The Bird in the Lightning
(Alternative Universe Barry/Laurel… Please enjoy)
Barry was never one to look down on his own life but in some cases his luck and timing sucked, considering he had just woke up from a coma just in time to hear the news of Iris's coming marriage to Detective Eddie Thawn, then finding out he was able to run at super-sonic speeds just seemed more pressure he could handle.
Joe was becoming concerned about his adoptive son who was in the clutches of heart break as the thought of Iris marrying somebody else drove the pain deeper, nobody could have foreseen the speedsters decision to leave Central City and his life behind.
The Captain was certainly surprised by the request for transfer to Starling City Police Department for their CSI officer, he had respect for Barry even though he had not shown it.
Star Labs:
Barry broke the news to Cisco and Caitlin was not happy to hear Barry was leaving but understood why, this year had not been kind to him at all especially being hit by lightning and in a coma for 9 months then waking up to find the woman you love about to marry somebody else.
Doctor Wells was doing his best to remain inconspicuous about his own agenda for the speedster and tried to be happy that Barry was leaving which gave him time on his plans at least.
Joe and Iris west Found out via a different source, Eddie told Iris and Joe heard it from the captain and to say they were upset was an understatement, Iris was upset because Barry usually came to her when he had a problem but now it seem that did not matter anymore.
Joe was pissed that Barry went behind his back and requested the transfer without talking to Joe about it.
Barry's Lab:
Barry was busy packing his things up when a familiar voice came from behind him "I heard Starling City will receive a new hero" Barry smirked and turned to see Oliver Queen walking towards him.
"Oliver" Barry smiled hugging his friend before going back to packing "You here to change my mind?" Barry asked while packing each of his personal objects.
"Actually… No" Oliver smirked as Barry turned to him looking surprised.
"Well that's new… I thought the Arrow did not play well with others" Barry said with his boyish grin, Oliver laughed and rubbed the back of his head "I once told you Barry that to do what I do takes… conviction" Barry nodded his head "And the will to do what's necessary" he completed Oliver's words.
Oliver nodded "Barry… in Starling things will work differently, you have to understand that"
Barry nodded and shrugged his shoulders "As long as I call the shots" He grinned as Oliver let out a laugh "Yeah like that's going to happen" he said and Barry laughed but it fell short when he spotted Iris by the entrance standing by the door looking extremely mad.
Oliver looked to her then back to Barry and let out a loud "Ohhhhh!" he smirked "Somebody's in trouble" Barry glared as Oliver turned away and Barry let out a whine "Oliver… don't leave me here with Iris!" he pleaded with wide eyes and Oliver laughed as he walked "Good luck Barry!" he called leaving behind Barry to deal with the wrath of Iris.
"Hey Iris" Barry greeted cheerfully as Iris walked closer.
"When were you going to tell me?" she said and Barry narrowed his eyes confused what exactly she knows.
"Uh… What you talking about?" Barry asked almost afraid.
"Don't play dumb with me… why did you not tell me you were leaving?" She said and Barry breathed a sigh of relief as he packed up the last item in his bag "It does not matter Iris" he said zipping his bag up.
"Of course it matters, we tell each other everything!" she yelled throwing her hands up.
"Iris… leave it!" Barry yelled causing her to jump back, Barry never raised his voice to her… in all the years they were friends, he never raised his voice to her.
"Barry… Please, I need to know why" Iris pleaded and Barry let his head lower, speaking with a voice filled with pain "Because I can't be around you anymore" he said and Iris took a step back in shock at his words.
"What did I do?" she asked confused.
"You're marrying Eddie" Barry muttered and Iris closed her eyes letting her own tears fall.
"What are you saying?" she wanted to hear the words.
"I am in love with you Iris" he turned to face her "You happy now" Iris was speechless as Barry grabbed his bag and walked away.
"Barry" Iris called and Barry turned to face her "Please… don't go" she pleaded and Barry smiled sadly "Goodbye Iris… Be happy" he walked away and Joined Oliver who was waiting by the elevator, his heart went out for the speedster knowing how it feels to watch the woman you love with somebody else.
Earlier that day Barry had told his father he was leaving Central City and was going to Starling, his father was 100% behind his decision knowing that Central City was no place for Barry anymore, nothing except pain since the murder of his mother by the man in the lightning bolt.
