For Those We Love

Chapter 3: Friends Old and New

"I wish it wasn't just the dark times bringing us together -" -Oliver Queen

"-But it is friends like you that make those dark times worth having."-Barry Allen

David Singh

Ducking down under his desk he felt rather than heard the bullets smack into the polished wood. He groaned. 'That'll be expensive to fix' he thought.

Peeking up he opened fire, popping off 3 shots at the shooter with his sidearm, two managing to hit center mass and taking him down, before ducking again as one of his compatriots shifted his fire from the other side of the room towards him.

He was about to shout out orders for his officers to flank the 4 remaining criminals before he heard a whooshing sound and peeked up to see a red blur before all 4 were unconscious on the ground with handcuffs on them. Looking over the 4 incapacitated assailants he saw a man in a red suit, with yellow highlights and a lightning bolt on his chest.

"Flash! You're back!" Maria Rodriguez, the Duty Sergeant shouted.

This was met with some cheers from the rest of the precinct and some celebratory yells from the officers, as well as a few groans from the men and women in the holding cells.

Captain Singh cleared his throat. "Welcome back Flash. Thanks for the help." he asked.

"Armed Men attacking a Central City Police Precinct? I've been gone 6 months and that's what it's come to?" The Flash asked him in his strange vibrating voice, which reminded him of when someone talked into an electric fan or something.

"Well criminals around here got pretty bold when they realized you were gone and only your little brother or something was left. That Kid Flash was alright, but he wasn't you." He replied and with barely a nod of acknowledgement the man was gone in a flash.

Shaking his head, he simply ordered that someone clean up the mess that was the precinct after a gun battle.

LINE BREAK

"Mr. Allen… you're late. 6 months gone and still you haven't changed a bit." Barry Allen entered the Captain's office just a half-hour after the Flash had left, and about 2 hours after he was supposed to meet the Captain. "Well at least this time that was a good thing. You missed the excitement."

"Yeah sorry Captain. Just got back to Central and I moved out of my loft so I'm still getting re-adjusted and stuff." The man explained with an awkward smile before closing the door and shutting the blinds.

Singh just responded with a raised eyebrow.

"You moved out? Something happen with you and Iris?" He asked, curious. That relationship had always weirded him out but who was he to judge?

"Oh yeah we broke up." was the simple reply that told Singh all he needed to know: That he shouldn't talk about it.

"Anyway, Captain I just want to thank you for covering for me these past 6 months. I think you deserve an explanation. You've already figured out I'm the Flash right?"

Oh so that's where this was going. In all honestly David did figure it out after a while, but he had always suspected something after the coma. Plus, this latest disappearance all but confirmed it for him. Now here the man himself was truly confirming that, Yes, Barry Allen is the Flash.

"Yes… but I didn't expect you to figure out I knew."

"You're a smart man captain. I always knew you'd figure it out. I'm grateful for everything you do and I judging from the lack of an arrest warrant you're not going to tell on me or arrest me for vigilantism, right?" Barry said jokingly. "I had to disappear for a while or the City would have been destroyed. Long story. Cisco Ramone over at STAR Labs helped me to get back."

Singh absorbed everything before picking up a folder of paper and handing it over to Barry.

"Everything you need to become a CSI again. The lab's a little backed up from the cases you've missed. You're a great enough guy Barry and I do appreciate the work you do as your… alter ego, but I need Barry Allen: CSI to do the things only he can do and when the city needs the Flash, then go nuts Barry." Was his reply.

"Sure thing captain. Oh and I'll keep this quiet from Joe since I know you probably like hearing the excuses he has to make when I go missing." Barry Allen said smiling before leaving.

Singh chuckled. It was pretty funny to watch Joe try and fail to produce believable excuses regarding his adoptive son's disappearances. He only hoped Joe wouldn't try to misdirect him in an effort to protect Barry's identity and have some speedster dressed up as the Flash appear in the same room as Barry or something.

