Notes: The ending has arrived. :D

I feel like I should be cackling with maniacal laughter or something...

Chapter 5

"It's made of compressed micro fabric," Barry said, looking excited. "Hopefully I got the fit right, but if there are any problems I can try again later."

"Even if it does fit right, I might have to make something up as an excuse to come see you," Oliver teased, taking the mask in hand. It felt cool and smooth in his hands and matched well with the green of his vigilante uniform. Only one way to see if it worked better than the greasepaint, though. He slid it onto his face, secured it behind his head, and then looked around, turning his head this way and that. It was a snug fit, didn't block his sight lines or peripheral vision. "So far so good. I think you made a winner, Barry."

"Good." Barry paused a beat and then said, "if I want to get back to Central at a time where Iris can give me a ride back home, I kind of have to leave now. But I... I would really like to see you again. I just... I don't know when I'd be able to come back to Starling. Probably not until January some time - December's always ridiculously busy for the CCPD. Thefts go way up..."

"Well, I've got a meeting this week that Tommy will murder me in my sleep if I miss it," Oliver hedged, "but I might be able to visit in two weeks. If you're interested."

"I'm interested," Barry assured him. "Very, very interested."

Oliver kissed him softly before finally letting him leave. Barry had a taxi on the way and Oliver didn't want to make him miss it. Apparently Barry had enough trouble with taxis as it was.

Once Barry was out the door, Oliver turned to Dig. "Do we know where the police will be serving their warrant?"

"No. Felicity and Tommy are listening to the radio chatter on the police band, but there's nothing yet. Unfortunately, we wait."

Waiting... nothing Oliver hated more.

There is something Oliver hates more after all. He feels sick sneaking into Lance's hospital room. Just last night the detective was smiling at Laurel and fretting over Sara. And this morning he almost died.

Rationally, Oliver knows this isn't his fault. Rationally, Oliver knows he did what he could and he can't be everywhere and save everyone. Rationally, Oliver knows that he's still recovering from being poisoned and nearly dying and acknowledging his limits was the right call to make.

Guilt is not a rational emotion.

"Is that a mask?" Lance asks. "That's new."

"A gift from a friend," Oliver tells him. "I'm sorry about your partner."

"Even after what that CSI said about the theft and what you had in that file, we still underestimated him," Lance admitted, eyes distant and he grimaced in pain. "He was like a monster. I've never seen anyone fight like that before."

"I have," Oliver admitted. "If I'm right about the cause, then Gold may not be the only one out there with these abilities. It's a drug that causes permanent physiological and psychological alterations; the only visible symptoms of someone who's been dosed is bleeding from the eyes before enhanced healing kicks in. If they survive the changes long enough."

"Bleeding from the eyes," Lance muttered, tilting his head back and closing his eyes. "Like that Max kid..."

Oliver didn't say anything. It was Oliver Queen who'd talked to Lance about Max, not the Hood.

"What happened, the last time you saw something like this?" Lance asked, eyes growing determined.

"All those effected by the drug were killed, as was the person responsible. His research was destroyed. But his work was based off someone else's and there's no telling how many people have had access to that since his death."

"So it is possible to kill them." Lance reached over and placed something on the nightstand beside his hospital bed. A key. "I took that off Gold. But I think it'll be more use to you than to me. Get him."

Retrieving the key, Oliver nodded. "You have my word." He headed for the window.

"Be careful," Lance called after him. "You had good reason not to go after him yourself. What happened this morning - that's not your fault."

Oliver can't help but wonder if Lance would be trying to reassure him like this if he knew who was hiding beneath the hood and mask.

"Don't get yourself killed just because you have a misplaced sense of responsibility. If nothing else, remember this city is going to need you especially if there really are more like Gold running around."

A smile tugged at Oliver's face anyway. "I'll keep your concern under advisement, detective," he promised and then went back out the window.

Barry waits until the train's been in motion for about twenty minutes before he finally calls Iris. The train car he's in is relatively empty, so he's not too likely to disturb his neighbors, given the closest one is half the car away from him.

Thankfully it seems his timing was good and Iris' morning class is done with. She answers promptly with, "any pics of the vigilante's arms to share with me?"

"Sorry, Iris," he replied with a grin. "Never had the chance to see the vigilante in action." Which had the virtue of being true, even. He never actually saw Oliver kicking ass as his alter ego.

"Yeah, I guess you were too busy swanning around with Oliver Queen," Iris teased.

