Chapter 28: Villain Entrance, Stage Right

"Dude…" Cisco muttered in awe, staring at the yellow suit. Caitlin was similarly entranced. Barry took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. It wouldn't do to get angry right now. He instead turned his head back to the stand on the other side of the room, and made his way to it. He placed his hand on it, turning it on and causing to project a newspaper article.

Barry blinked.

'FLASH MISSING: VANISHES IN CRISIS'

"Guys…" Barry called out, genuinely unnerved for the first time in a very long time. Cisco and Caitlin turned away from the suit and looked at the projection, their jaws dropping.

"The date…" Caitlin breathed out, and Barry stared. 'April 25, 2024' blared out to him. Cisco read out the blurb beneath, but Barry paid him no mind, his heart racing. The pieces were falling into place, one by one. Eager, he lost control for a brief moment, and pushed the activator on the stand again.

The newspaper vanished. And in its place, was a face, featureless. "Good evening, Barry Allen." It spoken in a feminine voice.

Barry blinked. "You know who I am?"

"Indeed. Dr. Barry Allen, codenamed 'The Flash,' owner and head scientist of S.T.A.R. Labs and founding member of the Justice League." Barry's eyes widened. Justice League was one of the test names for Waller's division of public superheroes. So, then… "Former member of the League of –"

"Who are you?" Caitlin blurted out, cutting it off.

"I am Gideon, an interactive artificial conscious."

Cisco made a small noise of surprise. "A.I."

"My A.I." Barry noted, beginning to smile.

The scientists blinked, and stared at the vigilante in disbelief. "What?" they asked in unison.

"When I left the island the first time and went to…where I went, I started the development of a personal A.I. It took years, but it was finally functional for field work about one year before I returned to Central City. And when it was finished, I named it Gideon." Barry grinned. "There's no doubt in my mind now – this, all this, is from the future."

"You're here – great. I think I've figured out who Al Sa-Her is. As much as it pains me to say it, the most likely candidate is Malcolm. We need to set up surveillance equipment in his office, just for confirmation, but my gut is telling me that it's him and you know as well as I that my gut is never wrong." Oliver stated, typing on the computer. When he failed to get a response, he frowned, and turned around. He froze.

Kara was standing in the middle of the Foundry, the front of her suit, her face, and bits of her hair covered in blood. In her arms was an unfamiliar man – clearly dead. But none of that was what caught Oliver's interest.

The only thing Oliver could see…were the tears streaming down her face.

Barry sped into the Foundry, a wide grin plastered on his face.

A grin that immediately faded once he took in the scene in front of him.

In one chair, next to what was clearly a corpse, Kara was curled up into a ball, shaking. She wasn't crying – but she was close. Beside her, in another chair, was Oliver, who was silently rubbing soothing circles on her back, trying to comfort her. They made no indication that they had noticed Barry enter. They didn't need to.

Barry grabbed his own chair, and sat it next to hers. He took a long look at the man on the table, before sighing and flopping down onto his seat. He wrapped his arm around Kara, careful to avoid Oliver's moving limb.

After an hour of silence, Kara finally calmed down, sniffling slightly as she just stared at the corpse of what was once her uncle. Barry, gathering his courage, spoke.

"What happened?" he asked carefully, wishing not to upset her again.

"I murdered my uncle." Kara stated blandly, continuing to stare at the cold body.

"…did you love him?" Oliver questioned, watching Kara intently.

Kara snorted, causing Oliver and Barry to flinch. "Hell no. He was always cold to me as a child. He hated me. He hated my family – my mother, my father, Kal-El and his parents; he only ever tolerated us for my Aunt Astra's sake," she paused, and bit her lip, "but…he was still kin."

The men in the room stayed silent, not knowing what to say. The only one who could even remotely relate to this situation was Oliver, thanks to the recent revelation of his godfather's former occupation as a member of the League of Assassins, and even then, Oliver still cared for his Uncle Malcolm enough that the idea of killing him was unthinkable. Especially since he had no clue what Malcolm's plans were regarding the Hood.

"When did it get so easy, Barry, Oliver?" Kara sighed, wrapping her hands around her knees and rest her head on them.

Barry leaned against his chair. "What do you mean?"

