The Scarlet Speedster

Sebastian didn't understand how these people got up so early. It was Saturday, the day to sleep in, yet he heard them all up and about in the house as early as seven AM. What the hell was wrong with them?!

"You know," Sebastian said irritably as he finally descended the stairs and made his way into the kitchen, "When people are trying to sleep, it's usually polite to be quiet."

"Good morning, Sebastian," Joe said in amusement.

"It's ten o'clock," Iris laughed, "Most people are awake at ten AM."

"Not on Saturday," Sebastian argued, heading straight for the coffee.

He looked around the kitchen then.

"Where's the less-handsome twin?" he asked the other two.

Joe and Iris didn't laugh. Sebastian was surprised when he saw the two of them exchange a nervous look.

"Barry had to step out for a bit," Joe said simply, not looking Sebastian in the eye.

Sebastian surveyed the other two closely as they all sat down at the breakfast table.

"Where did he go?" he pressed.

Joe and Iris shared another look, which only caused Sebastian's curiosity to intensify.

"He had a few errands to run," Iris said vaguely, sipping on a glass of orange juice.

Like her father, she didn't look Sebastian in the eye when she answered him.

"What kinds of errands?" Sebastian relented.

Joe sighed and continued to not look him in the eye as he replied.

"Just his usual Saturday errands," he answered simply.

"Which are what exactly?" Sebastian pressed, "What could be so urgent that Barry had to leave this early on a—?"

It clicked then.

"He went to visit our dad, didn't he?" Sebastian asked quietly.

Joe and Iris both looked at each other for a moment before Joe looked back at him and nodded.

"He does every Saturday," he replied.

Sebastian's lips tightened into a thin line as he nodded, not saying anything.

Just then, Barry suddenly walked in through the front door, a somewhat sullen look on his face.

"Morning," he said flatly as he sat down with them, not looking up from the table in front of him.

Sebastian stared at him. Barry's face, it looked like…Had he been crying?!

"How was your visit?" Sebastian asked stiffly.

Barry looked up at him, and Sebastian could see instantly that Barry's eyes were, in fact, bloodshot.

"It was fine," Barry muttered before looking back down at his plate again.

Sebastian continued to stare at him, taking note of the fact that Barry could hardly look at him.

"Does Henry know I'm in town?" he asked flatly.

Barry didn't look up again as he speared a bite of eggs with his fork.

"No," he said stiffly, "I didn't tell him. I didn't see the point."

Sebastian nodded slowly.

"Good," he whispered before picking up his fork to start in on his own meal.

Barry glanced up at him then, an unreadable expression on his face, before he quickly looked back down again. Joe and Iris looked nervously back and forth between the two brothers, both clearly uncomfortable.

"So, Barry," Iris said slowly, trying to break the tension in the room, "What are your plans for the day?"

Barry shrugged.

"Nothing much," he answered, "I might go to STAR Labs later."

Sebastian gave Joe a pointed look before looking back at his brother.

"To do what?" he asked, his eyes boring into Barry's.

"Just hang out," Barry said with a shrug, "Dr. Wells was going to tell me some of his theories on string phenomenology."

"String what?" Sebastian asked, giving Barry a strange look.

"It's a branch of theoretical physics," Barry explained, perking up at the subject, "Dr. Wells has managed to reconstruct an extremely abstract, yet realistic model of particle physics based on string theory. He wrote a thesis a few years ago about—"

"Who cares?" Sebastian said, wrinkling his nose, "You're seriously going to waste the better part of your Saturday talking to some creepy old man about physics?"

Barry frowned at him.

"He's not creepy," he said defensively, "He's brilliant."

"Yeah, but he's also evil," Sebastian said offhandedly, taking a bite of his food.

"What?" Barry asked, confused, "What makes you say that?"

"Are you kidding me?" Sebastian laughed, "Barry, he talks like Hannibal Lector."

"He does not," Barry scoffed, "He sounds nothing like Hannibal Lector."

Sebastian just shook his head condescendingly.

"Dude, haven't you seen the way he looks at you?" Sebastian asked incredulously.