Barry said goodbye to his friends at Star Labs, Cisco gave Barry a suit he made as a goodbye present, Caitlin warned Barry to take care of himself otherwise she was coming to drag him back to Star Labs by his ears which Barry knew she was not joking.
Oliver went on ahead back to Starling City as Barry gave him 20mins head start, he thanked Joe for all he had done for him since he brought him up from a kid and soon he sped off but not before giving Iris one last hug, She found out that he was the Flash when she found his suit in his locker in his police lab while Barry was getting lunch with Joe.
Barry sped off from the city one last time leaving his old life behind.
A new life was waiting for him.
A new beginning:
Barry had moved into his new apartment not long after arriving in Starling City, Oliver went to the arrow cave to sort out the spot where they set up for Barry on his last visit to Starling when they went up against Captain Boomerang.
Starling City Police Department:
Barry re-introduced himself to Quentin Lance who greeted him as he did with all the other officers, Barry began to work on the samples left behind at a jewel heist.
Laurel came in the one day to visit her dad, their relationship was still strained to say the least since she lied about Sara instead of telling him the truth when she spotted Barry inside the forensic lab and looked confused before heading inside: knocking the door first she opened it and gave a smile "Hi Barry"
Barry looked to Laurel and he was sure his heart missed a beat "Uh Hi miss Lance" he replied nervously and Laurel giggled "Just Laurel please" she replied looking him over "So what brings you to Starling?" she asked.
Barry shrugged "Seemed more exciting than Central" he said giving her his famous grin that made her heart melt.
"Well then… welcome to Starling City" she said giving him a wink before turning around and bumped into Oliver.
"Hey Laurel… I see you were giving Barry an official Starling City welcome" Oliver smiled and Laurel nodded "I was Ollie… now what you doing here?" she folded her arms waiting and he replied "I wanted to give Barry the Oliver Queen Welcome to Central" Laurel laughed as she shook her head walking past him but not before looking over her shoulder to Barry "See you around Barry" Barry smiled nodding his head to her "See you around Laurel" he called back.
The sound of Oliver laughing drew his attention and Barry looked to his laughing friend "Barry… you got some drool on you" Barry's cheeks turned red as he wiped his mouth and Oliver laughed as he left the lab.
"I'll get you Oliver!" he warned and Oliver called back "You have to catch me first"
Barry grinned "Please… you're too easy to catch"
Flash and Black Canary:
Arrow and Black Canary were taking on another Vertigo ring but they were outnumbered and Oliver was running out of arrows, Barry was speeding his way towards their location after Oliver called Flash for assistance, Roy was busy helping Thea with the club so Barry was the only choice, Laurel was still the only member of the team that did not know that Barry was the Flash.
Speeding around corners Barry caught sight of a bullet from the leader's gun heading towards Black Canary, throwing himself towards her at super speed he managed to move her out of the way but the bullet nicked his shoulder, grunting at the sharp pain Barry sped around knocking each member of the group down one by one until all were unconscious, blood slid its way down Barry's shoulder, luckily the bullet clipped him and not embedded itself in his shoulder.
"Flash… you're bleeding" Oliver said and Barry looked to his stinging shoulder "It's just a scratch" Barry replied vibrating his voice so nobody would know his identity.
"Get back to the Arrow cave" Oliver ordered and Barry smirked with a mock salute "Sir Yes Sir" he sped away leaving behind Oliver and Laurel behind with a smirk.
Arrow Cave:
Felicity and Diggle cleaned the wound on Barry's shoulder and it healed up nicely but Barry watched as Black Canary entered and her eyes widened, Barry was stood in his Flash suit but his mask was down, she removed her mask revealing herself to him and Barry squeaked in surprise causing everyone to laugh at him.
"You're Flash" "You're Black Canary" Barry and Laurel said at the same time and Oliver looked to Diggle with a smirk, Felicity watched Barry and Laurel talk and could see the sparks, guess opposites do attract after all.
Since meeting Laurel Barry had not given one thought about his life in Central City nor did he think about Iris… slowly his feelings for the Black Canary aka Laurel Lance rose higher than anything he has ever felt before.
3 days later:
Barry and Laurel were laughing and joking, both were feeling extremely comfortable around each other, Oliver saw the sparks the 2 generated around each other and he was happy… Barry had a tough time… he deserved some happiness.
