"The Calm After The Crisis"
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters; those belong to their original creators. Familiar dialogue would be taken from part 4 of the "Crisis on Earth-X" crossover event.
A/N: Despite myself being an Olicity fan to the core, I truly hated Felicity's timing when she interrupted Barry and Iris during their second attempt of getting married. That wasn't right so if that moment had to be a double wedding, I thought I'd rewrite how that should have gone down.
*Arrow*Flash*Arrow*Flash*Arrow*Flash*
After saying goodbye to their friends from Earth-38, all that was left in that park in Central City was Barry Allen. He stood with Iris West (his fiancée), Oliver Queen (his mentor) and Felicity Smoak (friend and girlfriend to his mentor). An earlier get-together that was meant to celebrate the wedding of Barry and Iris turned into a battle for survival against the invaders of Earth-X.
At this point, Barry and Iris were ready to be married by the justice of the peace and be done with it. They couldn't go through the whole wedding ordeal again if it meant there was a chance that it would be interrupted again. And it was a point the engaged couple mentioned to their Earth-38 friends before they left and it still resonated with their friends from Star City.
"Well if you want it to be personal, I think we know a guy who's ordained," Felicity suggested while tucked into Oliver's side.
Oliver gave a thoughtful nod before he looked to Barry and told him where he could find their friend.
In a flash Barry was gone, only to return seconds later with John Diggle.
Everyone waited with bated breath for Diggle's reaction. Out of the five, it took Diggle the longest to fully understand and accept Barry's super-speed.
Barry gave Diggle a hopeful look as the older man took a deep breath in.
"It's a good thing I didn't vomit," Diggle joked.
The group sighed with relief, ready to mark this moment as a win for them in regards to Diggle but before they could do so, Diggle quickly turned around and vomited.
The women cringed at the sound while they all turned away, trying to give Diggle a sense of space.
"Are you okay?" Felicity questioned, though her head was still turned away from her friend.
Diggle grunted before he righted himself. A hand to his mouth, he moved and pointed his free hand at Barry, "A little warning next time."
Barry sighed, "Sorry."
Once Diggle got his bearings, he wondered what was going on. Due to his injury, Diggle had to stay home so not only was he not able to attend the wedding but he couldn't help in their fight against their Earth-X invaders. To the point, Felicity quickly brought up how Diggle became ordained years ago so that he could marry his brother off. With all that said and done, Barry and Iris asked if Diggle could do the same for them.
Diggle's eyes widened, "Wow. Really? I'm honored."
Barry smiled, "Yeah?"
Diggle nodded with his own grin, "I am."
Barry couldn't believe this; he was actually going to be able to marry the love of his life.
Seeing the excitement and joy on the couple's faces, Diggle took charge and got everyone into their places. Barry and Iris stood before Diggle with Oliver and Felicity standing beside them as they took their places as best man and maid of honor (roles that Cisco and Caitlin originally held at the first ceremony).
As Diggle began, he wondered which ceremony he was to perform. Iris mentioned that she wrote her vows, taking them out as she said it. Barry admitted that he tried to write his vows before he realized that he didn't need to write them down.
And with that confession, Barry took that as his cue to start his vows to Iris.
"My entire life has been marked by two things. The first one is change. From when I was a kid to when I was an adult, things were always changing. But no matter how different things became or what new challenges I had to face, I always had the other thing that my life was marked by and that's you." Barry smiled at Iris and took her hand into his, "You've always been there as a friend, as a partner, as the love of my life. You're my home, Iris, and that's one thing that will never change."
Iris bit her lip as she held back her tears, "That was really nice."
Everyone gave a soft laugh in agreement.
Iris exhaled and squeezed his hand before she started her vows. "When I was nine years old, I wanted to be a ballerina. Remember?"
Barry nodded with a fond smile at the memory.
Iris turned briefly to Oliver and Felicity, "Even though I was not a very good dancer." She turned back to Barry and saw that he wanted to argue with her on that, and she found herself loving him more for that.
And so she continued, "And the day of the recital, I froze. I couldn't move, and I wanted to die, and then I looked into the audience and I saw you," she squeezed his hand again at the thought and she watched as he nodded along with her, "and you got up and you climbed onto the stage, and you did that whole routine with me, and we killed it."
Everyone laughed at the thought but Diggle. He watched the couple as this fondness in their eyes grew the deeper they got into this memory they shared together.
"I mean, we brought the house down!" Iris smiled brightly at the thought, "And from that moment, I knew that with you by my side, anything was possible." Iris discreetly put her vows back in her pocket and took hold of Barry's other hand. "The Flash may be the city's hero but you, Barry Allen, you're my hero. And I am happy, excited and honored to be your wife." She finished and she could feel herself on the verge of tears. And they were the happy tears she would gladly accept. She noticed that Barry looked to be in the same position as her.
"Wonderful," Diggle sighed before he geared himself for what they were all waiting to hear, "Well, then, Bartholomew Henry Allen and Iris Ann West, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride."
Iris' hands snaked around Barry's neck as she pulled him down for their first kiss as a married couple. This was finally it, they were finally married. Nothing else mattered to these newlyweds. They could barely hear the claps and cheers from their friends. Instead they marveled at this moment, at what it took to get them to this point together.