"What do you mean?" Barry asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Wow, you are oblivious, aren't you?" Sebastian said, shaking his head, "Barry, the guy looks at you like you're something to eat. I wouldn't be surprised if he had pictures of you in his nightstand."

"He does not," Barry scoffed.

"You're right," Sebastian smirked, "He probably just stalks you and keeps live footage of you on his bedroom television."

"Sebastian, you're being ridiculous," Barry said irritably.

"Hey, I'm only partly joking," Sebastian laughed, "I'm not gonna lie. I checked the shower upstairs for cameras."

"You're not funny," Barry said, rolling his eyes as he stood up from the table, "I'm gonna get going now. I'll see you later at Jitters for lunch."

With that, Barry quickly exited the kitchen, and they soon heard the front door closing behind him.

"You know what I'm talking about, right?" Sebastian asked the other two after Barry left, "That Wells guy is a creep."

Iris shrugged.

"I don't know him very well," she said simply, "He seems nice enough to me, and he did save Barry's life."

"Yeah, after he endangered it in the first place," Sebastian pointed out, "What about you, Joe? What do you think about Dr. Pedophile?"

Joe sighed.

"I have my reservations about him," he admitted, "But he hasn't really done anything to warrant any distrust."

"He doesn't have to do anything," Sebastian insisted, "Just one look at the guy, and I can tell he's got some skeletons in his closet."

"Well," Iris said slowly, "If Barry trusts him, then so do I."

"Barry is naïve," Sebastian said, rolling his eyes, "He trusts everyone. It's one of his biggest flaws. He wears his heart on his sleeve, and he only sees the best in people. He blinds himself to the bad."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Iris frowned.

"It is a bad thing," Sebastian insisted, "My brother is way too trusting, and that's going to get him into serious trouble one day. He's a total pushover, and he always lets people walk all over him. He needs to get a backbone already."

"You should talk," Iris laughed, "You walk all over Barry all the time."

"Yeah, but I'm supposed to," Sebastian shrugged, "I'm his big brother."

"By twelve minutes, Bash," Joe chuckled, "You really need to stop giving Barry a hard time for that."

"Hey, I'm a good big brother," Sebastian countered, "I may walk all over him, but I'm still looking out for him, aren't I?"

"I suppose," Joe laughed, shaking his head.

Sebastian impatiently drummed his fingers on the table, looking at his watch. Barry was late, like always. A lot of people found his chronic tardiness somewhat endearing. Sebastian didn't, especially today. He actually didn't really want to spend time with Barry today. He didn't really want to be around anyone today. His conversation with Barry this morning was still replaying in his head.

I didn't tell him. I didn't see the point.

Sebastian was relieved Barry hadn't told their father that he was in town, which was why he didn't understand why Barry's comment was bothering him so much. Really, it was just the fact that Barry still visited their dad every week that had him upset more than anything. He had known that Barry visited the guy, but he hadn't known it was that frequently. He had thought it was once a month at most.

Really, it shouldn't even bother him so much. It shouldn't affect him at all if Barry chose to spend time with the murderer. That didn't stop him from feeling sick about it, though. Who knew what kinds of things Henry was poisoning his brother's mind with?

Sebastian took a sip of his coffee and glanced at his watch again. Seriously?! Barry was almost twenty minutes late! And meeting at Jitters for lunch had been his idea! Sebastian glanced at the TV screen that was on display in the more secluded corner of the café he was sitting in. Once his eyes were on the screen, though, he couldn't pull them away from the news report.

Flash Saves 14 Residents from Burning Apartment Building

He had heard of this Flash character before, of course. Sebastian had seen him on a few news reports back in his own city, but it was strange actually being in the same city as the vigilante. From his hometown, Westerville, it all just seemed like some crazy story or something, but being here, in the same city, it made it feel more real. The Flash really did exist.

Sebastian wondered if Barry had ever seen him. He worked for the police, after all. He must have crossed paths with the metahuman at some point. He'd have to ask him about it later and ask him what he thought about the whole thing. Sebastian wasn't quite sure how he felt about the vigilante. The Flash was clearly doing good with his abilities, but the guy's powers were also kind of scary. If he wanted to, he could wreak havoc on the entire city if he ever decided to abuse his abilities. It made Sebastian a little apprehensive about the "hero."