Barry choked and spluttered, "how did you...?"

"The society pages and Queen obsessed blogs of Starling City have all lit up with a singular question. Who is this handsome man who got breakfast with Oliver Queen yesterday morning? He was seen at the Queen's party last night, dancing with with Oliver Queen much of the night..."

"Oh god..." Barry groaned. He'd forgotten the paparazzi were even a thing. How did Oliver cope with having his life under a microscope like this and still manage to be the Hood? "Please tell me Joe has no idea."

"Clueless," Iris promised. "Seriously, though, did you sleep with Oliver Queen?"

"No. Well, only in the most technical sense. I fell asleep on him while we were watching The Polar Express with Tommy and Thea last night." Barry grinned as Iris squealed excitedly. "While I can't say anything on the topic of the vigilante's arms, Oliver's are very nice. 10/10 would fall asleep held in those arms again."

"I can't believe it. You go to investigate one of your weird science obsessions and wind up on first name basis with the Queens and use Starling City's playboy as your own personal teddy bear." Iris sighed. "I'm jealous."

"Yeah, well, he wasn't exactly thrilled to meet me at first, but it turns out Oliver's a fellow vigilante fan and we bonded over trading theories on his suit and arrow choices." Admittedly, Oliver had probably just wanted to see if there was any chance Barry'd guess the truth on his own. But that did not explain the double entendre over arrow penetration that Barry was definitely going to have to keep in mind for later. That was just too good not to use to tease Oliver at some point.

"Aww, you wooed him with your nerdiness. Go you." She paused and then added, "so where'd you end up staying? I forgot to ask after your panicked texts about the lost reservation and looking into motels."

"Oh... uh... um..."

"I can practically feel you blushing through the phone. What did you do, Bartholomew Henry Allen?"

"Not the full name," he whined. "Anything but that. I mentioned it to Felicity and she volunteered Oliver to have me just stay at his place and Oliver went along with it, which is when we started talking vigilante theories, and then I met Moira Queen, who actually seemed to like me."

"Who is Felicity? Hopefully not his girlfriend if he was flirting and dancing with you last night."

"Iris..."

"I'm just saying, guy's got a reputation for cheating. I have to protect my squishy-hearted best friend, alright?"

Barry rolled his eyes. "He's not dating Felicity." Barry had actually gotten the impression there was maybe something between her and Tommy. "I mean, I did wonder at first because they're close but it turned out there was definitely nothing going on there."

"Good. Did you kiss him?"

Barry squeaked in response.

"Oh my god, you kissed him. Barry, Barry, Barry..."

"What is this judgement for?" Barry demanded. "I mean, you totally thought I had sex with him, but actually kissing him gets me the judgement voice?"

"How could you kiss him, but not get him into bed?" Iris retorted.

"Okay, that... that maybe deserves the judgement voice." Barry rolled his eyes and snorted in amusement. "He wants to come visit me."

"Really? He wants to come all the way to Central City to see you again. Huh, maybe you did it right playing hard to get after all," Iris mused.

"He's not really a playboy anymore," Barry said quietly. "I mean, what was the last relationship scandal he was involved in?"

"Uh..." Iris hummed thoughtfully. "He was linked romantically to Helena Bertinelli shortly before it was revealed she was the Huntress, but that was a couple of dinners and, despite her turning out to be one of the city's vigilantes, didn't really turn into noteworthy drama. Aside from that, he's basically been single since coming back from the island. And while at first it did look like he was going back to his party-boy ways from college, that clearly didn't suit him anymore because it ended pretty quick."

"Iris," Barry asked slowly, "do you have a celebrity crush on Oliver Queen?"

"No. Of course not. Don't be silly." There was a long silence. "Maybe. Just a little."

"Can't blame you. I mean, he's a good kisser. And his arms... I did mention his arms, right? Amazing arms." He grins as Iris laughs at him.

"You're so mean, rubbing that in. You'd better introduce me to him when he does visit, Bar. Gotta put him through the third degree - celebrity crush or not, I'm not sure he's good enough for you."

"Honestly, Iris? This is the first time I've taken time off work and it felt like a real vacation." Given how the party went last night and the movie watching afterwards, it's not even a lie.

"I'm glad. Well, I've got to get to my next class. Call me when you're twenty minutes out from Central City and hopefully I'll be able to get to the station before you."

"Sounds good." Barry grinned as they ended the call.