"I didn't spare a second thought about killing him. When he revealed his plans for world domination – as cliché as it is – I knew I was going to shove my sword right through his heart. And when I finally got around to it…I didn't feel a damn thing. Only the satisfaction of knowing he wasn't going to harm either of you, or Slade, or Kal, or anyone else I cared about." Kara's lip trembled. "When did it get so easy? Easy enough that I can kill someone I once called kin, no matter how loosely, without an ounce of regret?" She buried her head into her knees. Oliver and Barry exchanged looks. Barry leaned over and took over the job of physically comforting Kara, while Oliver stood, and paced around a bit, before speaking.

"Do you remember what Shado told us, all those years ago? When I brutalized that man from Ivo's ship?" Kara and Barry both looked at him, Kara's eyes a little red, and nodded in unison.

"Everyone has a darkness to them; every light casts a shadow. What matters is how you deal with it." Oliver continued, looking straight at Kara. "Kara, it may seem like it's easy, but it's not – the fact that you're crying your eyes out right now proves that. You said it yourself: he had designs on this world, and he would've killed all of us to make it happen. Even Kal-El. You did what you had to do."

Kara shook her head. "Every time someone says that, I can't help but feel that it sounds more and more like an excuse."

"Perhaps, but it's the truth." Oliver said firmly. "We did what we did during those ten years, became what we are, to survive. And we'll always have this darkness to us as a result. And it may seem like it's not worth it at times, but it is. If we hadn't done what we did, Barry and I wouldn't have been able to reunite with our families and friends, and use our skills to protect them. And Kal-El…Kal-El wouldn't be here, living the life you always wanted for him."

He walked back to Kara, and leaned down, putting his hand on her shoulder. "I know this isn't ideal, Kara. It never will be. But this is how our lives have turned out, and we're just going to have to learn to live with it."

The silence returned, as Oliver's prophetic words echoed throughout all their minds, the painful truth. Kara sighed, and stretched her legs. "You think we'll ever be able to stop?"

"When we're old and gray. Or when we die. Whichever comes first." Barry responded, letting his head hang on the edge of the back of the chair. Kara let out a small noise of amusement.

Oliver clicked his teeth. "You two will still be kicking fifty years from now. Me? I'll be lucky if I only end up in a wheelchair."

Barry sat up abruptly, startling both his companions, who looked at him in confusion. "Actually, now that you mention it…"

"It's a match: this is the body of the real Harrison Wells." Barry announced, staring at the decayed mass.

Oliver rubbed his forehead. "Okay, so your boss is from the future."

"Yup."

"And you found this out by locating a secret room at S.T.A.R. Labs that contained both the Yellow Suit, a projection of a newspaper with a future date, and an advanced form of Gideon, who mentioned one of the potential names for Waller's new personal super-squad that we got press-ganged into."

"Yup."

"And, it now turns out you boss is not Harrison Wells but some guy from the future who murdered the real one and his wife and then created Particle Accelerator and specifically blew it up so you could get your powers. And murdered your mom because he couldn't kill you when you were a kid."

"Yup."

"Why is this not surprising as it should be?" Oliver looked up and asked the sky, clearly exasperated at how insane his life had gotten over the last ten years.

Barry shrugged. "Aliens, Mirakuru, Lazarus Pits, magic, me – pick one and there you go."

"I hate you so much, Barry."

"I know." Barry replied cheekily, patting Oliver on the shoulder. Oliver sighed. Kara smiled at the sight, but her face became serious again.

"And we also got my aunt deal with. Woohoo." She said sarcastically.

"And my godfather. Wonderful, just wonderful." Oliver groaned.

Barry rubbed his hands gleefully. "Planning time everyone!"

Short, I know, but I've been a little tired lately, and this chapter did not want to come out. Next chapter should be better – we focus on everyone else and see what Slade has been up to for the last few chapters.

Also, I saw Black Lightning last night – and it was awesome. I'm really looking forward to this, and I hope it gets a second season. I also saw Supergirl, and that was great too. Kara and Brainy had a lot of chemistry together – more than she ever did with James and Mon-El in my opinion. If they become a couple, I don't think I will mind at all. I haven't been feeling Flash lately, so I didn't watch last night's episode, but I think I'll watch next week's. I'm not even going to bother with Arrow, and Legends isn't coming back yet, which saddens me, because it's my favorite show.