Shrugging, Captain Singh went back to work, not noticing the discrete electronic device that had been left underneath his desk, one that could act as both a listening device and an internet portal that could allow someone to hack into the work computer of the Police Captain.

LINE BREAK

Caitlyn Snow

Caitlyn Snow was checking over the vitals taken from Barry's suit from the attack on the precinct when the man himself rushed into the room in his casual clothes.

"Barry! Where have you been?" Cisco asked the speedster. After Barry's return, his loft with Iris had been emptied of his things and the man was nowhere to be seen until the next day when reports came in of the Flash running around Star City. Then he had left towards Central, but no member of Team Flash had seen him until now.

"Earth-38. Caught up with Kara. Before that I was with Ollie in Star." was his terse reply before he blurred away and back for a second, now holding a stack of papers. "Could you guys go over these?" he asked, handing the stack to Caitlyn.

"Resumés and Personnel Sheets?" Caitlyn asked looking over the stack. She recognized some as former employees of STAR Labs under the disguised Eobard Thawne and some as well-respected men and women in their respective scientific fields. "What for Barry?"

"Are you trying to replace us or something?" Cisco, who had leaned over Caitlyn's shoulder to look over the papers, blurted out.

"No of course not guys! You're my original Team Flash and I could never replace you." Barry said, with an emotional voice. "I'm technically the owner of STAR Labs and it occurred to me during my time in the Speedforce that we could be doing a lot more good for the community and for others if there were actual scientific experiments going on here in the outer labs and areas around the Cortex and courtyard. Not to mention make a decent amount of profit. I've got ideas to expand the Labs and to breach into different industries." He said explanatorily.

She looked at Cisco and it seems they both were thinking hard about this.

"Barry but what about your work as the Flash? Even having others in the building will endanger your secret identity. What about security? And where will we get the money to get all this going?" Cisco and Caitlyn asked a flurry of questions which seemed to amuse Barry.

"The Flash is already connected to STAR Labs in the eyes of the public. It won't be difficult to explain that the owner and employees of STAR Labs are friendly to the Flash and help him out. We can install secret entrances to the Flash "Cave" and expand underground too. With employees it'll be easy to justify hiring security guards and expanding the security measures would be a good idea especially with the amount of times our baddies have just strolled in here. As for money…" He looked towards Caitlyn. "Don't think I haven't noticed what you've been doing with Hero Corp Cait."

She flushed a little. "Yeah I guess you must have noticed. How else are we supposed to keep the lights on?" she said. Looking to the now confused Cisco she explained "Hero Corp is a STAR Labs subsidiary that owns the rights to all the heroes and their logos. Every time someone sells a shirt or a bobblehead part of the money goes to us. The Green Arrow, The Flash, The ATOM, Firestorm and even White Canary and the others. Its brought in enough to keep the Labs running and for our salaries and gadgets, but I don't know how we'll finance what you're thinking Barry."

"I'll find some cash to inject into STAR. Don't worry about it. Just find good scientists who are skilled enough to get some grant money, as well as those with good ideas that can benefit people." Barry waved away the notion that they couldn't afford it.

"Anyway, you guys wanna have lunch? It's on me." Barry grinned and before they knew it the three of them were outside a restaurant.

"Aww yessss! Dibs the most expensive thing on the menu! Thanks for paying Barry!" Cisco exclamatorily shouted before running inside to get them a table.

Caitlyn just smiled and walked in with Barry. It was nice to have her friend back.

LINE BREAK

Barry Allen

Punching someone while running, if done right, could significantly increase the amount of force you apply to the punch. Running at Supersonic speeds could pretty much kill any normal human. Barry had punched Doomsday at Light Speed once and he regretted it. The monster had been vaporized and a large part of the Sahara Desert had been turned to glass when the punch had exhibited the force equivalent to a nuclear bomb. The side effect was that he had been sucked in the Speed Force and almost been lost to it forever, had Kara and Oliver not arrived and been there to anchor his soul to the world.