Barry tries to read his Star Wars book after that, but his mind kept wandering to the question of how the raid on Cyrus Gold went. Did the police get him? Or did they underestimate him the way Oliver clearly feared they would?

Without really thinking about it, Barry pulled his phone back out and unlocked it. Finger hovering over the texting app, he tried to figure out if it would be weird for him to text Oliver so soon... but then it was about vigilante business and not dating, so that'd be fine right? As long as he kept it vague...

He just... didn't want to come off as clingy when they hadn't really made any promises or anything like that. His inner Iris was cheering him on to go for it, though, so Barry touched the icon.

Oliver glanced at his phone, relaxing a little despite himself when he saw Barry's name on the text alert. 'How'd this morning go after I left? Good news on catching the thief?'

'He got away,' Oliver texted back. 'Dt. Lance in hospital. Looking for new leads.'

In fact, Felicity was looking for where the key Detective Lance gave him matched to. At which point Oliver would be going after Gold himself. He felt ready - Tommy clearly did not agree, though Thea was the only one who'd vocally argued against him going.

'Sucks. Sorry I can't help more.'

Oliver has to restrain himself from typing 'miss you' or something sappy like that. He barely knows the guy and what if Barry thinks he's being weird? Were relationships always this complicated and he'd just been too drunk and busy sneaking around to realize back in college? Not that this was a relationship. Yet.

'Your gift works well,' Oliver finally sent. 'Thanks.'

"So," Felicity spoke up, "what was the consensus on Thea learning to use a bow? We sort of... missed that yesterday."

Dig snorted in amusement, adding, "what's the verdict?"

Tommy gave a very put upon sigh. "Thea and I will be attending self defense classes."

"And I will be working on increasing the strength in my arms and hands specifically while Oliver starts me on easy bows." Thea was smirking triumphantly.

"No using the bows outside the Foundry," Oliver reminded her. He suspects she wants to be out there with him, but that's going to be a whole other fight down the line. One Oliver knows that he and Tommy are going to end up losing.

"Yes, yes, no knee-capping people with arrows without permission," Thea muttered dismissively.

"And if you want to be knee-capping people with arrows with permission," Oliver told her, "then you have to pass self defense classes with me."

"Which is gonna suck once I reach that point," Thea sighed, getting them both sharp looks from Tommy.

Taking Thea aside, Oliver asked, "how are you really doing?"

She pulled him into a hug. "Tommy says you need more hugs. I suspect he's right about this."

"Not an answer," Oliver retorted, hugging her back anyway.

"I'm not happy about you risking your life all the time. I'm glad you've got Dig backing you up and Felicity doing all the tech stuff and Tommy reminding you to work smarter, not harder." Thea pulled out of the hug. "I wish you told me sooner, but I get why you didn't. We were both a mess last year and... you weren't ready to open up to those of us who love you yet. That's why you vetted strangers. People whose rejection wouldn't hurt you here," she tapped his chest over his heart.

"When'd you get so smart?" he asked softly.

She shrugged and smirked. "I love you and I'm proud of you and you should know that I'm dragging you out with me the next time I do laser tag because you're totally going to be the ringer on my team."

Oliver laughed and ruffled her hair. "Whatever you say, Speedy."

"And that is not going to be my name on the comms. Too recognizable, especially when you say it," Thea muttered, turning petulant.

"We could call you Dorothy," Oliver offered slyly, pitching his voice so Tommy could hear too. He snickered when both of his siblings immediately started objecting.

"Guys," Felicity called, "we've got something here. I scanned the key Lance gave you and traced the serial code back to the manufacturer. This particular key fits a locked gate installed on Crescent Circle in the Glades."

Dig didn't even need to look to know that Oliver was going for his bow. While Oliver argued with Tommy and Thea, Dig collected his guns and then went over to Felicity. "Think you can create another one of those masks in black?"

"Sure, one mask made to order coming right up." She gave him an apologetic look. "I wanted to make sure the first one actually worked before trying to make more. But the process is pretty straightforward and I can always call Barry if I run into problems."

"Thanks," Dig said, giving her shoulder a light squeeze before heading back to grab his own version of the Arrow uniform. Oliver had his greens to stand out. Dig had grays to blend in.

But it seemed Felicity had followed him back there. "Keep him safe, but... keep yourself safe too, okay? If you hadn't jumped out a window, Gold might've killed you."

"We'll both come back in one piece," Dig promised her. It seemed Oliver had convinced Tommy and Thea to back down too, since he was suited up and ready to go the same time Dig was.

