PART IV

It was sudden.

There were shipments to be made to the base in Coast City. Hub City, corrupt as Starling, paid no heed of a large army of men, masked in black and dressed in military gear, standing in their harbor and loading a ship filled with what was clearly illegal contraband. Just another routine night.

Then it happened.

The ship was sunk, broken in half and then carried off to be drowned deep in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The men had their necks snapped without warning, dead before they hit the ground. Their bodies were piled in a raft, and carried off to the Pacific, where they were burned into the ashes of nonexistence.

It was the first. It would not be the last.

One by one, each base fell. H.I.V.E. caught on quickly, of course, but nothing could prepare them for what was coming their way.

Then The Board was targeted. It started off innocuously. Milo Armitage was found dead of a presumed heart attack. The autopsy revealed nothing – not even the poison that killed him. Phaedra Nixon was next, after her personal driver lost control of the car she was in and accidentally drove them both off a cliff. Soon, they all began dropping like flies. The authorities, seeing no connection between the deaths of so many prominent businessmen and women, chalked it up to coincidental accidents. H.I.V.E., however, knew better, and sequestered their leader away into a hidden bunker in the Alps.

It wouldn't help them. Within two months, the bunker was the only place left untouched.

Had Damien Darhk lived, he would've sorely wished it remained that way.

BANG!

Damien grimaced, and turned to face the doorway. A man stood there, a bow and arrow trained on him.

He fired.

The warlock raised a brow and smirked. He lifted his hand, and the arrow stopped in mid-flight. He could just feel the archer's befuddlement.

"Surprised? I –" but before he could get the quip out, a flash of yellow appeared in his line of sight.

The next second, he struggled to breath as blood bubbled in his mouth. He looked downwards, and saw in horror that a knife was firmly embedded in his throat.

His eyes rolled backwards as darkness greeted him, and Damien Darhk knew no more.

Ruve Darhk scrambled about the office, trying to stuff as many essential documents as she could in her bag. As soon as Damien returned, they needed to run. They had the foresight to send Nora ahead of them, in hiding, and as a result she was spared from the wrath of whoever had been targeting H.I.V.E.

Ruve was ripped from her thoughts when one of the walls of her office exploded into debris. She was thrown back from the force, and looked up. Before she could catch sight of her attacker, a hand was wrapped around her neck.

Snap!

"It is done." Al Sah-him stated, kneeling before his soon-to-be former master. Al Sa'iqa and Saraab were each on one side of him, mirroring him.

"The girl?" Ra's inquired.

"Gone. Lost in the foster system. We destroyed her inheritance and killed Darhk's lawyer and all his affiliates for good measure." Al Sah-him replied.

"Good."

Then, to everyone's disbelief, the Demon's Head smirked.

"I believe it is time to prepare for your return home, yes?"

Al Sa'iqa handed Saraab a stack of papers. She looked at him.

"Your human identities." he clarified. She nodded, and set off towards Kal-El's room. He was packing away his books, to be read and studied during their return to Lian Yu. Saraab set the papers down on the desk in the corner, picking up the one on the top, a brief on their backstories, and read.

She was Kara Linda Danvers. Born September 7, 1989, as the only child of Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers, humanitarians. Kal-El was Clark Calvin "Kal" Kent, her baby cousin, born June 18, 2001. His parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent, died in a fire not long after his death, burning all paper records of both his and his cousin's existences. He was adopted by Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers, the latter of whom was his maternal aunt, and subsequently taken with them, alongside their daughter, on a missionary trip to the Philippines. Their boat capsized in a storm, and the Danvers drowned, but not before setting up their children in a life raft to safety, where they washed up on Lian Yu not long after Barry and Oliver did.

It was simple, but when it came to things like this, the best lies were simple. It would hold up under cursory scrutiny, but if anyone did any digging, they would find that the Danvers, nor the Kents, did not exist, and that the money Kara and Kal were about to inherit came from practically nowhere. Thankfully, it didn't have to be ironclad. Who would pay attention to them, when Oliver Queen and Barry Allen were coming back from the dead?