The giant tentacle monster Hal Jordan, Earth's one Green Lantern, was fighting could probably take a supersonic punch so Barry opted for a faster speed, hitting the thing with the force of a high explosive artillery shell. He watched the beast stumble and fall onto its side, obviously incapacitated or perhaps dead.

"Hey!"

Barry turned to see the descending green lantern covered in the beast's blood. It seems the battle had been taking place for a while.

"Thanks for that… Flash isn't it? Thing was heading for an orphanage." The Lantern said before encasing the monster in a green construct. "Now I've gotta get rid of this thing."

"Let's talk after. Any good bars we could drink in? As our other selves." Barry asked. Hopefully Hal would oblige him. He remembered their friendship in that future and how he had reacted to Hal's death.

"Sure. I owe you for this thing anyway." Was the hesitant answer.

Nodding, Barry ran away to find a place he could take the Speed Force suit off without attracting attention while Hal flew up to take the body into space.

LINE BREAK

Barry zigzagged to avoid the hard-light beams that came from the soldiers. "Just our luck that everyone else was too busy for this. I would have loved for Clark, Kara or Diana to do this instead of us."

"Barry knock out the sentries while I keep us shielded from the fighters." Hal's shouted out as he formed a green shield above the area that buckled a little under the hard-light beams from the fighters. "Come on Barry I thought you always wanted to visit other planets. Heard there are nude beaches here. Maybe we can have some R&R after we get this nuke off-planet."

Barry knocked out the sentries in a few seconds before an explosion rocked the base and blew him flat on his back. He was disoriented from the blast and watched as the debris fell around him. A large piece was about to fall directly on him when he was protected by a green armor encasing itself around him.

"Thanks Hal. I owe you one." Barry said.

"You owe me like 5! Remember Kaznia?" Hal lifted the rubble off Barry and they ran and flew toward the base, hoping beyond hope the nuke was still secure.

"Oh shut up about Kaznia. Did you forget when I saved your ass in Markovia?" Barry quipped as he knocked out the remaining guards and picking up the lead box with the bomb inside. "Nuclear Device is secure."

"Let's get out of here Bar." Hal said and flew off.

Barry just smiled and ran after him.

LINE BREAK

Hal Jordan

"So, you got struck by lightning and now you're the fastest man alive? Damn I had a cousin who got struck by lightning once. She just got amnesia for a while."

"So Green Lantern? Space Police Force?" Barry asked.

"Yeah we protect the galaxy and bring order and peace. At least that's what the Guardians have us doing. In my opinion we should be more pro-active but that's just me." Hal replied sipping his beer.

"Well maybe you'd like the idea I've got then." Barry smirked. "The Earth needs a force like the Green Lanterns protecting it on a smaller scale, one dedicated to Earth. A team, a group,… a league. Made up of people like you and me, just heroes willing and able to protect innocent people."

Hal sat with the notion for a few minutes before making his decision.

"Where do I sign up?"

LINE BREAK

Tim Drake

He hit the two thugs with his tonfas, electrocuting them into unconsciousness before moving onto the next ones. There were an uncountable number of them in the room with him.

'Looks like Penguin will finally get what he wants.' Was Timothy Drake's thought as he kept fighting, in the "flow" as his mentor, The Batman, had once called it against the vast numbers arrayed against him. He kept having to spin to deal with the thugs smart enough to flank him and it cost him a few hits.

He kept fighting until a red blur swept in the room and he found all the thugs around him unconscious. Looking ahead he saw a masked man in a red suit.

"Thank you. Your outfit and powers would indicate you to be the hero known as the Flash who operates in Central City. Blüdhaven is pretty far from where you usually roam. What are you doing here?" Tim asked. Nightwing was the only vigilante attached to the city and he didn't want to have another person just drop in and start taking over the job.

