, let's get dinner sorted. I'm sure that our guest will be hungry.'

Felicity nodded and Barry ducked back to lean against the roof as they walked towards the entrance nearest to his hiding place. He leant back against the tiles in the warmth of the afternoon sun and closed his eyes. From what he had heard, all he knew for sure was that Oliver wanted to help Starling city, needed his strength to do it, and could get killed if he ran out of energy at the wrong moment. It did sound like he could be the missing vigilante, and Oliver could certainly shoot well enough to be him.

Barry sighed. Short of getting definitive proof, or asking Oliver directly, he would never know the truth. If Oliver was anything like Barry himself, he would be careful to hide all proof, and quick to deny it if Barry asked. Barry knew that when it came to protecting his identity as the Flash, he would do the same.

Barry vowed that, regardless, he would make the elixirs well and get Oliver to test them within the mansion grounds before he put himself at risk, just in case he was the vigilante. Tomorrow he would gather the ingredients that he needed to start experimenting in the lab. He just needed to find out which was closer, Central or Starling city, because although he was not at full strength yet, Barry knew that by tomorrow his super healing would have caught up with itself and he would be more than up for the extended run.

Barry opened his eyes and stood to stretch. He made his way carefully back to the window and down into the attic. Not happy to leave the windows open all night, Barry sped around and closed them before he ran down the stairs towards the library, where he had spotted a few maps earlier which he could use to figure out which way to run in the morning.

–--

'Sorry I'm late!' Barry exclaimed as he ran into the dining room at a normal speed. 'You wouldn't believe how easy it is to get lost around here!'

'Oh believe me, I would,' Felicity laughed and reached into her pocket. 'I carry a map at all times, I'll make you a copy.'

'Thanks, that would be amazing,' Barry replied and sat down to dig into his food.

Oliver frowned at him. 'Barry why are you so dusty?'

'I was exploring, and some of the rooms around here are pretty unused. I didn't have time to change,' Barry explained easily.

'I thought that you would have stayed in the lab,' Oliver mused, with a slightly sad smile.

'Don't worry, I haven't forgotten,' Barry smiled at him. 'I spent a lot of time reading and in the library. Even the best need to research sometimes. I'll have something for you by tomorrow afternoon, promise.'

'Thank you,' Oliver murmured quietly.

'It's the least that I can do,' Barry grinned.

'What do you mean?' Oliver asked cautiously.

'Well, even though you blackmailed me to stay here, you've given me a room, food, time to recover. I appreciate that, it's much better than the dungeons, and I feel much better already,' Barry explained and Oliver could see that his cheeks were a healthier colour already and his eyes were sparkling.

Oliver looked down, unsure how to respond. Barry was too honest, too good, to be one of Darhk's men. That was a relief, but the fact that he had blackmailed someone so good did not sit well with Oliver. Being a good person didn't rule Barry out as a meta-human though, although if Barry were a meta-human, Oliver could not see him as an evil one.

'I wouldn't have let him keep you in the dungeons,' Felicity smiled. 'Your our guest, really.'

Barry smiled at her and looked to her left. Someone was missing. 'Where's Diggle?'

'He's with his family tonight. It's just us now.' Felicity explained.

'So you really think that you can make something to help me?' Oliver asked.

'Of course,' Barry nodded. 'It might take a little while, but I have a few theories that I want to test out.'

'Let me know as soon as your done,' Oliver smiled, eager to test anything that Barry made now that he was convinced that Barry was on his side.

'I will, but please don't push yourself too hard as soon as I give it to you, OK?' Barry warned, and thought back to the conversation that he had overheard. 'I want you to test how long the dosage lasts and how effective it is before you go hunting in the woods or something stupid. I don't want to risk the effects wearing off and landing you in trouble.'

Felicity smiled in relief and looked gratefully towards Barry.

'Fine,' Oliver sighed. 'I suppose one extra day couldn't hurt.'

'Thanks, Barry,' Felicity added. 'I know how stubborn Oliver is, he'd have been out there like a shot otherwise.'

'So, were you planning on doing something daft like running for major or trying to take back your company?' Barry asked, hoping to glean a little more information from Oliver.

'No, nothing like that,' Oliver laughed and deflected easily, 'I don't ever want to run a company again, as much as it was my families legacy, it was also my burden, and I wasn't the best CEO ever.'

Felicity scoffed into her drink and covered her laugh. 'He was the worst, always late for meetings, never there when he was supposed to be. I practically ran the company for him.'

'I had other responsibilities, Felicity,' Oliver growled.

