Earth:?
Central City 2016
Happy laughter filtered through, the distinctive and recognizable sound of a beer being cracked open reached his ears. A tall lanky brunette was hunched over a desk, refusing to flinch at the sound, a shudder racked his body as a painful memory pushed itself to the surface, the barely kept his body from lashing out, biting his lip roughly.
It wasn't even two weeks ago, he was immersed in that same laughter, in that joy, telling Iris that he was invincible. Five minutes later Hunter Zoloman ran his hand through his father's chest. Barry Allen scoffed to himself. The howl of anguish and sorrow that tore in his throat proving again how helpless he was.
"Tch.." Barry mumbled, moving from the desk, plopping down roughly on Wally's bed. Barry couldn't bring himself to take part in the festivities this time around, even if it seemed like all was peaceful again. Barry knew better, it would be a matter of time until someone else felt The Flash wronged them and came after him. It wasn't a coincidence that Zoom showed up not even six months after Thawne.
Barry lifted his hand to the ceiling, Cisco's laughter once again stabbing him like a knife. He clenched his fist, the warm hum of the speed force rumbling like a battery under his skin. Barry let a ghost of a smile cross his lips. His powers always providing the comfort he so desperately needed.
Barry finally got comfortable, letting the speed force lure him to a sense of security, suddenly his door was thrown open, his eyes flying open as he shouted started. His raised hand, flashed, shooting a small bolt of electricity crashing into the desk light, the light exploding.
The gathering downstairs got surprisingly quiet as Barry took in the form of Iris West, her body illuminated by the hallway light. The woman raised an eyebrow in silent amusement.
"Barry? Is everything alright?" The hesitant voice of Caitlin Snow questioned, concern lacing her tone. Iris turned to the hallway.
"It's okay guys" Iris hollered back, her posture calm, the complete opposite of how Barry felt. After a moment's pause voices started trickling in again. Iris turned back to Barry, who had moved to a sitting position. His head fell into his hands, wishing he could Iris away.
"Bare? What are you doing cooped up here all by yourself?" Iris's eyes twinkling with concern. Barry closed his eyes tightly in frustration. Raw emotion formed in his chest, he wanted to scream, he just wanted to be left alone.
My dad was murdered, right in front of me
My dad was murdered exactly where my mother was killed
My dad was murdered and I was powerless to stop it'
Again
"I am fine" Barry breathed, ignoring the question entirely, "I'll be down soon" Barry dismissed quickly, not wanting to draw out a conversation. Iris didn't look happy at his response, clicking her tongue in annoyance, regardless she accepted the answer, turning on her heel and leaving the room.
Barry sat in the darkness for a few more minutes, composing himself, he pushed himself to his feet, stumbling a bit. He stumbled some more to the bathroom, once inside, splashing water on his face.
"Get it together Barry" Barry whispered to himself, looking at his reflection. His eyes flicked down to the sink before looking back up to Zoom's evil mask, his body flickering with blue lightning. Barry gasped, falling on his ass, backing up. Zoom's evil maniacal laugh laughed him out of the bathroom. Barry raced out of the room, lunging down the stairs, right into the chest of his adopted father, Joe West.
"Whoa, whoa Bar, you alright? Your shaking" Barry let out a pathetic whimper, before retching himself away, somehow telling Joe, he would be right back. Lightning gathered in his veins, crackling across his body as he exploded from the house into the night.
The atmosphere of the party immediately dropped as soon as Barry flashed away, Cisco's smile dropped, Caitlin, who already wasn't contributing much to the conversation, withdrew into herself more, Wally, the poor boy looked confused.
Iris bounded down the stairs, looking confused. "Dad? What's the matter, where's Barry?" Joe hesitated, leaning back in his chair, knowing the answer wouldn't please his daughter. The look on Barry's face had shaken him.
"Dad?" Iris asked again, her face blank. Luckily for everyone, Harry decided to speak up, he looked uncomfortable.
"We don't know, Mister Allen left looking pale as a ghost" Harry revealed, standing up, Iris's face fell at that, thinking back on moments ago Barry looking like he wanted to be anywhere but here. Iris sat down on the loveseat conflicted.
Harry glanced at his daughter, who looked like all the energy left her body. She wasn't the only one, the joyous mood had quickly been erased, the Earth-2 natives shared a look, a silent conversation passing between them.
"Anyways, Joe, thank you for having us over, we have a long day tomorrow" Jessie stood up, trying to conceal her relief with little success. Joe also stood up, taking Harry's outstretched hand, shaking it.