"I have to head into the office," Tommy said, looking rather pissed off about it. "Someone has to get work done today." He headed out without a goodbye beyond that and Thea shook her head, not saying anything at all.

The car ride over was fairly quiet and they found the gate lock easily enough. Oliver went for an explosive entrance while Dig took the stairs while whoever was down there was distracted.

By the time Dig joined the party, there were three people down there besides Oliver. A kid tied to a chair, blood trickling down his face from his eyes, a man in a scarecrow mask, and the black-masked Cyrus Gold with two arrows sticking out of him. Dig left Gold to Oliver for the moment, taking aim at the man in the mask.

Pulling the trigger twice, he struck the man in the shoulder and the chest. Red bloomed on the man's sleeve, but he just brushed the bullet off his chest. Bullet proof armor, plus Mirakuru no doubt. Only reason the guy was still standing.

"Another failure," sighed the voice behind the modulator before he took off in the direction opposite of Dig. There must be another exit back there... Dig glanced at Oliver, but he was holding his own for now. It might be a terrible decision... but Dig gave chase.

But the man in the mask was gone by the time Dig reached the second set of stairs, the sound of screeching tires audible even with the door up top shut. He ran back to Oliver, who lay panting on the ground next to one dead Mirakuru soldier, an arrow sticking out of his throat.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," Oliver croaked. "He went to throttle me the same moment I shoved an arrow through his neck. Having blood flowing into the lungs makes it hard to breathe. The other guy?"

"Got away, but I hit his arm. Bullet's still in him, but maybe he left some blood evidence behind we can ask our new friend in Central about." Dig held up a black light flashlight with a grin. "He was just full of good ideas for how to deal with crime scenes."

Oliver nodded, sitting up and massaging his own throat. "I'll get the Mirakuru while you do that."

Dig looked at the kid, unmoving, in the chair. "He didn't make it."

"No, it doesn't look that way," Oliver sounded tired. "Ivo created a reversal agent for the Mirakuru, but I don't think even that would help this kid anymore."

"But if we could recreate it, then maybe we could save some of those other kids they've been pulling off the street," Dig filled in.

"Which means we need all the information we can salvage here on the creation process. And... I'm going to need to talk to Sara again. She might remember something about all of this that I don't."

Oliver spends the rest of the day - and some of the early evening - at QC. They salvaged the information on Mirakuru and a number of vials of the drug, all of which would be useful in creating a counter-agent. But it left him distracted, thinking about Slade and wondering... could he have saved his friend, all those years ago?

He touched his neck. It had bruised, despite how brief a moment Cyrus Gold's hands had been around his neck. Oliver was lucky it wasn't worse. But the hollow of a person's throat was a weak point easy to exploit.

They'd destroyed the centrifuge before leaving, Oliver not wanting to risk any of the Mirakuru residue permanently contaminating it... or that man in the scarecrow mask being able to retrieve the centrifuge for further use. QC didn't need that particular centrifuge at the moment, which was why it had been in storage to begin with. By the time they had the insurance money to replace it... hopefully this threat would be contained.

But in the mean time... they needed someone they could trust to develop a counter for the Mirakuru. And Oliver had no idea who that would be. Queen Consolidated had some brilliant scientists on staff but no biochemists of the caliber they'd need for a project like this. They needed someone with Ivo's genius... and the morals that man had lacked.

A problem for future Oliver, he supposed. For now, he should probably forewarn Barry that they already had a request to make of him.

Tommy knocked on Oliver's door and then walked in without waiting for a response. "Dinner time, Ollie." He grabbed the scarf off the coat rack Oliver kept by the door. "Time to cover up that neck and head home. You sure you don't need a doctor to look that over? We can always say you got mugged."

"It's fine," Oliver insisted, getting up from his desk. "Dig checked me over."

"Dig doesn't have an x-ray machine tucked in his back pocket," Tommy grumbled.

"I was going to call Barry first, see if we can get his help running that blood sample Dig found." Oliver snatched the scarf away from Tommy and started putting on his coat anyway.

"Surprised you held out on calling him this long, considering how adorable you two looked cuddled up on the couch together last night," Tommy teased.

"Well... we did text earlier." Oliver smiled. "I'm going to visit him in Central City. Not really sure when yet, but... soon I hope."

"Good. But you still have to wait until after dinner before you call him. And I'm looking forward to the excuse you give your mom when she sees your neck."

Oliver groaned. Yeah, he was not looking forward to that.