'Oh, I know, Oliver, I understand that more than anyone. It was just really funny that a girl from the I.T department suddenly became the acting CEO of QC,' Felicity smiled.

'So, if Felicity was running the company, what were you doing?' Barry pressed and leant forward on the table.

Oliver did not expect the question and paused, but Felicity jumped in quickly to cover for him. 'He was mostly at his sister's nightclub, which he found far more interesting.'

Oliver nodded and decided to turn the tables. 'So how about you, Barry, does your day job interfere with your night life?'

'Oh, no, not really. I mean, I'm late, a lot, but I get my work done so fast that the chief is cool with it. Most of the time,' Barry rambled, afraid that Oliver was onto his own secret life as a vigilante. 'The hours are odd and I'm on call a lot though, so there's not much time for anything else. It's cool though, I enjoy my work.'

'If Oliver had been that passionate about QC, we wouldn't have lost it to Ray Palmer,' Felicity smiled.

'There were more important things to worry about,' Oliver shrugged. 'I couldn't do everything.'

'Sometimes there's just not enough time in the day,' Barry agreed, 'Even for me.'

'So, what's the most interesting case that you've worked on?' Felicity asked. She wanted to keep Barry on a topic that he was passionate about because it really did bring out the best in him.

'That's a tricky question,' Barry frowned and was grateful that neither of them had caught his near slip up. 'There are so many, especially since the meta-humans showed up. Anything involving Captain Cold is always interesting.'

'Captain Cold?' Oliver mouthed to Felicity. Felicity shrugged and mouthed 'Deathstroke? Huntress?' back at Oliver.

'Is that a code name?' Felicity asked and sent a pointed look Oliver's way.

'Of course,' Barry smiled. 'His real name is Leonard Snart, but that's a bit of a mouthful, so we call him Captain Cold, after the cold gun that he swiped from Star Labs. He does heists mostly, all complicated and planned to the second. Even when we catch him, he gets away again.'

'How do the police confront someone with a gun that freezes?' Felicity wondered aloud.

'Oh, that's where Star Labs and the Flash come in. Caitlyn and Cisco work there, and they developed some riot shields to protect our officers, and so long as the Flash doesn't get hit, he can usually stop Cold in his tracks,' Barry explained eagerly.

'So your police force willingly work with a vigilante?' Oliver asked intently.

'Well, me and detective West, my foster father, do. Technically the rest of the department don't know just how closely we work with the Flash and Star labs.' Barry sighed heavily. 'Although people are gradually coming around to the idea of the Flash as a hero, and not as a vigilante. I hope that it won't be long before the police acknowledge his positive influence and we can work together more openly.'

'I bet detective Lance won't like that,' Felicity frowned and thought of his difficult relationship with Oliver when Oliver still had the strength to be the Arrow.

'No probably not, the Arrow had plenty of issues with him when he was active,' Oliver mused.

'Actually, he's surprisingly tolerant of Joe's pro-Flash stance, although I do get the feeling that he's worried that the Flash will start taking the law into his own hands.' Barry frowned. 'The Flash would never do that though, he's by the book.'

'You seem pretty sure of that,' Oliver commented casually and thought back to the emblem on his doorstep, a lightning bolt. Was that a nod to the lightning that struck Barry? Could Barry be the Flash? A hero in his own right?

Barry flushed slightly and shrugged in an attempt to appear casual. 'Well, Joe's a pretty good judge of character, and when you work with someone that closely, you tend to get to know them.'

Felicity nodded and smiled at him. 'That's true. It's good to see that Central city is well protected. At least we know that Thea, Roy and Laurel are safe there.'

Barry smiled, but this time it was forced. Oliver could not help but notice and wondered when he had learned to know the difference between a false smile and a real smile from the other man. If Barry was the Flash, his forced smile made perfect sense: at the moment Central city was not defended at all, because the Flash was here.

'Thea, Laurel and Roy are all perfectly capable of taking care of themselves,' Oliver insisted and smiled at Barry.

Barry looked at him and nodded. He hoped that Oliver's friends and family would be OK in Central whilst he was here, and that Firestorm could handle any meta-humans who appeared whilst he was away. As intriguing as Oliver and his situation was, Barry knew that he couldn't stay away too long, and it was with a heavy heart that he finished his meal and retired for the night. He had a long day ahead of him tomorrow.

---

So, that's chapter 2: hope it was as good as the first :)

Chapter 3 is completely written, It just needs a few tweaks, double checks, edits etc and a few scenes added. I hope to have that up later today, if not very late tonight!

#2016 day 1

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#2016 day 1