Title: Worth It
Fandom: The Flash
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Barry Allen, Oliver Queen
Pairing: Barry/Iris (mentioned)
Summary: "I'm the reason the Dominators came! This is my fault. My mistake." Barry fixes Oliver with an expression that can only be described as scarily calm. "This is my chance to fix it. To fix everything!" "It won't be worth it if you're not safe, Barry!" Oliver snaps. / 03.08 Oliver tries to talk Barry out of sacrificing himself to the Dominators
Barry's gone in a gust of wind and lightning as soon as Oliver turns around. He didn't even give the group a chance to talk about the Dominators demand after the government officials took off in their helicopter.
His fist tightens around his bow and a glare quickly forms on his face. Of course Barry would give himself up at the first opportunity. He could tell that what Agent Nameless had said about the Dominators being here had shaken Barry's confidence. The man knew exactly who the Flash was and how to push his buttons.
He had shamelessly guilt tripped Barry into wanting to take the deal. Oliver could still remember the way Barry's expression had shifted slightly, the self-loathing flickering beneath his lowered eyelids.
"You really wanna save the world? Here's your chance." The man had said mockingly as he approached Barry. Instinctively, Oliver had moved towards Barry – standing protectively at his side and not bothering to hide the rage bubbling beneath his mask.
He had seen the address on the sheet of paper that the agent had pressed into Barry's hand before parting with the words, "You know where to find me."
As he got into his fancy black government car he added, "Don't bring your friends."
There was no doubt that Barry was headed to said address right now.
"Kara!" Oliver practically yelled the address into his com, "you need to stop Barry before he does something stupid." Hopefully, Kara had successfully memorised the map of Central City because there was no way any of them would be able to stop Barry in time.
If anyone could match Barry's speed it would be Supergirl. She was an alien with super strength who could fly. And had heat vision. And who knows what other powers.
Under normal circumstances, Oliver would hate putting the life of someone he cared about in the unknown's hands. But right now all he can hope is that Kara would be able to intercept Barry.
"We should get back to the hangar," Oliver suggests, though it sounds more like an order as he scowls at the empty spot the agent had been in.
Sara's expression is controlled, eyes narrowed and lips pinched together slightly, carefully considering the deal that had been offered. She nods sharply and silently occupies the pilot's seat of the STAR Labs aeroplane.
"Oliver-" Ray starts but stops as Oliver's dirty look is redirected to him. He swallows nervously and opens his mouth again maybe to offer some comforting or encouraging words but shuts it knowing that Oliver wasn't big on talking about emotions.
"Let's just get back as soon as possible." Oliver says, leaving no room for discussion.
The trip back barely takes more than 10 minutes but it's the most stressful 10 minutes of Oliver's life. His mind is working in hyper drive coming up with all the possible scenarios if Barry did sacrifice himself.
When the plane lands, Kara is standing outside the hangar, one hand firmly gripped on Barry's arm, her expression furious, as she seems to scold him for his recklessness. Barry, on the other hand, looks unashamed and is trying to get a word of defense in. His mouth drops open slightly in an 'O' shape when Oliver storms over to the pair.
"What were you thinking?" He growls, all sympathy and worry thrown out of the window.
Barry meets Oliver's scowl with his own defiant look, yanking his arm out of Kara's weakened grip, "I was thinking that if I have the chance to stop the Dominators, I'd take it!"
"Can we have a minute?" Oliver asks Kara bluntly, eyes never leaving Barry's and even though Kara looks like she wants to punch him (again), she can sense that they have issues and storms inside to join the others.
"You can't do that, Barr." He starts, placing a hand on the other man's shoulder, his voice taking on a gentler tone. "You can't just run off and sacrifice yourself just because some agent told you to!"
"What would you do then?" Barry challenges viciously, "if it were you instead of me? Would you give yourself up, Ollie?"
Oliver hesitates for a moment and Barry seizes the opportunity.
"Exactly! I'm the reason the Dominators came! This is my fault. My mistake." He fixes Oliver with an expression that can only be described as scarily calm. "This is my chance to fix it. To fix everything!" Barry's arm flails as he speaks, gesturing to the rest of the city.
"It won't be worth it if you're not safe, Barry!" Oliver snaps, resisting the urge to literally shake sense into him.
"Worth – worth it?" Barry splutters incredulously, "Of course it's worth it if it'll save thousands, millions, of lives!"
"And what if they're lying?" He counters. "What if they're going to experiment on you? Trap you in one of those pods and torture you?"
Barry opens his mouth but Oliver cuts him off before he can speak, "If it's a trap, not only will all the metahumans and thousands of innocent people die but we'll also lose you!"
He takes a long breath, calming his racing heart, "If you stay, at least we can try to figure something out. As a team."
Barry looks doubtful now, eyes flicking to the left and biting the inside of his cheek.
"I just – I don't want to be the cause of all this damage. I've already screwed up everyone's lives enough because of a selfish choice."
Oliver resists the urge to roll his eyes, "You were being human. That's what anyone would do."
"Did you think this before or after you got kidnapped by aliens?" Barry responds bitterly.
"There was nothing you could do about it, Barry" Oliver insists, his voice low, memories of the dreamscape still fresh. "We all make mistakes. It's part of the job." He repeats firmly.
With the tone Oliver's taken, most people would just back down and give in. But it's Barry Allen, a man who can run faster than sound and is literally asking Oliver to let him die.
"I'm sorry, Oliver," Barry responds giving his partner in vigilant-ing a sad smile, "thank you for trying but I can't just sit by when I know I can do something about it."
It's such a Barry thing to say and Oliver knows now that once Barry sets his mind to something, it's next to impossible to change it. So Oliver has no choice but to watch Barry walk in the opposite direction of the hangar.
"Barry! At least say goodbye to the others." He calls after him, noting how Barry didn't even flash away. How Barry was scared and didn't want to die but he was a self-sacrificing idiot.
And Oliver deals his final card, "What are you going to say to Iris?"
Barry freezes mid step as though he suddenly remembers, oh yes I do have friends and a family that might actually miss me and hate me forever if I don't tell them anything, and Oliver kind of wants to throw Barry into a wall for being so so stupid.
Instead, he burns a hole into the back of Barry's suit, arms crossed, waiting patiently for him to respond.
"I'll say goodbye to the team," Barry says quietly as he turns around, "but then I have to go."
"How about Iris? Or Joe?"
He runs a hand through his hair and shakes his head. Barry knew that if he went to either of the Wests, he would never be able to leave.
"Tell Iris I love her," he offers unhelpfully.
Oliver wants to protest – wants to bring up his own lost love – but Barry's already sped off into the hangar, leaving Oliver with no choice but to follow with defeat in his steps.
And there's my first Flash fanfiction published! I'm super obsessed with the Flash and I love Barry so much! Most of my Flash fanfics are probably going to be Barry centric - I'm working on longer works for the Flash and Percy Jackson. I just want to try it out and see how it goes :)
It really bugged me that we didn't get to see the conversation between Barry and Oliver in the LoT episode which I get but still! If they can sneak in a Olivarry drinking session, they can put this in too.
Hope you guys enjoyed it! I'm more than happy to get prompts and try them out so PM me if you want!
xoxo
A