"Don't worry Joe, Barry is a strong young man, good head on his shoulders, he'll be alright" Harry said, trying to reassure the other man. Joe just nodded his head absently.
It didn't take long before everyone else bidding the West family goodnight, Cisco left the downtrodden, Caitlin said nothing and wasn't meeting anyone's eyes before she left. Wally soon excused himself to his room, leaving his sister and dad alone in their thoughts.
I hope Barry is okay Iris chewed on her lip, I needed to talk to him tonight, Joe just looked sadly at his daughter, her face an open book. Joe simply just opened another beer, morbidly thinking how Iris missed her chance.
Barry's eyes blurred with tears, his feet moving with no direction. He had just gotten his dad back and now he was gone again. All those years of preaching his father's innocent, only to have him violently taken away from him.
The universe was cruel, Barry decided, it must be. If they gave Barry these incredible gifts, allowing him to save the day, be the hero. Only to demand the most of him, his mother, his father, half of his happiness. Barry didn't want to sound selfish, even though he was.
Two years, two years he had been doing this, being the Flash, the 'fastest' man alive, already going through so many enemies, 'enemies of the week' Cisco had so kindly dubbed it. He already felt the weight of being a hero on his shoulders, he didn't know how Oliver had lasted as long as he has.
"Thawne," Barry growled mid-run, sounding more like the Reverse-Flash, it always came back to the man, becoming his enemy simply because he couldn't be Barry Allen. What a foolish reason to become his greatest enemy.
Barry wished he could just run to the future and just stop Eobard from being born - Barry immediately came to a stop, the gust of his sudden stoppage almost blowing a sign off its legs.
Barry almost laughed, of course, he could- not erasing Eobard that would be horrible, regardless of how tempting- no he could back in time and save his mother, saving his father in the process. If Thawne can go back willy nilly and change the timeline, so could he but for the better.
Barry took a deep breath, looking at the sign, "Smalllvile huh, guess we aren't in Kansas anymore" Barry sighed lamely, grateful nobody was around to hear that, the speed force roaring back to life, he disappeared in a flash.
As Barry made his way back to Central City, the list of pro's kept outgrowing the cons, along with his parents being alive, he could skip the whole headache of the annual speedster or whoever if the universe felt particular frisky, coming to town and wreaking the little piece of hope and happiness he had left.
For the first time in weeks, Barry felt a sense of purpose, hope, with a sprinkle of determination. A little smirk bloomed on his lips before he pushed himself forward faster and faster.
So it didn't come as too much of a surprise when Barry slowed down, falling unconscious.
The world came back to him slowly, a resounding headache seemingly spitting his head open. Barry tried opening his eyes, closing them in a rush, confused at where he was at.
"It's okay Barry" A familiar voice spoke, prompting Barry to try and sit up, "No, no, that's not a good idea" the voice chuckled without merit, when Barry's eyes finally opened, the visual of Oliver Queen was looking down at him.
"Hello Barry" Oliver drawled out slowly, watching the speedster with crucial eyes, his hands messing with something over Barry's head.
"Ollie? What are you doing in Smalllvile?" Barry mumbled, closing his eyes, he was exhausted. Oliver didn't even bother correcting him, Barry was his brother at this point
"Smalllvile?" Oliver asked, a flicker of amusement crossed his face, "Barry; you're in Star City" Oliver informed, pulling up a nearby chair, "I think you hit your head a little too hard"
Barry groaned in agreement, it certainly felt like that's what happened.
"What happened?"
"Do you not remember?" Barry racked his memory: nothing. Well, he did remember the events leading up to that but that didn't seem important to share.
"N-no.. all I remember was running back to Central City - then"
"Nothing," Oliver finished, seemingly connecting the dots, he leaned back into the chair thoughtfully.
"Yeah, where did you find me?" At that, Oliver smiled.
"It was Thea who found you," Barry opened his eyes, "In an alley"
"Seriously? In an alley?" Oliver nodded, standing up. "Barry, your glucose levels we're low," The Arrow revealed, walking to the foot of the bed, "You've never had this problem before from my understanding"
Barry wasn't in the mood to correct him so he nodded along, "Yeah, I haven't been in the mood to eat lately"
"Because of what Zoom did to your dad.." Oliver spoke quietly, a dark look passing through his eyes. Barry stiffened, almost forgetting Team Flash and Team Arrow kept each other in the loop.
Oliver closed his eyes for a second before taking a seat again.