Sebastian looked over when he heard the front door of the café open. He was disappointed when he saw that it wasn't Barry. Sebastian's disappointment faded rather quickly, though, when he took a closer look at who had walked in.

"Holy shit," he breathed quietly.

It was Oliver Queen.

Oliver Queen, the stupidly rich, yet extremely hot, party playboy from Starling was walking into Jitters of all places! Sebastian did his best not to stare, but that idea was kind of thrown to the winds when Queen spotted him and gave him a small nod of recognition.

Was he…? He was coming over here!

"Hey, Barry," Oliver greeted casually as he approached him, "I didn't expect to see you here. I was going to stop by STAR Labs after this. Felicity insisted that we grab some coffee first, though."

The blonde woman, whom Sebastian only just now realized he was with, nodded.

"I'm addicted to Central City's coffee now," she laughed, "I blame trivia night."

Sebastian stared at them in shock. Barry knew Oliver Queen?! How the hell did Barry know Oliver Queen?!

"Are you alright, Barry?" Oliver asked, furrowing his eyebrows at him.

Sebastian gave himself a small shake, trying to clear his mind. A smile quickly formed on his face. This was too good!

"I'm great," he said smoothly, "Just surprised to see you here. What brings you to Central City?"

"Don't worry," the girl—Felicia, was it?—said quickly, "No emergency this time. Oliver just had a meeting in the city this morning, and we decided to stick around and catch up a bit. And I made Oliver promise not to shoot you this time, so don't worry."

Felicia laughed, but Sebastian frowned in confusion.

"Why would he shoot me?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows at them.

A small chuckle escaped Oliver Queen's lips.

"If you've forgotten this quickly, then I think you might need another lesson, Barry," he teased.

Sebastian stared at him in confusion for a moment, but then he brushed it off. They couldn't be talking about literally shooting him. It had to be some kind of private joke that he and Barry shared, which led Sebastian to wonder how the hell Barry knew Oliver Queen well enough to share private jokes with him. Sebastian couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy over it.

He was struck by a sudden thought then: if Barry and Oliver were close, maybe Oliver would know what was really going on with his brother. Maybe Sebastian could get him to let something slip.

"Maybe I do need another lesson," Sebastian said slowly then, his lips stretching into a mischievous grin, "Maybe you can teach me a thing or two, Mr. Queen."

Oliver gave him a strange look.

"Uh, yeah," he said unsurely, "Yeah, we can train today if you want, Barry. I didn't even know you were still interested in training with me, to be honest."

Training? What did he mean by training? Holy shit! Was Barry working out with Oliver Queen?! Okay, yeah, Sebastian more than just a twinge jealous now. How was it that the straight twin got to hang out with one of the hottest bachelor's in the state? That was just unfair.

"Of course I am," Sebastian said with a wink, "Who could pass up training with you?"

Oliver was still giving him the same, strange look, his eyes narrowed slightly in confusion.

"Okay," he said after a moment, "We can meet in our usual location, Ferris Air, then."

"Sounds good to me," Sebastian grinned.

Oliver didn't smile back fully, though. He just managed a small twitch of his lips. For the party playboy Sebastian had read about, the guy seemed much more serious in person. He didn't even thank Felicia when she returned from the counter and brought back a coffee for him. He seemed too distracted—so distracted, in fact, that when he took the mug of coffee from her, it ended up slipping through his fingers, shattering when it made contact with the floor.

Sebastian only had a moment to look down at the shattered mug before he suddenly found himself being slammed into the nearest wall.

"Who are you?" Oliver growled, pressing his forearm against Sebastian's throat.

Sebastian's eyes grew wide as he clutched at the other man's arm, trying to pull it away, to no avail. Who knew Oliver Queen was so strong?

"What…are you…doing?" Sebastian gasped, struggling to breathe with the pressure the other man was putting on his throat.

"Oliver!" Felicia yelled in surprise.

"Barry and I never trained at Ferris Air," Oliver growled at her, "This isn't Barry."