"Wow guess you really did learn a lot from Batman. Although he wouldn't have thanked me and just went straight to the aggressive questions." The man snarked before whisking him away.

The world was blurry for a second before he found himself on a rooftop overlooking the warehouse they had just been in moment before. Settling into a mildly defensive stance he reiterated his question.

"What are you doing in Blüdhaven?"

"Chillax Tim" The Flash said jokingly.

The use of his real name alarmed the vigilante that he instinctively threw a smoke bomb from his belt onto the floor beneath them and turned to jump off the roof and grapple himself out of the situation.

That was until he felt himself being carried away and he fell to the ground. This time he was on a different roof.

"Man, I'm the fastest man alive. You literally move in slow motion to me. You know what. Maybe I shouldn't have revealed I know your name so fast. Look let's make things fair."

The superhero took off his mask and ruffled his hair a bit, revealing his face.

"The name's Barry Allen."

Time took the offered hand and shook it, perhaps they could be civil.

"Anyway, I'm here to recruit you. I've been thinking of starting a team of people like us. Heroes who fight to protect people. I've been watching you for a while now and I think you'd be a great fit."

'A team?' Tim mused, 'I don't have information on this Flash or anyone else he might put on the team, not to mention that this might just be a trap.' With only a brief mulling over of the offer the young man had made up his mind quickly. With his mind certain he turned to leave.

"Sorry not interested"

Barry sighed. 'Yeah I was expecting him to say no outright. Hopefully after the League's established he'd be willing to join us.'

Tim Drake saw only a red blur and yellow lightning as he went back to patrolling the rooftops. He shook his head. He couldn't even begin to think of a contingency to handle the metahuman.

'I wonder how Dinah handles being a cop in times like these with superheroes and vigilantes abound. Maybe I should call her or something. I haven't talked to her in a while.'

Sara Lance

STAR Labs was pretty much the same as when she had last been in Central City. Science-y and futuristic looking. Hopefully she'd be able to interrogate Cisco and/or Caitlyn alone without Barry around. Maybe one of them knew what had happened to alert the Waverider.

She was flanked by both Ray and Nate. Jax and Stein were with their families and the rest were just on the ship.

"Do you think that Cisco or Cait know what Barry did?" Ray asked.

"They probably do right? Considering that they're his best friends" was Nate's reply.

Sara stayed quiet as they walked, hoping that this wasn't going to be some new flashpoint or something. As she entered the Cortex she saw Cisco and Cait but there was no sign of Barry anywhere in the room.

"What's up guys?" She said with a smile. It was nice to see friends again.

The two were surprised and happy and there were high fives and hugs until Sara broke the happiness of the room with her question.

"Where's Barry?"

The two looked at each other and seemed to communicate with only their eyes for a few seconds.

"We… don't know. It's been worrying us with how much he's changed after getting back." Caitlyn finally said.

"Tell me everything."

LINE BREAK

"So you brought Barry back after a few million years in there for him but only a few months for you guys and as soon as he got back he broke up with the girl who's been his crush for years, moved out of his loft to somewhere-you-don't-know, been seen in different cities around the country, and has plans to open up STAR Labs again?" Sara asked, having

The two nodded.

Sara thought about this new development. While it was completely possible that Barry had just changed due to the time he spent in the Speed Force, it was also completely possible that someone else had come back instead of Barry Allen. But whoever it was had to be a speedster right? Or maybe she's just overthinking things and this is really Barry. But then what was the Time Aberration caused by? Suddenly a cold stone settled in Sara's gut.

"Ray, Nate, let's talk outside for a bit."

Walking outside she could tell Ray and Nate both had their two cents.

"Maybe Barry isn't really Barry?" Nate said as soon as they thought they were out of hearing range of the two Team Flash members.

"I've been thinking about that too. If that were true then whoever it is has to be both a speedster and someone either familiar with or has the ability to figure out Gideon's programming. Plus, the lightning is still yellow. It's possible but unlikely." Sara replied.