"Look Barry - I wish I could tell you it gets better, that this life gets better, that we always win" Oliver caught Barry's eyes, emotion only the two men across could fundamentally understand, shined. A dark, ugly, hurt.
"We lose, more then anyone will know, doing this..? chips away at our soul, till there's nothing left"
"What happens when there's nothing left...?" Barry asked quietly. A haunted smile crossed Oliver's face, till finally, his face settled in acceptance.
"We die"
Oliver forced him to stay the night, he had hooked up an IV to bring him from unconsciousness. Oliver later in the night had brought down some Big Belly Burger, to speed up his recovery process. The two superheroes made plans in the morning to grab breakfast.
That's how Barry found himself standing in front of a local Star City Diner, leaning against a wall with his hoodie up, looking very suspicious.
"How do you make yourself stand out in a city full of suspicious people, Barry?" A feminine voice teased, Thea and Oliver Queen walking up to him, a smirk on the latter's face.
Barry rolled his eyes, moving forward to accept Thea's hug.
"What can I say, must be a gift" Barry snarked back with no real heat, "It's good to see you again Thea" Thea smiled, "It is good to see you Barry" Oliver simply patted Barry's shoulder, moving to the entrance of the diner.
"Now, who's hungry?"
Three took a seat, looking over the menu, it didn't take long for them to decide what they wanted.
The trio sat in comfortable silence before the food arrived.
Thea sat with a bewildered look on her face while Oliver calmly ate his breakfast like nothing was wrong. Barry was already on his fourth plate of food, a waiter stopping by and adding another plate full of food, by now the entire diner had at least glanced at their table.
Oliver continued to act like the situation was normal, taking a sip of coffee, black of course when Thea elbowed his side, splashing the liquid on his hand.
"What the hell Speedy?!" Oliver hissed lowly, hoping nobody saw him jump. Thea rolled her eyes saying nothing, not wanting to sound rude. Barry took a minute to swallow before letting out a laugh.
"It's okay, I have to consume at least ten thousand calories a day, to keep myself functional" Thea nodded her head in understanding, Oliver was still looking at his sister wary when Thea excused herself to the bathroom, smirking at her brother.
A moment passed in comfortable silence, the sounds of plates clashing and the whiff on delicious food in the air.
"You seem more chipper this morning" Oliver commented, moving his plate aside, looking outside, the city in recovery from Damien Darhk.
"Well yeah, I was unconscious" Barry's lips trembled as he finished another plate of food.
"Smartass, even after, you seemed, out of it - I know something was - is wrong Barry," Oliver said, noticing something out of the corner of his eye. Barry took a deep breath, debating whether or not to tell Oliver of his plans.
"I'm going to time-travel to the past"
Barry had to give Oliver credit, the man did not react outwardly, only taking another drink of his coffee. His cup slightly shaking briefly.
"Oh"
Barry nodded, "Yup" It was as simple as it sounded, or he would make it that simple, time travel was great like that.
"I'm going to assume you are going to stop something from taking place?"
"Yes, I'm going to stop Thawne from murdering my mother" Oliver coughed harshly, hitting his chest. Barry figured it didn't hurt telling Oliver this, if all went well, this conversation will not have existed anyways.
"Sorry" Oliver waved him off, leaning back. He let the food and his thoughts digest, pondering on how to help his brother, who was hurting. Oliver waved down the waiter, taking the check from the waiter, leaving the correct amount of money on the table, he motioned Barry to the door.
Oliver and Barry left the diner, slowly walking down the street.
"Barry, do you think that's a good idea?" Immediately Barry was outraged, he wanted to turn around and yell- how was saving his mother a bad thing?! The look in Oliver's eyes however made him pause, he would hear him out.
"Barry, saving your mother... It would change the timeline correct?" Barry grunted in acknowledgment,
"Things would certainly be different when you returned"
"Of course it would! My parents would be alive!" Barry spoke passionately, clenching his fist, he was starting to question if Oliver truly understood what he was feeling. Oliver wanted to sigh, as smart as Barry was he sometimes didn't think.
"What if something worse happened?"
Barry froze.
"What... What do you mean?" Oliver gave Barry a patient look.
"What if time took Joe, instead?" Barry completely shut down at that, stopping. Barry slid down to the floor.
"Time?" A whisper. Oliver gave Barry a sad look and sat beside him.
"Barry, it was you who told me, when you mess with time- it doesn't end well"
Barry's mouth snapped shut, he was the one who did tell Oliver that after he already time-traveled a day- what would years worth of damage be done. It wouldn't spare his loved ones, he knew for a fact.