Satisfied, Saraab turned, and looked at Kal-El. Having finished packing, he was watching her curiously, hands idly fiddling with a knife. Silently, she handed the paper to him.

He read it, and with a quick nod, handed it back to her. "This is our story?" he asked.

She nodded back.

"So…this is it." Nyssa asked, taking note of the surrounding forest. Before her, Al Sah-him and Saraab were overlooking their old plane shelter, cleaning it up for reuse. Kal-El was unpacking his bag beside them, taking out clothing and food. A whoosh! later, and Al Sa'iqa returned.

"Yes." He turned to his other companions. "The perimeter is secure. I detected no one else on the island. We're safe, for now."

Al Sah-him grunted. "Then it's time." As one, they all turned towards Nyssa.

She stepped forward, and took a deep breath. "Saraab. Al Sa'iqa. Al Sah-him. In the name of Ra's al Ghul, I release you from your vows."

For the first time, in a long time, Kara Zor-El smiled. "Thank you for everything, Nyssa." she said, and hugged her friend. Nyssa was startled first, unused to such affection, before tentatively returning the embrace.

Slowly, Kara released her. Barry Allen was next, and pulled Nyssa in for a hug of his own. "You ever end up in Central City, look me up, alright? I'll take you to all the best places." he joked when they parted.

Nyssa smiled. "I will hold you to that."

Finally, Oliver Queen. The years had worn away at him, and at times he could be colder than even Nyssa herself. But here, he let his emotions show, and a genuine, if sad smile graced his face. He took her hands. "The same goes for me and Starling. You ever drop by, just tell me."

Nyssa looked at him for a long moment. Then, instead of a hug, she kissed him on the cheek. The smile disappeared from his face, and Oliver let go of her hands, stunned. Nyssa payed that no heed, and this time, she initiated the embrace. "I think it is you I will miss the most." She said. Oliver unfroze, and smiled fondly as he wrapped his arms around her.

When they let go, a blur crashed into her leg. Nyssa stumbled, just a bit.

"What about me!?" a high-pitched voice asked.

Nyssa laughed. "And you as well, Kal-El. And you as well." she kneeled down and ruffled his hair.

Her farewells bid, Nyssa departed. The family all watched silently as she disappeared from view.

"So, what now?"

It had been five days since their return to the island. A week spent preparing their shelter, refamiliarizing themselves with the terrain, and teaching Kal-El about edible food, water sources, how to locate landmines – everything he would need to know to survive for the next six months.

It was already decided how they would spend the next six months. Just like they had when they first arrived on Lian Yu, everything would be on a rotational schedule, this time, with Kal-El as the focal point. He would spend each day a certain number of hours with each of his three caretakers. He would hunt and gather with Kara, continue his informal education with Barry, and train with Oliver. Every five days, they would relax for two days as leisure time. When ever he was with one, the other two would either spend their time training themselves, or exploring the island.

Today was the first day of leisure, and Kal-El was bored.

Oliver, Kara, and Barry looked at each other, before turning back to him.

"We visit someone."

The graves were still there, untouched.

The sight of Shado's name left a pang of sadness in all their hearts. The pain of her loss was a dull ache, one they easily ignored in the League, because they had no choice. But now, with their old names, they could feel it pulsing beneath the skin.

"Do you think she would be proud of me?" Kal-El asked morosely as he and Kara fixed some flowers onto the grave. Beside them, Barry and Oliver did the same with Yao-Fei, paying their respects to their old mentor.

"She loved you, Kal-El. The fact that you're here, all grown up, would've made her the happiest person on Earth." Kara answered softly, smiling at him.

"Listen to your sister, Kal. She's always right." Barry stated, standing up and stretching his legs.

Oliver remained silent. He stared at Yao-Fei's grave, then at Shado's. Then, he reached into his bag, and took out something very familiar to Barry and Kara. It was a mask: half of it black, half of it orange.

Slade's mask.

Barry blinked. "Where did you…" he trailed off, astonished. Kara also stood, looking woefully at the garment. Even years after the Amazo, some part of her still blamed herself for Slade's death.

"It was sitting on the bottom of his old chest." Oliver replied, forlornly. "He must've left it behind, when we went to take the ship."