Barry answered his phone on the second ring. "Hey Oliver," he greeted, chest all warm and swoopy.

"Hey Barry." Oliver's voice sounded a little rough.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, just uh... little bruising on my neck. Present from Cyrus Gold. Though he won't be hurting anyone ever again," Oliver answered. Which probably meant Oliver had killed them man.

Barry shouldn't be okay with that. But all he felt was relief that Oliver was okay.

"His boss was there and Dig got what we think is a blood sample from the guy. Do you think you can talk Felicity through running the sample or is this something we'd need to send to you?"

"I think you've got everything you need at QC and she's got access to the database already. I should be able to talk her through it," Barry confirmed. "So I guess I'll be hearing from her later?"

"Tomorrow evening probably. She's working on another mask right now." Oliver paused a beat, then said, "so I take it you got home just fine?"

"Yeah. Iris grilled me on how I spent my time in Starling. Apparently there was some interest in the mysterious guy buying breakfast with Oliver Queen yesterday morning. Who apparently gets to drive his fancy car."

"Oh god, Barry, I'm sorry. I didn't even think about the gossip blogs."

Barry laughed, "it's fine. Iris had a field day getting to tease me about it, but got my own back too."

"So who is this Iris, anyway?"

"My foster sister, Iris West. She wants to interrogate you to be sure you're good enough for me," Barry said, the words slipping out without his permission. He felt his face blush beet red.

"I guess that means I'm forewarned for when I come visit you," Oliver teased. "How difficult of an interrogation am I looking forward to here?"

"Uh, well, her dad's a detective, she wanted to be a cop, and she is working on her masters in psychology. So, fairly tough," Barry teased back. "I told her you're a vigilante fan."

Oliver laughed. "I have to admit, I'm much more interested in her foster brother than the vigilante."

Barry grinned and fell back against his bed. "Really? Tell me more."

He's on the island again. Sometimes Oliver wonders if he left a piece of himself behind in this place.

"I placed a terrible burden on you, when I gave you that book," Robert Queen said. He was standing beside Oliver, watching Oliver and not the submarine below.

"Dad..." Oliver turned to look at him. Robert didn't belong here, did he? He was buried in the sand...

"I let you down in so many ways. Every father wants to be their children's hero, but I fear that in the end all I ever really did was fail you." He held out the book between them, pristine once more, not battered and the names recopied and some pages missing... not burned in the fire at Moira's hands.

And for a moment, Oliver's back in that room, having told his mother that he got that book from Robert, that the names in it that he'd wondered about all those years were starting to match the vigilante's pattern... "Don't worry about it, Oliver. Your father's secrets died with him. If we get involved, then we'll only be putting ourselves in more danger..." He'd told her Walter had found a similar book but that it had gone missing with him. "We have to protect Thea. I can't lose anyone else."

But then Oliver's back on the island, on the beach this time, standing over his father's grave and the memorial for Slade and Shado he'd made years later. "Mother was put in the position of working with Malcolm on the Undertaking because of you."

"You're not wrong." Robert shook his head. "I was no hero. But you are capable of so much more. I have no right... but I'm so proud of you Oliver."

Oliver blinks his eyes open as his alarm goes off, signaling the morning's come. His cheeks are wet.

"I figured out something you never did, dad," Oliver muttered softly, wiping at his face. "I don't have to carry my burdens alone."

Notes: Laurel doesn't know it yet, but she's totally going to owe Tommy money. (Referencing their bet from the previous chapter.)

So it's kind of hilarious that at the end of The Scientist Barry's rushing home to Central - or trying to anyway - because his boss has threatened his job. Then Barry's kidnapped from the train station and spends, like, two more days in Starling with no discernable repercussions to his employment. My headcanon is that it was actually Joe who'd figured it out and was now in the position of covering for Barry with Singh, thus he was very not happy about it. Barry just says its his boss because he doesn't want to explain his relationship with Joe to strangers. Admittedly, this doesn't explain why Joe wouldn't be absolutely pissed off at Barry at the start of the Flash's pilot episode, but it still makes better sense than what canon tells us. (The real answer is, of course, poor communication between writing teams for The Scientist, Three Ghosts, and the Flash Pilot...)

Anyway, this is the end of the first installment of The Scientific Method series. With the accelerator's turn on date moved to January, Oliver and Barry have some time to get to know each other better before the fateful lightning strike hits. And of course there's the question of just what else I intend to change... :D