"I.. I... I..." Barry couldn't find an argument against that, even Thawne after killing... his mother was stuck in the past with no way home.
"Barry, I don't blame you at all for feeling what your feeling, you want to see your parents alive again; do you - do you honestly know anyone, if they were in your shoes, wouldn't do the exact same thing, I would do the exact same thing" Oliver's voice got soft.
"Barry, after the gambit went down, it was me, my father and a crew member, on a life raft, lost at sea, enough food and water for one person, maybe" Oliver's face scrunched up in pain.
"My father took a gun, shot the crewmember, told me to survive then turned the gun on himself - he shot himself in the head, he sacrificed himself, so that I could live" Oliver's voice wavered, he looked off into the distance, his eyes stormy.
"Nothing I could do, no choice" Barry's face sagged in sadness, leaning back.
"Slade Wilson drove a sword right through my mother's heart, in front of my sister and me" Barry's heart grew heavy with grief over his friend's loss.
"I was there, I was helpless on the ground; I was powerless to stop it" Oliver grounded out tonelessly, catching Barry's eyes with his own.
"No choice, you do not think I wouldn't give anything to go back and make things different" Barry's head collapsed on Oliver's shoulder, Oliver had never told him about his parents.
Oliver wrapped an arm around Barry, giving and taking comfort.
"I don't think anybody would fault you for making the choice, Barry..."
The duo sat in silence, watching cars pass by, Oliver's revelation throwing his thoughts in a tailspin. Barry felt the burden of the world once again falling on his shoulders.
"What do you think I should do Ollie? I don't know what to do with myself, I feel like I'm falling apart- I can barely hold it together" Barry confessed, his body shaking, with grief.
Oliver sighed heavily, inwardly very pleased Barry was open to some advice. He couldn't tell Barry what to do but he could help push him to a better future.
"I can't tell you what to do Barry, but what I can do for you, is tell you what I did" Barry looked up at that hopeful.
"After the Undertaking, I left Starling City for Lian Yu, the island I had shipwrecked at originally, okay I'm not saying heading back to purgatory was the greatest idea but the time away I did spend, helped my mind recover" Oliver leaving out the Important fact that Dig and Felicity had to come for him.
Barry tossed the idea around in his head, a break from Central City did sound like something that he needed desperately, a break, in general, sounded good.
"Thank you, Oliver, for everything," Barry said, standing up, helping the other man to his feet, Oliver just smiled at him, pulling him for a half hug.
"Any time Barry, I'll always save time for you"
Images flooded his mind of a certain blonde-haired assistant, a sunny smile. Unknowingly a small smile took shape on the Scarlet Speedsters' face.
'I didn't need you to save me'
"What?"
Oliver frowned, looking back at Barry who was looking off into space, not paying attention.
"I said anytime Barry, let's not make me save the space-time continuum become a thing" Oliver tried to joke, feeling it fell a bit flat. He cursed internally, he should leave the jokes to Felicity.
'I didn't need you to save me' Kara Danvers repeated looking down at her now ruined clothing. Barry saw all this through his mind's eye.
Barry slowly entered back into focus, looking right at Oliver, who seemed a little spooked, which was uncommon for the Emerald Archer.
"Thanks for the advice, Ollie, I know exactly where I'm going" Oliver relaxed, forcing his hands in his pockets, still a little apprehensive of how eager Barry seemed.
"Yeah? Where's that?"
Barry chuckled, rubbing the back of his head, amused.
"I find it ironic considering who I'm talking to, but I think I'll keep that to myself"
Oliver's lips twitched unwillingly into a grin, "Fine, keep your secrets Flash"
The tale tells signs of speed force flared to life, Barry looked at Oliver with warmth, looking the best he had in weeks.
"I certainly will Arrow, tell Laurel I said hi"
With that last quip, Barry was gone.
"Thank you Barry" Oliver spoke to himself, feeling a weight lifted off his chest. As much as Barry could claim Oliver did for him, Barry did just as much for him, even if the man didn't know it. The man turned the other way, making his way back to his and Laurel's loft.
Hey everyone, welcome to my story, I used to have this story on two different sites before taking it down, I was too frustrated with myself and I wasn't growing as a writer getting lazy with what I was doing, I'm hoping to post here in the OG fan fiction site, I'll grow as a writer, I'm 1000 percent open to criticism so go ham,
So anyways enjoy the first ten chapters of World Traveler :) and if you've already read this before, well I'll have more new interesting things in store for you guys soon
See ya.