Kal-El looked at the mask curiously, and took it from Oliver's hands. His hands wandered over the fabric, taking note of its feel. He looked back at them. "Papa?" he asked. They nodded despondently.

Back in Nanda Parbat, in the dead of night, Kal-El would often wake up, nightmares about his mama and papa, of Shado and Slade. Whenever they had the chance, his adoptive family would take him away from the home of the League of Assassins, and tell him stories about them. Of Shado's beauty and kindness, her caring nature. Of Slade's gruff but considerate actions. Of their strength. Of how they gave up their lives, so their makeshift family could live. Saraab would use her prodigious art skills to recreate their faces from memory, and etch them onto paper to give to Kal-El, who would spend hours committing every line to his mind, before he had to burn their visages away. Though his recollection of them was sparse, he nonetheless held them both close to his heart.

Kal-El stared at the mask again. Then, quietly, he handed it back to Oliver. He looked around until he found what he was searching for: a large stick. Quickly, he jogged to it, grabbing it from the ground. He presented it to his two eldest brothers.

It took a moment, but soon everyone realized what he was suggesting. Oliver took the stick from Kal and went to the spot beside Shado's grave. He planted the stick into the soft ground, and placed the mask on top of it. Barry had taken the time to get some thin rope from their shelter, and used it to tie out around the bottom of Slade's mask, keeping it in place. Kara went looking for more flowers, and returned a moment afterwards, placing them in front of the newly made memorial.

Silently, they each bowed their head in respect for their lost friend.

"Here it is." Kara pointed at the mass of greenery. Beneath it, one could see the tell-tale signs of metal.

"This is our spaceship?" Kal-El asked dubiously.

Kara hummed her confirmation, and then got to work removing the foliage. Kal-El joined her, and soon all of it was gone. The ship was in good condition all things considered. Even after ten years of being at the mercy of mother nature itself had done little to dull its sheen. Using her fist, Kara shattered open the cockpit. Neither her nor Kal-El payed any attention to the mess of glass.

Kara looked over the ship, noticing a small compartment had been jostled open by the force of her blow. Reaching in with one hand, she pulled it open, and saw it.

An activation key, bearing the crest of the House of El.

She grabbed it, and showed it to her little brother. He took it from her around, feeling the ridges.

"Do you know what it's for?"

Kara narrowed her eyes at it. "I have a feeling. But we can't deal with it until we get off this island." Kal-El returned it to her, and she placed it inside her pack, before they set off again.

Months went by.

A fishing trawler appeared. They ran, and Oliver fired his bow. The mass of wood burst into flames.

The bell rang.

Thea Dearden Queen waved her friends goodbye.

"Miss Queen." The family driver intoned behind her. She nodded at him, and entered the car.

Life was stifling for Thea Queen. She was rarely ever let outside of the house to hang out with her friends. Instead, she was required to return home everyday and study, finishing her homework. Afterwards, she was allowed a few hours of leisure, either exercising, watching TV, or reading, before she had dinner with her parents. Then it was straight to bed.

She understood why, of course. Her parents had been like that ever since the death of her older brother. They had been far more permissive with him than they had with her, and it had led to his death, when the Queen's Gambit sunk off the coast of China ten years ago. Thea knew her parents blamed themselves for his death, and sought not to repeat the same mistakes with her. She sympathized, of course, but it didn't stop her from resenting them.

The only person she didn't resent was Ollie. Even now, ten years after his death, Thea held what sparse memories she had of him close to her heart. Ollie, despite his wild nature, had been a caring and loving brother, one who had always taken time out of his day to be with his baby sister. Thea kept a picture of them on her desk, one taken at her last birthday right before he got on that stupid boat, and made sure to speak a few words to it every night, hoping that wherever he was, he was watching over her.

Thea was shaken from her thoughts when the car made an abrupt stop. She turned and looked out the window, and saw the large ornate doors of the Queen Family mansion.

She was home.

Robert Queen looked up.

"Your wife is here, Mr. Queen." his secretary told him.

"Send her in." The man nodded and walked away. Robert had refused to hire anymore female secretaries, that way he wouldn't be tempted to cheat.

