Author's Note: Not much to say here! Other than the fact that you'll notice some lines from the characters are actually from the show. I did however change up Oliver's speech to Barry a bit. Hope you enjoy!

Barry Allen had only been to the Arrowcave once before: nine months prior to today, though to him it felt like just yesterday. Even with his somewhat frazzled memory, however (lightning and a coma certainly messed with one's head), he remembered the way back easily enough. Which was a good thing, because he was certainly in a rush to get there.

Despite Starling City being 600 miles away, the trip didn't take long for him at all. The last time he had come here, he had come in by train; now he was running at a speed of hundreds of miles per hour, something the young scientist never would have dreamed could happen to him, wind and golden lightning rushing around him. In nearly no time at all, the newfound speedster skidded to a halt in front of a building, the word 'Verdant' spelled out in glowing letters above the doors. Barry hesitated only a moment before walking into the crowded club. Music blared all around him, people laughing and smiling and dancing all around him. He ignored them all, casing the place with his eyes in an attempt to locate the door to the elevator that would lead down to Team Arrow's headquarters. Once he did locate it, it took nearly no effort at all to speed himself over and enter without being detected, and he was soon met by the familiar surroundings of Oliver's base of operations.

It looked just as he remembered it did, a reassuring place of sameness even in his long absence. Much to his dismay, however, he found that it was completely empty. None of the three members of Team Arrow were there. Barry let out a groan, sinking into one of the many empty chairs and placing his head in his hands. He had just run 600 miles for this; his shoes were smoking, leg muscles aching, and he certainly did not want to turn around and immediately run back. He had wanted them to know that he was alive, that he was okay. And, a little more on the selfish side, he had really wanted to talk to Oliver about his newfound abilities, and what had happened. But it wasn't looking like he was going to get that chance. Perhaps he should have thought twice about coming so suddenly. He hadn't even bothered to call first, though in his defence he had wanted to break the news to them face-to-face. Maybe he would try again tomorrow.

With a heavy sigh, Barry stood from the chair and started back towards the elevator. He had been just about to push the button when suddenly the doors slid open, startling him, as well as the blonde that had been about to step out of the doors. Upon seeing that someone was standing directly in front of her, she dropped her coffee and let out a small shriek, sending Barry stumbling backwards a few steps in his own surprise. But both people seemed to recognize each other at the same time. The blonde's eyes widened, her mouth actually hanging open momentarily, speechless. Barry opened his own mouth to try and get out an explanation for his presence when suddenly she was moving forward, and her arms wrapped around him in a bone crushing hug.

"Barry," Felicity Smoak exclaimed, her voice wavering slightly but sounding incredibly relieved. Barry hugged her back.

"Felicity," he greeted in response. And then just as quickly the hacker was pulling away, and Barry felt his arm start to sting as she suddenly hauled off and slapped him, not holding back.

"Damn it, Barry, where the hell have you been!?" she asked, her tone suddenly changing from relieved to frustrated, a tinge of worry mixed in. "Do you know how many times I've tried to call you in the last nine months?" she added, arms thrown up in exasperation. "You could have been dead for all we knew!"

Barry wore a sheepish expression on his face as Felicity chewed him out. Although they had gotten to know each other for around two days when he had last been here, the both of them had developed a strong bond. And then he had suddenly dropped off the face of the earth right after a huge explosion in his city. She had every right to be angry and worried, but it wasn't like he could have done anything different to help matters. He had been unconscious.

"Felicity, I'm so, so sorry," he got out as she stopped yelling, looking at him expectantly. "I'm sure you were worried, but I just woke up not too long ago, and it wasn't like anyone knew to contact you guys so -"

Barry was cut off in his ramblings as Felicity spoke again, eyebrows raised.

"Wait - just woke up? Barry, what -?"

Barry grimaced, rubbing at the back of his neck awkwardly.

"I, uhm, was kind of in a coma for the last nine months," he explained, and Felicity clapped a hand over her mouth, suddenly looking very guilty. And then he was back in the midst of another bone crushing hug.

"Oh my God, a coma?" she asked into his shoulder; Barry nodded silently, and she pulled away again, gazing up at him with that worried puppy-dog look of hers again.

"Are you okay? How did it happen? Was it the Particle Accelerator explosion?" she asked in quick succession.

"I'm fine," Barry assured her. "And yeah, it was the Particle Accelerator. Partially, at least. It was storming, and there was something called Dark Matter released into the atmosphere when the explosion happened, and then I kinda sorta got hit by lightning and doused in chemicals from the lab…" Barry trailed off, and Felicity's eyes widened.

"You got struck by lightning?" she asked incredulously. Her eyes flicked up and down his lanky body, as if looking for physical evidence, but any burns had long since healed.

"Yeah," the speedster answered, still looking rather sheepish.

Felicity looked quite ready for another round of questions when the elevator doors slid open again, and suddenly Dig and Oliver were there, chatting idly with each other until Dig's eyes met Barry's. His own eyes as wide as Felicity's, he elbowed Oliver and motioned to the CSI. Oliver's emotions remained more in check than that of his two friends, but Barry could still detect the surprise in his eyes.