"Captain maybe we're overreacting? I mean 2 million years in a prison will change a guy. Definitely would change me." Ray piped in.

"Maybe so, but that's what gets me. What if the time aberration isn't from this Barry not being himself but from Barry being here?" Sara said and she watched as realization dawned on her friends' faces.

"You think Barry was never supposed to get out in the first place? That maybe when he realized this wasn't supposed to happen, he programmed Gideon not to say anything?" Ray asked, his face a mixture of confusion and dread.

"If this is true… Then we'd have to make sure our friend has to go back inside the Speed Force and stay there until he's meant to get out, if he even is meant to get out! We'd have to put him back in a hell where he stayed for an uncountable agonizing amount of days. Could we really do that?" Nate asked.

"I… I don't know. Look let's forget I said it and get back to the ship to regroup. Then we investigate more. If we're lucky then Barry just did something stupid to break time and he's trying to hide it." Sara ordered before they marched off.

She hoped that her theory was wrong.

LINE BREAK

Mari McCabe

Touching her totem and channeling the spirit of an Elephant, Vixen charged through the debris blocking the way out of the burning building. After she was through, she quickly waved to the civilians inside to start making their way to safety. Touching her totem yet again she channeled the speed of the Cheetah and started running inside at speed in order to get as many civilians out and towards safety as she can. That was until she saw a red blur with a trail of yellow lightning getting people in and out to safety. Jumping out of the building with the man she was carrying she landed safely and put the civilian down before standing up to see an old acquaintance of hers.

The Flash. He was smiling and he seemed to want to talk.

"What's up Vixen. I was hoping we could talk?" Looking around he saw that several civilians were taking photos of the two heroes standing together. The Flash waved at the crowd and smiled.

Mari just rolled her eyes. Her fellow hero was definitely more accepting of the spotlight than she was. "Meet on the roof of the bank in 5 minutes." She whispered to the speedster before channeling a bird to fly away.

Barry just shook his head and ran off to the meeting place.

LINE BREAK

"I don't work well with others Flash. You and The Green Arrow both know that. Don't be an idiot and truly expect me to take this offer seriously." Mari said haughtily.

Barry just sighed. He didn't actually think Mari would take the offer, and in fact it had taken Mari years before she had joined the league, only doing so after the destruction of half of the United States including Detroit had she overcome her stubbornness. Even then she was always reluctant to work with heroes she hadn't worked with before.

"It was worth a try. Be well Mari." And with that the fastest man alive ran from Detroit with only a red blur and yellow lightning as any sign he was there.

Hearing a cry for help, Vixen channeled into an eagle and took off into the night sky, determined to help her city.

Had she cared to look at where the direction of the yellow lightning trail went, she would have been surprised to see the Flash heading to the worst city in America.

The Scarlet Speedster was heading to Gotham.

Barry Allen

He had been to the Batcave only twice before. He hadn't gotten very close to the Earth 1 Bruce Wayne, considering that the man had been retired from the vigilante game for too long to join the League. Yet at the same time the man had helped the League when he could and became somewhat of a mentor to most heroes, his expertise and knowledge had helped every Leaguer at least once or twice. The first masked vigilante in the world had always been somewhat of a hero figure to those that joined the League.

Watching him get into that mechanical batsuit to become the Dark Knight once more had brought a tear to the eyes of many Leaguers, and it was still one of the most heart wrenching moments of the future when he saw Darkseid rip the man in half.

But that was a future now hopefully changed, and this Bruce Wayne was still as cynical and hopeless as he had been when Barry first met him. The former vigilante would move to Italy and spend the rest of his days with Selina Kyle in a few months if Barry had his timeline correct. But currently he was still in the Batcave wallowing in misery and regret.