This turn in his behavior had come because of his strengthened relationship with Moira. Robert had always loved his wife, but that had never stopped his wandering eye. Moira loved him enough to turn a blind eye to save face for their marriage, and that had always caused him enough guilt to tell her the truth.

The change came with the death of their son and oldest child, Oliver. Robert's best friend (if only for appearances – in private, Robert made it clear that their relationship was unsalvageable) Malcolm Merlyn was the one responsible. Robert had disagreed with his plans for the Undertaking and planned to touch base with contacts in China in preparation for stopping it. Unfortunately, some emergency had prevented him from getting on the boat with his son.

Oliver's death had been a wakeup call for both. Malcolm had seemed genuinely regretful about the death of his godson, but that didn't stop him from threatening Robert and Moira with a similar fate for Thea. The Queens had tried to defy him one more time by confessing things to Robert's other best friend, Walter Steele, only for him to die in a surprise shoot out at a restaurant alongside Queen Consolidated's Head of Security at the time, Josiah Hudson. After that, they kept their mouths shut and played along for the sake of their only remaining child.

Robert had sympathized with Malcolm at one point. The death of Rebecca, another dear friend, had been a blow to both the Queen and Merlyn families. But the death of his son and Walter had destroyed any empathy he once had for the other billionaire. Now, the only sympathy he had was for Rebecca, for having her memory tarnished by her husband's destructive actions, and for Tommy, for having such a monster for a father and never knowing it.

Dinah Laurel Lance (known as "Laurel", to differentiate herself from her mother) opened the door to her apartment. It had been a long day at CNRI, and Laurel just wanted to relax for the next few hours. She dropped her bag onto the couch and then herself onto the soft cushions, leaning back into the plush. Darkness greeted her.

When Laurel awoke from her nap, it was already five p.m. She had slept on her couch for two hours. She stretched arms, hearing the telltale creak of bones snapping back into the place, and idly rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, before getting up. It was time to change out of her work clothes and make dinner.

An hour and a half later, she was back on her couch, using her remote to shift through the channels on her TV. Laurel lived a lonely life – besides the occasional night out with Joanna and the girls, and a visit to Ted Grant's gym every two days, she was almost entirely devoted to her job at CNRI.

Of course, Laurel hadn't intended for her life to turn out this way. On the contrary, she had expected herself to be married or in a long-term relationship by this point. Unfortunately, life never really turns out the way you expected it to.

If Laurel had to pinpoint the exact moment when her life had changed, it had to be when her childhood friend Oliver Queen had died. She had met Ollie and his best friend Tommy Merlyn at Balliol Prep – the three had clicked instantly, and that served as a foundation for what would've been a life-long friendship. Over the years, the boys would get into all sorts of trouble, and Laurel was always the one having to bail them out, or, if she felt like it, join in on the fun, along with her little sister, Sara.

But as the years went on, Laurel's feelings for Oliver had begun to deepen into something more. She tried to ignore it at first, but the more time she spent with him, the stronger it got. Laurel had planned to confess to him right after he returned from his trip on the Gambit.

But he never came back.

The news of the Gambit's sinking, and thus Oliver's probable death, had destroyed everyone in their circle of friends. The one who took it the hardest was undoubtedly Tommy. He spent years of hard partying and drinking, trying to move past the death of his best friend, and only stopped when his father forcibly cut him off. Afterwards, he got his act together and began working at his family's company, Merlyn Global, as an executive. Sara had also taken Ollie's death badly, and nearly joined Tommy in his hijinks before their father had put his foot down. She cleaned herself up, and was now a traveling humanitarian.

Laurel herself was heartbroken over Oliver's death. In her darkest moments, she sometimes wondered if she had confessed to Oliver earlier, he would've never gotten on that boat. Of course, she knew better now – what happened to Oliver was no one's fault but Mother Nature herself. The loss of her would-be first love kept her out of the dating scene for a while, as she dedicated herself to her studies in law. After Oliver's passing faded into an aching scar rather than a large, gaping wound on her heart, she had tried to move on herself, dating a few nice guys. But try as she might, the relationships never lasted. After her last relationship with a nice young man named Dick Grayson fell to pieces in a matter of months, she had decided to give up on romance for the time being and focus on her career.