"Barry," he said, eyebrows raised. "Good to see you."

Diggle gave Oliver a look that clearly said "are you for real?" before wheeling on Barry.

"Nine months, man. Not a call, not a text. Nothing. Where the hell have you been?" Barry seemed to deflate a bit at the words. He didn't particularly feel like explaining the entire scenario that he had just gone through with Felicity over again. Thankfully, she seemed to be on top of it.

"He was struck by lightning," Felicity blurted out. "He was in a coma."

"What she said," Barry said lamely, shrugging his shoulders.

"A coma? Damn it, Barry. You alright?" Oliver asked, eyebrows still raised. Barry almost wanted to chuckle at how calm the man was able to remain, even when faced with a story like Barry's. It was almost comical compared to the way Diggle's expression changed as he stared at him with shock and awe.

"I'm fine," Barry said. "But I didn't just come here to talk about that. I, uhm - well, the lightning…it did things."

"Like made you extra crispy?" Dig asked, and Felicity reached out and smacked him just as hard as she had smacked Barry. The man let out a noise of protestation and rubbed his arm, making it a point to take a small step back from his blonde friend.

"No - well, yeah, I'm sure, but that's - that's not what I meant." Barry wanted to groan at the way he kept stumbling over his words. He wasn't very good at this. "I guess it'll be easier to just show you," he said.

The three members of Team Arrow shared a quick look before turning their attention back to Barry.

"Show us what?" Felicity asked, curiosity piqued.

Barry took a deep breath and stood still a moment, reaching for the power he could feel humming inside him, the electricity running through his veins. No one even had time to panic over the sudden glow of lightning visible in Barry's eyes before suddenly he was gone in a flash, papers and sparks flying in the sudden gust of wind left behind by his actions. He had run around the entire perimeter of the room multiple times and was back in his previous spot before they could even blink.

"It did that," Barry clarified as he looked at his three friends, who were staring at him with eyes even wider than before. The speedster shifted his weight awkwardly from foot-to-foot, suddenly a little uncomfortable with the silent attention. He wasn't expecting the first one to speak to be Dig.

"I had a cousin got hit by lightning once. He just developed a stutter," the man said, still staring at Barry like he couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. Barry couldn't help but let out an amused snort.

"So you're…you can run fast," Felicity said slowly, eyeing him like he might explode or something; Barry nodded.

"That's, ah - that's a new one," Oliver admitted, running a hand through his short hair and finally looking the smallest bit rattled.

"Listen, Oliver, could I - could I talk to you for a minute?" Barry asked after a few moments of awkward silence, picking slightly nervously at the hem of his shirt. Alone, was the word not said. Can I talk to you alone? Felicity and Dig seemed to pick up on it nonetheless, and with half hearted excuses of having other things to do left back through the elevator, despite the fact that they had just gotten there. Oliver raised an eyebrow.

"What is it, Barry?" he asked; it was clear that something was bothering the speedster. Something related to these newfound abilities, most likely.

Barry let out a sigh, taking a moment to collect himself, his thoughts, before speaking.

"All my life I've wanted to just…do more. Be more. And the first chance I get to do something, I screw up."

Oliver's eyes softened as Barry spoke, trained on the speedster. Go on, they seemed to say, encouraging him. What happened? Barry paused for a moment, taking comfort in his gaze before pressing on because damn it he needed to get what he was feeling off his chest to someone.

"I was chasing the bad guy and - and someone died." Barry's voice cracked a bit despite trying to keep his emotions in check, to not appear so weak in front of Oliver. He couldn't help it. He had messed up, and because of him, someone was dead. Someone he could have saved. Someone he didn't save.

"Barry," Oliver said. "Heroes make mistakes. Hell, I've made so many," the vigilante said seriously, crossing his arms as he looked at the younger man. "But Barry, if you're going to be a hero - if you really want to do this, you're going to do much more good than you will bad. And you can't second guess every choice you make, because it will tear you apart. Someone died - but you can't doubt your actions. You did the best you could. Sometimes your best just isn't good enough, but you press on anyways. Because there are going to be other people that you will save. You have these powers for a reason."

Barry closed his eyes momentarily, clearly torn. It was a moment before he brought himself to speak again, and when he did, it was quiet. Unsure.

"What if I'm not a hero? What if I'm just some guy who was struck by lightning?"

Oliver's response was practically immediate, no thinking needed, no hesitation.

"I don't think that bolt of lightning struck you, Barry. I think it chose you."

Barry was quiet again, his expression hopeful, watching Oliver.

"And I think you're going to do a great job, Barry. Running around your city, saving people in a flash." He offered the speedster a small smile, and Barry smiled back.

"Flash," the man repeated, testing the word out on his tongue. "You know, that's not a terrible name," he said. "Better than Arrow," added with a teasing lilt to his voice. Oliver rolled his eyes.

"Run home, Barry," he said. "Go be the hero your city needs." Barry smiled again and nodded, turning and heading towards the elevator he had come from. Oliver's voice stopped him briefly in his tracks.

"And Barry?" he said. "Take your own advice. Wear a mask."

Barry chuckled, shaking his head before stepping into the elevator, the doors closing behind him.