"Oliver… I'm picking up a signal in the centre of Starling City" Felicity said checking the systems over before confirming it.
"Barry, go on ahead… we'll catch up" Oliver said and Barry nodded his head before changing into his suit and picked up Laurel in his arms before super speeding them away towards the signal's source.
Barry and Laurel arrived a few seconds later at the scene and Barry and Laurel found themselves in the centre of a police blockade and before them on the floor was a long metal case, inside the case was a long metal cylinder with a timer ticking down from 50 seconds.
"Felicity… we've got a problem, this things a bomb" Barry said looking for any wires.
"Barry your suit has a camera in the emblem, show me the bomb" Felicity said putting her glasses to her eyes needing a good look at the bomb.
Barry tapped the emblem and showed her the bomb and Diggle sighed "That's an A.R.G.U.S bomb, VX-07 Alpha" he looked to Oliver who was extremely troubled, Felicity was confused "Barry… The bomb before you is an extremely powerful bomb with enough explosive power to level 3 city blocks" Oliver stopped as he looked to Diggle.
Barry rubbed the back of his head "How do I disarm it?" he asked needing guidance.
"It can't… Barry the cylinder is welded shut and the triggering mechanism built into the circuitry" Diggle replied trying to figure it out.
Barry looked to the distance and nodded "What about if I run it out of the city?" he suggested.
"Barry you can get it out of the blast range of Starling City sure but you won't outrun the blast itself… there is not enough time no matter how fast you run" Laurel heard Oliver's words and gulped as she realised Barry was going to do it "Barry" she whispered and Barry turned to her and smiled "I have to try" he said and Laurel nodded plucking up the courage to do something you has wanted to do for a while.
Walking up to him she grabbed both sides of his face and pulled him into a deep kiss, Barry's eyes widened in shock but he replied by kissing her back much more deeply, his eyes flashed with lightning as Laurel whispered "Run Barry… Run" she whispered and Barry smiled before disappearing with the bomb in his arms as he ran it out of the city.
Oliver, Diggle and Roy were watching on the screens as Barry faster, finally reaching the safe zone he placed the bomb on the ground and legged it away as fast as he could: pushing his body hard trying to squeeze every ounce of speed he can get out of himself as the countdown reached the last 5 seconds.
5:
Barry pushed himself harder yelling as he hit 850mph breaking the sound barrier becoming a sonic boom leaving behind him a whirlwind of dust.
4:
The countdown continued to tick away.
3:
Oliver and the team watched the screens hoping he made it out of the blast range in time.
2:
Laurel stood on a rooftop looking towards the direction sped off too with the bomb.
1:
Barry roared louder as pain shot through him as he pushed every ounce of his strength into his speed as his energy was running low.
0:
The bomb hit its final number and with a loud BOOM the explosion created a mushroom cloud as the shockwave created by the explosion trailed Behind Barry.
Barry was about to hit the safe zone when his energy drained so much that he was thrown into the air and bounced along the tarmac of the road with a loud grunt of pain before coming motionless laying on the ground.
"Barry!" Oliver yelled as Laurel tried calling to Barry too but no answer came to either of them.
"Barry!" Laurel yelled louder and Barry gasped away "Urgh I'm up" he said spitting blood up from his mouth.
Laurel sighed happily as Oliver laughed down the microphone "Get back to the Arrow cave you 2" he ordered and Barry sped off to pick up Laurel.
The Laurel and Barry story:
Barry had asked Laurel out a few weeks after the bomb incident, A.R.G.U.S had no idea how one of their experimental bombs went missing without their knowledge, Oliver and Diggle were still looking into that though.
Caitlin kept to her promise when she found out about the bomb incident and dragged Barry back by his ears so he can be checked up until she moved to Starling to continue as his personal Doctor, Cisco not long followed her when it was revealed that wells was in fact Reverse Flash.
Barry was angry that the man he once trusted was his mother's murderer but Flash and Arrow took care of Reverse Flash without any trouble.
Iris West and Eddie Thawn both later were infected by the Particle Accelerator and began their killing spree that ended in them being imprisoned in the pipeline by Joe West and Barry Allen when he found out they had become Meta-humans.
Laurel and Barry later became married as well as did Felicity and Oliver and the rest as they say is history for Barry and Laurel who brought their own speedsters into the world.
The end.
(I hope you enjoyed this little Story)
Lycanboy666