Laurel may have led a lonely life, but it did not make it any less fulfilling or meaningful. She still had friends and family. She still had a job she loved, and cause worth fighting for. Anyone that would call that a bad life clearly had no idea what they were talking about.

As always, the 1st Precinct of the CCPD was bustling. Cops, Detectives, S.W.A.T. Teams, and CSIs were all running around, working new cases, opening and closing old ones, discussing patrol routes, listing down arrests. Crime never stopped, after all.

Detective Joe West was going over some documents about his latest case, while sipping a cup of black coffee.

"Detective West."

Joe turned his attentions away from the documents immediately at the sound of that familiar voice. Iris.

"Officer West." he mirrored back.

She placed a stack of papers on his desk. "For the recent string of bank robberies." she clarified immediately.

Joe sighed. "Thank you, Officer West." She gave a short nod and walked away. Joe looked ready to say more, to try and stop her, but thought better of it and shook his head.

Officer Iris West walked out of the main station and into the lobby, continuing to peruse through the documents currently in her arms.

"Hey there Iris!" A smarmy voice rang out.

Detective Ralph Dibny slid his way to her and slung his arm around her. Iris, calmly, gently grabbed his forearm and removed it from her shoulders.

"Detective Dibny." She greeted him stoically.

"Now, let's not be so formal. I remember telling you to call me Ralph, didn't I?"

"Yes." Iris replied dully, already predicting where this was going.

Ralph grinned. "Good. Now, I was wondering…are you free tonight?"

"Detective Dibny, while I'm flattered, I would like to remind you that I am currently in a relationship and thus unavailable."

He scoffed. "Why you would want to go out with that bore when I –" he jabbed his thumb to his chest and gave Iris a roguish smile, "am here is beyond me. So why don't you ditch that loser and – "

"Loser, am I?"

Ralph's smile strained, and he turned around. "Thawne."

Detective Eddie Thawne gave him an unimpressed look. "Dibny. Chatting up my girlfriend, are we?"

"Iris and I were just talking, you know. Catching up, like what friends do."

"Right. Anyway, if I remember correctly, Singh was calling for you to come to his office. Something about the Dolly case."

"The Dolly case!" the other detective's face lit up, clearly glad for an out. "Right. I'll get there right now." He said and scrambled back into the main station.

"Be sure you do!" Eddie called out to him, before looking at Iris. "You alright?" he spoke in a normal, softer voice.

Iris smiled at him, genuinely this time. "I could've taken care of that myself."

"I know." he replied cheekily. Iris gave a small laugh, and lightly slapped him on the chest.

The door chimed open, and the smell of coffee wafted into the cool October breeze. Just another day at CC Jitters.

"So, how was work?" Iris West asked her boyfriend, Eddie Thawne. The day had ended and they both felt like a pick-me up was in order, so it was straight to their favorite coffee shop. They had managed to snag a table in the corner of the shop's second floor, and were now taking the time to have a mini-date.

"Those bank robberies are still leaving us in a tizzy. Nobody has yet to catch the guy's face, and the aftermath always looks like a tornado or storm ripped through it. It's baffling, to be honest." Eddie bemoaned.

Iris took a sip of her latte. "Well, you'll catch him soon enough. You always do."

"Ah, babe, your faith in me warms my heart."

"Are you sure that isn't the coffee?"

Eddie smirked. "Trust me. It's not the coffee."

Iris grinned back. "Oh, really?" The looked into each other eyes, and began to lean in, before a tell-tale ring! killed the tension.

Eddie made a small groan. "Must be Joe again." At that, Iris' expression tightened, and her smile no longer reached her eyes. Eddie, ever the observant boyfriend, noticed, and put the call on hold. "Hey, I can take this call outside if you want." he told her, tone considerably softer.

Iris waved him off. "No, no. I'm overdue for a refill," she gestured to what was clearly still a full cup of coffee, "and I've been meaning to try their new selection of brownies, anyway. You talk to Detective West, see what he wants." She got up from her seat and stalked her way down the stairs, back to the service counter below. Eddie watched her go with a sad expression on his face.