Barry ran into Gotham as a red blur, stopping ten robberies, five muggings, and sixteen would-be rapists. It was a small relief in a city that had more crimes happen in a day than practically every other city on the East Coast combined. The people he saved would be grateful, thankful that they had survived another day in the pit of hell called Gotham. Then they would be robbed or mugged the very next day.

Barry shook these thoughts out of his mind. Gotham was not a city that could be saved by The Flash, nor by heroes such as the ATOM or Firestorm. Even Superman or Supergirl could never save this city. Only men like Bruce Wayne and Oliver Queen could. Heroes who strive to save their city, even after having experienced the depths of darkness and death themselves. Only figures like The Green Arrow and The Batman could.

Zipping into the Batcave he saw the former Dark Knight on the Batcomputer. The man didn't turn around, he didn't need to.

As soon as he reached the center of the cave, a laser net encapsulated the space around him. He knew he could escape it if he wanted to go faster than what he normally went but he decided that Batman needed to have some semblance of security before he'd be willing to talk to the him.

"The Flash, or should I say…Barry Allen?" a gruff voice emanated from the former vigilante, gruffer even than Oliver's "Green Arrow" voice.

"The Batman… I knew you existed! The Green Arrow always liked to say that he was the first vigilante and you were a myth made by the GCPD." He said lightly. He was in no real danger, not when his own speed and abilities had jumped massively from the expectations of this Bruce Wayne.

"What are you doing here?" The Dark Knight asked, ignoring the joking nature of Barry's earlier statement.

"To ask for your help. I want to establish a group, a team, a… league. One comprised of people willing and able to help each other and save innocents." He said plainly. He doubted he'd get too much of a positive response.

"What? Like the JSA?" The question was rhetorical and the silence that followed lasted many long seconds.

"I won't begrudge you the attempt, and I'm a little satisfied you thought of me but I'm retired. Take up the offer with others. Now leave." He said.

The laser field went down and the older man got up to leave, ignoring the Scarlet Speedster still standing in the BatCave.

Barry just sighed and nodded, watching a man he came to respect in that dark future walk away. He would come back, that Barry knew, if only to help set up a successor vigilante for the future of Gotham and help that person with what was at stake for his city.

Turning back he ran out of the cave at his fastest speed. It would send the Batman a message that he was doing his best to be friendly. He was obviously being observed and if he was seen faster that Bruce's expectations then he'd know that the metahuman had the ability to escape the trap at any time, therefore showing him that he trusted him not only with information about his abilities, but also his life.

He decided to run back to Central now, knowing that Cisco and Caitlyn were probably very concerned about him.

Sarah Lance

Being the Captain of a timeship was quite a hassle, keeping her people in line was a chore, but it was all worth it to see the amazing events, people, places she had seen thanks to the Waverider.

Having to plan to capture one of the world's greatest superheroes, who happened to be a personal friend of hers, in order to return him to a prison against his will was not one of those times.

After they had gotten back to the ship, Nate and Martin had both managed to pinpoint that the anomaly did in fact come from Barry. Whether it was an imposter or actually Barry didn't really matter. Either the person that came out of the speedforce was Barry and he shouldn't have gotten out yet, or it wasn't Barry and he needed to be defeated and the real Barry found.

Either way the giant field of slowing-down goop (or whatever scientific name Martin and Ray had called it), disguised as regular grass, was exactly the kind of trap that needed to be set for a speedster. Add some improvisation into the mix and she was confident that whatever the situation would be, it would be solved by the Legends. There's a reason they were called that.

Soon, Barry Allen, or whoever it was, wouldn't know what hit him.

AN:

Whew that took a while. My laptop broke and it took about a month for me to get it back from the retailer, thank God for warranty.

Anyways, Next time on FTWL Barry has to go up against the Legends and the trap they have prepared for him. Again Feedback would be great and I'm sorry you had to wait so long for this.

Hope everyone is doing ok with the Quarantine and with the Pandemic. God Bless.