Iris slowly pulled back from Barry, their foreheads still touching, as she whispered, "We did it."
Barry smiled before he kissed her again.
When they were done, the newlyweds pulled back and turned to Diggle.
"Thanks Dig," Barry smiled before he looked down at his wife, "We both appreciate this."
Diggle chuckled, "Anytime man. It's the least I could do. After some forms are signed to truly make this official, you're all good."
"I like the sound of that." Iris admitted as she hugged herself into Barry's side.
"Well Cisco would still have our rings, we could see if he has those forms for us." Barry offered before turning to Diggle, "He could also breech you home afterwards if you'd like."
Diggle nodded in thought, "I think I'd prefer that more than the Flash Express, no offense Barry."
Barry laughed, "No sweat Dig, I understand." He didn't want Diggle vomiting twice in a day because of him.
As they were all getting ready to leave, Oliver moved to give the newlyweds a congratulatory hug. When Felicity didn't make a move to join him in the celebration, he turned to look at her. He quickly noticed the conflicted look on her face.
Oliver slowly moved to join her, "Felicity, what's wrong?"
Felicity snapped her attention back up to him, eyes wide as if her thoughts were elsewhere. "Nothing!"
Oliver quirked an eyebrow at her; he knew when she was lying, especially when her voice squeaked to a too-high level than normal.
Felicity shifted her gaze to the newlyweds, "I am so happy for the two of you and I'd never want to intrude in any way but with what happened to us with those invaders and with your vows just now, it just got me thinking," Felicity quickly rambled before she looked to Diggle, "Would you marry us too before we go home?" Too fast to notice the wide-eyed looks of Diggle, Barry and Iris, Felicity quickly turned to look up at Oliver, "Will you marry me?"
Oliver didn't know what to say. He proposed to her during the rehearsal dinner and she refused. During the whole crisis with the Earth-X invaders, she was insistent that she didn't want anything to change between them, that she didn't want to be married to anyone. All of which Oliver eventually agreed to since he was happy to just be with Felicity, married or not and now she wanted to get married. He wasn't expecting that.
"I thought… I thought you didn't believe in marriage." Oliver stumbled as he tried to find his words.
Felicity bit her lip as she thought over her words, "I don't but I believe in you and I believe that no matter what life throws at us, our love can conquer it. Married or not. I love you and after the days we've had, I realized that my greatest fear in life is losing you."
Oliver accepted her proposal as his hand landed on her cheek. Felicity sighed at the contact. Oliver pulled her into his arms and kissed her forehead, "Yeah, I do."
"You know, I hoped for this but it's still a surprise to me." Barry dragged out from Iris's side (who just rolled her eyes at her husband).
Remembering that they weren't alone, the mayor of Star City turned to his best friend, "So what do you say John?"
"Are you kidding me, Oliver?" Diggle crossed his arms and looked at his best friends, "I'm the guy for the past six years that's been trying to keep you two together."
Everyone laughed at how true his statement rang for them.
"It's only fitting that I marry you," Diggle continued before he wondered about their vows.
Oliver looked back down at Felicity as she remained in his arms. He shook his head no while she reminded them all of the fake wedding they had two years ago when they tried to lure out Cupid. They did agree that their vows could never be better than what Barry and Iris shared.
"However, I do remember saying something along the lines of…" Oliver stepped away from Felicity and took a hold of her hands, "You're the very best part of me, Felicity. I'm a better human being just because I've loved you."
"And I'm the best version of myself because of our love." Felicity finished with a watery smile. She remembered those vows that they made two years ago under the guise of a fake wedding but her vows were real, just as much as his vows were to her that day.
Diggle clapped his hands together as he moved to stand between the newly engaged couple (Barry and Iris moved with him to their respective new spots).
"Since we definitely don't have any rings just yet, I'll skip right to the part I've been waiting a long time to say for you two," Diggle smiled as he looked between this two best friends, "Oliver Jonas Queen and Felicity Megan Smoak, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride."
Oliver took a hold of Felicity's face and pulled her in for a kiss. As they kissed like there was no tomorrow for them, Felicity pulled him closer as her grip around his waist tightened.
Diggle clapped and cheered for his long-time friends. He's watched their journey together and he's thrilled that they've finally taken this next step together.
Barry pulled Iris into his arms as she clapped for their friends.
"That was unexpected," Iris whispered as Barry nuzzled her close to him.
"I think it was about time for them," Barry commented before he kissed the side of Iris' head.
Barry was truly happy in this moment. He finally got to marry the love of his life and he finally saw his mentor get the happy ending he deserved. It's been a long time coming for them. Barry has tried for years to convince Oliver that heroes can get their loved ones in the end and they both did. Now Barry just had to remind Kara Danvers of that same notion too. His work wasn't quite done yet but he's thrilled for the victory he has right now.
*Arrow*Flash*Arrow*Flash*Arrow*Flash*
Disclaimer #2: Any similar dialogue for the Olicity vows (if not from Legends 3x08) would have been from Arrow 4x16 when they did their fake vows.
A/N #2: And there you have it! What did you think? What did you think about the crossover event in general? Let me know in a review! Thanks for reading!
Originally Published: December 6, 2017