It was an open secret that things were strained in the West family. Not everyone knew why, though – only the older members, those that had been around at least a decade or so. Of course, both Joe and Iris were professional enough not to let it get in the way of work, but that didn't stop Captain Singh from making it an unofficial rule to minimize interactions between father and daughter as much as possible.

It was only by virtue of his relationship with Iris that Eddie knew the full story. Of course, it was also his relationship with Iris that made things so tense during the first couple of months of his partnership with Joe. Joe's first partner, Fred Chyre, had died the night of the Particle Accelerator Explosion at the hands of one of the Mardon brothers, Clyde, and Eddie had been assigned to Joe in his place a few months afterwards. Around that time is when Eddie had started dating Iris.

Iris was one of the few female employees at the CCPD 1st Precinct, and the only one still unattached at the time. She was a well-regarded officer: focused, professional, smart, etc. All attractive qualities, which only added to her beauty. Every red-blooded and single young man at the CCPD had a crush on the gorgeous Iris West, but were careful not to outwardly show it around her father, Detective Joe West, who, despite their estrangement, was extremely protective of his daughter.

Eddie was no different, and thanked his lucky stars when they were assigned to work a case together. During that time, however, he found that they clicked on a more emotional level, enough that when the case was closed, Eddie had gathered up the courage to ask her out on a date. To his relief, she accepted, and their relationship had only grown since then. They had decided to keep things quiet at first, to avoid office gossip and Joe's wrath, but three months in Iris had decided she didn't want to hide anymore. She hadn't given a damn what her father thought about her for years, and she surely wasn't going to start now.

Her boyfriend, however, had been more reluctant, and was then that he finally got the low-down. Growing up, Iris had a best friend who had lived down the street, Barry Allen. Barry was the son of a doctor and a college professor. Things had been normal for ten years, just two childhood friends growing up together, until one night, when Barry's mother had been murdered. His father was charged and convicted of the crime. However, despite the overwhelming evidence, Barry ascertained to everyone that could hear that his father was innocent, and that "The Man in the Yellow Suit" had killed his mother that night. For this, he had been scorned and mocked by his peers.

Soon after his father was jailed, Barry had taken in by Joe and Iris as a foster member of their family. But despite now living with his closest friend, Barry was still obsessed with proving his father's innocence, something that caused him and Joe to constantly clash. One night, three years after Nora Allen's death, they had a huge fight over it, ending with Joe, with an errant slip of the tongue, calling Barry "crazy". He had immediately regretted it, tried to apologize, but for Barry, that was the last straw.

Being a genius, Barry was a top student, and had gotten an offer to join an international exchange student program, to China. He was initially going to reject the offer, but after Joe's moment of weakness, decided to accept it. Barry had confided to Iris the night before his departure that he couldn't stand to be in Central City any longer, with all the spiteful comments and Joe's continuous belittlement, but promised her he would return, for her and for his father.

He didn't.

Barry's connecting flight in Taiwan had been canceled, so he had elected to travel to China by boat instead. Unfortunately, the boat capsized, and all the occupants drowned. Barry's body was never recovered, only his luggage.

Iris, devastated by his death, blamed Joe in a fit of anger, and refused to talk straight to him for months. For his part, Joe did not try to defend himself, guilt eating away at him. It was his words that landed Barry on that boat, that killed Barry, and he figured his daughter's anger was his way of atonement. But while the Wests took Barry's death hard, it was Henry Allen that took it the hardest. He was found trying to strangle himself with his bedsheets, and afterwards had been put on suicide watch for close to two years.

That, more than anything else, had convinced Iris that Barry was right, that his father was innocent. In her grief, she still knew that Barry would want not his father to commit suicide, to die before he could get out of prison. She started to touch base with Henry every week, trying to give him a reason to live. At first their visits were awkward, and they only really got going when they got to talking about Barry, trying to make peace with his passing. But as the months wore on, Henry gradually started to inquire about her, and asking her about her week, the going-ons in her life. Iris had been hesitant at first, but Henry's earnestness and persistence made it easier.

Joe hadn't liked the fact that Iris was visiting Henry like Barry once had, but knew better than to try and stop her. Two years after Barry's death, however, Joe figured it was time to mend their relationship, and had begun to reach out towards her again. Iris had been angered initially, but Henry cooled her down, and pushed her to give her father a chance. Barry wouldn't have wanted you two to be fighting over him, he said, and Iris knew he was right.

It was not meant to be.

In her senior year of high school, Iris had been assigned a heritage project for one of her elective classes. She had done some research in her family tree – and learned that her mother, who she had been told was dead, was alive. Iris didn't want to jump the gun on this, and so, before telling Joe, had made an impromptu trip to Keystone City to meet Francine West.

Wally West opened the door.

That was the last straw. Iris stayed with Joe long enough to graduate from high school, before finally letting him have it over all the lies he told her over the years. She moved out and moved in with her mother and brother, attending Keystone University, majoring in Criminal Justice, and visiting Iron Heights once a month to see Henry. She made no contact with her father during that time. After she graduated from college, she applied for the Police Academy, and graduated top of her class, transferring to the CCPD 1st Precinct.

Joe had a heart attack when he first saw her come through the door, in uniform, with a badge in hand. He went to talk to her, only to be coldly greeted as "Detective West", informed that she was the newly transferred "Officer West", and then walking away. Things had been icy between them ever since.

Eddie didn't try to make his opinion known about what he felt about all this, only agreeing to make their relationship public. Certainly, he understood Iris' anger, and had he been in her shoes, probably would've reacted the same way. No, what had startled Eddie was the way Iris had talked about Barry. Her voice had been laced with the kind of fondness that people usually reserved only for one person, and she didn't even talk about Eddie the same way she did about Barry. Notably, not once had Iris ever referred to Barry in familial terms – she always called him her best friend. But every time those thoughts entered his mind, he dismissed them; he had no reason to feel so insecure.

Barry Allen was dead, had been for ten years, and he wasn't coming back. Right now, it was him and Iris, and that wasn't going to change anytime soon. And besides, even if Iris had feelings for Barry once, it had been ten long years. Any feelings she had then could not compare to what she had now with him.

So, Eddie and Iris had outed their relationship to the rest of the precinct, and everyone watched the fireworks. They all shamelessly listened through the door as Iris and Joe went at it for the first time in years, arguing and bickering and yelling, until Singh intervened and told everyone to get back to work. Eddie had to endure some of the silent from Joe for a while, but gradually things turned back to normal. Joe and Iris remained at odds, however, it often left Eddie in an awkward position.

Eddie liked Iris. Really liked Iris. He might even love her. But he was also Joe's partner, and more than once, he wished they could just patch things up.

The phone rang.

"Hello?"

Iris is a police officer because of her estrangement with Joe. Since Iris no longer listens to Joe, she follows her own heart, and accomplishes her original of become a cop. It's also why she outed her relationship with Eddie much sooner than in canon – she doesn't care about what Joe thinks.

As for that bit at the end, Barry and Iris do have feelings for each other, but only Barry is aware of them, and even then, he doesn't know how far they extend these days. Iris is no longer his only rock, after all. So, it's not quite love yet, but it's close.

Nyssa is still a lesbian, I can assure you. Her connection with Oliver is purely emotional at this point, and not quite romantic; not yet, should I decide to go the Olyssa route and not the Lauriver route (though I am leaning towards the latter at this point). As for pairing her with Kara, no – Nyssa sees Kara as a surrogate little sister more than anything else.

Tommy got his act together sooner because Oliver was gone much earlier and for much longer. As a result, he has his father's approval, but still thirsts for his praise. That will be important later on.

Robert is alive, and Walter is dead. And since Robert never got on that boat, there's no reason for anyone to believe that Oliver knows something about the Undertaking, putting him even further above suspicion.

So, this is it for the prologue. Next is Arc I: Settling Down, and this one will be considerably longer to put out. I'm still in the middle of planning it, to be honest, and it's not going to have a lot of superheroics, not yet.